This evening we took Squeaker, Lucky, and The Boss to see the movie Hotel for Dogs. The girls had been wanting to see it so they were happy. I've been avoiding it as long as possible. We were aiming for Inkheart but got there a bit late so we decided to grit our teeth, mask our pain, and give 'em sweet potatoes (for you Zig Ziglar fans out there).
Now I feel a rant coming on.
SPOILER ALERT! If you are planning to see this movie I'm about to blow it for you. Stop reading now.
Not that you won't be able to decipher on your own the non-existent plot twists and painfully predictable characters in the first few minutes of the movie enabling you to jump to the inevitable warm, fuzzy conclusion and reclaim a good hour or so of your life by cutting out after the opening credits.
Okay, that was unkind. My kids liked it. Yours probably will to.
HOWEVER....
If I had known that it was about poor waifs in foster care I would not have bothered. True to form in the world of entertainment, the foster parents were depicted as stereo-typically mean, disgusting, self-serving jerks who take the money, mistreat the kids, and lock up the good stuff and feed the kids vile slop.
I've only ever seen two shows where foster parents were portrayed in a positive light. One was the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Ellen Foster and the other was an episode of Touched by an Angel. Of course, on TBAA everyone thought the foster parents were baddies and it took an angel to show that they were actually caring and loving. Wait a sec, another pops to mind--Angels in the Outfield. The foster mom was a nice lady even though she made the kids sleep in sleeping bags instead of giving them sheets and blankets.
To be fair, in Hotel for Dogs the foster parents were not the only moronic adults. The cops and animal control officers were unsympathetic, snide, bumbling idiots who were dumber than all the kids and dogs combined. Pretty typical fare for child-focused movies.
As Ana commented, "This whole movie is a cliche."
It had some cute moments but they don't serve my rant so I guess you'll have to discover them for yourself. The girls got teary at one point and The Boss laughed out loud at the dog antics although he was bored any time people were on screen. By the time he had accidentally dumped two trays of popcorn and all his candy on the floor he just wanted to go to the lobby and play video games.
At least we went to the discount theater.
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Crybaby
Definitely need to get some sleep. I'm tired and cranky. My back hurts and I've had an earache for a week. Every time one of the kids asks for something I get irritated especially when I'm already in the middle of doing something for somebody else. And while I'm wallowing in annoyance and self-pity it's really bugging me when somebody says "mom" and before I even get a chance to answer they start in on "mom, mom, mom, mom, MOM!" (substitute "granny" at least one third of the time). Also, that whole call my name or start telling me a story when somebody else is already telling me a story that I can barely hear anyway? Getting old, too. And right now The Boss is in bed making moaning noises because I said he couldn't watch a movie because he was acting like a turd pie and then saying no when I tell him to stop. And while I'm on it, why does everyone have to be so loud and/or shrill all of the time? They all have an entire week of for President's Day. Why do they call it President's Day if they're going to give them a week off? What am I going to do with all of them for a week? Hope they like the park and the library. Hope it doesn't rain.
As you see nobody is acting horribly at all but still my last nerve is ground down to a nubby stump. It's not them, it's me. (I'm not dumping them, don't worry.) Plus, I miss Ana and I'm ready for her to come home now. Stickers has asked me twice if it's harder not having Ana here. Except for a few logistical challenges, it hasn't been all that hard but it has been a lot more boring.
Forget sleep. I think I need a little vacation. Thankfully, I hear The Boss' honking snores so at least he's down for the night.
As you see nobody is acting horribly at all but still my last nerve is ground down to a nubby stump. It's not them, it's me. (I'm not dumping them, don't worry.) Plus, I miss Ana and I'm ready for her to come home now. Stickers has asked me twice if it's harder not having Ana here. Except for a few logistical challenges, it hasn't been all that hard but it has been a lot more boring.
Forget sleep. I think I need a little vacation. Thankfully, I hear The Boss' honking snores so at least he's down for the night.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Misunderstood
Lizzy: “Your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.”
Mr. Darcy: “And yours is willfully to misunderstand them.”
