Well, I knew the awesome day wouldn't last, but I didn't let it get to me. However, as predicted, the days gradually became worse as the time to go to Gran's house closed in on us. How is it that one night can do so much damage to a child?

SS5 left for Gran's on Friday night. Once again, I packed him with extra clothes (just in case) and once again they returned him in the same clothes he wore the day before. These are also the same clothes he wore to bed. The most ridiculous part? They stripped him down at some point to change his underwear and socks. Yet they never gave him a bath, and put him BACK in the clothes he'd worn the day (and NIGHT) before. They returned him late, as usual. They took him out picking flowers, so he came back dirty with irritated skin, as usual. There was one big change this time though... he came back with carpet burn and a black eye! How did he get that? Oh yeah, F#^@ing around on the recliner at Gran's house. Really, how irresponsible can these people be? They just let him climb and jump on furniture all the time too?

Last night when he came home, I did exactly what everyone suggested. I let DH deal with it. Which means that SS5 went to bed with his DVD player on. Sorry, i had to step in at that point. I shut it off. Today, he still has yet to have a bath or a shower. Though he HAS managed to cry every time we ask him a question (not being chastised here, just questions like "hey buddy, what kind of cereal do you want?") and throw a fit at his sister on the trampoline. It was her turn to do a trick, but he decided he didn't want to wait, so he took his hoodie off and hit her with it. Classy.

I'm so tired of this stuff all of the time. I'm tired of the excuses. I'm tired of hearing "well, when we move, this wont be a problem." Yeah sure, unless Gran decides she wants to take him for a few weeks in the summer. what happens then? Three weeks in the same clothes with no bath and jumping on furniture? Top that off with the newborn kitten I'm now hand-rearing and the BAE classes I attend daily and I don;t have time for the drama. So I've decided, I love my SS, but I'm letting DH deal with the crap. If I have to correct something, I will immediately justify myself to DH, and let him handle it from there. Let's see how this goes.