Saturday, February 4, 2012

Almost there...


Chris had a gig last night and Ant didn't have anywhere to spend the night, so I got to stay home.  He was bored and the movie he was watching did not occupy him.  He's been doing this thing lately where he sneaks around the house and hides in closets to jump out at us.  Like I said, he's bored.  He got in trouble for taking the laptop and iPod and the ruling from Chris was no electronics for one month.  So last night I started making dinner and saw Ant leapt from my side of the hallway to his with a white cord dangling from his hand.  I asked him what he was doing and he popped out with empty hands and started sneaking down the hall towards me as if he was just playing ninja.

"Did you take something from my room?"

"No."

He went back to his movie and I saw him peek over the couch at me.

"What did you take from my room?"

"Nothing!"

But then he slowly cracked and over the next five minutes I got back the screwdriver, the iPod charger and an iPod.  The only thing I yelled about was asking him if I had to put a lock on my door when I was HOME.  At first I told him to turn off the movie- that he could read or play trumpet.  I texted Chris to let him know and he immediately called.  When he found out it was one that had no internet access, he said Ant probably just wanted to listen to music.

"Oh, he could have that."

Now, wait a minute.  You said no electronics.  That's what Ant and I both understood.  Besides, the problem is not him having this stuff, but just taking whatever he wants without asking, especially when he's not supposed to have it.  Plus, he took the broken iPod from our room and swapped it out with the one he was supposed to keep on the dock to fake us out so he could keep the real one.  He had access to the internet on that, he had music, and he could text his friends, but he didn't like having limited access.  He told me he felt entitled to it.

Just yesterday, Chris and I were talking about Ant's life before he came here.  I thought I understood what he was coming from, but periodically I learn something else that just blows me away.  He tells these stories now about life with his mom and they are just fantastic.  It sounds like they had this wonderful, happy life and it's all about these funny family moments and while some could certainly be true and the lack of care doesn't mean that she doesn't love all her kids, a lot of these stories are just impossible.  But I remember that I told a LOT of lies around this age.  He assumes that we know nothing about his life back then, so it's just a perfect cover.  "When I was with my mom" stories.  He was telling us a couple days ago about how he used to climb the walls.  He'd push himself up against the walls and just hang out near the ceiling and jump down and scare people.  Later, Chris wondered if his uncle had taught him that.  I was incredulous.  Did he remember the condition of the kid who came to live with us?  7, small, guarded, and terrified to climb a tree.  He was not the sturdy kid that he quickly became.  He was neglected and pale, soft and unsure.  He changed so fast, but he'll probably never realize that.  He'll think that he was always that way, like how you forget when you learned something and assumed you've always known it.  And I don't think that's a bad thing.  It's probably the best thing possible for him to project back and see happy times with his mom and his sisters.  It is amazing, though, how the biggest problem in his life now is that he can't have unlimited access to an iPod Touch.  It floors me, and I think about how he really has no idea just how lucky he is.  Of course, he's miserable.  He's got it so hard, and I try to keep it in perspective- not comparing to his old life, but to his peers.  Do they have a drum set in their living room that they can play anytime they want?  Do they jam with their dad?  Do they have a projector in their room?  Is there much that he's wanted that he hasn't gotten?  Nope.

And let me tell you, this has not been fun.  He is so obnoxious right now.  He had a dentist appointment on Thursday.  It was too early in the day to send him to school and would end too late to take him there later, so he got a day off and spent all day with us.  It was maddening, because almost every sentence he spoke started with no.  "No, that's not where we went..." or "No, I don't want to hear that channel..." or "No, that's not true..."  It even gets so silly like "No, the grass is blue."  He is a joy to be around.  Chris encouraged me not to argue, so Thursday was a great day to practice.  Everything that came out of our mouths was argued with, and we just remained silent.  The only way we would respond to protest was to repeat what we'd asked him to do.  It got to the point where we had to laugh or we would have thrown him out the window.  Oh, and he has to go to a specialist that costs at least $100 because he may have an infection in the tooth he broke.  When we were coming back home, Chris got a call to come pick up a sound board.  "Do you want me to take him with me?"  I looked at him in silent gratitude.  But back to last night.