CAUTION: Rant Ahead.
Okay then, you were warned.
Ana leaves in a couple days and I am beginning to feel a little apprehensive at being left behind. I, in fact, have suggested to her that the solution may be for her to stay and me to go. I'm pretty sure all the kids would like that better....except for The Boss but he could come with me since he's not in school. Anyway, I dream.
It's not being left alone with the appointments and the chores and the constant "What am I going to make for dinner this time" without end or back-up. It's not even the yelling, stomping, door slams, and eye rolls. What is actually getting to me these days is the backyard or behind-closed-doors (even though they are not allowed in each others rooms) behind-my-back b***ch sessions that are constantly going on.
Often I have kids being relatively friendly to my face or even reluctantly cooperative after a blow-up and I think we're in the clear and then they spend the next few days griping, ranting, and trashing me to the other kids. Thanks so much.
My kids are stewers (is that a word?) building up resentment and anger until it blows everywhere. And it seems that no matter how I respond it will not be in the way that they want and lately no matter what I do or how much I do it is not enough for them. There is always a long list from them of what I should be doing or how I should have done things differently. Of course, the lists are different. One wants to run away because I'm "hard to talk to" even though I have been supportive and non-judgmental when she has chosen to talk to me. One is a huge talker and if I try to help her work through her jumbled emotions and distorted hate-the-world thinking, I am "Always lecturing". I can't win. Can Not Do It. That's my fault because I'm just the mom here....and the replacement mom yet, I'm reminded.
Teenagers think they are the ones so misunderstood (and seem to relish the role). I contend that it's really adults who are misunderstood (and willfully so) by teenagers.
That's why the most difficult part of Ana being away for a while is losing the other person in the house who does understand, which some days is what makes it all okay. Or as Uncle Monty says in A Series of Unfortunate Events, "I may know better than anyone what you're going through. But it's gonna be alright. We'll be with people who can understand us. People who are like us."
Just don't answer the doorbell.
Mr. Darcy: “And yours is willfully to misunderstand them.”
CAUTION: Rant Ahead.
Okay then, you were warned.
Ana leaves in a couple days and I am beginning to feel a little apprehensive at being left behind. I, in fact, have suggested to her that the solution may be for her to stay and me to go. I'm pretty sure all the kids would like that better....except for The Boss but he could come with me since he's not in school. Anyway, I dream.
It's not being left alone with the appointments and the chores and the constant "What am I going to make for dinner this time" without end or back-up. It's not even the yelling, stomping, door slams, and eye rolls. What is actually getting to me these days is the backyard or behind-closed-doors (even though they are not allowed in each others rooms) behind-my-back b***ch sessions that are constantly going on.
Often I have kids being relatively friendly to my face or even reluctantly cooperative after a blow-up and I think we're in the clear and then they spend the next few days griping, ranting, and trashing me to the other kids. Thanks so much.
My kids are stewers (is that a word?) building up resentment and anger until it blows everywhere. And it seems that no matter how I respond it will not be in the way that they want and lately no matter what I do or how much I do it is not enough for them. There is always a long list from them of what I should be doing or how I should have done things differently. Of course, the lists are different. One wants to run away because I'm "hard to talk to" even though I have been supportive and non-judgmental when she has chosen to talk to me. One is a huge talker and if I try to help her work through her jumbled emotions and distorted hate-the-world thinking, I am "Always lecturing". I can't win. Can Not Do It. That's my fault because I'm just the mom here....and the replacement mom yet, I'm reminded.
Teenagers think they are the ones so misunderstood (and seem to relish the role). I contend that it's really adults who are misunderstood (and willfully so) by teenagers.
That's why the most difficult part of Ana being away for a while is losing the other person in the house who does understand, which some days is what makes it all okay. Or as Uncle Monty says in A Series of Unfortunate Events, "I may know better than anyone what you're going through. But it's gonna be alright. We'll be with people who can understand us. People who are like us."
Just don't answer the doorbell.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Mean Girls
It's distressing to me how mean Squeaker can be.
