Cracked Parenthood

Last Post

2011-06-11T16:08:00.003-06:00

I don't know how to make this last post on this blog short but sweet. I know some of you that were following me were pretty much abandoned months back. There is an explanation for it but, as you can imagine, it's hard to talk about.Trying to keep it short, things went horribly wrong in a very bad way. Kismet continued to have severe meltdowns and finally, several days after Christmas, we had to

Cracking Parent

2010-12-04T21:32:00.004-07:00

When I created this blog, my intention, particularly in naming the blog, was to talk about our efforts to adopt a child from foster care, to talk about being a parent, and trying to make this blog as light-hearted as possible in the process. I never guessed that Cracked Parenthood would actually wind up recording my ever rising stress levels and that the cracked part would actually be an accurate

Moon Unit, the Wonderslug and Other Adventurous Stories

2010-11-24T14:49:00.007-07:00

Last time on Cracked Parenthood, Moon Unit was getting sniffy about having to help out with Kismet, about being expected to reimburse insurance costs, about life in general, and had stormed out of the house and stormed back in again a few hours later.The next night, she left again, this time with a plan to stay with a friend for a few days. I'd like to say it seemed different without her there

Dram-a-Rama

2010-11-20T20:52:00.003-07:00

Kismet started school this week in our school district, at a regular school. She made it through 2 days before having problems again. She got upset during class on Thursday and Friday and had to leave early. I had taken those days off work to just try to unwind, because my job is pretty high stress, but it was impossible with her getting all stressed out at school and coming home.She was given

Why I'm Prematurely Losing My Hair

2010-11-15T17:47:00.003-07:00

A lot has gone on in the last little while since I last posted. (Yes, I know I shouldn't use two "last"s right after the other that way but I'm going to claim emotional exhaustion as my excuse for doing it.) We have had some interesting times with Kismet. Interesting being probably the kindest word I can think of right now. We were all psyched up by the people who brought us Kismet, thinking that

Staying Alive

2010-11-01T22:11:00.014-06:00

I've been informed by Brad that one of the items of paperwork we're still expected to turn in for our 500,000 page packet of information that covers our whole entire lives (which at times has seemed so relentless in digging up information, I've half expected them to ask how many pets we had growing up, what our grades were in high school, and how many sex partners we've had) that we've been

Three Weeks and Counting....

2010-10-25T13:25:00.005-06:00

Now that I took the time to vent in my last post, I'm on to how Kismet has been doing up to this point in time with us. We are going on 4 weeks with her living with us this Friday. And so far, things have been going... well... not bad. From my perspective, anyway. I think from Brad's perspective, things have been kinda tough.See, it's like this. Kismet responds much better to me than she does

I'm Not Always Passive

2010-10-16T21:36:00.004-06:00

I was going to write a blog post about how Kismet has been doing to date in our house and at school but there's just been something else that's been burning in my mind for the last few days that I want to get out of my system. And that is how much I want to kick the ass of Kismet's bio mom.I can sorta deal with the fact that this woman chose drugs over her daughter. I mean, I've never used drugs,

Eight is way more than enough, thank you!

2010-10-04T21:25:00.003-06:00

So this past weekend, I had eight, count 'em, 8 freakin' people in my house! I'm still not sure what drugs I was on when I decided this was a good idea. Actually, I don't know that I ever thought it was a "good" idea but it didn't occur to me for some strangely bizarre reason that it might overwhelm me.Now, if you knew anything about me, right about now, you'd be smacking me upside the head. See,

Preparations

2010-09-30T14:57:00.007-06:00

So... I know I should have been updating what's been going on with training. It just seems like there's been so much that's happened lately and it's left my head spinning. Here is my effort to nutshell the last 3 weeks as much as possible.1. We had another weekend with Kismet and the boys together. This time, Kismet spent more time with Dweezil and they seemed to do very well together. It's good

Ice Cream for Breakfast

2010-09-24T15:06:00.005-06:00

Sometimes I forget what kids men can be. I know, I know. You're thinking, "But Diana! How can you forget that? You're married! You have sons! You have man friends! Where is your head?" Honestly? It's easy to forget sometimes. Sometimes men are really good at hiding the fact that they are kids at heart. Then again, Brad takes great pleasure in using words that appeal to 4 year olds as his

The Boys Meet Kismet

2010-09-13T21:12:00.008-06:00

Last weekend, we decided it was time for the boys to meet Kismet. Brad and I had been disagreeing on how that should happen. He was all ready for an all-day adventure with Kismet, as he'd had her over an entire Saturday while I was out of town. But I didn't feel that the boys' first exposure to her should be an all-day adventure, since I wasn't sure how things would go. Not to mention that Brad

