TheMommyBlog

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
“... those last minutes of her life, why she was in the closet, what they… ‘
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
The door to the computer armoire

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
12:47

5: Now look at the clock; what is the actual time?
12:42

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Absolutely nothing! See #5.

7: When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
3 p.m., to call the boys back in from the torn-up yard, where they were waving goodbye to the sitter

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
Honestly? I came straight here to see what my Opposite Day bloggers had been up to

9: What are you wearing?
Orange/mango striped Hannah Andersson long johns

10: Did you dream last night?
Yes.

11: When did you last laugh?
Around 8:30 p.m. See #3

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Two framed Story People prints, a small, white porcelain crucifix, and a large wooden plaque that reads, “IT’S GOOD TO BE QUEEN”

13: Seen anything weird lately?
I need a slightly more precise definition! My perspective is all skewed!

14: What do you think of this quiz?
I like it—it jumps around enough to be interesting

15: What is the last film you saw?
Before Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove, Disney’s Hercules *sigh*

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
Freedom from mortgages for as many family members as possible

17: Tell me something about you that I don’t know.
Riffing off’s Daisy’s answer… I’ve been on TV three times: on Clubhouse 22 (a children’s program in Ohio) to pick a raffle ticket, on Sunup San Diego as a hair model for “trends of the 90s”, and on the local news at the food bank nine years ago, when the cameraman got a shot of my derriere while I was loading frozen turkeys into a car

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Get rid of W, and then in a fit of originality, ask the world community at large what they thought might go next

19: Do you like to dance?
Yes, more in my own company than not

20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?
I think that the song I linked to earlier in the week said it best: he’s the idiot son of an asshole

21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Daphne Josephine

22: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Logan William

23: Would you ever consider living abroad?
Of course!

Miss R has had a ‘best friend’ since she was about 3. Since this child is the daughter of one of my best friends, well, it makes it more awkward to address to the parent over the whole situation, because, fundamentally the two of us are divided on the subject matter. And we’ve been through this same kind of situation before, just 4 years ago, so the subject is sore for me.

At any rate, Syd the Kid and Miss R are ‘on the outs’. The reason? Another close friends daughter, AM. Now AM has always been a child who craves attention, good or bad. She has always been claiming that she’s being ignored or someone is being mean to her, etc. In actuality, she enjoys taking “A” and “B” and pitting them against one another..

So, AM and Syd the Kid are now attending the same school, and hanging with the same kids and both have ‘boyfriends’, who are friends.

This has not been a problem for Miss R, because she has continued making the effort to do things with both girls, independently, because SHE realizes how AM can be..I think jealous would be another way to describe it?

The last two Tuesdays my daughter has returned home from Church Group in tears. Both Syd and AM have decided, intentionally or not, to leave Miss R out. Of conversation, of stories, of Church Group, whatever..my child is feeling left out. And it hurts.

I just held her tonight and explained to her that sometimes girls are like this and they go through rough patches, but friends always find a way, and that things will work themselves out in the end. I reminded her of all her friends at HER school, and how she does fun things with them, like Flag Corp and Choir and silly other things.

Sure, it’s expected that the girls will drift apart a bit..drift, though, not leave one adrift.

The two mothers involved, or rather NOT involved, both have the same philosophy of ‘letting the girls resolve it themselves.” Well, yeah, that’s all fine and dandy, unless it is your child who is coming home with tears and hurt feelings..from CHURCH group, no less.

You know, I tried to let B resolve a similar situation a few years back, and what happend was he lost LOADS of self-esteem and had to be put on anti-depressants for two years. He still is awkward in social situations, because of his former ‘best friend’, who decided for no particular reason one day to (1)dump him and (2)make his life a living hell in the process.

So, bitter? Yeah. A little.

The suckiness of it all is just beyond explanation. I don’t even know if I’m making any kind of sense, because I can remember going through the same kind of situation when I was a ‘tween’ with two girls: Carolyn Freeman and Dee (I swear I’m not making this one up) Stump. Carolyn was my best friend and Dee couldn’t stand it..Syd was my daughter’s best friend and AM couldn’t stand it.

This whole’ muddling through life’ can suck almost as much as teenage girls can suck.

In the meantime, I can hold her and love her and talk to her and I can encourage her to let the other girls know how she feels about they way she is being treated..and stand up for herself. Not so easy, as I’m not a big fan of confrontations.

Miss R will get over it. Or she will think she has, until she has children of her own, one day. Maybe she’ll have figured out a bit of wisdom along the way to ease the sting of the pain for her and her child too. I know I’m searching for the words to ease her little broken heart.

submitted by the fortyish fatale