I understand rages and lack of self-control in kids who have been deeply hurt but the spite and meanness is very hard for me to take. It's interesting to me to observe my own reactions to Squeaker. I love her very much all of the time despite the fact that she acts unloveable most of the time. I find myself with feelings of affection for her more when she is not with me and then it's a rude shock when she comes back and the attitude and defiance kicks in again. It's sad but true that I like her better when I am not with her because she is so darn mean. And lately she has become petulant and demanding too not getting it that when she cusses me out in the morning and then turns on the charm asking for something later in the day that I'm not really going to be feeling it. I'm not talking about taking care of her needs and making sure she is loved, warm, fed, educated, and secure. Of course, these things are given freely no matter how she behaves. But all those "extras" she's taken to begging for and hinting at are not likely to fall into her greedy little paws while she is treating everybody so badly (not to mention owing me two months worth of allowance for stealing, refusing to do chores, and her trash-talking potty mouth).
Lucky and The Boss keep coming to us saying that she is being mean to them and she can be truly vicious especially to the two of them. Peaches won't let her sit next to Seamonkey in the car. Her attitude and behavior are becoming real barriers in her relationship with me. Then she screams at me that the other two kids are my favorites and they never get into trouble. Well, check it out, they don't cuss me out on a regular basis. Her profanity and disrespect directed at me and Ana are truly astounding.
It's so frustrating because I don't want to live like this and don't want her to have to live filled with so much hatefulness and meanness but we just can't seem to break through with any long-term change. I'm sorry to say that I don't have much hope for things to change any time soon. I want to be able to expect and hope for a positive future for my kids and not hold her back by my low expectations but I also realize that if my expectations are too high she will be frustrated at never being able to live up to them.
Mental illness is so mean and unfair. Child abuse is so mean and unfair. Losing one's family is so mean and unfair. Feeling unloved and unwanted is so mean and unfair.
No wonder.
I understand rages and lack of self-control in kids who have been deeply hurt but the spite and meanness is very hard for me to take. It's interesting to me to observe my own reactions to Squeaker. I love her very much all of the time despite the fact that she acts unloveable most of the time. I find myself with feelings of affection for her more when she is not with me and then it's a rude shock when she comes back and the attitude and defiance kicks in again. It's sad but true that I like her better when I am not with her because she is so darn mean. And lately she has become petulant and demanding too not getting it that when she cusses me out in the morning and then turns on the charm asking for something later in the day that I'm not really going to be feeling it. I'm not talking about taking care of her needs and making sure she is loved, warm, fed, educated, and secure. Of course, these things are given freely no matter how she behaves. But all those "extras" she's taken to begging for and hinting at are not likely to fall into her greedy little paws while she is treating everybody so badly (not to mention owing me two months worth of allowance for stealing, refusing to do chores, and her trash-talking potty mouth).
Lucky and The Boss keep coming to us saying that she is being mean to them and she can be truly vicious especially to the two of them. Peaches won't let her sit next to Seamonkey in the car. Her attitude and behavior are becoming real barriers in her relationship with me. Then she screams at me that the other two kids are my favorites and they never get into trouble. Well, check it out, they don't cuss me out on a regular basis. Her profanity and disrespect directed at me and Ana are truly astounding.
It's so frustrating because I don't want to live like this and don't want her to have to live filled with so much hatefulness and meanness but we just can't seem to break through with any long-term change. I'm sorry to say that I don't have much hope for things to change any time soon. I want to be able to expect and hope for a positive future for my kids and not hold her back by my low expectations but I also realize that if my expectations are too high she will be frustrated at never being able to live up to them.
Mental illness is so mean and unfair. Child abuse is so mean and unfair. Losing one's family is so mean and unfair. Feeling unloved and unwanted is so mean and unfair.
No wonder.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Response to "Our Family"
(This started out as a reply to a commenter on the post below but then I took my rant and ran with it so it rated it's own post.)
