Re: shinies and sickies was: camping   
    By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Mon Jun 15 2015 15:50:54   
      
    NB> I'm seeing a few different topics in this message, so, in the interests   
    NB> of breaking it into more manageable size messages, I'm going to try to   
    NB> pull like into like... ;)   
      
    Roger that.   
      
    NB> True, some people are more easily distracted than others... and some   
    NB> manage to learn how to minimize it eventually... and then there do seem   
    NB> to be some that don't seem to be distracted at all (but I bet they're   
    NB> faking it... )   
      
    Hahaha. Yeah I've noticed how in some people it's become a primary bogus   
   coping mechanism for things that they don't want to have to deal with. Just   
   give in to the shinies... procrastinate... watch your life pile up around you   
   until what would've been unpleasant but manageable become horrifying and   
   unmanageable. Used to be my M.O., it's not like I'm just seeing it from   
   external sources. Having a kid changed that for me, and I'm glad it did.   
      
    NB> So what did you get him special for his birthday...?   
      
    Well at this point we got pizza ordered in a couple of days, he got a new   
   video game, and wanted a few more, but I wasn't willing to spend the rest of it   
   on that. We had to wait, as he got sick, to start Aikido, which was supposed   
   to happen yesterday, but there was a mis-scheduling at the dojo or something so   
   now we're going to have to wait a few more days I guess.   
    It's actually going to be a bit more challenging than I thought it would to   
   make that all go through; sickness time kind of blew up our finances again.    
   I'm really not sure that I have enough to get both him and I in it now. Things   
   were at the margin where it would've been okay up until the #%*& sink got   
   clogged here. It's been standing for awhile and it's not going down without a   
   plumber, we've tried everything including snaking it to a rather significant   
   depth. It's in the kitchen so it interferes with cooking and cleaning pretty   
   badly, too. So now I'm having to hold onto that money a little bit longer   
   because it'll probably have to be emergency plumbing money.   
    Either way I did find a backup that I'm going to cash in and try to make   
   enough to get us both into Aikido together with. Loki's just been throwing so   
   much crap at us lately that I'm afraid to spend it lest the next disaster turn   
   into a fiscal issue again. Keeping my fingers crossed for aikido this week,   
   though. It'd be much needed socialization time for him, time to burn off some   
   energy (other than what I do with him), and just good time to get out of the   
   house.   
    I wanted to do more, but with all of the troubles it just wasn't possible.    
   When I've got the next paycheck in I should be able to make up for things a   
   little bit, hopefully.   
      
    NB> Sounds to me like some sort of bug, rather than food poisoning...   
    NB> especially since I note in later messages that stuff's been going around   
    NB> again... ;) But the sore throat and the fever tend to clinch the bug   
    NB> theory... :)   
      
    Turned out to be an influenza strain that hit everybody here. Soon as that   
   was gone it caused my son's latent strep (he's a carrier) to come out, then   
   that hit my roommate as well. I'm surprised I got lucky with that; strep   
   usually kicks my butt. But yeah, it wasn't just some sort of weird food   
   illness or something; in varying degrees of severity the one-two combo beat us   
   all down for awhile. Despite the fact that I wasn't sick with strep like   
   everyone else, it really became bad enough for them that I wasn't able to   
   survive outside of the bubble of their illness needs, so I'll just consider us   
   all beaten down by the whole thing. :)   
      
    NB> I understand... :) And I also understand the kid point of view of not   
    NB> wanting to waste SUMMER being sick... ;)   
      
    Oh for sure. He still gets cranky at me on that basis just when I tell him   
   it's time for bed. ;)   
      
    DAG>> considering. The limitations of the situation that I'm in is going   
    DAG>> to make it interesting, to say the least, and I'm definitely at the   
    DAG>> phase where I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit. But yeah,   
    NB> I'll be watching for it. ;)   
      
    Oh they are legion. I'm still looking for other solutions, as the primary   
   ideas that I had in play (provided I've remembered the thread correctly) were   
   the only two that were within a range that he would've been able to get to   
   himself. One was the playground at his school, probably the best place to look   
   for and meet other free range kids (in the pitiful minority due to helicopter   
   parenting ruling this neighborhood). The other was at the neighborhood pool,   
   which unfortunately exists in the same building. Turns out that they're having   
   summer rennovation so the entire place, including a vast swath of the   
   playground, is shut down as a construction zone. There are other parks around   
   here but they're too populated by adults and crackheads to let my kid free   
   range at. So I'm trying to keep my eyes open.   
    Also I picked him up a library card (and myself) yesterday. I was hoping   
   that the neighborhood branch would be big enough so that I could go and release   
   him in a kids section, like my dad used to do to me when I was old enough to   
   understand and stick to the rules, but alas, it is not. I'm not going to be   
   taking trips into the inner city with my vehicle as dire as it is, but maybe we   
   can afford a bus ride to go hang out at the big one in the inner city once a   
   week or so once a couple of more paychecks come in to clean up after Loki.   
      
    NB> Somehow it's always easier to see in someone else's situation... ;)    
    NB> They probably have a reasonably good idea what they ought to be doing,   
    NB> whether or not they manage to follow through on it with their own   
    NB> kids... :)   
      
    Oh absolutely. ;)   
      
    NB> And the niggling thoughts that one should maybe be trying to make it up   
    NB> to the kid for things not being as one would have hoped... but that sort   
    NB> of thing can get you in trouble, too... :) Hopefully a better setting   
    NB> will indeed help things... :)   
      
    Oh that's one that hits me hard. Especially right now when all of the ideas   
   that I had for summer release for him are blown out of the water. Not sure   
   what's going to come of all of it at this point; I don't want to fall back on   
   an endless parade of new videogames and a tightly caged little man that'll end   
   up losing massive valuable socialization.   
      
    NB> Even when they protest loudly against the limits, kids actually are   
    NB> happier knowing what the limits are and having them be securely   
    NB> enforced... it gives a more secure feeling... If one can enforse them   
    NB> simply by words and actions, and not have to resort to consequences, so   
    NB> much the better for all... :)   
      
    This is not the first time that I've heard this. I certainly do not   
   disagree. Unfortunately, things being what they are with the two of us staying   
   in the living room of a 1 bedroom apartment, I don't have control over his   
   environment even very well. I'm still looking for ways to add more reliable   
   limitations and boundaries on a daily basis here. A lot of it is going to be   
   orders of magnitude easier once we relocate, but that's not going to be for [at   
   least] several months... So an interim solution does need to be located soon   
   here.   
      
    NB> Indeed. :) Being in pretty good shape can also help you fight off the   
    NB> bugs that come piling in... :)   
      
    I'm counting that when I consider the fact that I didn't come down with this   
   strep. ;) Now I'm just trying to get my little guy back into the shape he was   
   in before we got here, as well. He used to be able to BEAT ME on a 2-mile,   
   despite his short legs. Now he can barely keep up on a bike. So every time I   
   go out, he's coming out. With a little bit of modification to my routine to   
   make it better for him, of course. Definitely some playground time at some of   
   the places where I do the majority of my miles. :)   
      
    -D/K   
   --- SBBSecho 2.27-OpenBSD   
    * Origin: Tinfoil.synchro.net - now at FTN (1:340/200) (1:340/200)   
|