Stilling and Chilling

I've been OCDing over, "Over-stimulation" lately. With my hyper-active metabolism, over-stimulation has been a BIG subject for my entire life. Since the protective custody shuffle in August was up-graded to orphanhood, over-stimulation has taken on even more ominous over-tones. Over-stimulated pre-schoolers and first-graders are a force of nature. Prevention might be worth 20 pounds of cure on that score.

The winter vacation is nearly half over. If my experience with the visitation end of this unfortunate arrangement is on target, the children are probably homesick by now. Getting through that second week of last year's winter vacation was rough. I wish the lines of communications with my son's lawyered-up in-laws were clear enough that I could ask how the return to school, et al, went last year. Just wishing while I act on the belief that their lawyer will be the one answering. I'm pretty sure their lawyer wasn't there for that transition. I've walked out of more than one medical office when I believed the medicos were speaking lawyer more than medico. The only thing worse than a lawyer is a lawyer parrot.

Setting that wandering wonder aside for now, I want to focus on rest and stability for the duration of the vacation. With the furniture hurdle jumped, for both better and for worse, that goal feels obtainable. Most of the kid stuff has been moved to the big house and found its relative rooms. Now for the fine tuning that makes it possible to tell children where to find asundry pieces while simultaneously keeping the school train on its tracks. Prayers ongoing. . .

Baby Sis turns one year old tomorrow. Big Sis will turn 4 on January 7th, the day after the children are scheduled to return. I'm fairly confident the in-law lawyer is coaching them to extreme punctuality, etc., on this particular visit. The "Permanency Hearing" is only weeks away. This particular visit will be measured by the Gringo court officials. "La Hora Mexicana" doesnae have much pull there, even among the children of Mexican immigrants. Perhaps especially there. I feel fairly confident that I can actually plan a birthday party for Big Sis, though I still havenae ruled out the possibility that she will spend her birthday on the road while Hubs and I compensate for in-law incompetance. Nobody remembers their first birthday, but I believe the fourth birthday is where the concept of "A Year" begins to form. Birthday parties are a big part of that formation.

For now, rest is a productive activity for this over-stimulated geezer. Chill still, old nut job. Nice and easy does it.