I sat down with Ant and sighed.  "Again," I told him.  "The problem is not with you having these things, but with you taking them.  I can't reward you for taking the iPod by giving it to you.  You're going to have to earn it.  What do you think we should do?"

Ant was all frustrated and started to cry again.  I asked him to tell me whatever was going on.

"I can't!  It will hurt your feelings."

I told him that anything that helped me be a better stepparent would not hurt my feelings.  He told me that when Chris told him that we might break up, he was okay with it.  I asked him why.  He said I treat everything as if it's the end of the world.

"Well, that's fair," I said.  "And that's something I am trying hard to work on.  I'm going to need your help on that, so I'm glad you told me."

Hang on a minute while I collect myself.  I'm collapsing inside now like I couldn't last night.

So then I told him that I'm not really an evil person and that even though it might sometimes seem like my job title is Permanent Stick in the Mud, everything I'm doing is in an effort to make sure he is happy and successful.  On a side note to you guys, I must explain that I look so far into the future that I miss out on the present, which is definitely a problem.  But back to what I said to Ant.  I told him that no matter what ever happened between me and his dad, I would not disappear.  "No matter how much you may want me to."  He giggled at that.

I'm looking through this conversation and realizing that it may be out of order.  I cannot remember, but I hope it doesn't matter.  I'm just going to get it all down and offer a disclaimer.

In that conversation, wherever it came, I realized that my reaction time had been so much better than it used to be.  I did get upset, mostly that my privacy was not respected.  I do not rifle through his room and I did not want to read his private messages on Facebook.  Chris has no problem doing those things and I believe he has that right, but I find privacy valuable and on that one I think the golden rule applies.

So I told him that I was upset that he did not respect my privacy.  I pointed out that I respect his privacy and I expect the same.  I said that I hardly yelled and calmed down pretty fast.  (I realize that the ideal is to not yell at all, but I don't actually know anyone who has their shit together that much.)  So then it occurred to me that he said I treat everything like it's the end of the world and asked him how Daddy would have reacted.

The tears came really hard then.  Ant said Chris would have been really mad, yelled at him, and maybe sent him back to his mom.

What?  Why would you ever think that?  He said that when he first came here, Chris had asked him if he wanted to go back to his mom's, like it was a threat.  I hugged that kid so tight and told him that would never happen, that it would take an army to pull him away from his dad.  I told him he was staying put and that he was safe here.

So here's what sucks.  Why does it feel like Ant has a say in mine and Chris's relationship?  For one, I'd lose simply on the grounds that I am the stepmother and I'm just never going to be as popular as Chris.  Two, my whiny self-pity response is that I never had that option.  I feel like there are legitimate arguments on both sides, which is why stepfamilies are so hard.  But really, no matter how wonderful I am or not, I will always be the evil stepmother.  He thinks Chris would roar at him and send him back to his mom, but I'm the ogre?  I'm the one sitting here holding this kid, telling him that his dad, myself, and about 50 other people would fight to death for him, but he'd be okay with me leaving?  No he wouldn't, but he doesn't recognize that, of course.  He's not a psychologist, nor spent years in counseling wondering why everybody abandons him.  He probably shouldn't have a say in our relationship not only because I would categorically lose, but because his brain is all muddled and not fully formed yet.  He's distracted, he's a ball of emotions, he's self-absorbed, he's cranky... all for very biological reasons.  Most importantly, he's all about the impulses.  He is wired to be impulsive.  Or maybe I should say haywired to be impulsive.  He has enough to worry about just functioning from day to day.

So I am a creep.  I am the asshole who's no fun and poops on everything who's currently not financially contributing much to the household.  I do most of the cooking, though.  Most of the cleaning, most of the laundry, damn near all the dog walking and exercise, grooming, feeding and pottying.  I am the savings maven and the budgeter/bill-payer.  I am usually the disciplinarian, enforcer, and supervisor simply because I am here more often.  For my troubles, I get excluded from the very necessary father and son time and treated like I'm an asshole who interferes with all their fun.  Neither one of them see how good they have it.

