The weather has warmed up considerably. Jack wanted to wear shorts and a t-shirt and then put his winter boots on to go out. The snow that we had a week ago is almost gone and it got up to 17C today.
We had Jack's birthday party today and it was a success. I invited Gracie, and Jack and I went and picked her up. We talked in the car. She's been through a lot. Her psychiatrist had her on five different meds, including an anti-psychotic, an anti-depressant, and a benzodiazepene, plus she was drinking. Her family doctor got her off all those meds and sent her for testing. Gracie was diagnosed with ADHD and is now on Vvyanse and feeling good. She's sober and wants to stay that way. Her anxiety has gone down to almost nothing. The change in her was shocking and wonderful to see. She's seeing a counselor and going to group therapy. She's getting better and I'm so thankful for that. After the party, I drove her and Jack back to her place so that he could stay with her overnight. I feel hope.
There was cake and ten children in my house, screaming and running, literally. It was chaos and at some point, I think every children ended up crying. Jack had a hard time and cried a fair bit, until he finally let go and just enjoyed himself. He wanted to be in charge and tell everyone how to play the games and nobody listened to him, a feeling I am familiar with:)
The kids were supposed to play cornhole and knee hockey, but that didn't work out. The hit of the afternoon was painting little egg cups.
And trump. Well the world does not like him right now and that's a very good thing.
I'm so glad Jack's party went well and that Gracie was well enough to attend. Long may it last! Well done grandma!
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I hope that she's able to maintain her sobriety and succeed.
DeleteKeeping fingers crossed for Gracie. Well done with the birthday party.
ReplyDeleteI always found birthday parties extremely stressful, some other parent(s) always had the better and more expensive ideas anyway. I outsourced the whole affair as soon as possible, sent them to swimming pools, potteries, zoos, farmyards, anything that could reduce my input to providing overly-sugary food and candles/balloons and sweetened beverages along the way. The worst were the parents who thought they were invited along, it took me a while to get the trend, my daughter tells me that it's a thing now to have "parent food and drink and entertainment" available as well.
I won't have a party at our house again. When my kids were growing up, it was the norm, but now I'm either too old, or kids are way louder than I remember:)
DeleteI will, as you say, outsource his next party. A couple of the parents stayed which was nice.
I hope the GP has figured out what the best medication for Gracie is and that this will be a turning point in her health and recovery. Wouldn't that be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so wonderful, not just for her, but for Jack as well.
DeleteThe birthday party sounds like it was fun. I'm so happy Gracie came, talked to you about herself, and everything went well.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad Gracie talked to me as well. She has my support.
DeleteGracie! Oh, how I hope she can maintain her sobriety.
ReplyDeleteLike Sabine, I always disliked birthday parties. There was NOTHING about them I enjoyed. Even when I was a kid they stressed me out. Good job, you!
Two hours felt like an eternity:) As I said to Sabine, the next party will be elsewhere.
DeleteIf the party had been at my house, I would have been the one crying. The sudden high-pitched shrieks of small children make me jump, as does any unexpected noise. My mother-in-law remarked, after the most recent visit of our grandchildren, that kids seem a lot noisier than they used to be. Of course she and I were not permitted to run and jump and scream indoors; we were sent outside or to the basement if we forgot ourselves. She posited that the TV shows kids watch now are different -- louder, etc. -- and thought that might have something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time with screaming too. In fact, Jack and I just had a fight about yelling as he was getting ready for bed. Too much excitement in one weekend.
DeleteKids today are different. That fear that I had of my parents is not there.
And won't it be great if Gracie becomes the mother she'd like to be, and your ally.
ReplyDeleteThat would be lovely.
DeleteBirthday parties are not the same as when I grew up. Kids in my day knew to behave when a guest at someones house and parents were not always trying to one up the other parents.
ReplyDeleteSo glad Gracie is doing well and hopefully on a path that one day she can be the mother her son needs and you and your husband can take back the role of loving grandparents.
I hope she's able to keep it up for her sake, and Jack's.
DeleteI'm so glad to hear Gracie is doing better! No wonder she's been erratic, on all that medication (plus alcohol). That's a great birthday cake!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it was a nightmare for her. Going off those meds is just as bad, as being on those meds.
DeleteI hope pruning Gracie's list of meds and switching to one that addresses her issues will make a huge difference moving forward. Wouldn't it be lovely if she could assume more care of Jack and be nice to you at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYou have the most beautiful floors. They're just gorgeous.
I can hope that she'll be able to care for Jack one day and I'm glad she's sober and properly diagnosed. But she still doesn't have a job and that's always been a big problem for her.
DeleteRegarding Gracie: That is the best news I have heard in a long time. It's no wonder she was behaving as she was given that chemical stew plus alcohol. Fingers crossed that she can recover from this and continue to improve. Kids birthday parties can be utter chaos. Your house is beautiful, those floors are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteEveryone likes the floors! Too funny.
DeleteI hope Gracie continues to get better.
Fingers crossed that things continue to go well with Gracie. I'm glad the party went well -- it must be a relief to have it over. I just talked to my sister. Unfortunately she still thinks Trump is doing a great job. She talked about Obama's corruption but doesn't think Trump is --- he's already rich and doesn't need to be.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand people. Your sister thinks Obama was corrupt but trump isn't, because he's rich. How does she think trump got rich? By screwing people over, cheating, and lying.
DeleteJack wanting things organised to his taste triggered a childhood memory for me or trying to organise something but no one wanted to follow the rules. I was so frustrated.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a good day all round.
I just put my head down and kept going yesterday. I was very glad to see the last kid leave (he was the wildest kid).
DeleteThat is such great news about Gracie. Fingers crossed that she can maintain her sobriety and as the above commenter said, be your ally. Thank goodness birthday parties like that for your house are once a year! They age out of this type of party quickly too, lol!
ReplyDeleteI'm don't think we'll be doing another party at home. I wouldn't be able to handle it. Maybe we could do one the next month in the park. I'll have to think about it.
DeleteThat's good news about Gracie; I hope she sticks with it, for her sake and Jack's. The party sounds typical. My oldest grandson turns 5 in May and his party will probably be similar--some meltdowns and excitement/disappointment. (adults as well as children!)
ReplyDeleteLife is like a party, there's some fun, some disappointment, and someone ends up crying at some point:)
DeleteI haven't been checking blogs of late, and now I am catching up. I am happy that things seem to be looking up for Jack's mother. I hope that the trend continues. When I read the first post, it seemed as if things weren't going to improve this quickly. Birthday parties are always chaos. And sadly, the USA is chaos central right now.
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that the trend continues as well. The US is a hot mess and the emperor has no clothes.
DeleteThat’s excellent news about Gracie!
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Barbara
I'm very thankful. Hopefully it sticks:)
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