Tales from the Steppes

2005-03-21

9:05 a.m.
And I say way-hey-hey, it's just and ordinary day, and it's all your state of mind

Last week was not a good one on the pet front here. The last two aquasaurs died. This did not sadden me at all, as I thought they were fairly disgusting little creatures and I was tired of hearing them scrabble in their gravel. The MM wanted to dissect them and look at them under his microscope. Unfortunately, he waited long enough that they disintegrated in the water and there was not enough left to cut up. No tears shed over that either. I will gladly order the MM something to dissect but teeny tiny crustaceans are not the way to start.

And then on Saturday, the EM discovered that Squooshy, faithful hamster, had gone to that Habitrail in the sky. This truly is a sad occasion, as she loved that little rodent. The timing of the discovery was pretty bad too. She had just come home from a day of ballet, after getting her first pair of pointe shoes that morning. She was so happy - she had looked forward to this day for most of her life. And then she found her dead hamster. Much drama.

Now she is agitating for a kitten. She has decided that she does not want another hamster, as they only live a few years. We are so not getting a kitten. Instead, I am letting her help me with Max, the ferret. Last night she gave him a bath in the tub and I am allowing her to put him in his ball when I am not around. Fortunately, he is a sweet ferret and does not bite very much. Seems to be a win-win situation as long as her brothers don't try to horn in.

Tomorrow I am going to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I have something that keeps coming out of place in my neck. I can push it back in but it comes back out later. Kind of gross. This is especially problematic because I am hyperelastic. Not double jointed but actually hyperelastic. What this means is that I have funky collagen so my joints are not strung together very tightly and my skin scars in a strange way. It is a disorder that has positive aspects as well as negative ones. It is not a stretch for me to put my palms upon the floor with my legs straight. And my abdomen is not covered with stretch marks after three kids. The problem is that when something goes, it really goes. So when my knee dislocated, there was no arthroscopic solution. And when I get cut, intentionally or accidentally, I end up with yucky scars because the new skin stretches and ripples between the old. The only real defense I have been able to come up with is to have lots of muscles around my joints and spine to strengthen them. Hopefully I am being excessively cautious here.

The EM's therapist thinks we should send her to private school next year, which is what I have said since she was in kindergarten. I find it very strange to have a 10 year old with a therapist. But whatever. The EM finds school very stressful because it is so loud and she is disorganized and they are always rushing them from class to class. And then her teachers don't really help the situation. She has one that shames the children if they don't do their homework or forget it at home. So her self-esteem has suffered and then a vicious cycle starts. And EM is very sensitive to begin with and if a kid calls her a name, she takes it quite personally. She is not too far out of the norm but just enough that it is a problem. Anyway.

Now the SU's therapist, that has never met the EM, opines that private school may not be the solution. I consider her opinion to be worthless but the SU listens to her. More than he does me, if the truth be known. I am getting a little testy about this, as I am the one that has to do the work here. Everyone else gets to sit around and criticize but I don't really see them pitching in to help. And of course, if I find a private school, I will be spending our money on our child and then the SU will be upset. I have a fundamental problem with people wanting decision powers when they are not otherwise involved. This is not a large corporation - we have no managers here. Needless to say, this is not a popular viewpoint here.