Dealing with Disappointment

2010-08-30T12:00:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, we spent some time with Kismet again. She was pretty obsessed with Brad's iPhone, to the point of not interacting much with us, at least during dinner. We then tried to find something interesting to do in the short period of time we were able to keep her but a good number of stores in the valley close at 6 p.m. on Sundays and since she didn't get out of church until 4:30 and we had

Meeting Our Destiny

2010-08-27T17:22:00.005-06:00

So we met Kismet last night. It was pretty darned cool. We met at Red Robin, which is one of her favorite places to eat. She came with her caseworker and her CASA (court appointed special advocate, which is a volunteer who is appointed by court to, well, advocate for abused and neglected children in the foster care system, see more). Her CASA had a big binder full of pictures of Kismet from their

Moving Right Along

2010-08-25T20:16:00.005-06:00

Last I wrote about Kismet, we were still waiting to hear something, anything, about training for her needs. The following week, we heard back from the caseworker, who said that the current group home parents where Kismet was living would be leaving in October. Since Kismet doesn't do well with changes, the caseworker was thinking that instead of her having to adjust to new foster parents and then

Forest Green Turtleneck Society

2010-08-23T15:37:00.008-06:00

I have often seen members of the Red Hat Society out and about and have been amused by their red hats and purple outfits. I love the absurdity of it: a group of women who are unconcerned about their looks, about how society may view the way they dress, and are just out enjoying themselves. I've always said that some day, when I'm old enough, I'm going to join the Red Hats.As I was looking at

Who Needs Paper Towel?

2010-08-20T20:50:00.003-06:00

The boys are up this weekend and we were sitting around the dinner table this evening, cracking jokes and eating (home-grilled) hamburgers. (I rock!) I discovered that we had no paper towels in the house to wipe our hands off on. Home-grilled hamburgers with condiments can be a bit messy. Add to that the fact that we were also eating chips and the discovery of no paper towels was a rather

So Far Away

2010-08-16T10:02:00.005-06:00

My parents divorced when I was very young. I'm not sure exactly how old I was, I guess I never bothered to ask. But based on photos taken from when I was a toddler, with my mother's second husband, I would venture a guess that I was somewhere between 1-2 years old.For almost all of my life, my father has lived too far away to see him much. I spent some time living with him at various times in my

"You Don't Suck"

2010-08-08T14:50:00.004-06:00

So on Friday, Brad and I had picked up the boys to bring home for the weekend. And our normal silliness ensued. I don't recall exactly what the conversation was at that moment but I said something about how I was so awesome. Conversation went something like this:Me: I'm so awesome!Dweezil (14): No you're not.Me: Yes I am! Ask Brad!Dweezil: He's your husband, he's supposed to say you're awesome.Me

An Open Letter to the Religious

2010-08-05T19:12:00.004-06:00

First, let me start off by saying that I know this blog isn't about religion. It's about being a parent, a human being, living life, and not taking yourself too seriously. But lately, I have become highly annoyed by people who, left and right, are continuously quoting scripture every chance they get. Most of the time, they are doing this in situations where it is highly inappropriate. So let me

Anticipation is Keeping Me Waiting

2010-07-30T20:31:00.005-06:00

Anticipation, anticipationIs makin' me lateIs keepin' me waitin'.I have that Carly Simon song stuck in my head. Is it stuck in yours now, too? Oh good. I'm just that kind of generous.So we're still playing the waiting game on training so we can bring K, now to be known as Kismet, since it seems the most appropriate, home eventually. They told us we'd start training in August because we would be

Stupidity: Chemical Poisoning or Contagion?

2010-07-29T09:04:00.007-06:00

Over the last almost two weeks, I have continued to struggle to have any sort of thought in my head. Normally, this is a situation that I would enjoy, not having any particular thoughts entertaining, worrying, distressing, or otherwise affecting my daily mood. Existing without any thoughts can actually be a bit peaceful. Picture a tree by a stream. The tree's leaves are falling into the stream

Couch Potato Brain

2010-07-18T22:15:00.007-06:00

I have been struggling since my last post to come up with something worth talking about. I just haven't had much on my mind lately, I guess. Well, that's not actually true. I actually have a lot on my mind but just because you have something on your mind doesn't mean you need to blog about it.I started to write a post earlier in the week about all the things I had on my mind but as I struggled to

APPROVED!!

2010-07-14T21:10:00.003-06:00

Second adoption committee met yesterday and approved us to adopt K. Training for her needs starts in August. All I can say is....YAY!

That's How Much I Love You

2010-07-11T20:57:00.003-06:00

(Scene: Bedroom, 11:30 p.m., lights off, Brad lying on his back in bed, me snuggled up against his side with my arm flung over his chest, chatting. Then all goes quiet for a moment before...)Me, singing: You are so beautiful to me...Brad: For realz?Me: For realz. (singing again) You are so beautiful to me. Can't you see? You're everything I hoped for, you're everything I need....Brad: You're