Musings on a Small Life

I've just been shamelessly eavesdropping in the basement, as the mother and "flea", Lucas, fight about money (he's 7, remember). He was screaming at her, telling her to "eff off," (at least he said "eff"), etc. Shouting he couldn't even call his mother, with her telling him to go do just that. If I heard correctly (and it's pretty clear down there), that would mean she's the step-mother. And that would explain why there are huge problems, though that doesn't excuse his behaviour or the lack of discipline on the part of the parents. (I'm pretty sure she's Isabelle's biological mother, though, from her telling me that she's worked part-time since Isabelle's birth, wants to get back into full-time work.) Poor woman.  Where's the schmucky husband this afternoon, to step up to the plate? You know, I like my own quiet, child-free little life. I think I'll go have a shot of rye in sympathy. ...

Mom called me around 11:30 EDT, she had called the hospital herself (because no one at their end had called, of course). No other news, other than Harry's being admitted and has pneumonia. She has no idea how severe, if family should be gathering for a death watch. I don't think it's that dire at this point, but of course you never know. It's certainly not good. From my point of view, the best case scenario would be that Harry recovers at least somewhat and goes into a care facility. Worst case would be that he doesn't recover and passes. I hope I don't have to drop everything and fly to Halifax any time soon, but if I do, I want to publicly thank my co-worker for agreeing to care for the boys. Even if I find a bona fide pet sitter, I still wouldn't trust the person in my house, with my babies. So thank you , S., for being willing to feed Nicki and Derry, if/when it comes to that. And thank you all for your prayers and Light and good vibes. My mom and ...

That's an old expression those of us of a certain generation got from our parents. Not a particularly wise expression, either, since children learn more by example than by words. One of the comments to my "About Relationships" post started me thinking about this (thanks, Evy!). She wrote: "If you don't have a good relationship with your spouse, the children won't be happy. Happy parents make for happy, well behaved children." The other thing that factored into my musing on this was Mom's hope that she and Dad provided oh, I guess a good, healthy foundation for life. I'm not sure if I'm expressing that well enough -- she seemed concerned, the other day, that there was some good in my childhood. I really had to think about this, because my initial reaction is that no, I can't recall anything positive in my upbringing. (Not related to humans, that is. Lots of positive things related to animals and Nature.) Mom and Dad had an awful relations...