Jena Six Rant Ahead

Okay, so if you know anything about the “Jena 6″ case, you know that it’s occurring in a small town in Louisiana that still has some MAJOR issues with racism. Let me catch up those of you who don’t know much about it. There are some rivalries at the highschool between some white boys and black boys. Apparently, a little over a year ago, the white boys pulled an anti-black prank. They were caught hanging a noose from a tree in the center of the school yard that was nicknamed the “white tree” and several black students had  sat under the tree one day after school. The white boys were suspended and the tree has since been cut down.

 Shortly after that happened, there was a schoolyard fight and as you can guess, it was between whites and blacks. One white boy was particularly injured and the six young black men who were involved in the fight are now being charged by the DA(an openly admitted racist) with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Now from the several press reports I’ve read and local town newspaper splurges, I’ve formulated my own opinion. However, that’s not what I’m ranting about today. Let me continue.

 In an effort to clear their children’s name from the charge of attempted murder, the families  are fighting for a lesser sentence. They aren’t disagreeing that their boys should be penalized for fighting, but they don’t think it was worthy of the “m-word” since there were no weapons involved and it was a sudden erruption of fighting.  This has drawn national attention to this small town and today, thousands upon thousands are gathering in Jena, LA to have a protest rally against the attempted murder charge. Caught up now?

Here’s where my rant begins:

 Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are anywhere where a camera/publicity is involved and of course, this is no different. So they’re fighting for equal rights and black justice in this case. Suddenly, they start ripping on Barack  Obama because as a black man, he should be doing a better job at attracting attention to this case, particularly by stating his opinions publicly, attending the protest rally in Jena today and becoming more involved. The Foxnews.com report read: “Jesse Jackson reportedly ripped presidential candidate Barack Obama for “acting like he’s white,” according to The State newspaper in South Carolina.”

This is where the rant gets personal: 

WHAT?!?? What the hell does his skin color have to do with how he feels about the case or how much attention he does or does not bring to the case? From the few facts *I* know of the case, I don’t agree with the murder charges, perhaps just a battery charge or something a little more appropriate for juveniles fighting on school grounds.  So I can say I’m standing on the side of “black justice” if I were asked, but because I’m white, I’m not supposed to feel that way? Because I’m white, I’m supposed to be someone who stands on the sidelines and doesn’t publically announce her opinion? Has anyone ever noticed that Jackson and Sharpton  are possibly the most racist public figures out there? I hate that because I’m “white” I’m not supposed to enjoy the freedom of an opinion and am  subject to such a racist remark implying that I wouldn’t grant justice to the situation even if I *had* an opinion. Because I’m white, I should automatically be ashamed of my skin color because I clearly would never get involved with granting any sort of justice to someone who didn’t share the same skin color as me. 

 I almost fell off my couch when I heard that this morning.  So am I allowed to have an opinion if I claim my Italian roots? Can my children have opinions because neither their paternal, nor maternal side ever owned slaves? (My italian family wasn’t even *IN* the country during that time period….)

Am I allowed to equate justice to a person based on their own merits and actions, not based on the color of their skin? Because that’s what I’ve been doing all along and if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right. I don’t tell black jokes and I’ve never disliked someone from the color of their skin. All of the friends I love are as diverse as the countries of the world, and they’ve never judged me for my skin tone, nor have I ever judged them based on theirs.  Why should Mr. Jackson feel the need to tell me that because I’m pasty by God’s good grace, that I’m  subject to his opinion of how a white man acts?  Freaking racist jerk…..

(And for the sake of my own sanity, I needed you all to know that in regards to today’s song choice: I don’t dislike Michael Jackson because he’s “black/white”, I dislike him because he’s a scuzzy child molesting pervert. But the song’s lyrics are an adequate match for today’s rant.)

  Blondes in Power

Granted, this man isn’t blonde:

 Either way, our country has come to the point of such frivilous lawsuits that we’re actually *suing God* for natural disasters.  Now, I know this man is only doing it to prove how frivilous lawsuits are these days, but it made me laugh to read the headline, “Nebraska State Senator Sues God Over Natural Disasters”.

