Reluctant Grandma

Surprise for Grandma

Grandma — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:22:53 +0000

This morning I was half asleep and trying to decide if I wanted to wake up or go back to sleep for an hour, when I heard a strange noise in the living room. Something had dropped and clattered to the floor. So I started to wake up and figure out what caused the noise when I heard another sound similar to the first. All the dogs were accounted for in the bedroom, but they had heard it, too, and were sitting up, alert. Another strange sound, more like a thump or a clump, and I realized there must be a little boy going through his toy box in the living room. We weren’t expecting any little boys today, but for some unknown reason there he was, in the living room, in pajamas, trying to play quietly and not disturb us from our sleep. Once he saw us, stumbling aorund in search of a bathrobe and slippers, there was a huge grin and a hug, and off we went to the kitchen to fix some breakfast.

School Pictures

Grandma — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:06:27 +0000

Two small pictures of our grandson in the first grade showed up last night. They aren’t very good of him, but I don’t think you get to choose a pose - you take what you can get. I wish she would take him to KMart’s photo department and let them do a variety of professional poses. He is a cute kid with quite a spark in his eyes, but you don’t see that in this forced smile school photo.

Special Delivery

Grandma — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:32:02 +0000

We were asked to hand deliver her paycheck since she can’t get to the warehouse to pick it up. She needs the money and it wasn’t out of the way, so we drove by her apartment to leave it with her. I’m surprised she didn’t ask for a ride to the bank. We could see through the open door that the worthless POS boyfriend was sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Guess without her car he can’t get back and forth to work, either. You would think that having worked there for about a year he wold have made friends with one or two of the guys so he could call and ask for a ride for a few days and he could offer to kick in a few bucks for their gas. But no - I can see that he feels entitled to sit at home all day since she is.

Bad time of year to not be working. Who is going to pay the rent due next week? Is our grandson going to have a new costume to go out trick or treating? He’s in the first grade and this is the best time of their lives for holidays like Halloween and Christmas.

She Wrecked the Car

Grandma — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:19:03 +0000

Every car that we’ve let her have or drive she has trashed or wrecked. We finally took the Taurus back when she had her ass attack back in May. If she’s going to be an ass then she doesn’t get the free use of the car. So she went without for a few months and somehow talked a used car lot dealer into letting her buy a used Jeep Cherokee off the “buy here - pay here” lot. It was easy to figure out which one was hers. The one at the depot parking lot with the temporary tags that expired 6 weeks ago.

So this morning I get a wake up call from hubby that he’s at the emergency room with her. She wrecked the Jeep and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. While reading some papers she drifted off the road and hit a brick mailbox. The car had to be towed off. The police found out that she didn’t have insurance and the tags are dead. I wish they would have taken her jail, but they sent her to the hospital for x-rays. Who is going to pay for all that?

She’s not hurt worse than whiplash. The car is totaled. Now neither she nor the boyfriend has a way to get to work. Lovely.

And now the grandson rides the bus to school and back.

His Own Room

Grandma — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:56 +0000

She was going to get a one bedroom apartment because it was cheaper and she didn’t care if he had to sleep on the couch. After all, he’s little and he usually falls asleep on the couch every night watching TV anyways.

I told her that was not a good idea - that he needs his own room so he can have someplace to go and have some privacy. Even little kids deserve some privacy, and so does she for when she wants to have some adult time without him sitting on the couch. So she did at least get a two bedroom apartment and he does have his own little bed in there, with the toy chest that we bought for him and the little kid table and chairs that we bought for him and the nightstand that we bought for him.

Paw Paw’s Birthday Ignored

Grandma — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:57:45 +0000

We had to both go into the warehouse this afternoon and our grandson was there. I’m furious that she brings him and makes him sit for hours while she works. It’s a warehouse for goodness sake - he needs to be outside playing with other children and not forced to sit in a warehouse full of heavy equipment and pallets of papers.

When we walked in he came running up to hug PawPaw. I asked him if he was going to wish PawPaw a Happy Birthday. He was surprised that it was PawPaw’s birthday and that he didn’t know about it or have a present to give him. She just walked by and ignored the whole gathering. Great lesson for the grandson in that. We give him loads of presents for his birthday and Christmas. We get nothing.

