Kids...

I felt really blah today. Maybe because the sun was shining. So hot and bright. Blech. I wonder if maybe my eyes don't dilate properly and that's why I hate the sun so much. Or maybe I just don't spend enough time out in it.

Well, I had to go out in it today. Rob insisted that nobody be inside on "a beautiful day like today." Yech. So I went outside and promptly got chased around the house twice by a wasp as big as my thumb. And my hands are huge, so that's a really big bug.

Rob and Cindy don't approve of my housing because I'll have two boy roommates. Rob says I should just save myself the drama, take out an extra couple thousand dollars loan, and get my own place. Mom says I should just get a shared dorm on campus. I just hate dealing with hassles. Sigh. (Even a shared dorm on campus would be over a hundred dollars more than I would be paying at the place I've got now... but it would be more convenient if my car happened to break down.) Frankly, I don't care all that much. I'll make do wherever I go, I just hate dealing with hassles. (And basically everything on campus is a big hassle.)

Kamryn basically begged me to come back to Seward again. She says she wants to come live with me. I can't believe how big she's getting. When I first met her, she was three, and now she's seven, reading by herself, taking care of her brother (which usually includes rubbing in his face that she can do stuff better than he can), playing tee-ball... She's getting so big it's starting to get hard to throw her around like I used to. Even Noah is older now than Kamryn was when I first came here. He's nearly as tall as Kamryn is, too, but Kamryn's getting a little paunch around her belly, so I expect she's going to hit a growth spurt pretty soon. Noah sure does whine a lot, though. He's been a terror this week. If anyone says no to him for any reason, he starts to shriek. I asked the kids to pick out a movie to watch, Kamryn picked Jurassic Park, and Noah threw a fit, and refused to get off the couch to pick a different one. He had a tantrum when Kamryn threw the baseball for him to hit and it was too high. He had a tantrum when he ordered his mom to throw his dirty paper towel away for him and she said no. He had a tantrum when his mom was solving a jigsaw puzzle and he tried to climb into her lap and she said no. Then he started kicking her. (This all happened today, too.) I'm kind of shocked by the way he treats his mom, to be honest. Then Dad came home, Mom talked to him, Dad pulled him back to the bedroom, and I don't know if Noah got a spanking or just a serious talking-to, but Rob came back whistling cheerfully a short time later, and Noah came out crying.

Rob gave me permission to smack his kids if they need it. I seriously think Noah needs it, but I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to do it. The other day, though, when Noah took my mag light from the pouch I keep on my belt for the umpteenth time without permission, I grabbed his arm and said, "What did I say about taking my light?" He refused to answer and tried to go to his mom, who was sitting across the room talking on the phone. I took Noah's other arm and told him to look at me and tell me what I'd said about the light. He refused and started shrieking hysterically like I was killing him, so I took him outside, sat down, and held him firmly and wouldn't let him go until he told me what I had said about the light. He shrieked for about ten minutes before he finally realized that he didn't even have to say sorry for taking it, just, "You said don't take it without permission." It feels so weird disciplining other people's kids in front of their parents, but Cindy didn't mind at all.

So... yeah... two child terrors and constant bruises on my arms from Jake chewing on me kind of make me want my own place when I go back to school.

And now there's a kid reading what I'm typing.

I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. I don't like my job. Well, I do. I just don't like having nothing to do. I kind of want to go hop in my car and drive home to my mommy sometimes. Am I homesick for the first time in years? Cindy says I'm homesick. I think I'm just generally frustrated and don't know what else to do because every decision I make seems to blow up in my face.

Now there's two kids reading what I'm typing. Except I don't think one can actually read yet.

Kamryn says hi. She also says, "What are you doing? How are the cat and dogs? Bye-bye."

Noah says, "How are the dogs? How are your dad? How are your mom? How are your cat? How are your swords? How are your horses? How are your dogs? How are your cats? And how are your dogs? There. That's all. And bye-bye."

Kamryn wants to say more. She says, "How are your pictures? How are your shelves? How is your daughter? How is your horses? How is your cat? How are your swords? How are your knives? How is everything that is in the house? Is the house all right? Bye-bye."

Noah demands to say more now: "How are your nights? How are your knights to the swords? How are your heads? How are your necks? How are your hands? How are your hands to hold a sword? How is your head to bang a sword? How are your hammers to bang a sword? And how is your legs to bang a sword? And amen, swordies! And good-bye, swordies! That's all."

And Kamryn says, "What do you want to do while your kids aren't there? Um. How are your plants?" I'm not even typing anymore. You get the idea. Also, Noah is eating my shoulder.

Kids are weird.

Cindy made lasagna tonight. It was fantastic. She says she's not a great cook, but every meal she's made has been fantastic, including the grilled cheese sandwiches.

Yay, kids are gone. Typing with kids climbing on you is hard.

...And now Noah's stealing the loose change I had on the dresser and putting it in his mouth. Gosh darn it. I gotta go.