On day three of Thanksgiving break and my husband gave me one. He's working today, but took pity on me and came home for a few hours so I could take some time at one of my coffee shop hideaways. My plan is to work on my book, but I needed to vent a bit about Marcus.
You'd have to be in my house to know how much energy it takes to use a calm voice after days with Marcus. For one, he never stops talking. Mix in some annoying tics along with the chalkboard grating phrase "Hey mom" that is always followed by "I've got a question" and you can get the idea. I know that most parents, mothers in particular, know how annoying it can be when your child calls "mom" out over and over again. Now ramp that up times three and you'll know how Marcus is. It's to the point this break that I literally cringe when he says it. It's all I can do to answer in a low, calm voice. To be honest, I am not that successful as the day wears on.
It was worse yesterday for the actual Thanksgiving dinner. For one, the ritual of Thanksgiving is deeply important to Marcus. Things have to happen in just the right way or he gets upset. I narrowly missed a tantrum because I didn't have him take out the giblets. The day went fairly well aside from the hundreds of "hey moms" until Eric (my oldest son) came by with his dog Apollo. I was ready for the two of them, but not for my husband not being there. Morris got a call for an emergency at work and had to go. He ended up missing dinner. It's not like I couldn't deal with the two of them; it's that Morris mediates Marcus a bit and can help with Eric. See, Eric talks all the time too. He doesn't have Tourette, he's just a talker. Luckily, he came somewhat prepared to handle Marcus so the two of them talked at each other for the first hour or so. At least until Eric ran out of patience. Then the bickering started. I summoned the calm voice from somewhere deep and made it through dinner without losing my temper and yelling. Not too bad for an old lady. Marcus can usually handle most any situation for about 2 hours. At just about the two hours mark the cursing started and it was time for Eric to go.
I'll enjoy these few hours with no "hey moms" and replenish my ears for the next round. Thanks honey:)
You'd have to be in my house to know how much energy it takes to use a calm voice after days with Marcus. For one, he never stops talking. Mix in some annoying tics along with the chalkboard grating phrase "Hey mom" that is always followed by "I've got a question" and you can get the idea. I know that most parents, mothers in particular, know how annoying it can be when your child calls "mom" out over and over again. Now ramp that up times three and you'll know how Marcus is. It's to the point this break that I literally cringe when he says it. It's all I can do to answer in a low, calm voice. To be honest, I am not that successful as the day wears on.
It was worse yesterday for the actual Thanksgiving dinner. For one, the ritual of Thanksgiving is deeply important to Marcus. Things have to happen in just the right way or he gets upset. I narrowly missed a tantrum because I didn't have him take out the giblets. The day went fairly well aside from the hundreds of "hey moms" until Eric (my oldest son) came by with his dog Apollo. I was ready for the two of them, but not for my husband not being there. Morris got a call for an emergency at work and had to go. He ended up missing dinner. It's not like I couldn't deal with the two of them; it's that Morris mediates Marcus a bit and can help with Eric. See, Eric talks all the time too. He doesn't have Tourette, he's just a talker. Luckily, he came somewhat prepared to handle Marcus so the two of them talked at each other for the first hour or so. At least until Eric ran out of patience. Then the bickering started. I summoned the calm voice from somewhere deep and made it through dinner without losing my temper and yelling. Not too bad for an old lady. Marcus can usually handle most any situation for about 2 hours. At just about the two hours mark the cursing started and it was time for Eric to go.
I'll enjoy these few hours with no "hey moms" and replenish my ears for the next round. Thanks honey:)
I am so glad you are getting a break! And it's always funny how, no matter how much we look forward to holidays with family, they can also be some of the most challenging times.
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