I’m holding Wii Just Dance 3 as collateral

She survived!

Our sitter – we’ll call her “Kay” – just barely survived her first day with our crazy bunch.  She got a crash-course in Colin – he was into everything the second she’d turn her back.  She also had one of our dogs slip out (Rodeo, go figure!) and instead getting Rick (she didn’t want to wake him) she chased him down with the help of a neighbor, our boys and a gaggle of teenaged boys that were on our street!  In the process, she fell and scraped herself up very badly.  Gah, I felt so awful!!  We told her if that ever happens again, just go get Rick!  Chasing down our dingbat dogs is not part of her job description!! lol

She also mopped the kitchen when the dogs got the floors muddy – how sweet!

When she came to meet us on Wednesday night, she told Colin she had Just Dance 3 (we have Just Dance 2) and promised to bring it over.  She told him he could hold onto it for the weekend and she’d get it back on Monday.

I think I was more excited than Colin – I’ve just about worn out the Just Dance 2 disc!

I told Rick that gives me hope.  She left something of hers here and plans to come back for it on Monday!  Despite all the insanity, she plans to come back.  Yay!

I also offered her a little more money, because I felt awful for her rough day and – did I mention? – I REALLY WANT HER TO COME BACK!! 🙂

Just another $10/week, but that’s still not bad.   $140/wk for an 18-20hrs/wk. Cash, even!

I’m just relieved that she did well and she’s not ready to quit on us already. Rick got some sleep, I got some peace of mind, the boys had fun.  And Kay said she got her exercise for the day!  (yes, it was running full throttle down the street with three boys in tow and getting sanded down by the sidewalk, but it’ll be okay!)

And she gets three days to recover from us before coming back.  🙂

Holding my breath!

We found a sitter.

Holy smokes! We found a sitter!!

Where?  Craigslist.  I know. I know.  I thought the same thing, too, but I was kinda desperate and our other efforts were leaving us fairly empty-handed.

I posted an ad Monday night.  We’d just met another potential sitter – the only one at that point – and I just didn’t think there was any way it would work out.  a) She doesn’t like dogs. We have two, so they would have to stay with Rick in the bedroom. b) She has an 8 year old and 1 month old that would have to come with her.  I didn’t think that would be a big issue until I saw it in action.  Our house was complete chaos for the 30 minutes she was there.  The 8yr old was adding to the silliness of our boys and the baby would have been a complete distraction had Rick not been helping.  And  c) She doesn’t have a phone…and she’s staying with her mom while she and her baby’s father work on things.  (What if they made up and she moved back in? She has no car and wouldn’t be able to continue working for us!) Just too many red flags for me.

So… I posted the ad.

I mentioned we needed someone energetic and patient and mentioned one of our sons is autistic and has adhd.  I posted the pay rate (which boils down to roughly $7/hr).  I know it’s cheap, but it’s just 4.5hrs/day and 4 days/week… no meals need to be served or anything.  Just give them a snack around 3pm and keep them from burning the dang house down. 

About an hour after I posted my ad, an ad went up from a sitter looking for work.  She listed the same area we live in and put that she has experience with ADHD children.  Her number, however, was an out of state number.  I thought (in my paranoid brain) this had to be some kind of lure.  I didn’t answer the ad.

Another hour passed, and I received an email – from the same girl who had posted the ad after mine!  She gave me her number and attached a picture.  I still thought this had to be some kind of a joke, but maybe not…? 

We exchanged a few emails – she’s relatively new in town.  17 and graduated from high school early.  She lives very close by and her younger brother – who is Colin’s age – has ADHD.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and have her come over.

She showed up and she’s REAL! 

We talked about what’s expected. She loves dogs – her family has 2 of their own.  We joked about how we were a little scared of this whole CL deal – she was, too!  She was great with the boys.

After talking, we asked when she could start. She said any day was fine.  Then she confessed that she’d had another interview earlier that day.  “I’m totally picking you over them, though, I just want you to know that!”  She said not only was that job a little out of her comfort zone – they had a baby, a toddler and a 9 year old and wanted her to work about twice as many hours – but our family reminded her of her own. 

Wait, what?  Did she just say that?

