Destiny Skywalker

It was a really messed up situation where she got mad that E was fidgeting with random objects because she has zero toys, puzzles games, etc and then tried to gaslight him into saying she couldn't find them and that he couldnt have the dollar store sword I bought him so he wouldn't fidget with random items until he found it. She also accused him of stuffing a candy wrapper in her couch. Just as easily could be Q or her husband (who she has totally busted doing that in the past to hide that he was eating junk food). So we called her bluff and tore the house apart looking for the missing item and she finally admitted she hid it on top of the refrigerator. E got very dysregulated about it (not screaming or crying, just wound up and anxious). My husband laid into her for being an asshole to an 8-year old with cognitive impairments and forced her to apologize to E. She also admitted that she just took the sword because she did not approve of the toy he picked out because he might break something swinging it around. Like, she's just a horrible person. We may never stay there again because she does manipulative shit like this because she's also undiagnosed ADHD and probably ODD. Given how she treated him when we pulled him from Pre-K and asked her to help watch him for 4 months until Kindergarten started while we lined up doctor appointments and IEP meetings, its a pattern. I would never trust her with him. My dad is mildly stupid right wing, but at least he's not total batshit crazy right wing. But I would worry about the effect he would have on Q, who is a sweet little bleeding heart liberal feminist who also loves Jesus. And he is of the "have you tried spanking him?" mindset when it comes to E. He's just an old Boomer. What the hell is wrong with our parents, guys? Like that whole generation is messed up.

God I hope we aren't weird like our parents. That's some Boomer shit right there. We had a pretty shitty visit with my MIL a few weeks ago. Like, got themselves taken off the list of who will take care of my kids if we both die bad. I actually had to ask Q's God parents if they would do it. Right now they are praying we never go on vacation alone until both kids are 18. (Like we've ever been able to do that anyway.)

My head just exploded reading this. I need to go lie down.

I very much agree with that article, and your perspective on win now. We've had coaches say that they don't care about winning now but then... actually I would probably say the first coach knew he was playing the long game but the 2nd coach absolutely wanted to win now. I can tell she is personally very competitive, though, so I think it has to do with that. I don't see the point in filling a roster to only let the same starting players play and subs ride the pine at U13. If they're that bad, you shouldn't take them anyway. My HS coach could've taken 18 and he only took 14 for varsity because he felt the JV girls were such a significant drop in quality he didn't want to bother. The first choice club tryout is next week. There are 48 girls trying out for 30-36 spots across 2 age groups. I'm so nervous for her. Alpental is closing up shop a few weeks early because they are installing a new chair and everyone is crying about it.

My mom put off a colostomy for probably 15 years. It was so freeing once she did it, I think she regretted not doing it earlier. If you frequently find yourself in embarrassing situations that you need to escape from, I'd recommend it if you start to find yourself in that situation. We checked out a new Cub Scout pack for E last night and it was so much better. The den leader was organized and hands on, and also didn't get annoyed with wiggly little boys (they all were). They have a good mix of fun and getting requirements done. I think we are going to switch, at least for the rest of the year. I also signed E up for a Camp Fire membership because they have a local camp that is supposed to be very good and they are (supposedly) very good at inclusion. There is now a club in our neighborhood, so we are going to check that out as an option, as well, and then we can decide which is a better fit for next year.

They have to be pretty close friends. Is your wife breastfeeding or formula feeding? If formula, I think its easier to have someone to help out overnights unless she's got a serious freezer stash of breastmilk. Is baby sleeping through the nights or not really? I don't want to downplay your concerns, I get it that she is concerned about you not being able to pick up the baby for 6 weeks. Is it really just nights that she's worried about? Do you do most of the night care, usually? Is she worried about also caring for you? Would it be easier to get a nurse for you for the first week or so? Is there a lot of dressing changes?

I am driving a Chevy Equinox this week and I'm pretty sure it is powered by a hamster. I miss my V60.

