Tens steps forward, 11 steps back?

The couple months we had after Jaymes' hospitalization were really wonderful. We finally had a happy, calm, pleasant Jaymes. He was happy, we were happy, and we could really do things as a family again. I should have known that it probably would not stay like that!

I had actually meant to write this post up last night, but realized that in doing so, I'd be posting in frustration, and that the event would be funnier the next day than it was right then. I try to see some humor in everything, that is generally how I keep from losing what's left of my mind!

Most of yesterday was spent doing "have to do" stuff, rather than "want to do" stuff. Being exhausted from the Hunter Pace on Sunday (bareback challenge, can you say SORE muscles?!), I wanted to sleep in a bit. Sierra was not going to pre-school, so it would work out. Jason put Jaymes on the bus. At about 7am, I was peacefully dreaming about ninja cats serving me chocolate cake. The dream took a very odd turn when I was distracted by my cake by what I assumed was a very heavy cat without fur landing heavily on my chest. It also seemed to be talking to me. It took awhile for me to make out what it was saying.

"Can we watch Dora, mommy?"

Oh. So not a cat. A Sierra. Who couldn't wait to watch Dora. So much for that cake. Not sure why I have so many dreams involving cake. I imagine it has something to do with the whole dieting thing.

Anyway, the day was a thrilling one, consisting of much online course work- tests and essays. By the time I was done with that, it was time to clean up the house. Of course, the minute I'm looking at my horse forums online, Jason gets home. The timing always stinks- and makes it appear that all I do is sit online reading horse forums. Which obviously is not the case.

Jaymes got off the bus in a fairly jolly mood. He had a lot to say about school. Unfortunately, most of it was gibberish and I couldn't get enough real words out of him for it to make much sense. He started in the kindergarten class yesterday, for circle/centers/music. It's actually a little odd, he's always loved school, but this year he begs not to go back every day. I hope he settles in.

I wanted to eat lunch and let Sierra take a nap, so Jaymes P.A worker guy came and took him out to the playground. I met up with him (along with our dog, Midnight) later. We hung around about an hour, then it was time for Anthony to go home, so I told him I'd take Jaymes back home and not to worry about that. Bad move.

Jaymes had been bordering on explosion with Anthony, from what I saw... He needed a diaper change, and would not come down until both Anthony and I got after him. He screamed the whole way to the car, and was whacking Anthony with his jellyfish, which is a sign that normally would have sent me running for the car. For whatever reason (I blame the sun, clearly it killed off some brain cells!) I ignored it and changed him, then headed off back to the playground for the kids to play. Jaymes had gotten to where all he wanted to do was scout for new families. he'll approach someone, sit next to them, and try to make them kiss his jellyfish. Obviously not everyone appreciates his special brand of greeting, so I try to shoo him away when he does this.

Finally I decided it was time to go. Sierra accepted her playgroundless fate quickly, but Jaymes... Not so much. I tried to coax him out of the area, but that started a screaming fit that probably knocked the glass out of nearby vehicles. He picked up his jellyfish and flung it at someone as we walked away, and so I had to let go of him to pick it up. He bolted at that point, fairly gleefully, thinking he had managed to trick me good. To his credit, it IS pretty smart to toss something you know mommy won't leave, in an effort to get back to the area you did not want to leave.

I circled around the climbing thing he had scrambled up, getting a little more desperate with every scream directed down toward me. By now, of course, the entire playground population was staring at me. One very nice lady offered to hold the dog so I could climb up and get Jaymes. This seemed like a good idea. So, I gave them the dog, and began my slow, clumsy climb. Now, I am not in the best shape, and I still have some major issues with my back and hip from my injury. I'm sure the sight of me trying to haul myself up through an opening meant for children was deeply amusing to the bystanders. By the time I actually got to Jaymes, it occurred to me that I had not thought about how I would get down.

Jaymes solved my issue himself, by yanking out a hearing aid, separating the BTE piece from the earmold, and chucking them down down under the slide. So down I went, probably with smoke shooting out of my ears, to retrieve the hearing aid. Again, I climbed up, grabbed the boy, and clumsily climbed down praying I did not fall and land on him in the process. When I got to the ground, Jaymes threw one of his shoes, which Sierra ran to get for me.

I threw my screaming, squirming child over my shoulder, grabbed the dog's leash, and we headed across the part toward home. I was a little worried someone would call the police, thinking that the thrashing, bellowing little person hanging over my shoulder was being abducted, murdered, or otherwise assaulted. However, Jaymes kindly distracted me from police related nervousness by smacking me in the back of the head several times. The 5 minute walk through the park was more like a parade of crazy. I mean, picture it... Slightly chunky 25 year old with 38 pounds of angry kid hanging over one shoulder. Fists punching, legs flailing, teeth gnashing and slobbering. Shoes sent flying, balls of human hair (my human hair) being thrown into the air. And of course my face getting more and more purple as I struggled with my overwhelming desire to sell him on Ebay.

While I was pretty embarrassed, I wasn't all that upset until just before we got to the car. I'm ok with smacking, kicking, and attempted biting. But then he started scratching and pinching, and that really hurts a lot. He got the underside of my upper arm with his nails, and left me with some lovely long scratches and a lot of big black and blue marks. That and the hairpulling realllllly did not feel good. sierra was smart, and followed a distance behind, picking things up as they were shot into the air. She's such a helper! The dog looked like she wanted to leave with a different family. I do not blame her.

I'm glad I didn't write this last night, but having written it now, I can see that it still isn't all that funny. Give it a week, and it'll be hilarious, and the source of many, many jokes in very poor taste.

On the more serious side, I'm not too thrilled with the return of the aggression. I hate being kicked, hit, punched, bitten, spit on, and scratched. It's just not fun. Here's to hoping it will go away again.