Chris and I are dealing with our relationship, trying to reconnect after many years of letting a lot of shit come between us.  There have been so few times in the last 9 years when we were both successful at the same time.  We're so close to that now, and yet it feels like we are also walking a tightrope to get there.  How can we be so close to success and failure at the same time?  If I were to make the unfair analogy of Ant being between us, it would be easy to imagine being able to see over him and keep a connection and picture him growing into a teenager and blocking our view.  I don't want to lose him.  As frustrating as we are to each other sometimes, we have such love.  We also have such different skills that we can always help each other.  We seem very different, but we are not.

I just have to hang on and find work.  I know you’re not supposed to wait on finances to be happy, but we’ve already spent 4 ½ years- the whole time Ant’s been here- with me in college and not able to do a lot of fun things.  I need my job to be the baseline so that Chris’s income is free to fluctuate.  I keep hearing that happiness in my role means happiness for the whole family, and if I need a steady income for that, so be it.  I haven’t said much about the chores because I’m home and it’s almost my only way of contributing right now.  Once I start work that will change.  Ant may not realize it, but Chris does.

I'd better post this now, since I just got the warning call from Charter.  Sigh.  I'm not too worried about that- there are more important things to pay for than TV and I can go to the library for internet.  That might help me concentrate, actually.  I was talking to dad about the job search and the bills.  He said he was going to go to the Sprint store to see if he could upgrade my phone and maybe my plan so I could have easier access to email and such.  I couldn't respond much without crying, but how kind is that?  He asked me what else was going on in my life and then laughed because really, what else is there room for?

This, Dad.  All this.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

MUST... BLOG!

Do you now how many times in the last month I have started a blog and walked away from it?

It usually felt wrong to be here at all or was something that I couldn't explain right.  Tonight I was thinking about how my blog is this really neat view of what it's like to acquire a 7-year-old and be a totally imperfect but well-meaning stepmother.  This Sunday we went out to Topaz and Elaine had some videos of Chris and Joey when they were little.  I thought then about how it seems so inconsequential at the time we're documenting, whether it's with a camera or with letters or even a blog, but later they become so valuable and few.  A thought that occurs to me as I write this is that my blog helps me connect events and make sense of what the hell is going on.

So I just decided, just now at 7:30, that I needed to sit down and get it all out for several reasons:

1) Documentation of all the silly, wonderful, obnoxious, cute, and butt-headed moments of Ant's childhood so that someday he will have access to memories he might have otherwise forgotten.  And maybe I will look less like an ogre.  Maybe I will look worse.  Either way, it's always neat to see through another person's perspective.

2) I am an analytical person.  I'm also a very creative person, so there is a constant battle going on internally.  No wonder I can't figure out what job to do.  See?  I need to write to straighten my thoughts out- to find out what I think.  Some things I can't write here.  I'm trying to remind myself that I still have a journal, but I don't want that to be all bad, sad thoughts because later on when I'm dead and my writing receives worldwide attention thanks to Tracy's publishing efforts (and careful editing, of course), I don't want to look like a whiny asshole.  I NEED to write.

3) I need to write for a third reason that I only just figured out recently.  How am I supposed to apply for writing jobs if I don't have any examples?  I could write all day and very little of it would be boring.  My thoughts are ridiculous.  I censor myself so much in conversation and wind up looking like a dorky idiot.  The faster I can transfer information from my brain into written words, the more socially adept I will be.  I just need practice writing immediately so that I can respond faster in situations and actually say something witty... no, that is a skill that I will never fully have, but I would settle for anything better than "Uhhhhhhhhh."  (A snort/chuckle as I recall those various moments...)

One of the benefits of a blog is that I can choose what to tell you.  You all think I'm a great stepmother because I edit the situations to hide how dumb I was or how poorly I reacted.  I mean, part of that is just good writing- I don't edit THAT much.  If there's something where I really acted like a ding-dong, I just won't write about it.  One rare exception is yesterday, because I have a moment of redemption.

After Sunday in Topaz, the dogs were pretty well exercised.  That doesn't matter much in Riley's case, but Jasmine was toast.  Monday, I wanted to take Riley for a long walk alone because I never get to do that.  Jasmine was still tuckered out and her feet were a little cut up from the rocks, but I knew she would freak out if she got left behind.  My solution was for Ant to take her for a much shorter walk but to leave at the same time.  I told him exactly where I wanted him to go, calculating out how far we normally go and what would be enough for her to stretch her legs and feel walked.  As we parted ways, Jasmine kept pulling away from Ant and tried to follow me.  That was so cute and sad- I felt like I was leaving her at kindergarten.  Riley and I got over to the school, which is literally across the street.  I turned to pick up her poo and here's Ant walking back down the hill towards our house.  I wanted a short walk, but good grief.  He saw me, but from that far away I could see that he saw me.  His posture changed and he hesitated, not sure if I saw him.  Then he went inside.