So, Seattle has an interesting soccer scene. There are like 5 power clubs in the area, and the best ones are at the south end of Seattle. These are clubs who have at least a B and maybe C team for the girls, and as many as D or F teams for the boys. The teams up further north are not as strong. Part of this is that people will actually drive 30-60 minutes to have their kids play for these D teams. I'm over here like ain't nobody got time for that, my kid is playing for the local club until she's the superstar (and truly, that's not the type of player she is, she's not cocky enough. She is a SOLID utility player, though, she can play every position except maybe center back). There's about 5 within driving distance that play at the select (summer-winter, no spring) or premier (year round) level. Some of the clubs have gotten sick of these power clubs' shit and moved from US Youth Soccer to US Club Soccer because some of the clubs wouldn't let them move up to the stronger leagues because they competed geographically. One of the clubs we are looking at is a direct competitor to her former club and just moved to US Club. I really hope she gets a spot on their A team, because I think it looks like a much better, grassroots based organization that focuses a ton on community service. It won't get her into the USWNT but she'll probably be more fulfilled. The other choice is the premier team for her former select club, and still part of the same racket WYS league. But she has 2 former teammates there. But they don't have a goalkeeper. Not a good position to be in. I stopped playing coed. I got tired of 28-year olds throwing my 5'3" ass into the boards, as if I was some sort of threat.

In good news, we has conferences last week and both kids are doing well. Q is settled in and in a groove (although I've noticed she's a little grumpy in the evenings so she might just be keeping her shit together at school). She has made friends with a couple of girls who the teacher and counselor have both told me they are nice girls and I should encourage those friendships. E is also doing well. The teacher said she has never seen a rewards program work for more than 2 weeks before and E still exclaims, "Thank you!" in his adorable little voice every single time he gets a ticket. The biggest concern is that his avoidance for writing is starting to catch up with him in math because he is starting to make mistakes in multi-step problems because he won't write anything down and he can't keep it all straight in his head (that's a working memory deficit if I've ever seen one). Q is back to lacrosse next week and then soccer tryouts start soon after. I think she will realize how much she has missed sports and maybe she will be less grumpy at night.

Geez I didn't realize you were that far from Denver. That's going to be tough to find that good of range, especially with all the mountains.

I noticed a few hints you dropped. I hope you all are ok. We are here if you want to talk, but I also get that sometimes it feels like too much to dig through.

I am either switching him to a new pack or we are moving him to Camp Fire. I just found out there is a Camp Fire club in our neighborhood. A friend who is very involved in Scouts also told me about 2 nearby packs that might be a good fit, but I honestly can't get over how expensive national and council fees are for Cub Scouts.

Ew. But yes.

Lol no, it was the new Puss in Boots movie. We go to pretty progressive churches, I don't tolerate fundie crap. It's a nice church, it just used to be very vibrant, and now it feels kind of reserved and quiet. Just kind of feels like a shell, if that makes sense.

