The Longest Day

Let's go in order, shall we?

It actually started last night, I went out to Murphy and helped Mom close, it was actually kind of fun. It was a late night, and I was outside sweating with the mosquitoes but it was ok.

I had to get up early this morning to go up to the school to take the Accuplacer test, just the Math portion, since the basic math class I signed up for was cancelled. Yeah, I failed that sucker. No worries though, I can retake it on August 10th. They even gave me a study guide to help me prepare. Nice though, an accounting major can't even do a simple 17 problem math basics test, I didn't even get 50%.

I got my financial aid done with though, just have to mail off one thing tomorrow. I also got information on the campus work/study program, got signed up for that.

As I was walking out of the school, Gina called, we were planning on going tubing down the river today. So I run home, call Mr Refinance Wizard, get that chore done, decided what we want to do there, since our appraisal came in much higher than we anticipated. Since I knew I'd be on the river the majority of the afternoon, I thought I'd call him and get that done.

Gina, Kent, Alex, Emma and I went tubing. Gina almost had Eric convinced to go with us. But no, he stayed home. Alone. Again.

We went through monsoon season on the river, and within an hour, the sun was shining and it was great. Gotta love that Minnesota weather. I'm almost surprised it didn't snow.

When we got back to town, Gina mentioned that she and Kent were going to Fargo tonight, and invited me along. They were basically going on a cigarette run, and for pet food, both things I need, especially at the North Dakota prices. I talked to the kids, since Mom had to work, told them to be good, stay in the house, and I'd have my cell phone on me in case of emergency. But, if they were good, there really shouldn't be any emergencies, right?

I showered, and Gina and Kent came back and picked me up. We got the smokes, and the Comet food, and then I got a phone call. Alex had heard from Mom, out at Murphy, she was having a hard time, and told Alex to tell me that yes, she could use the help out there when I got home. Alex took this as a major distress signal, and called my cell to tell me that "Grandma needs help really bad"... Um, dork, I'm an hour away, and Grandma knows that, tell her if she calls again that I'll be there as soon as I can.

As soon as I can turned out to be after 10pm. But I came home, unloaded the dog food from Gina's trunk, and ran in to change into one of Mom's work shirts, and headed out. I told the kids that I would be out there helping Grandma, and to be good, and I'd have my cell on me in case of emergency again.

Yes, of course they called. Apparently Emma needed to tell me what was going on with the boys. Eric was accusing Alex of breaking his Lego masterpiece, Alex was denying it, and accusing Eric of going postal and throwing Legos at him. From what I understand, Eric was reverting back to his bad temper tantrums, and was basically having a meltdown. He was, as Emma reported, in his room pitching a fit. I told her and Alex to leave him be, that we would be home soon. Thanks, this is just what I needed.

We get home, and I sit Eric down to hear his side of it, after hearing Alex's side on the phone just before we left Murphy. Wow, what a surprise, two different stories!! I got both boys together, side by side, and let each one tell it, and told them that I could easily believe either one, Alex's story about Eric wigging out and screaming and throwing Legos at him, or Eric's story about Alex breaking his tower on purpose and then shutting the light off and not letting Eric out of his very dark bedroom. I still don't know who to believe. Thing is, I don't care, it has to stop. I sent everyone to bed, it was after all, almost midnight.

Mom and I were pretty awake, after closing (I remember this from McShithole) you can expect to be kinda wired. So we went into her room to chat and unwind a bit. We got to talking about Eric and his problems. I know mom has been worried about the kid, so have I. He watches too much TV, he plays too much on the computer, and too much on his Game Boy. He spends entirely too much time alone. He lacks basic social skills that I believe would help these temper issues go away. I heard everything Mom said, and I agreed with all of it, too. It was just really hard to hear, and I feel like a failure. I have failed Eric, and he's going to end up being the poster child for the next Columbine school. I feel so helpless, and I don't know what to do, and I wish I didn't have to deal with this at all, and especially I wish I didn't have to deal with it without JP. He is the cutest of all my kids, why does he have to be the most screwed up?

I know what has to be done, and it will be started tomorrow. Eric will lose his Game Boy for an undetermined amount of time. He will be limited to one hour of TV per day, and one hour of computer time per day. He will be forced to go with Emma a minimum of 3 times per week to Park and Rec down by the Pavillion. It's an all-day kids day camp kind of thing. He will be forced to interact with other kids, and not just his brother and sister. He will not spend all day in this house, and he will not spend his time (limited that it will be) in the house IN his room. He will learn how to ride his bike. He will not be allowed to stay home alone when we go tubing, he will go with us. I realize that he will probably not be pleasant to be around on these forced issues, but he will learn that if you don't get along with other people, learn how to live with others, and be a decent human being, that your life will pretty much suck, and I will see to it.

I have had a very bad and long day, it is definitely one I am glad to see come to an end. I'm sure tomorrow is just going to be wine and roses, too. Goodie, can't wait. ( can I call a time-out? Just crawl under a rock for awhile? Let someone else live my life for me for a couple of days? That's all I want, just a couple of days... Long enough to hopefully get a better grasp on reality and sanity.) Oh fuck it, never mind.