Step Right Up, Folks!

The three-ring circus that is our lives continues. Constant activity and noise, some of it amusing and a lot of it just sort of side-show freakish.

My facial trauma has settled into two black eyes and a painful knot between them. I feel a little out of balance though since the right eye is a little more bruised than the left. I think of Monk and wonder if I should darken the other eye a bit for symmetry.

It was a frustrating weekend, with Sparky raging Friday making Ana miss Pizza Night with family. He continued first thing upon waking on Saturday. He now has the dubious honor of being one of the most difficult children we have cared for. His rages are becoming increasingly abusive and destructive which would be absolutely infuriating if it wasn't so darned heart-breaking. He is one sad, scared little kid without the emotional stability to identify and express the source of his hurt. It comes out in verbal abuse, breaking glass, putting holes in walls, and throwing furniture and other items. On Saturday morning he gave the neighborhood quite a show when he crawled out of his bedroom onto the roof and ripped up the screen. He has taken to running out of the house and disappearing at his friends' houses. He will not be calmed or contained. He cannot be around the pets or the other children unsupervised. Without the support of the agency, Ana will need to find a way to have him evaluated so we can get him suitable help in controlling his rages. He went with his grandma on Saturday and spent the night so we could get a break from keeping him in sight and enduring his anger. His grandma, instead of helping, told him some things that actually make the situation worse. Very frustrating.

Squeaker complied with her consequences for her school suspension and run-away episode with little resistance. In addition to being grounded from activities and electronics through the weekend, she had to make amends to the other kids by doing their chores which she did on Thursday. On Friday, she had to write an essay on the dangers of running away and kidnapping. On Saturday she made a list of 10 ways to show respect and courtesy to her bus driver and 10 ways to show kindness and courtesy to fellow students. On Sunday, she wrote apology notes to the bus driver and the boy she assaulted. Tomorrow she is back on the bus and back in school.

The Boss learned how to put an orange wedge in his mouth and make a "peel smile". We stayed out late last night seeing August Rush at the discount theater. Pretty good flick. Even The Boss stayed awake for it.

We're the only ones on our street who still have Christmas lights up. Kind of embarrassing. Oh well, let 'em talk. We've got bigger fish to fry.