When we had a lot more kids in and out, the food stashed all over the house was unbelievably gross. We have a very strict "no food upstairs" rule which means there's candy and food wrappers tucked in, under, and behind things and bits of lunches and stolen snacks nastifying in unusual hidey-holes. So disgusting. We don't even buy bologna because the smell of it is pretty strong even BEFORE it's been hidden under someone's underwear for a couple of weeks. Ewwwwwww! Our kids tend to be big cheese and peanut butter sandwich stashers. We don't allow gum either but still find it stuck to the carpet, furniture, banisters, and the the inside of the clothes dryer all the time.
And while I'm on my rant...two words. Ramen noodles. I would be happy as can be to never smell them again. When we did our PRIDE classes one of the trainers, who had been a foster parent for thirty+ years, said that Ramen noodles are the one thing that she could get every kid to eat. Boy is that ever the truth. Some of our kids had never eaten a vegetable but noodles seemed to have been a staple in nearly every home. Our kids love them cooked or dry. Ick.
Okay, stepping down now but still not finished. I've got a whole other food rant ready to go.
When we had a lot more kids in and out, the food stashed all over the house was unbelievably gross. We have a very strict "no food upstairs" rule which means there's candy and food wrappers tucked in, under, and behind things and bits of lunches and stolen snacks nastifying in unusual hidey-holes. So disgusting. We don't even buy bologna because the smell of it is pretty strong even BEFORE it's been hidden under someone's underwear for a couple of weeks. Ewwwwwww! Our kids tend to be big cheese and peanut butter sandwich stashers. We don't allow gum either but still find it stuck to the carpet, furniture, banisters, and the the inside of the clothes dryer all the time.
And while I'm on my rant...two words. Ramen noodles. I would be happy as can be to never smell them again. When we did our PRIDE classes one of the trainers, who had been a foster parent for thirty+ years, said that Ramen noodles are the one thing that she could get every kid to eat. Boy is that ever the truth. Some of our kids had never eaten a vegetable but noodles seemed to have been a staple in nearly every home. Our kids love them cooked or dry. Ick.
Okay, stepping down now but still not finished. I've got a whole other food rant ready to go.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Updating Post Below
Seamonkey told me there was a bad guy upstairs. It's either a monster, a spider, or a bad guy all the time. I told him there wasn't and went upstairs to show him it was okay. As I rounded the corner in the hall, I saw a dark shadow moving at the crack at the bottom of the door. Heart-lurch time again. Turned out I had closed Cooper in the girls room when I shut all the upstairs doors. Lousy dog. Ana and I were going to go to a scary movie this weekend but now I'm rethinking that plan. What a twinkie.
I came downstairs to find The Boss "reading" a book to Seamonkey in the big squashy chair. Awwwwwwww....too cute. I snapped a picture and texted it to Peaches.
About thirty seconds later Seamonkey tried to rip the book out of The Boss' hands. He responded by shouting, "Do you want me to bite you?" Good feeling gone.
The Boss is being completely rude and obstinate today. He's been in time-out three times already and has kept up a constant stream of muttering.
Ana just called again with another update from court. Hard to believe it can get worse and yet it does. They are actually making this a reunification case whether the guardianship stays in affect or not. Four years of nothing from mom then she gets out of prison and into a rehab program for six-months and, presto-bango, here's your kids back. Un-stinkin-believable.
Just not feeling into being productive today. Let's try this one in the iPod.
I came downstairs to find The Boss "reading" a book to Seamonkey in the big squashy chair. Awwwwwwww....too cute. I snapped a picture and texted it to Peaches.
About thirty seconds later Seamonkey tried to rip the book out of The Boss' hands. He responded by shouting, "Do you want me to bite you?" Good feeling gone.
The Boss is being completely rude and obstinate today. He's been in time-out three times already and has kept up a constant stream of muttering.
Ana just called again with another update from court. Hard to believe it can get worse and yet it does. They are actually making this a reunification case whether the guardianship stays in affect or not. Four years of nothing from mom then she gets out of prison and into a rehab program for six-months and, presto-bango, here's your kids back. Un-stinkin-believable.
