The Last Summer Weekend Wrap-up

So thanks everyone for the feedback from the last post. I have a few responses to them. CTD and Heather mentioned that it might make Diana more appealing to play with if we forbid him to. As I understand the logic behind this, I think that happens more in the teenage world of parenting. I totally understand what you guys are saying, because my mom did it to me, too when she would try to make me stray from the so-called “bad crowd”, but that was when I was a teenager. As for protecting him from the ridicule of a 6 year old, OK, perhaps forbidding him to see her is a little more than his brain can handle. And yes, while he may seem less bothered by it than I do, because it's not like he's marched home crying about any of this, what I failed to mention is that on and off this summer CJ had been walking around with a vague sadness, that I wonder now had been related to what had been happening with this girl. Remember, whatever CJ has told me is all I know, I’m sure there have been plenty of other things she has said to him that he failed to mention. So as for forbidding him to play with her, I relent, and admit perhaps that was a harsher reaction than necessary, so I haven’t mentioned it again. The tactic is to try and keep him busy enough with things in his spare time to avoid the opportunity of going up the street anyway. So far it has worked as we spent most of the weekend on the go to festivals, birthday parties, a sleepover at his cousin’s, and the last day of the pool. And now school is officially in full swing, so hopefully this may all work itself out anyway. So maybe it’s time we put this subject to bed both on this blog and at home.

But before I do, I still feel strongly about defending myself on one point, though. When someone tells your 5 year old child that they don’t like them, don’t want to play with them, then take a measuring stick out of the garage and tell him in front of the other kids on the block that he is too little to play with them, how else would a person react? Do you really remain neutral? I don’t know. I think there’s the visceral reaction coming into play here that must continually be repressed when parenting.

So, on to other bright topics. We had a great holiday weekend – did lots of stuff and kept ourselves very busy. I was cruising along well doped up on Vicatin. Yes, Vicatin. No, neighborhood tribulations have not led me into drugs, I pinched a nerve in my neck sometime a week or so ago. I do this sometimes, and more or less it goes away with some Tylenol and massage. To no avail, this time around. So I called up the doctor, which I totally hate to do, and got a prescription for steroids and Vicatin. I would recommend Vicatin for any ailment, as it has become my new favorite pain reliever of choice! Not just for pains in the neck, but for tolerating aggravating human behaviors, too!

So the neck pain is alleviating, although I think the source of the recurring pain is my non-ergonomically correct posture and position of my computer at work. I use 2 computers at work --- a PC and a Mac --- and they are beside each other. Going back and forth between them sometimes on busy days I think strains my muscles in my right arm, leading up to the muscles in my neck. Because my right arm muscles feel very sore, too. So I’m using the mouse today with my left hand.

And I’m not ambidextrous...