I have been to SOME of the San Juan Islands but not that particular island. Whidbey is the most easily accessible of the them, so I've been there a few times. My husband's uncle also has taken us crabbing in the strait and stopped off at Sucia Island, which is only accessible by private boat. I'd like to go to Orcas Island. Q has not really gotten to play much lacrosse, we had her take it easy with her knee injury. Honestly I think we babied it too much, now, but man how devastating would it be to go back and twist your knee the very first day back after taking weeks off? We are heading out on spring break and the plan is full return to play after we get back. And the first soccer team tryout is a week after that. Eek. We have like 3 teams that we are interested in but this club is holding tryouts a full 2 weeks before everyone else. So we will have to accept or pass on a spot, at risk of her not making one of the other teams. Soccer is getting weird in that clubs are moving to a more travel heavy format. I fully expect next year we will be spending some weekends in Spokane or Portland for soccer. Currently it's usually no more than a 2 hour drive for a game, as opposed to 3-5 hours. I think it will be ok IF she likes the girls on her team. If she doesn't, it will not be fun. She has an out of town lax tournament at the end of April, so that should be fun. The season goes until Memorial Day. They had so many girls this year that they had 2 teams, which is great but then the head coach took all the 6th graders except the new ones and put them on his team, and pretended to be fair by taking a few (good) 5th graders, so he really stacked his team. Q doesn't care, she is on a team with some friends so she is happy. I think the coach is kind of a jerk but if she's happy I am not going to complain, but I dont think he's doing the club any favors and will probably mean some girls don't return because losing repeatedly sucks. And to note, this is rec level, not select or anything serious. They're apparently planning on moving her from defense to midfield/attack, which is silly because the defense is kind of terrible. It is clear this decision was based upon size and not skill. She is the smallest or 2nd smallest girl on the team, but truthfully I don't think they've seen her play defense so they have no idea how much she actually uses that footwork she got from soccer to defend very effectively despite her size. My husband did point out, though, that putting her at mid takes advantage of her fitness and speed (she has much more endurance than many of the girls because of soccer). Lacrosse is a weird sport in that there is so much more standing around than soccer because there are only so many players allowed on each half of the field. So if she can defend AND help with the attack, that might be ideal. But she needs to work on her passing if she's going to do that. It will probably make her a more complete player, I'm just disappointed that it seems like they only looked at size. (Going to be the story of her life as an athlete, honestly.) As for me, um, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'd like to start running again because the weather is getting better but my Ragnar team fell apart. Indoor soccer is Monday nights, which is the same as E's Cub Scout meetings but I think we might be finding a new pack. So I will probably see if I can play soccer again once we get that sorted out. My ball skills are a little rough and I am not as fit as I was pre-pandemic. I've switched to defense because that was where the team needed someone, but the new GK is kind of a bitch and complains about me clearing the ball to space instead of right to someone's feet (where it is honestly going to get picked off because our team doesn't know how to move to freaking space or run onto a ball). So if I can get fit again and my ball skills back, I'd like to move back to offense. I was one of our best strikers when I joined this team, which is funny because I'm an ACM at heart (but our captain plays that and never subs). This team is funny. I like them as people and they were super accepting when I joined, but they have a very small comfort zone and routines and don't leave it lol. And my style is very different than theirs, which is part of why I was so effective for them, because it threw the other teams off. But it does mean that I don't always mesh well with their style, so I'm not as helpful when I'm on a different wavelength.

No, just an opportunity to do a fun event for families for the sake of community. They have a climbing wall and they brought in some inflatables, plus some carnival games. We also found out that they do a family-friendly movie every Friday night now. It's all free, just $1 if you want a hot dog, chips, and a drink. We stayed for 45 minutes and that was it. We left the church 11 years ago when our pastor left because the new guy was a snore and we were new parents. I heard they got a new pastor so I thought we would check it out. It wasn't the same.

Definitely could've skipped family fun night

But so sayeth Smith and Wesson 3:57: For unto ye I have provided the right to bear weapons of mass destruction unto ye neighbor or just anyone who dipleases ye, so that ye may live free in the Kingdom of Heaven and the United States of America.

You have every right to be pissed. That is super inconsiderate.

Oh gosh I hope you're ok and were able to avoid surgery. Rest up, we're thinking of you.

How are you all doing? Fully recovered, I hope.

We've got church family fun night on Friday. Yes, I'm that lame. But I will probably need a few glasses of wine after 3 hours of that nonsense.

It kills me how much trucks are. But I guess most farmers are getting the base model. I think it's all the extras that all the urban cowboys put on that drive up the price.

Hahaha. We still need to pick out a tonneau cover or something for ours. Husband wants something crazy with long, hard drawers but I don't think that's practical. I need to look up a rolling one or something. Or just get the cap and take it off when we need to (pain in the neck).

From what I've read, most cars mileage/range tanks under 40F, not just EVs. Turning on the heater is a huge energy drain.