Do you ever take a step back to look at your country and say, “Wow, we’re really beginning to sink pretty low…” France has been under that umbrella for awhile now and I think England is starting to notice the same thing.  Sure sure, beautiful countryside but it doesn’t reflect the state of stupidity and immorality the country suffers from.

 Back to our country:  Today’s headlines just really got under my skin. Next up to bat, a college student was asking some questions at a John Kerry seminar and when  he got a little excited while asking the question, the campus police went in to subdue him. The kid freaked out so badly  at the officers coming towards him, but wanted so badly to finish his question that he started shouting it as he tried to walk away from the officers. They ended up holding him down and as they made threats to tase him, he started squirming and crying, “NO! Please! Don’t tase me! I don’t know what I did wrong! Someone help me! What did I do wrong! I’m sorry! Please don’t tase me!!!” To which they considered him resisting arrest and guess what? They tased him. I’m thankful to hear that the university is looking into this case as a possibility of “excessive use of force.”

 There’s a video of the whole occurrance at this link: http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=2B6BF82EDC1EF6C5713E6EE51D3BC436?contentId=4385428&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Meanwhile, John Kerry just stood there the whole time, watching. He later commented that he had been willing to  answer the question of the student.

*sighs* So many things in today’s headlines that just make me want to move to Texas, put it on a floating raft and sail it away to the middle of the ocean where we don’t have to be around the rest of the stupidity of the world.

 Ohio’s governer is reported to be  Hillary Clinton’s  top choice for running mate. California’s abolishing the word “marriage” because these days they consider everything a “union.” Marriage has no more meaning to them. Nebraska is only corn, Montana is desolate and Alaska is over run with moose. So my top three choices for “The Perfect State” are

1. Texas

2. South Carolina

3. Indiana

(Sorry Indiana, you only made number three because SC has better peach cobbler.)

 Maybe the three states can secede and float to the middle of the ocean together.  Stupid Ohio…..

About Time

I’ve been asked several times about a baby registry and have finally found the time to peruse the walmart.com website.  We really aren’t asking for much  since we’re so well stocked in the furniture we received for Caitlyn. It’s mostly loaded with warm winter boy clothing items and bathing items.  The site won’t let you put diapers on the registry, but what’s the number one request from Mommies-to-be? Diapers and wipes!!

 Oh well. I’m a little embarrassed to be posting this on the xanga site because I don’ want us to seem like we’re  begging. I just know that this is the easiest media to use to get the message out the quickest.  So please don’t feel like this is something I’m requiring or pushing on anyone. If you’re one of the people who were asking about the registry, please feel free to view everything at www.walmart.com . You don’t need the following information to access it, just have our names ready. Here’s the excess information anyway.

                                                   Parents: Amanda and Derek Williams

                                Expecting: November 9th, 2007

                                  Registry ID: 86182587142

God bless you all!

Just Another Day

The original title of this post was “Just another boring day” but before I could even hit “submit” on it, I got some excitement. This site is freakin jinxed…. So for  now,  I have removed the word “boring” from the title

I was typing  this submission in when suddenly, the smoke alarm started going off. I stood and walked over to it and could smell burning plastic coming from somewhere. All of my windows were open  so there wasn’t any visible smoke and nothing looked hazy coming in from outside. I called mom and talked to her just to help get some ideas of where to look. I sighed because I knew that my FCC requirements were to call the fire department and have a full response sent out. (which seemed like overkill.)  After calling the fire department, they told us to evacuate the house and  wait for them outside. Derek was grumpy for having to wake up and participate but obliged. Then I called the FCC office and one of my supervisors said she’d be on her way to assist if necessary. By the time we were all outside, the first truck was pulling in with two more behind it, sirens going full blast. Suprise, suprise, they didn’t find anything. I’d told the 911 kid that I didn’t see any emergency but the scent was obviously  enough to make the alarm go off.  (but I know their regulations are to send a full response.) So the few neighbors I have must’ve thought I was  offering burnt sacrifices to the greek gods because our house was surrounded by fire units for about 20 minutes. My supervisor, Laurie, got there just in time to see the trucks driving away. Glad to know I bothered everyone’s day for no reason. Oh well, I can mark the chart showing I did my fire drill for this month. =)  Plus, little blonde Jack had a blast waving to all the firemen and firetrucks.  One of the men was asking if there were any animals inside. I told them about the dog and cats upstairs in the guest room.