Just not feeling into being productive today. Let's try this one in the iPod.
Ramble-Brain and Other Serious Conditions
I could never live alone because I'd have no one to rant to. Every time Ana and I have lived apart we would have hours long "debrief" calls every night so we could blow off all the irritations of the day and figure out how to turn them into funny stories for later.
I'm home alone with the littles as I was all yesterday morning too. I should be working in between sorting out squabbles, getting more toys down, changing laundry loads, and letting the dogs in and out but I can't quite seem to concentrate. I keep wandering around the house turning off lights and fans and closing blinds against the increasing heat.
When I came back from dropping Drama Boy at school I noticed the front window was open. A perfect invitation for someone to crawl right in when we are gone. I closed the window, closed the blinds, turned off the fan, let in the dogs and got to work. About twenty minutes later I heard a door creak upstairs. I got that ouchy heart lurching feeling that I got once when Ana and I walked in on a burglar still in our home. I saw the kicked in back door and realized she had just gone upstairs where the guy was still lurking. Fortunately this time it was just doors flapping in the wind of open windows and half a dozen fans left on by the kids. Sodapop did take the opportunity to follow me up the stairs and pee right where I was sure to step in it. Lousy dog.
Ana just called from court and things are not going well. The agency was going to request no contact with the boys' mom because of all the recent manipulation and the detrimenal affect it has had on them. Apparently that is not going to fly. We agreed we can keep Drama Boy and consider keeping Sparky (with lots of wrap-around services and therapy) but only if a no contact order was granted. We just cannot put the rest of our family at risk. Their mom is the most hateful and spiteful we've ever come across with all the kids we've had...and we've had some pretty gnarly parents and plenty of false accusations before. DB is so desperate to stay and it's going to be so difficult for everybody no matter how it works out. This is definitely one of the more screwed up, messy, painful cases we have gone through and these boys are sure to suffer no matter what is decided today. What a disaster.
I'm home alone with the littles as I was all yesterday morning too. I should be working in between sorting out squabbles, getting more toys down, changing laundry loads, and letting the dogs in and out but I can't quite seem to concentrate. I keep wandering around the house turning off lights and fans and closing blinds against the increasing heat.
When I came back from dropping Drama Boy at school I noticed the front window was open. A perfect invitation for someone to crawl right in when we are gone. I closed the window, closed the blinds, turned off the fan, let in the dogs and got to work. About twenty minutes later I heard a door creak upstairs. I got that ouchy heart lurching feeling that I got once when Ana and I walked in on a burglar still in our home. I saw the kicked in back door and realized she had just gone upstairs where the guy was still lurking. Fortunately this time it was just doors flapping in the wind of open windows and half a dozen fans left on by the kids. Sodapop did take the opportunity to follow me up the stairs and pee right where I was sure to step in it. Lousy dog.
Ana just called from court and things are not going well. The agency was going to request no contact with the boys' mom because of all the recent manipulation and the detrimenal affect it has had on them. Apparently that is not going to fly. We agreed we can keep Drama Boy and consider keeping Sparky (with lots of wrap-around services and therapy) but only if a no contact order was granted. We just cannot put the rest of our family at risk. Their mom is the most hateful and spiteful we've ever come across with all the kids we've had...and we've had some pretty gnarly parents and plenty of false accusations before. DB is so desperate to stay and it's going to be so difficult for everybody no matter how it works out. This is definitely one of the more screwed up, messy, painful cases we have gone through and these boys are sure to suffer no matter what is decided today. What a disaster.
Monday, May 5, 2008
If at First You Don't Succeed Spend, Spend Again OR A Sucker's Work is Never Done OR "Then I'll Do It Myself", Said the Little Red Hen. And She Did
All three of the above misquotes were said by me or Ana this weekend as we again spent way too much time on the lawn, sweating and sun-burned as the weather took a turn for the "holy-cow-is-it-hot-or-what?". (Okay it was me. Ana did all the heavy work and my contribution was mostly in the form of grumpy comments. Too bad no quotes from Princess Bride were applicable. Always disappointing when we can't work one in.)
