"Oh, well done," I hear some of you cry. "Way to keep your word. Here you promise to post near-daily [I do so enjoy that phrase--maybe I can copyright it] and then fall down on the job on the very first day. Good job, Ace."
See? Even on a blog I display my paranoia and guilt complex. I always imagine that any observer of my actions will see them in the worst possible light.
At any rate, I have a fine excuse for not posting; by the time the boys went to bed and I had a chance to post, we were experiencing a power outage. We had several short ones through the night and I didn't want to keep the computer on during such unreliable service. Even now, as our house is blanketed in three inches of snow and counting, we might lose it again at any moment. Annoying, but I'm taking the risk to keep my word. Kind of, anyway.
We're still surrounded by the fallout from Christmas. This year my parents really did go overboard--they're wonderfully and incredibly generous, but the accumulated goods are overwhelming. Admittedly, the living room floor is currently covered with an enormous model train layout for which they bear no guilt--it's a set we've been accumulating bit by bit for a year now, and it's a grip of fun (it's from Fisher Price, called GeoTracks, and it's a fabulous buy for young kids who like trains as it's easy to assemble and can withstand much punishment); the boys don't quite yet appreciate the fantastic extent of the layout, choosing consistently to fight over one particular corner, but it'll come to them one day. Between our few gifts to them, the truckload of gifts from my parents, and the many more from friends and extended family, we're going to have to donate all their old toys to make the new ones fit.
There's a discussion of the "True Meaning of Christmas" lurking in here somewhere, but I don't have the energy to tackle that at 7:30 in the morning (especially after being up until 2am playing Halo 2 from my excellent wife--yes, the power outages did play havoc with that; I lost a significant amount of progress thanks to power cutouts during play before I finally gave up). Suffice it to say that there has been an agreement forged between generations that next year the number of presents needs to be severely cut back--I want the boys to appreciate what they get, not just see the day as an endless gift-fest. I think the damage can be contained, as the boys are young enough that they won't appreciate the reason for Christmas until next year, and they likely won't remember the flood of presents from this year.
We had a fine Christmas all told, and I am looking forward to spending a few days without teaching and trying to clean out the bedroom and the office (both currently given over to enormous piles of stuff--we need the folks from Clean Sweep in here with a vengeance).
As a last, utterly unrelated note, did anyone else see the story about the woman who is serving as the surrogate mother to her own grandchildren? I know this isn't the first time this has occurred, but does anyone else find this quite creepy?
2 comments:
I didn't see the story you're talking about, but it's relatively common for grandparents to take on a partial (or full) parental role for their grandchildren when the birth parent(s) are unwilling or unable to care for them.
My newphew is in that situation right now - my sister, 4 years younger than I am, had her son when she had just turned 16. Although she has had a few short stints where she has attempted to move out (both for approximately 6 months), for the most part they've both lived with my parents in Atlanta. The dad is in jail - he was arrested about 4 months before Adrian (my newphew) was born.
This is, by far, the best situation for him, hands down. He is surrounded by loving, caring people - and since my dad is retired, he's able to get Adrian on and off the bus, to piano and swimming lessons, and is both on the PTA and Yearbook committee at Adrian's elementary school. The kids there know him as "Papa Don" (Adrian's name for him) or "Mr. Picture Guy", since he's the chief photographer there.
Adrian knows who's who - he knows that Mommy is the person who gave birth to him, and that Daddy is in jail because he did a Very Bad Thing. He knows that Grammy and Papa Don are Mommy's parents. My mom and dad treat Adrian, for the most part, like they treated us growing up. They've shouldered the majority of the financial burden for him over the years, since my sister made some Very Poor Choices when it comes to finances.
It's not an idyllic situation, though - there are times when Adrian should be disciplined differently than my sister chooses to... but my parents aren't willing to contradict what my sister chooses. Adrian will turn to MY mother first for comfort and support, and my sister comes in second.
But if it WASN'T for my parents stepping in and assuming a good portion of the responsibilty for this child, he'd be one messed-up 7 year old.
You know, I just reread your entry, and realized that you might be talking about something totally different. Is the grandmother the "host" for her own daughter's fertilized eggs? Now, I agree, THAT is bizzare. And kinda creepy.
On another creepy note, they've successfully cloned a cat. Yick.
Silverstah,
Yes, it was absolutely the latter possibility. I am 100% behind grandparents who step in and help raise their grandkids when needed--that's a tremendous, amazing sacrifice and I applaud such efforts. Your nephew is indeed lucky to have your parents and they are owed much honor.
The story I was referring to was a grandmother carrying her daughter's eggs to term (triplets, as it turned out). I can't say that it's immoral or wrong, just that it strikes me as yucky and odd. I guess I'd have issues.
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