He asked, “Is your dog mean?”

I told him, “Not normally, but with you in that fire-monkey suit, who knows?” It made all the fire guys laugh and I didn’t feel quite so ridiculous for having to call them all out over a smokey scent.

 Even though I adore little blonde Jack, I’m kinda looking forward to him leaving.  Next week will be his last week. It’s also the last week for the *other* Jack(the snotty drop-in kid.) I watch who is moving to New Jersey for a few months. (His mom is just as far along in her pregnancy as I am and her hubs is deployed already. SUCK.) So I’ll only have little Ethan drop in for a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (he is a SCREAMER.)

 Meanwhile, all of this means I can start sleeping in past 6am! WOOT!  I’m considering not taking on any new kids and just taking a break until Aidan is born. I hadn’t intended to quit, but without full time kids and all my normal drop-in kids leaving, why continue paying for the license and insurance I won’t be using? Also, we’ll be moving back to Texas just a few months after Aidan is born during Derek’s deployment, so that would be an awful lot of new adjustments for any new kid to have to go through. 

 Since I’ll actually have a free schedule, I can start going to the baby doctor appointments like I’m supposed to. After the one on September 28th, I have to start going every week. *sighs* Children are so time consuming! =)

I know it’s a day early, but here’s the baby update:

Baby Update: 32 weeks (approximately 7 weeks left)

By now, your baby is just shy of 4 pounds and is nearly 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You’re gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he’ll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

To accommodate you and your baby’s growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn.

 Crap Crap Crap

Damnit. I just got really discouraging news. My favorite kiddo that I watch (little Blond Jack)  just put in his two weeks notice with us.  His mom said the base daycare center called and they have an opening that’s cheaper than my services. (I’m only the cheapest on base after them.) They get government funding and can provide care on an income-based scale, and I’ve always known that his mom was strapped for cash. That’s why I was trying to get my state approved license so I could get a grant as well and charge her less money. Unfortunately that takes almost 6 months to acquire and I know she won’t wait with me for that long.

 So now I’m really dissapointed. Not only because he’s such a great kid, but also because we’d just bought that friggin expensive laptop thinking we’d have a steady income to pay it all off and I don’t have any other full time kids, just a bunch of drop ins. The drop in care will barely make up half of what I make with Jack.  Plus, after the laptop was paid off, we were saving up for my ticket to Texas for when Derek deploys in February. So I guess I should become a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman?  *le sigh* Derek’s right, I need to get off my butt and just put all of our garage crap on Ebay. I suppose now I can’t claim to be too busy with FCC care. 

Out of the blue, Derek decides yesterday that we’re going to clean our entire garage from top to bottom.  So I have plenty of junk to put online. Plus, it makes our garage look phenomenal.  I’ll have to take pictures sometime. I know that sounds lame, but how many pristine garages have you seen before?

So I’m highly dissapointed because even though this mom always seemed to question everything I do, her kid was amazing and I loved tickling him and giving him hugs.

 Maybe I’ll get lucky and have another full time kid who’ll be as well behaved as Jack is to make our ends meet.  It’s a laughable idea, but who knows. The power of prayer has never hurt anyone so there’s my option.

Love to you all!

Here’s some funniness:

Robin Williams, wearing a shirt that says “I loveNew York” in Arabic. 

Robin Williams’ plan:

“I see a lot of people yelling for peace, but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here’s one plan.

1) The US will apologize to the world for our ‘interference’ in their affairs, past & present. You know: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those ‘good ole boys.’ We will never ‘interfere’ again.

2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don’t want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.

3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home After 90 days, the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. They’re illegal!!! France will welcome them.

4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself and don’t hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

5) No foreign ‘students’ over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a D, and it’s back home, baby.

