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I woke up this morning feeling sick and have just been sort of sliding downhill all day. After getting the turkey into the oven I went upstairs and tried to get myself comfortable...but I just feel lousy. I'm sick to my stomach, have a headache, shoulder pain and a tooth ache. I can't tell if it's a real tooth ache or pain radiating from my shoulder.
I'm baffled by the shoulder...I must have slept on it wrong...but it's so sore that a warm bath, a heating pad, and an attempted massage by dh have done little to alleviate the discomfort.
We've had a whirlwind of ups and downs with the kids over the last two weeks that have again humbled me. I realized that I'm basically clinging on for dear life to this parenting roller coaster. One week we're up, the next week we're down...I suppose the fact that we have 4 children is what keeps me on my toes...I can always count on 1 child being down while the others are up...and if all of the stars are aligned....they can all have an issue going on at the same time [Roll Eyes]
In any case, the issues began when my soon-to-be 11 year old discovered some anti-harry potter websites written by some extremists who insist that HP is inspired by the devil,etc....I had no idea that he was visiting this particular website as I've never had any reason in the past to question his online judgement...although that has now changed. He began having tantrums and getting hysterical about it...and I had to completely unplug the computer.
Right around the same time, I had parent-teacher conferences for my 4th grader. We've had a non-stop series of social issues going on since school started. This involves her former best friend who we discovered 2 years ago was hitting my daughter in anger and was kicking her under the table whenever she'd eat. The child obviously has eating issues and we ended up having to end the friendship. As luck woudl have it, they ended up in the same classroom this year..and the..games began again.
I don't know what's wrong with kids...or parents nowadays....The girls here are so 'on-again/off-again' with their friendships. Every day that my daughter comes home she will tell me "Nicole and I 'broke up'...she said she hates me"...the next day "Nicole is my bff (best friend forever)"..the next day "why does Nicole hate me again?"
It's terribly confusing for her (and me, I might add) and after living here for 4 years, she doesn't have a single real friend that she can count on...not one. I feel sorry for her.
There were so many social issues in the classroom that my daughter resorted to her old standby...reading...so whenever there is "down-time" in the classroom she picks up a book and reads. The teacher informed me that she was having a meeting with the social worker about my daughter and her perception that my daughter is 'depressed'. I talked with her at length about the social issues and the fact that Amanda says she 'just doesn't want to deal with it anymore' and that somehow cinched it. The teacher basically let me know that girls always have been and are like this and since Amanda can't adjust and make friends with these freakazoid children of freakazoid parents
I suggested that a 'friendship group' might be more valuable for every single 4th grade girl to participate in since there are obviously wide-spread friendship issues...but that wasn't well-received.
I'm feeling exhausted by the unrelenting issues that continue to pop up. I wonder if we'll ever have a time in our lives where there is just...calm...relaxed calm.