Only, it sure feels real. CD thinks it's all real. She has no memories of a mother, father, siblings, home or life other than the one she has had since she was 17 months old. At moments, it still boggles my mind.
CD's mother remains a person who hasn't actually parented her in 14 months. And, once again, she has disappeared from CD's life, not coming to visit for the last four weeks.
In the meantime, we've been busy living our family life. We had a very nice vacation when we rented a lake house and had an opportunity to boat, swim and laze around. We came back to be greeted by Irene. We lost power, our basement flooded, our phone and internet went down and we still need to boil our water in order to drink it. Our washing machine won't drain as something must be plugging up our drainage system. I am grateful that it wasn't worse as it was so much worse for so many but it's been annoying to deal with in the midst of getting the kids ready for school with their multitude of appointments and shopping needs. J grew 3 inches in the last few months, he needs a whole new wardrobe.
CD is thriving and learning to assert herself in all sorts of ingenious and creative ways. On vacation, for example, we attended a magic performance as part of a museum tour. Not wanting to stay in the theater, CD told her Daddy, "I no want it," to which my husband said, "we have to be quiet, just a few more minutes." My genius little girl has it all figured out. "I NO WANT IT!" She screamed loudly enough that my husband had no choice but to leave the theater with her. She is a smart little kid and knows exactly what she is doing. I tell her no candy, she drags a chair to reach it for herself. She doesn't want a shirt on, she can take it off by herself. She has something she knows she shouldn't, she has learned to run and hide with it. Ahhh. . .two year olds ;)
5 comments:
Sorry to hear Irene made things as difficult for you as it did. It's tough dealing with so many impacts from the storm.
Well, clearly you are her mother, and your family is her family. Unfortunately, the legal status is lagging behind the reality of your lives.
I can only assume that CD's birthmother disappearance will serve as further evidence that reunification isn't the plan. I realize that nothing happens until October, but hopefully it will help things to move forward more quickly rather than not.
Enjoy your two-year old.
I am so glad that you and your family got away! What do CD's brothers think of the little imp being able to get out of magic shows? I hope you all had a relaxing time.
The good news is that CD's Mom's MIA status will be well documented (when it happens right before court sometimes the paperwork doesn't make it into the file), so the judge will hopefully stop delaying the inevitable. When this is all finalized I am going to celebrate with sparkling juice - everyone is welcome to join me!
A toast to CD and TO, and their family! May blessings rain upon them!
J and Z happen to be very interested in magic and have taken magic classes. J even majored in magic at a performing arts camp this summer. We try not to sacrifice the boys' good time. My husband and I took turns going in and out but the boys got to see the show. Having a child so much younger than the other two changes how we do things but the boys are very understanding and we try to make sure that we don't take away opportunities from them as much as possible. They love CD so much that there is hardly a complaint. They get that she is just acting her age and she adds much more to their lives than she takes away. They really adore her.
The missed visits will definitely make it into the report this time around. It will still be a lengthy process but it will offer the judge more evidence that nothing has really changed even with the extended time and money for transportation.
Ah, the lovely terrible twos. You have to go through it so that on the other side, when another kid acts up in public, you can smile and say "that's not my kid!"
Soooo sweet. I whish you all the best.
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