I guess maybe we’re a little more “normal” than we thought we were.  🙂

She starts today – a little trial run before she has 4 full days in a row!  She arrived 10 minutes early and ready to go.  I’m holding my breath, hoping the day goes well. 

Mostly, though, I’m just incredibly relieved. 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

It’s summer! Yay! (I don’t care what the calendar says – school is out, so it’s summer!)  The kids can sleep until whenever because I no longer have to rush to get them dressed in the AM – Rick can dress them when he gets home if I don’t get around to it.  And the only lunch I have to make is mine!  I left the house at my usual time this AM and got to work almost 20 minutes early – hurray for no school zones!  Also…it’s time for my favorite “sport” of the year – swimming. (I say “sport” not because swimming isn’t a sport…but because it’s not really a sport when I do it.)  I love going to the pool, lake, river, beach – wherever.  I just want to be in the water.  When I was younger, my sister could always outrun me, but she couldn’t out-swim me. (Pretty sure this has changed now that she’s gotten into surfing.) The water is always the one place I feel remotely athletic.

 

The Bad

Whew, boy, is it HOT by the end of the day!  Mornings are fantastic – 70’s and a bit breezy.  But by the time I get to my afternoon break and go for a walk, the air is so thick with humidity and heat, I get winded by the time I’m back at the office.

And the kids don’t seem to realize they can sleep in!  (By “sleep in” I mean 6:30am – that would be heaven!)  Colin was up at 5:30 this morning – he was sleeping on the couch again.  Not sure what to do about that. 

We also had a series of storms sweep through recently that left our fence in quite a state. Thankfully, no other damage was done, but now we have to figure out what to do with the fence on our own because our insurance deductible is too high to even bother going that route.  Rick has a friend from work that’s going to come out this weekend and hopefully not charge an arm and a leg!

 

The Ugly

The church-sponsored day camp (free to the public – donations only) that Colin and Ryan went to last year is not happening this year.  I was really worried this might happen.  It was such a blessing last year.  Colin was kicked out of daycare the summer before that. 

The 2nd day of camp last year, someone walked up to me and said, “Are you Colin’s mom?”  My heart sank.  Please, don’t kick him out, I thought.  Instead she said, “I wanted to ask you something, but I hope I won’t offend you.  Is he…autistic?”  I was still worried.  “Yes,” I said.

“My daughter, is, too, that’s why I was wondering,” she said.  “Don’t worry about him.  I will keep my eye on him.”  I just started crying.  I don’t know what we would have done last summer without that camp.

And now this year…we have to figure it out.  The good thing is that Robbie is out of daycare now, so we can afford to hire a sitter for the summer.  Just someone part-time so Rick can get to bed – he can continue sleeping when I get home.  We don’t have anyone lined up yet, but have a hopeful or two.  One lady was recommended to us by a good friend, but she flaked on showing up yesterday as we’d agreed to and she currently doesn’t have a phone – she calls from her mom or brother’s house.  And she’d have to bring her 8 yr old and newborn baby with her.  Just…so many red flags.  Still not counting her out – she’s supposed to come over today for us to meet.

Last night, after she flaked on me, I posted on FB asking friends to let me know if they knew anyone interested in a 20hr/wk babysitting gig.  One of my local friends gave me the name/info for a local high school girl that she’s friends with!  I’ve messaged her – hopefully if she doesn’t want the job, she will know someone who does. 

The Ugly, though, is going to be most of this week.  Rick is home with the boys today – no sitter or other means of distraction for them today.  Colin had everyone in the house on edge by 7am with his antics – he woke up full throttle today and was still bouncing as I left.  We’ve tried adding an Adderall booster (short-acting tablet) to the XR capsule, but giving him more Adderall just seems to make things worse.  His meltdowns increase and it doesn’t seem to do anything to put a damper on the ADHD.  Adderall seems to help his focus, but not his hyperactivity. 

Thankfully, tomorrow my mom (who just had surgery this past Thursday) volunteered to take them from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon.  I hope she doesn’t regret that!  My stepdad is pretty good with them – he has an amazing amount of patience.  That will just leave us Thursday and Friday to get through.  Then, hopefully, we’ll have something in place starting next week.

Fingers crossed!