6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy-wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy, but will require temporary drilling for oil in the Alaska wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not ‘interfere.’ They can pray to Allah, or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement, or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything

9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don’t need the spies and fair-weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us ‘Ugly Americans’ any longer. The language we speak is ENGLISH…learn it…or LEAVE.

Now, isn’t that a winner of a plan? The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses’. She’s got a baseball bat, and she’s yelling, ‘You want a piece of me?’ “

Like a Yo-Yo

Okay, so remember how we’d said we couldn’t go on the February deployment? Then they put us on the December deployment? Yeah, well now, we’re on the February deployment again.  I know, this is insanely confusing.

 Derek had a meeting with his supervisor today and said, “Hey, my training is supposed to start the week my son will be born. Can I just start a week late to be around for his birth?”

Then the supervisor said, “Weren’t you supposed to be going in February?”

To which Derek replied, “Yeah, but they said I’d only have a month to be back here before my terminal leave started.”

Sup: “Are you willing to cut it close to see the birth of your son?”

Dew: “Umm…. Yeah?”

Sup: “Alright, you’re going in February. There’s no more changes allowed, got it?”

Dew: “Fine by me, sir.”

Me: HOORAAAAY!

So we’re gonna have Derek here for Aidan’s birth, his first Christmas, Caity’s second Christmas, etc… So while we *are* still losing Derek for awhile, it’s not as soon as we thought and his training will be cut from two months to two weeks. Yay for us!

 I’m still kinda reluctant to let myself get excited because anytime I post anything on this jinxed site, the opposite happens. So I’m typing this with crossed fingers (which is difficult.) and praying for God’s will to continue on whatever path it may. All I’ve got is faith and what happens will happen. Also, instead of going to Iraq, he’ll be headed to U.A.E. which is supposedly safer..?

Anyhow, I’ve just gotten an extension on my planning  craze. Instead of having to leave the house in 7 weeks, I’ve got another 4 months of slow deliberate thought processes. No more craziness. (my fingers are still crossed… just in case.) After I’d found out the iraq news, I’d severely lost my appetite and haven’t really eaten much since then. Now that I’ve got better news and the weight has been lifted, I’M STARVING.  Which pleases Derek because he’s been so worried about Aidan getting enough to eat. (I’m sure Aidan is fine…)

Love to all.

Watch The cuteness:

Baby Update: 31 weeks (9 to go)

This week, your baby measures about 16 inches long. He weighs a little over 3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He’s probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby’s kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Had a Bad Day

Okay, I’d like to retract a statement. Remember a few posts ago when I made the following comment :

 Christmas and Transgenders

 Now I know why stores are already putting signs on their empty shelves that say “We’re preparing for Christmas merchandise!” It’s for the psychos like me who suddenly feel the urge to  go buy an entire shopping cart full of cinnamon  flavored potpurri and air fresheners, apple cider and tiny little porcelain villages. I’ve never felt the urge this early in the year, but years of training by Hallmark and Wal Mart are slowly preparing me for Christmas before Halloween.  I remember how much fun last year was with all of Derek’s family here and I can’t wait to be with them for another holiday season. Plus it means this darn parasite will be out of my belly by then. I don’t know how much bigger he thinks he can get in there, but it already feels like he’s  as big as Caity when she was born.  I’m supposed to be going to regular doctor’s appointments, like every two weeks until October, then every week after that. *psh* yeah right… Who has time for that? When I was working retail while preggers with Caity last year, I made my own hours. I was on the management team and could easily slip out for an hour, leaving the store to other staff members. What do I do now that I’m in this career field?  Sure, I *could* tell the kids I’m leaving the house for an hour and to behave while I’m gone…. but somehow, I don’t think that’d turn out as simply as it sounds.  Child neglect, anyone?

