I had a gain of one pound at my weigh-in on Saturday. To be honest, I was shocked it wasn’t more. But really, have I sunk so low in my expectations that I’m going to be happy with not gaining as much as I thought I would, instead of actually expecting for and working for a loss?
This past weekend the kids were with us for the first time in a month. They were with their egg-donor, Psycho, for Easter. We had a great time Friday night, catching up and laughing and carrying on. On Saturday we planted the vegetable garden, and the elephant ear that my youngest stepdaughter and I planted last time they were home finally made an appearance and is starting to grow.
Then…Saturday night, my youngest stepdaughter said her head itched. My fiance checked her hair, and she had lice. He checked the other kids, and it was unanimous: all of them had lice. Turns out, they have had it before, and their illustrious mother, Psycho, never bothered to tell us. Mother-of-the-Year just dumped them off for the weekend without a word or warning. She told my youngest stepdaughter dismissively that her head only itched from medicine that she had to take, and she never even checked to see if it was lice again.
As usual, my fiance and I double-timed and did her parenting for her. We treated their hair, comforted them that it wasn’t their fault, and stayed up until 2 AM washing all sheets, blankets, clothes, towels, etc. in hot water; spraying their hats, stuffed animals, and our furniture; vacuuming mattresses and furniture and rugs; and making damn sure every square inch of the house was treated, cleaned, and sanitized.
We got the kids into their freshly washed beds, then stayed up a bit later, making sure we had done everything imaginable to prevent it from happening again. The kids were upset, embarrassed, and we had a lot of reassuring to do.
The saddest part was, we had to explain to the kids what to do when they got back to Psycho’s, because everyone in the house knew she isn’t going to lift a finger to help them. We had to teach them how to check each other’s hair, remind them they need to do that for the next week, remind them not to use their brushes, combs, or hats at their other home until they’ve been treated, and so on. Problem is, if Psycho doesn’t give a damn, it’s all for nothing. They will just pick it up again over there and bring it right back.
“Furious” doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about it. Kids catch lice, sure, but repeat episodes because Psycho is too lazy to put any work into protecting the kids is beyond pathetic. Thing is, she’s so childish and petty, she is probably amused and proud about letting the kids bring lice into our new home. She feels like she got us back somehow, made us pay for being happy and getting a house in the first place. And if the kids were hurt in the process? She doesn’t care, as long as she didn’t have to exert any effort and let us handle it, like we always do.
Lack of sleep is going to make it hard to work out this evening, but I signed up for a Spinning class right after work and still intend to be there. There will be no celebrating for not gaining as much as I thought I would this week. There is going to be a loss at my next weigh-in, no matter what else happens this week!
Sweat & Sparkle 