Happy Mother's Day to Me

My moods have been so strange lately: one minute I'm loving my life and the next minute I am in such a pissy mood. I don't know if I am about to get a visit from AF for the first time since I was pregnant with Tess, but it could be. It's one of those things where I wish I knew, so that I could prepare for it. Of course, nothing every prepares me for the vile mood I get into, the crying jags, and the fits of feeling fat and wanting to stuff myself with food anyway. I sure haven't missed it. That's one of the things that I loved about being pregnant: I was so even-keeled. My emotions were in check, and I felt as if I was floating with all those good hormones.

So on Mother's Day, I realized I had forgotten the Baby Bjorn at a friend's house, and as Erik slept in (yes, I am going to sleep in on Father's Day), I had to get everyone packed and ready for the beach house. All I really wanted to do was have coffee, read the paper and relax by myself. For once, I really did just want a day to myself with nothing to do but meander through it. That's what got me so irritated. I feel as if Erik doesn't understand sometimes all that goes into getting ready with two kids to go somewhere. He just takes his shower, drinks his coffee and says, "okay, I'm ready." It's not that easy. But after we talked about it, I decided I didn't want to be in a bad mood, and the rest of the day was great. I got a chance to take a long walk out to the Point in Malibu, where the fog finally lifted, and it actually was almost hot. Erik had a small pool for the kids, and they all just played together. Tess slept most of the day. And I got a chance to play Scrabble, which I haven't played in so long. It was so nice to have time to just enjoy a game that involved words. I don't know why I love games like that so much, except that I'm good at them, and I really do love words. I love the sound of some of them. So the day did meander, and I felt rested. We did leave at about 8 o'clock, which was my target time, because Owen needed to get his rest for...

The big evaluation day. Of course, he slept badly, waking up three times in the night. The first time, he went to the bathroom, then he hit his head on the headboard of his bed. The second time, he fell out of bed, and when he fell asleep in our bed, he was having a nightmare and crying in his sleep. Of course, Tess woke up twice, which she never does. So, we made it to his evaluation, and I have to say, he did really well. I think they were all impressed. Of course, we weren't sure whether he should do well, or not, and I'm sure we will not get a lot of extra services because they were pleased with how well he does. But, I also need him to do well so that they can agree that a typical classroom setting is what is best for him. It took about 2-1/2 hours, but in the end, I felt so much better. I was so dreading this, thinking that Owen would just shut down, but he didn't. He played and did what they asked him. Of course, he is delayed in some areas, but I feel like he did well. The only person who irritated me was the school nurse, who wanted a detailed rundown of Owen's medical history and family history. When she came to the part about whether I had taken the amnio, I politely said no. Then she asked how the AFP tests came out and I said we didn't do any testing. She looked at me a little funny, and when she asked about Owen's sibling, and the testing we did for her, I said we didn't do any testing with her either. I said, "There was no point. We decided to take what God gave us." "Oh," she said, "very religious." Then, she asked me if there were any Down Syndrome people in my family, and I said no. So she said, "So it's not hereditary." Okay, people, come on. It is a FLUKE. It happens. Even I paid attention in science class when they talked about Down Syndrome and explained how it's not hereditary.

Now stupidity, that's hereditary.