 I’ve become a “Trunthepaige” junkie. She’s got similar views on politics and general  perceptions, but even if I didn’t agree with her, she’s so darn quirky. Her site is worth checking out. Also, any daily news that would tick me off that I happen to miss, she always posts on her site for me to view and become equally peeved at. The most recent post? About the parents who let their 5 year old boy choose to wear dresses to school, the playground, etc. Okay, so you raise your child in a liberal way, that’s your perrogative. Strange to me, but it’s your choice.  The thing the article fails to mention is that the mother no longer offers him a choice between boy clothes or  girl clothes, they only have dresses now.  When she asks him what he wants to wear, she lets him choose between three different dresses, not pants. Also, she calls the boy’s school and asks them to protect him from any teasing. But isn’t that what makes us stronger? I remember back in my first year of highschool, an atheist girl began to make fun of me for wearing a cross necklace. At first it hurt my feelings, but I didn’t stop wearing my cross. It was my choice and my belief.  Eventually the atheist girl became so enraged by my lack of caring that she dumped her lunch tray all over me and threw ketchup-covered french fries at my hair and face. Okay, that sent me home in tears… but did it stop my faith? Hell no!  I grew stronger because of it. I learned that by standing up for what I believed in, I became a stronger person. Now I’m not suggesting that the school encourages children to throw food at the boy, but for crying out loud, don’t make him afraid to stand up for his convictions….  If you honestly  let him wear dresses because it’s the “person he wants to become”, a little teasing isn’t going to change his mind.

 Now let me remind you friends that I personally do NOT agree with it and find it a strange and disgusting idea. I know a few of you personally are in similar situations with trans-gender family members or have the urges yourselves, that’s your perrogative. I just wouldn’t raise my FIVE year old that way.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to screw up my one year old by raising her the best I can. (starting with pictures that make her look stoned.)

Hyped up by Hypocrites

*WARNING: Political rant ahead. Feel free to be offended by my opinion, it just means you have your own.*

   The thing that irritates me about this whole Sen Craig thing is the way the media is handling it as opposed to past situations with Democratic men. I understand that the media is the lapdog for the democratic party, but at what point do you just have to say ” Come on ya’ll,  let’s try EQUAL coverage.”

 I don’t defend Senetor Craig or the plausibility that he was really asking for sex in the bathroom. Maybe he really was “tapping his foot in a sexual manner.” Clinton was putting cigars in cornholes years before  this man was tapping in the bathroom.

 If you hadn’t already heard, Sen Craig was tapping his foot close to another man’s bathroom stall  and had his luggage pulled in front of the stall door in a certain way, which according to the  AP report is a symbol for anonymous gay sex in public places. (What else would you do with the luggage? I’ve never been able to fit mine in the darn stall…) Craig’s tapping happened to be next to an officer of the law who promptly did something about it and Craig went ahead and plead guilty. He claims his guilt acceptance was simply to draw attention away from the matter quickly and just get it over with although he denies that he was trying to ask for sex and was merely tapping his foot. (If there’s all these hidden symbols for  that sort of thing out there, I wonder how many people I’ve accidentally asked for anonymous sexual acts without knowing it.. Maybe I shouldn’t go out in public anymore. *smirks*)

  I just can’t help but wonder : If he had instead just told the entire world that he was gay  after this happened, would this be so scandalous? (*laughs* assuming he hadn’t voted against the same sex marriage act) Sure,  he’s a member of Congress meaning an amount of decorum is required in public places. HOWEVER, would he be accepted by the liberal media a little easier if he’d just said, “Hey ya’ll, I’m bi-curious and/or gay.”  I know the man is married but if the tables were turned, how would this have been viewed? I’m sure the overly conservative republicans would then discontinue voting for him  from his actions, but hey, at least he’d have more support from the gay and lesbian community, no? What if he’d been a liberal like the  similar situation of Jim McGreevey? I dunno. I realize there are some people with sick sexual fantasies out there and anonymous public gay sex has to rank up there on the list of strangeness.  I just think  if we had to “let private matters be private” for our previous cigar loving president, why not just get this whole thing overwith. I’m just so sick and tired of hearing about it *every day* on *every* media broadcast and *every* news website.

 Plus, since he didn’t even attempt to stand up for himself, that reflects poorly on him. Whether you’re Democrat, Republican or other, you have to admit- the Republicans have a serious problem lately with standing up for what they believe in and then voicing said opinion. Unfortunately for them, it’s gonna cost them self-respect as well as votes if they don’t stop waffling.

