Tuesday, September 11, 2012

VBS Day Three



We woke up and everyone pretty much had a meltdown.  I was late getting to work which didn’t make me a happy camper.  As I was driving the kids to school, I saw a church near our house was having VBS the following week from 6:30 – 8:30PM.  Last week, I had considered taking the kids, this week I knew we couldn’t do it because this VBS was killing me, slowly but surely.
Being the good parent that I am, I knew we couldn’t have my beloved McD’s two nights in the row so I went with Taco Bell.  Tacos all around for the kids.  I picked them up from school and the ate on the way.  We made such good time we were early so we had to entertain ourselves until the leaders’ prayer meeting was over.  It ended, I quickly threw my kids into their different classes and bid them adieu.

Tonight at the parents’ house was more of the monotone couple.  Tonight they were discussing your love style when it comes to parenting.  I drank my Coke slowly so I could stay awake.  My acquaintance next to me wasn’t so lucky she lost the fight to sleep.  It was another night of drifting in and out and wondering when are they going to point this back to Christ, and then it happened.

The therapists described an incident that happened with their daughter and how they handled it and they wished they handled it.  When their daughter was seven, she started shunning her father’s touch.  She started wetting the bed, which she previously didn’t do.  Her personality changed.  The mom therapist said, she wished she had taken her daughter aside as soon as these behaviors had started and asked her little girl, what was wrong.  WHAT?!!? 

Are you kidding me?  She wished she would have taken her daughter aside at the very beginning and asked, “What was wrong?”.  Last month, Rowan peed in the bed twice in one week.  I mentally went through the week trying to figure out if anything had been different, if something had happened.  Nothing came to mind.  Then I took her aside, sat with her, and asked her if anything had happened, if anything was wrong.  She assured me there wasn’t.  How could this therapist not think to ask her daughter if anything was wrong when her behavior changed?  Rowan doesn’t pee in the bed so the first time, I chalked up to an accident or her not getting to the bathroom in time.  But the second time in the same week, there could be a problem and we needed to get to the root of the problem ASAP.  So was I really supposed to take advice from parents who had dropped the ball in such a big way?

Eight months later, their neighbor in passing told them what happened at her house, which explained to them the root of their daughter’s problem.  Their daughter was at the neighbor’s house playing with the neighbor’s daughter.  The neighbor’s daughter pushed their daughter into the neighbor’s bedroom and shut the door.  The neighbors were making love and then yelled at the little girl for being in their room.

To this day, the therapists said their daughter still bears the scars from that incident.  When they finished the story, I thought what type of friends did they have that would be so into each other they would engage in intimate acts while they had company over,  while they had young children who needed to be supervised in the house.   Ugh!  Luckily it was the last day of the therapists.  I couldn’t have taken another day of them.

I picked up the kids, baths, pjs, and finally bed.  I was on life support and was so ready for it to be Friday.

No comments:

Post a Comment