Stranded

Grandma — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:07:28 +0000

The school called and asked if we knew where his mother was, as she hadn’t shown up to pick him up after school. School had already been out for over 30 minutes and she lives only 4 blocks away. Honestly don’t know why she has to drive him back and forth anway. The bus ride is 10 minutes or less and he should know most of the kids from the projects where they live.

But we tried to call her cell phone and its disconnected again. So we piled into the car and drove down to the school to pick him up. Just as we pulled into the school parking lot she called from her boyfriend’s phone and said that she had just left the school and no need for us to go. An hour late and she has nothing to do all day and she still can’t get to school to pick him up on time. Of course, she pulled the same crap at least 6 times last year. Unbelievable.

Conniving Hussy

Grandma — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:47:35 +0000

So after her ass attack the day after Mother’s Day and absolutely no apology for the drama and the problems, my stepdaughter evidently desperately needed a babysitter - especially an historically FREE babysitter - and last night after we were already in bed, sound asleep, she calls hubby and puts our grandson on the phone.

“Oh Paw Paw. I miss you so much! Can I come to your house and visit?”

Of course, hubby will never say “no” to the grandson and agrees to come pick him up around lunchtime on Saturday.

My question as to why is a 5 year old up at 11:00 pm didn’t get answered.

My question as to are we keeping him overnight or just for a few hours didn’t get answered, either.

The fact that I wasn’t even consulted as to whether it was convenient for me to watch a 5 year old all day and all night was not a consideration, either. And to be honest, it wasn’t going to be convenient.

So we drive over to pick him up and he comes trotting out with a change of clothes in his hands and a deck of cards and an opened, half eaten bag of potato chips. He climbs into his car seat and buckles up - we have him well trained on that little exercise.

His mom comes over and acts all lovie to her dad and says not a word to me. So I ask her when is she going to straighten things out with me. She just stares at me for a moment and thinks it over, then drops her eyes - the obvious clue that she has no intention of making good on it. Then she snatches up the grandson and makes him go back inside the roach hole apartment they are living in and stomps off.

End of visit.

Putting My Foot Down

Grandma — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:40:07 +0000

The household joke is that when I get mad - and it’s not that often, really - I stamp my foot. Well, I’m mad and I’ve decided to put my foot down.

My New Year’s resolution was to no longer accept being lied to. If I feel like someone is lying, I intend to confront them, then and there. I feel strongly about telling the truth and I feel strongly about avoiding confrontations. So there is the conflict in my resolution. But I feel that changing people’s behavior often requires confrontation, because some people just don’t take hints and gentle suggestions.

So, my stepdaughter is a habitual liar and I’ve had enough of that. It’s even rubbing off on my grandson. He hears the lies at home and is trying to pull the same crap here with me that his mother does. So, I’ve put my foot down on the lying and she’s chosen to not bring him over here for visits. Like THAT’s a positive parenting choice!

Meet our GS

Grandma — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:48:59 +0000

This whole blog thing is new to me, so forgive me if I ramble on a little too much or make so faux pauxs in the beginning. I’m just learning my way around the blogoshpere. One thing I have figured out is to not use people’s real names, so I’m trying to figure out the nicknames and vague references to where we actually live. Still thinking on that.

We keep his grandson at our house quite a bit, usually on weekends. He’s in school now, so we don’t normally have him over on school nights, but sometimes we have extra tickets to something and want to take him with us, and sometimes he just wants to sleep over, which is fine with us. They live about 10 minutes from here, and our house is on the way to her work, which is at night. So when its too much trouble for her boyfriend to watch the sleeping kid while she works, we keep him over here. He has his own Spiderman covers and collection of DVDs, and I keep a couple changes of clothes in a cupboard for him.

School is making a tremendous impact on his life, although he is having a little trouble adjusting to all the new rules and so many adults giving him directions. He has really grabbed hold of letters and words, and he is just now realizing how numbers affect our everyday lives. He is also learning songs, developing an artistic side, and doing very well in gym - especially distance running.
Enough for now - just wanted to introduce you to our current state of being.