...first day of summer

Cheers to the first day of summer. So far our summer has been a blur filled with pool parties, play dates, hair shaving, period talks, and Miss B experiencing sundowning every afternoon.

 I will first address the hair shaving. My oldest and sweetest and most judgmental child, Reagan, was twirling around with her arms in the air the other day and I noticed hair under her arms. Holy hell. This can't be so. She is only 10. I am a very hairy person and I have flashbacks of my childhood full of little shits tormenting me because I had a unibrow that fanned out on the ends. Yep, I was an Eddie Monster look a like. It didn't help that my arms and legs resembled that of Teen Wolf. I remember one boy telling me in the 7th grade that you could French braid the hair on my legs. I would come home crying. My mother would comfort me by telling me a dark family secret that she knew about his family and I would go to school and repeat it word for word. So, I have a "thing" about eyebrows, hairy arm pits, hairy legs...basically hair in general. I don't have any hair on my body...see how the teen years can mess you up. I am trying not to pass this hair phobia on to my daughters, but honestly they have my genes. My middle child, Farryn, has developed the "fan eyebrows". The same damn ones I had in most of my school pictures. They look like the penguin from Happy Feet.
I confess I have trimmed her eyebrows before after I have watched her try to slick them down with tons of spit. Don't judge me.

I inform the SBF about the hair under Reagan's arms and we look together without trying to scar her for life and decide it's time to shave. I am interrupted by the other two fighting and go check on them. When I return to the bathroom, I find Josh holding a pair of his hair clippers and Reagan looking at me like "oh, shit." I swear I moved like something off of the Matrix and yanked the clippers out of his hand while screaming "What the hell are you doing to her?"  Needless to say, her armpits get appropriately shaved by her mother and I am pretty sure we scarred her for life.

The period talk...times have changed. Girls are getting their periods earlier. We have noticed that Reagan can be moody sometimes and decided it's time to talk to her and her sister Farryn. Yes, we wanted to kill two birds with one stone. The two oldest are close and don't hide much from each other. So, we figured it was best to tell them both. We kept it short and simple. I pray everyday to give me at least three more years before I have to deal with this. Miss B already knows about periods because she is literally up my ass 24/7. I recall having to take her into a public bathroom with me and I know everyone was entertained by hearing her yell..."You be-leeving? You stick it up your butt?" This may be TMI for some, but it's the damn truth. I wanted to push her through the stall door, but I remember my mom telling me how I used to go through the store yelling "Did you get some Koin-tex?" Karma's a bitch.

There are no schedules in our house right now. There are no nap times. So every day from 5:30-7:30 pm this lovely child of mine loses her freaking mine until the sun goes down. Her eyes start to glaze over and the fear I experience is something I will consult my psychiatrist about. Nothing can make this child happy at this point. She has gone to her dark place and those around her will suffer her wrath. She used to stand and scratch the walls while maintaining full eye contact with me. I would sit on the couch and look right back at her thinking to myself this bitch is "loco".

But, she is much more sophisticated now. She's four. She prefers stripping butt ass naked because the clothes she has worn all day just don't work for her anymore. After the third wardrobe change, she moves on to phantom pains. Her legs hurt. The mosquito bite that she has had for three days is killing her. She feels like something is growing out of her arm. As I watch her fling her body up against walls and off couches, I begin googling syndromes. This is my third child. You would think I would know what to do to comfort this monster, but she is so different from my other children. She plays hard, loves fiercely, and is stubborn as hell. Her two older sisters eventually go off to their rooms snickering because her screams have turned into growls. They no longer want to watch her sit in the kitchen floor with tears and snot pouring down her face while she spins in freaking circle. I have tried comforting her. I have tried holding her. Lately, I have had low points where I am screaming back "What do you want from me?" or "Why don't you take a nap". She screams back like some shit off the exorcist "Don't scream at me mommy!" By 7:30 pm, I am sick with exhaustion. I am stuck on a damn couch in the playroom watching her throw shit around and out of nowhere the heavens open up. She looks over at me and I think "Bitch, I am going to have you tested for real this time" And you know what she does......she comes over with her snotty ass clothes and climbs up in my lap and says "Mommy, I love you too much." Aweee...right?? Well, "aweee" my ass at that point. But, I love her too much as well and I hold her tight and all is forgiven. I sit there holding her amidst scattered Leggos, naked dolls, broken crayons and scattered flash cards and I ask myself..."How did I become her bitch?" In reality, I am everybody's "bitch" in this house including the SBF. Oh well, I take a sip of Prosecco and hope that maybe in acceptance there is peace.

I work just two days a week and I have never been so thankful that I do. I admit that on my work days I run out the door like a fugitive. For at least 8 hours, two days a week, I can get the hell out of dodge. Sadly, I sit at my desk the first 30 minutes like I have come off a cocaine binge. I am free of their demands and senseless conversations. Their needs and desires can be met by someone else and I  am okay with that. I confess that some days I take the longest route home possible or I go to a local bar just to sit. The days I do come straight home I find myself digging into my purse like a junkie for that green bottle of happy pills. Yes, I take Xanax. I have a prescription and I have read all of the bad press about mommies and pills. All, I can say to those that care to judge...I could give two shits what you think of me. If you can maintain without the use of medication, yeah for you! You get mad props and a cookie. For those of us that can't, yeah and we get a cookie too. The last time I watched a news special on moms and meds, I was hoping I could call into the show and let them listen to the banshee in the background. But, I knew the entire interview would be full of "bleeps" and screams. Instead, I flip off the news reporter and send my girl Karma after him.

So, cheers to the first day of summer. May your glasses stay full and your prescriptions refilled!!!