Our (ir)regular gardener flaked out and, even though he did great work, he was just too iffy in reliability and other areas anyway. So we paid some other guy to fertilize and seed the lawn.
Here's where the "sucker" part comes in. The fertilizer was too mulchy and was smothering the grass so we've spent hours raking it off our brownish lawn. Of course, the guy does not return phone calls. So this weekend we also re-seeded. I can't believe how much we've babied this grass for it too look so shabby. We've now thrown enough "green" at it that it's got a lot of nerve to be so tan and crunchy (okay, there's the "spend" part). We have now vowed to never hire anybody again to do anything in the yard. (I'm sure you caught that...it's the hen part).
We also got the materials needed to build our garden in the back replacing more pointless grass. The guy at the home fix-it store complained that we gave him a work out cutting all those boards. They are kind of heavy. I've been schlepping them around the yard for a few days now. I have more than half of the beds built and we all are eagerly looking forward to growing our own food with the help of the square-foot gardener and our buddy from South Carolina who Amazoned the book to us. (Thanks, E!)
I promise, no more snivelling about the lawn and I will seriously look into cutting back on use of parentheses in future posts.
Our (ir)regular gardener flaked out and, even though he did great work, he was just too iffy in reliability and other areas anyway. So we paid some other guy to fertilize and seed the lawn.
Here's where the "sucker" part comes in. The fertilizer was too mulchy and was smothering the grass so we've spent hours raking it off our brownish lawn. Of course, the guy does not return phone calls. So this weekend we also re-seeded. I can't believe how much we've babied this grass for it too look so shabby. We've now thrown enough "green" at it that it's got a lot of nerve to be so tan and crunchy (okay, there's the "spend" part). We have now vowed to never hire anybody again to do anything in the yard. (I'm sure you caught that...it's the hen part).
We also got the materials needed to build our garden in the back replacing more pointless grass. The guy at the home fix-it store complained that we gave him a work out cutting all those boards. They are kind of heavy. I've been schlepping them around the yard for a few days now. I have more than half of the beds built and we all are eagerly looking forward to growing our own food with the help of the square-foot gardener and our buddy from South Carolina who Amazoned the book to us. (Thanks, E!)
I promise, no more snivelling about the lawn and I will seriously look into cutting back on use of parentheses in future posts.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
How Brown Was My Valley
I've become a slave to my lawn.
Recently we paid a lot of money to have the lawn fertilized and seeded to revive it for spring. I feel like I now have a huge investment in my grass of all things. Our sprinklers are on the skids so I've been hand-watering in the morning and evening and checking it frequently to make sure those dang little grass seeds are going to take. They had better.
After renting a house at a Christian campground for a few years, I kinda got used to having a lot of dirt and wide open space. Now, although I feel squished into our culdesac, we have a pretty sizeable front yard which we constantly coddle to stay green in our desert-like climate. I can't help but think how many veggies we could grow there. I doubt the neighbors would appreciate it much. But at least when I'm out there trying to keep it alive I could feel like it was giving something back to us.
We're working on a garden plot in the backyard but I've decided we'll be having a lot of picnics on our emerald green front lawn this summer. We're going to get our money's worth, by golly.
Recently we paid a lot of money to have the lawn fertilized and seeded to revive it for spring. I feel like I now have a huge investment in my grass of all things. Our sprinklers are on the skids so I've been hand-watering in the morning and evening and checking it frequently to make sure those dang little grass seeds are going to take. They had better.
After renting a house at a Christian campground for a few years, I kinda got used to having a lot of dirt and wide open space. Now, although I feel squished into our culdesac, we have a pretty sizeable front yard which we constantly coddle to stay green in our desert-like climate. I can't help but think how many veggies we could grow there. I doubt the neighbors would appreciate it much. But at least when I'm out there trying to keep it alive I could feel like it was giving something back to us.
We're working on a garden plot in the backyard but I've decided we'll be having a lot of picnics on our emerald green front lawn this summer. We're going to get our money's worth, by golly.
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