update

as if this update is interesting, but my brain can't think on a philosophical level at this point! i KNEW there was a reason i didn't have four kids!! the here and now is about all you can muster. everyone will just have to await my ponderings of comfort food (brought on by lotus' food meme) until i am less scattered. deal?

today i kept the 7 yr old boy-- "m" home from school with his 3 year old sister--"f" while my kids went to school. hey, i'm playing this by ear, and since they're not my kids, i must bend to parental authority. anyhow, we had a successful day walmarting and playing outside in the 70 degree sunshine. beautiful! we all got my kids off the bus at 3 pm and more playing ensued. their mom was dealing with funeral arrangements, but came at 5 or so to see how things were going.

OH BOY did the poop hit the fan. those of you with children understand that kids are immaculately behaved for strangers because they are outside their comfort zone. they know that if they misbehave for mom and dad, well, mom and dad will still love them! when they are not so comfortable, they rein in their emotions. apparently f and i are still in the honeymoon phase because for me, she is an angel. mom came and she was clingy, cry-ey, whiny, and just a terrible pain in the patella, which overwrought mom just didn't know how to handle in her emotionally fragile state. whew!

i had been brewing turkey rice soup all day with the thanksgiving leftovers (YUM!) so while we feasted on that, mom pondered what path she would like to take. it was decided that both kids would stay here again tonight (m decided for himself) and i would meet her at m's school tomorrow morning, without f.

distracting f was amazingly easy, and she has completely readjusted to our routine with not even a mention of mom. whew! i'm glad to keep her here in happy oblivion for a while longer.

so the status is: girl for one more day, boy for morning and possibly after school.

and to sruthi's question of the animals: yes! we have a dog and a cat, and since they have 2 dogs and 2 cats at home, they're all getting along famously. and jane (our crazy border collie) gives us a reason to all go for a long hike in the fresh air every day. it's for the dog! really! she REALLY needs to take a walk and herd us all together! yeah! absolutely NOTHING to do with burning off juvenile energy AT ALL!