I texted Chris and I did not go banshee.  I asked him to ask Ant why he hadn't done what I asked and to please send him back out.  Then I continued on my walk with Riley.  When I got home, I asked Chris if he'd gotten my text.  He had, but hadn't responded, which annoyed me to no end.  He said he'd asked Ant what happened, Ant said he'd done what I asked, and that was that.  I said that it was most certainly NOT what I asked, he couldn't have gone that far, blah blah blah.  Ant went into defensive mode and I was angry and insistent that he go do what I told him to.  Ant argued, I argued back, Ant was a snotty teenager, and I lost whatever shred of cool I had in the first place.  That gem ended with Ant outmaneuvering me and running out of the house with Jasmine to get away from me and take her for whatever walk he felt like.

You know in Anchorman when Brick (Steve Carrell) yells, "LOUD NOISES!"  He's a really dumb guy that never knows what's going on and is unintentionally very honest.  Well, I went back to Chris's office and while I yelled totally different things, this is what it would have sounded like if I was Brick:

"THAT GOT OUT OF HAND AND I DON'T KNOW WHY, PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED!!!!"

No, what I yelled was accusatory and completely unhelpful.  The good news is that I found the question relatively fast and managed to calm down and ask for help.  Chris, thankfully, worked through the situation with me.  "Don't argue with him," he said, "and don't accuse him of lying."  I indirectly accused, but still.  "Ask him to please go give Jasmine some more exercise.  Don't get drawn in, just repeat what you want him to do."

"But he was talking back!  Am I supposed to allow that?"

"Everybody talks back.  Even at work if your boss asks you to do something, you'll still grumble under your breath.  Ignore the talk."

When Ant came back, I thanked him for taking Jasmine out.  He went straight into Chris's office and shut the door.  I heard a bit of protest from Ant, but not whatever Chris was telling him.  I went on folding laundry.  I was still pretty shaky because I never feel okay until Ant and I are okay again.  When I went out to cook dinner, Ant was sitting at my desk doing homework.

"I'm sorry, Jenny."

I went to hug him.  "I'm sorry too."


We had wings and fresh veggies for dinner and sat down in front of a movie.  The sound was down and Chris asked Ant to go turn it up.

"It's just a quiet part," Ant said, not moving.

Well, Chris knew that the volume was down but didn't say anything.  I watched, seeing an example in progress of not getting drawn into an argument.  Soon enough, it became apparent that the volume was low and Chris asked Ant to go turn it up.  This time, he got up without a word.  Ahhhh, I see!

Not that I'm able to do that yet.  But oh, I look forward to it.

So our neighbors came over to hang out for a bit and Ant went to go play drums on his practice pad and then go to bed.  WAY later, Chris was talking music with the neighbor and went into Ant's room to find some piece of equipment and found Ant on Facebook with the old laptop.  Caught!

Chris didn't say anything to me until our neighbors left.  He came into the kitchen carrying the laptop and said, "Ant's grounded for a month."  Not only did Ant take that laptop without permission, he's certainly not supposed to have unlimited access.  He's been on Facebook at night- no wonder he oversleeps.  We had this deal with the iPod touch that he could use it with permission after homework but he had to put it back on the dock- no more texting all night.  But Chris said earlier that very night he went to get Pandora on the iPod and realized that Ant had stolen the broken one from our room and put it on the dock as a decoy, so he could keep the one that worked.  What a sneaky move.

