Today W called me as I was driving in to work (late because of S7's suspension from the before and after school program). She was cordial, nice even, but her main purpose was, of course, to see if I could get to the real estate lawyers office early tomorrow to sign the papers -- the buyer wants to close tomorrow. She also talked about our kids and was engaging me in trying to figure out what had gotten into the both of them yesterday. For example, she offered the possibility that she had given S3 a vitamin supplement yesterday morning (which she doesn't usually do), and maybe S3 had some form of reaction to it. She had kept S3 the night before all night because S7 and I had been at a scout meeting, so she probably worries that S3's behavior might be attributable to that.
W also suggested that separating these two overnight like we did might be part of the problem. And she offered several other possibilities or solutions -- like upping S7's Ritalin dosage.
Whatever. She always does this, beating around the bush while an elephant is standing in the middle of the room. The whole time she was speaking I kept thinking to myself that the simplest explanation could very well be the answer -- that S7 and S3 are simply reacting in protest to the loss of their home and their family.
Maybe I inadvertently wear my angst on my face just a bit too readily for them to see. And it doesn't help that I hardly sleep anymore of late.