*end rant*

 Baby Update: 30 weeks

Only 2 months and 9 days left! Your baby’s a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it’s not very keen; even after he’s born, he’ll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he’ll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Okay, let me explain something…

 The two boys I mentioned in my last blog were… well, hellions. After a trial period of only a week, I quickly realized that Manny was NOT going to behave and Dominic was NOT going to stop screaming. I really had tried my hardest not to complain on this site because I didn’t want you all to think I was just the whiney pregnant lady who shouldn’t have taken on so much. But guess how yesterday went?

 Manny decided to tackle Blonde Jack who immediately got a bright purple bruise on his cheek where he landed on the concrete outside.  Then, Manny decided it would be a good idea to knock the crap out of our PCS kid, Taylor who wears glasses. The glasses caught the corner of his eye and put a half-inch gash  in the side of his head.   When Manny was sentenced to the eighth time-out of the day, he hurled himself against the screen door, which promptly flew off it’s hinges. Manny sat in his time out and a few minutes later was allowed to get up. It only took him 3 minutes to get sent *back* to time-out. He threw a fit and hurled himself yet again against the screen door that I had propped against the  house out of the way. The door  falls over and lands on Caity who was attempting to capture and eat ants. Caity only got boppedon the head  by the mesh part of the door and stared into space, wondering what the heck it was that just landed on her head, but couldn’t see anything because it was… well, mesh.

 Dominic was dropped off late due to a doctor’s appointment. His mom realized she didn’t have any formula in the bag for him when she was leaving and said she had to run downtown for a second for work and she’d be right back with more formula.  Over three hours later, Dominic still had no formula and was *HUNGRY*. Three hours doesn’t sound like much, but at his age, babies eat every two to three hours and I had *no* idea when he’d been fed prior to being dropped off. I started calling her cellphone every twenty minutes, (knowing she wasn’t at work) and phoned all of her emergency contacts trying to find *anyone* who could bring formula to the kid. Even if I’d *had* something he could have used, I wasn’t supposed to administer formula to him that wasn’t signed in by his mom. That’s the agreement *she specifically* asked for. I called my supervisor who got the numbers of all the people I’d been calling and helped me continue to call them as well as the mother’s work every ten minutes, leaving messages. After almost four hours of no food, the kid screamed and cried himself to sleep, nearly hyperventilating in the process. I’d been trying to feed him bottles of water to fill his tummy since that’s all that I’m allowed to do by law, but the kid wasn’t fooled. My supervisor was looking up numbers of  people who she needed to report this issue to since the five hour mark was coming up and that constitutes child neglect. Fortunately for the mother, she called and said she was on her way right over and had the formula, then hung up before I could ask her anymore questions. Over an hour later, she ran through the door, set the bag on the table and ran back out before I could even get up off the couch with the exhausted baby.  She said nothing and didn’t bother to even look at me. I called my supervisor who was just getting ready to report the incident to her higher ups and called off the hounds.

   When their mom came in to pick them up, I sat her down and had “the talk.”  My supervisor had suggested that I use any guilt the mother felt from the baby’s incident to my advantage for Manny’s discipline problem.  I told the mother that Manny would need strict and consistant discipline not only at my house but at his house in order to nip the problem quickly. I told her that if we weren’t working together as a team, nothing would be accomlpished and in my current preggo condition, I couldn’t afford to be his only source of discipline. (She and their dad are divorced and dad lives in Midland. )  I let her know that if she was not willing to work with the terms I’d put forth, she’d need to find another form of child care because I wasn’t going to allow any further destructive or abusive activities around the other children.  I handed her a list of local daycares and other FCC providers and said to let me know what she’d decided. After she left, she called twenty minutes later saying that the boys would not be in attendance with me any further. She’ll be by to collect the rest of her week’s payment and the baby’s formula she’d left by this evening.  So today, I’m not stressed, I haven’t yelled and feel so mellow, Derek thought I was on drugs.   I have four kids with me today and none of them are the spawn of the devil.  =)

My week long nightmare is over. The money was good, but as Derek stated, “There’s no amount of money that would be worth risking your health and Aidan’s health. ” Awwwww! (he got a kiss for that one.)