I Survived!

I'm back from my weekend in town. We actually got home yesterday around 5:30PM but I didn't even turn my computer on. What a long weekend this was. I don't even feel like I had one because James moves at such a slow pace, we had to get up early every day.

That kid wore me out. Not because he was obnoxious or unruly; he's just so needy. There is not a lot he can do on his own. The basic things are easy for him, but things like cutting his meat or fixing a bed are difficult for him. He kept getting frustrated because I wasn't as quick to jump in and do it for him as his mother and grandmothers are. I kept getting frustrated because he was expecting me to do so much for him.

He's going to be 9 next month so it's not like I'm expecting too much from him. He's just so used to being catered to and waited on. He's not as independent as he should be at this age. No, I'm not expecting he should be able to totally care for himself. I just expect that he should be able to do simple tasks unsupervised. Things like packing an overnight bag. I asked him to put two outfits into his overnight bag and it took him 3 tries to get it right. He only got it right the third time because I stood over his shoulder and watched his every move.

At one point he got upset with me because he had to write his spelling words and cross out the silent letters in each word for homework. He said, "My dziish (our native work for grandmother) usually writes the words and I go through and cross out the letters."

I said, "Well, first of all, I'm not your dziish. Second, you are old enough to write your own words. It's good practice for you so get started."

He sat and pouted for almost 30 minutes before he finally wrote. He was lazy about it, though, so it ended up looking sloppy. BUT, he wrote them on his own. For the first time ever.

Being in town wasn't too bad. I raised my voice to him a couple times because he wouldn't quit arguing with me, but for the most part he behaved well. He's a chronic complainer but he's not whiny about it, thank goodness.

I'm just glad it's all over.

The only bad thing is, I've had a 4 day weekend and it doesn't even feel like it. I'm exhausted today. I wish it was Friday already.