Maybe I should have started with Sunday- there are so many things I want to tell you about.  I had a fasting lab Monday morning, so I had to be careful Sunday night.  No food after 8, so it was imperative not to crash and need sugar.  We ate by 7 and I kept my kit nearby to test right at 8 in case I needed to prop up on some protein.  When we left at 9, I grabbed my kit, but in the shuffle it didn't make it into my purse and for the first time EVER, in 7 1/2 years, I left my kit at Topaz.  Of course, I didn't figure that out until 11:45, long after we'd been at home.  Chris called to confirm ("Yep, here it is!") and we immediately changed Monday's plan to get my blood drawn, see if we could get a reading from that, bring along some needles and a fresh bottle of insulin, grab breakfast and go drive to Topaz.  I tried to console my idiot self by acknowledging that I have never done that before, and I've been on insulin for 11 years.  It really helped that Chris was supportive and flexible.  That made me realize how much easier it is to deal with problems when you don't receive a ration of shit from your partner.  Aha.

We checked through the linen closet for any old, stray meters but came up empty, so I just made sure I had juice and snacks by the bed.  Monday morning came without incident and we drove to the VA.  After the lab, we went up to see the Diabetes Educator to see if she could either A) check the lab results or B) quickly check my blood on one of her meters.  She was stuck on the phone, so her pharmacist came to help us.  When I explained my dilemma, she just gave me another meter.  "You should have a backup anyway," she said.

I heart the VA.  I am going to send them a valentine.

And here's the last part of this blog, I promise.

I got an email from Career Connections at UNR about a job fair today and decided I should go.  It was set up by the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources, but all majors were invited to go.  It was all a bunch of federal agencies: Department of Forestry, Land Management, etc.  I'm looking for a government job, so it was necessary to find some motivation and go be uncomfortable in front of people.  There were lots of factors that tried to derail me, like sleep and dog hair, but Tracy said I should treat it like an interview so I got up and dressed nice.  I went to check the email, but it had no information about when or where.  I wondered if that was like the government job process- how it's convoluted to weed out people, but a placement office is supposed to help you get a job, so I think that was just stupidity.  I called their office and got no answer, so I called the student union.  "Yep, it's here!"  Whew!  Successfully navigated that roadblock!  Now I just needed the resume.

Our printer died, so I went next door.  They weren't home, so I ordered a print job online through FedEx Kinko's.  They said it wouldn't be ready until 1, so I brought in a flash drive in case I could get it done faster that way.  Some entitled bitch stole my parking spot, so I muttered vicious curses and parked in the back.  There was a line, so I waited.  They said it wasn't due until 1, so I prepared to ask nicely.  It was already done, so I thanked them profusely.

Outside, I realized that I had no money for the meters at UNR.  On the way to the bank to make a withdrawal of $5 in quarters, I tried to keep myself psyched up.  "You already navigated three hurdles," I said to myself.  "Getting the info, printing the resume, and getting money for the meters!"

"No," said the wise version of myself I was having the conversation with.  "The biggest hurdle was leaving the house.  You're out here now.  You're already doing this."

Yay, yay!  It's all downhill from here!  No matter what the other hurdles are, I'm already out here!  I'm not going to stop now!  And it's a good thing, because here comes road construction!  Literal detours!

I went to the job fair and I talked to someone at every table.  I got fliers, I handed out resumes.  I got flat turned down at one table, but everyone else was positive and trying to think of possibilities for office jobs.  The Department of Forestry people were happy to hear that I already had an account on their application website and the guy at the last table asked if I had set up an account on the state website.  The state!  I hadn't even thought about a state job!  He gave me his card and told me to call if I need any help.

I promised myself that if I went to the job fair, I could have the rest of the day off.  Anything to propel me out the door.  So now I'm keeping my word- the job search resumes tomorrow.  It will be online applications all day.  I am glad I went and I have a lot of leads.

As for my kit, I have everything I need, so we're going to wait until Mike & Elaine need to come into town and then we'll meet them halfway.  Elaine called and said that Mike was sick.  He's Type II, and is on medication for it.  He has a meter but when they went to check his sugar, the battery was dead.  "Can we use yours?"  Of course!  Once they knew where he was, they knew how much medicine he needed.  Maybe I left it there for a reason.

Well, that's 3 hours of blog right there.  I should blog more often for your sakes if not my own.  It is amazing that I got all that written, especially with Ant singing the following nonstop from 8-9:

Chicken wing
Chicken wing
Hot dogs and BALONEY
Chicken and MACARONI
Chillin with my HOMIES!!!