I'm reading something new...

Well I finally finished that last novel I was reading, a murder mystery by P.D. James. Usually I like her novels but this one was kind of bland and predictable.

Yesterday I ran into the library quickly to pick up something, anything and I grabbed a novel by Adena Halpern called "The Ten Best Days of My Life." The main character finds herself in heaven with her dog after being run over by a Mini-Cooper at 4:00 am. In order to stay in heaven though, she must write an essay about the 10 best days of her life. I just read the first chapter last night and it's entertaining so far.

You see, I had to have some "fluffy" kinds of books to read, along with the other serious books. Sometimes I just want to flip through a magazine; sometimes I want to learn serious things; and sometimes I just want a trashy novel to escape in to. And the main reason that I needed fluff to read, is that finally, yes finally, my husband and I get to escape for the weekend with children!

I never thought it would actually happen. Between the 3 kids and all their medical and behavioral challenges it's been tough to find someone who can handle all of it/them. Oh yeah, friends have said we'll watch them for you. And that is so very nice of them to offer, but their kids are typically developing kids without special needs. And though they know my kids fairly well, dealing with them for 3 days and all their quirks and foibles could be a recipe for disastor.

My kids, like most kids, can spot weakness and fear instantly. However, unlike most kids, two of my three will take any situation to the extreme within about 30 seconds. The third child will always try and play peacemaker and tell the other two that they shouldn't be doing that, but do the other two listen to her? Of course not. Why would they? They're having fun. Let me give you an example..

We were over at my step-daughter's house for Mother's Day dinner. The weather was good, sunny but not hot. My son-in-law is attempting to bbq hamburgers without burning them while watching hockey and basketball with my husband. My step-daughter and I are upstairs looking at the latest photos of my grand-kids on the computer. My oldest daughter is going through my step-daughter's closet looking for dresses she can borrow. My 3 year old granddaughter is outside with my younger two playing with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Since the windows upstairs are open, we can see the smoke billowing from the bbq. We can also hear the 3 year old crying. Since apparently no one else in the house is capable of multi-tasking, my step-daugther and I go downstairs to rescue the 3 year old and the hamburgers.

Apparently it seemed like a good idea to start flinging bubble water at each other, which of course got into the eyes of the 3 year old and explains the crying. The bubbles also washed off some of the sidewalk chalk drawings which then started a battle to see which of my two could smear the other's drawings faster and wipe the soapy chalky mess onto each other.

After that was all stopped, they decided they would play soccer with the 3 year olds' new little net and mini soccer ball. By this time I'm inside helping get dinner ready and evenutally everyone eats their char-broiled burgers and the kids go back out to continue the soccer game. Within minutes my son comes in and starts yelling that she was throwing the soccer ball at his face; she yells that he did it to her first so she hit him. And it goes on and on and on....

And this all took place within less than 30 minutes. These two kids can sometimes play together fine. Sometimes. But left unsupervised, the play will usually degrade into someone getting hurt. It's tough because most kids at their age can be left outside in the yard to play relatively well together with minimal supervision. With two of my kids, there always needs to be "in you vision, supervision". Things just work out so much better if I do that. But for someone else not familiar with this type of supervision or less than age appropriate behavior, the day can easily get off track. And although it isn't good for the kids, they usually don't remember what they've done anyways, it really isn't good for adult friendships either.

But my point, and I do have one, is that we've hired one of my kids' former EA's to come and spend the weekend. Nothing scares her. She never shows weakness or fear. She's firm but kind, structured but fun. She's kind of like Mary Poppins without the poofy dress and umbrella. I have no doubt she will have fun with the kids and that they will be well looked after.

And even better, my husband and I get a weekend away in Vancouver with no one else to look after - just ourselves. And man, do we need the break!