cat vs dog

My animals have it all backwards. I'm refering to the canine and feline animals in the household here. They do not behave the way typical cats and dogs do. I lay the blame mostly at the feet of Charlotte. She just does not understand that she weighs a mere fourish pounds as compared to the 100ish pounds of the dogs. She truly believes she can get her way, steal their food, and nudge them out of a prime sleeping spot in the sun whenever she wants. But the reason she believes all this to be true...is that it is! The stupid dogs always acquiese to her wishes.

There may be some resistance, but it is token resistance, and the confrontations end with the dogs walking away in shame. I do not get it.

Sometimes she throws her weight around just for the hell of it. Just because they look a mite too comfortable and she needs to remind them to jump when she says jump. Here she is making sure Daisy understands exactly who calls the shots.

Daisy was relaxing on the kitchen floor and Charlotte sauntered on over and sat right smack dab in front of her. That wasn't in your face enough though, so Charlotte gave a little swipe across Daisy's cheek.


When that didn't elicit the reaction Charlotte expected, she got up on two feet and gave Daisy the old one-two. Daisy did try and block the blows which only angered the little monarch.


So she jumped in and bit that insolent little canine.


When Daisy attempted a bite back, Charlotte completely lost control and leapt onto the hapless pooch's back biting and scratching until Daisy admitted defeat and slunk off to hide in the crate. (No photographic evidence of that last bit because I was laughing too hard. I keep trying to get some of this on video but I think Charlotte is on to me.)


She's had them cowed since day one and there is no turning back now. These poor pups will forever be ruled by this volatile little dictator. But most of the time, they don't seem to mind at all.

some things never change

one year

three years

six years

Oh, the bedhead...it just won't quit. Katie's hair has always had that certain something something. Poor thing was born bald and as soon as hair started to sprout it had a mind of it's own. Cowlicks don't even begin to describe this. Her hair just...floats? knots? matts?...around her head and will only be tamed with hair product. Despite the headache it is to comb out her hair each morning, I adore when she stumbles down the stairs in her little bare feet and pj's with her cloud of hair going every which way possible. Makes me smile.

date night

got myself a date tonight...with Mount Laundry.

reason #67 shopping is walmart is a pain in the ass

I was in Walmart hoping to get everything I needed in one stop because I have this weird aversion to making mulitiple stops when doing errands. It just bugs me. Allergy med, check. Bananas, check. Photos for Sam's science project, check. Tortillas, check. Plastic Easter eggs, check. Fun foam, check. But I just couldn't find one item. A large roll of drawing paper. I looked in kids crafts. I looked in stationary. I looked in office supplies. I then looked again in all those places. Finally I asked the employee I had passed a couple times in the arts and crafts aisle if they sold large rolls of drawing paper. She quickly and firmly answered no. Imagine my surprise when less than two feet from where she was stocking shelves I found the very item I was looking for. I held it up remarking "Here it is!" She looked at me and said, " I didn't know that was what you meant." Yeah, because "large rolls of drawing paper" is kind of vague, don't you think?

box of cat...food?

cue heart melting

See, they do love each other ♥

anxiety induced brain dump

I'll be meeting with Sam's team in the very near future to develop the Ed Plan that will be in place for the next three years of his schooling. To say I am anxious would only just begin to describe how I'm feeling about it. I have no doubt that he will continue to qualify for services. That has typically been a worry for me at these meetings but not this go round. This time I am anxious that we get everything right.

Problem is, I don't exactly know what that means. We are entering new territory as he will be heading to middle school next fall. (on a side note...how in God's name is it possible that my baby boy is old enough for middle school?) I don't know how he can manage lockers, and traveling to multiple classes, and carrying books, notebooks, assignments, etc, from room to room to room. I keep telling myself he can do this. The teachers and therapists who work with him have sent other children off to middle school and they know the scaffolding that needs to be in place to make the move a smooth one. I know he is capable. I just need to let my worries go and believe in him. I tell myself this but the worries persist. What if his friend, his one good friend, is not in his house? He'll be so lonely. How do I write into his Ed Plan that he needs to have his friend with him? Transitions are so extremely difficult for Sam. And this is probably one of the biggest transitions of his educational life. New school, new classes, new routines, new team.

Not to mention that this year has not been an easy one for him. He is struggling to stay on top of things and the least little thing causes him to check out. A bad test grade, worrying that it is not okay to be dismissed early from band practice, missing recess because he forgot his homework again. Any of these happens and Sam has to zone out because he can't deal. I talk with his Special Ed teacher at least once a week. I tell myself we are doing all we can and we are. But I get off the phone and I cry. I cry because I can't go to school with him and make sure everything goes the way it should and he's keeping up and staying focused. But that is what I want to do. And I can't. And soon, sooner than seems possible, he will be leaving the safe enclave of Elementary School and going into the combined Middle/High School. While it scares me, I think it terrifies him. I believe part of his difficulty this year has to do with anxiety over what's to come next year. He knows a big change is coming and that worry is simmering in the back of his mind constantly. I think it will be helpful for him to know we are going to make sure a plan is in place to help ease the transition. A meeting with the team could go far in reassuring Sam that we all want him to succeed and we are doing all we can to make sure that happens.

I know there will be bumps, hell...frigging mountains to climb, along the way as he heads into middle and high school. I pray that we're giving him just the right amount of help. Not too much so that he doesn't develop coping skills and mechanisms but not too little so he starts to flounder. It's a very thin line to walk.