Travel and illness Just checking in and starting a week of business travel away from home. It's been an exhausting last week, since my last post. Not bad. Just full.
D19 has a virus of some kind. Fever on and off since last Tuesday. That has kept me busy. It got up to 104 once and scared her. She's having a hard time dealing with it emotionally. She's great at the practical steps. This is her first experience at this where work is concerned.
"Dad, why can't you stay home with me?" "Dad, how do I tell Mrs M and A that I can't come in for camp kids?" "Dad, what do I say to Z and C about swim lessons?" "I miss my kiddos at work!" "Dad, I don't like it when you go away." "Dad, I won't have a paycheck for this week! What do I do?"
And to D17's annoyance, every 20 minutes all day long, "Dad, I don't feel good. It hurts."
Whew! That last one is a true test of just validating how she feels...over, and over, and over....
Where is W? Don't know. Haven't tried to find out. Doing my best to leave expectations at zero. Acting as if I'm almost completely solo. Watching behavior...W has been pretty consistent in transporting D17 to and from her gymnastics. When I let everyone know I would be on business travel this week, W mentioned she had an in home pet sitting job that week, but would stop by. So, I set up the kids with everything they would need until Friday when I'm back.
activities D17, S12, and I did go out to a church activity this last Saturday with brunch, throwing knives/axes, archery, inflatable water slides, etc... Not quite fantastic, but a good effort by all. Next Saturday a bike ride is planned with a friend and kids. Also casual fun times at home with badminton, a glowing ball and scoop game D19 picked up, etc... Bookstore with D17 who started picking up young adult novels. Hotwheels hunting with D19. Taking S12 to all the stores this time as my companion and advisor.
For me, well, less this week as things needed doing. My home server computer I built 6? years ago threw some errors so found a NAS on sale to replace it. I started transferring drives, files and accounts but it all takes time.
legal process I received emails from the court system...good thing I check my spam folder every week. The court date is set for 9/11/2024. How about that? ... It echos what I told W near DB2. "W, you choose chaos and destruction." I had to laugh a bit also. The court also requires her to take another parenting class (state law) because the one she eagerly took in an effort to D fast is from last year and won't count. It really does take a fair amount of time.
