I Am So Worn Out

This evening I agreed to watch Isaac's friend K and her younger sister, A, while their mom went to her drug treatment program.  According to K, her mom used to take drugs but doesn't anymore.  She goes to some sort of treatment program once a week and usually K and A go with her.  There is some sort of group there that the kids participate in and K said it's "kind of helpful" but "really boring."  They didn't want to go tonight and I said they could stay with me and Isaac, as long as they could entertain themselves for a while because I had some work to do.

Well, they did entertain themselves some.  They are really good kids, but they are still kids.  They are messy and noisy and all that stuff.  There are now granola bar crumbs all over my couch. 

Isaac is completely worn out.  He is passed out on the floor right now, and a few minutes ago Cayenne walked right past him, and he didn't move a muscle.  Normally, he is aware if she goes anywhere in the apartment and usually trots after her, which upsets her greatly.  Cayenne hid from the girls while they were here; they were too noisy for her.  They had a lot of fun playing with Isaac and putting him through is paces.  They had him sit, lie down, stay, turn on the light, open the fridge, etc. about a million times each.

I am completely worn out, too.  They were really well-behaved.  I say they were noisy, but compared to many kids, they weren't that loud.  I was on the phone for a while when they were here and they did a very good job of keeping it down while I was on the phone.  They drew me some pictures and had markers and papers strewn all over the living room, but they picked their things up when I asked them to before they left.  I gave them something to drink and showed them where to put their glasses so Isaac wouldn't knock them over, and they were careful to put them where I said.

As good as they were, I am worn out.  I walked them home, and on my way back home, Isaac saw a cat and took off after it.  Normally when he chases after something, he does not go far at all and he comes right back.  This time, he did not come right back.  I started after him but he is so fast and I can't run at all because of my back.  He ran around a house and was out of sight and when I got around the house, he was no where to be seen.  I called him and he didn't come right back and I started to panic.  I didn't know what I was going to do if I couldn't find him.  I was trying to think of who I could call to help me and I didn't know anyone to call.  I didn't have my anxiety medication; it was back in my apartment and I didn't want to go home to get it because I thought I needed to keep looking for Isaac.

Well, about five minutes later, Isaac came trotting back to me, looking quite pleased with himself.  He wasn't gone that long and while I don't like him running around loose, the reality is just about everyone in my neighborhood knows Isaac, he has on a collar with an identification tag, and he has a microchip.  If Isaac got lost, if I couldn't find him, chances are very good someone would find him and return him.  Really, as friendly as Isaac is, he would not need someone to find him; he would find a person and run up to them to say hello and ask for a belly rub.  My panic was excessive.

I feel like my nerves were just frazzled, though, from having the two kids here for three hours.  Isn't that pitiful?  Two well-behaved kids for three hours is too much for me.  But I think it is too much.  I feel like now I need a whole day to rest and recover from it, plus I need a whole day to clean my house because, well, things are sticky now.

Does He Do Any Tricks?

Today Isaac's friend K came over to visit, as she does every day now.  She asked me if Isaac does any tricks.  He doesn't do any of the typical doggie tricks like rolling over or playing dead, but I showed her how he turns on lights for me.  She was suitably impressed.

I need to make a video of him doing that so I can post it.

Some Kids Grow Up Too Fast

Isaac's friend K came over today to visit.  She comes over every day now.  We went out to take Isaac for a walk.

While we walk, she talks to me.  Kids tend to share a lot, although they often stop being so talkative by the time they reach her age, which is nine.  Many years ago I taught preschool for a little while and I always thought how the parents would be amazed, and probably embarrassed or horrified, if they knew the things their kids would tell the teachers.  By the time they reach age nine, though, kids usually start to shut down a little bit.  They start learning that some things are considered "private" and that some things that happen in their homes might not be considered "normal," and they share less.

But K talks.  She tells me all kinds of things.  She told me today how she doesn't like her grandma because her grandma was "mean" to her mom when she was growing up.  She told me she likes her grandpa but rarely gets to see him because he likes to get drunk too much.  She told me how she is not allowed to see her uncle because he molested her and she doesn't know why he isn't in jail for doing that.

She told me how she is no longer allowed to play with the two little girls that live behind her house because "they have pills all over the house" and "spoons with white stuff on them" and the parents were teaching their kids (who are five and seven years old) how to "snort stuff."  Apparently K's mom decided this was not a good place for her daughter play.  I told K I thought her mom was right about that. 

K seemed worried about the two children that live there.  She is kind of like the little mommy of the neighborhood, it seems.  I told her that her mom could call Children's Services if they were worried and someone would come out to check on the kids and make sure they were OK and that if there were drugs lying around the house, they would make them clean it up.

But wow.  Just wow.  I'm pretty sure when I was nine I didn't know anything about "white stuff on spoons" or "snorting stuff."  I think I was in fifth grade before they started the "Just Say No" stuff in school, and even though, I'd certainly never seen drugs.  OK, I am in my 40's and I've never seen most drugs.  I've seen pot but never cocaine or heroin or crack or anything like that.

You know, I did not know the word "molested" when I was nine, either.  I was molested when I was young, but I didn't know the word for it.  I guess it's a good thing kids today have the words for it because that certainly makes it easier to talk about it and to tell someone if it's happening to you.  But it's sad that kids need words for things like that.

What kind of world are we raising kids in?  It's scary.

I Think You Must Be Really Lonely

Today Isaac's friend K came over to visit him.  I talked to her mom the other day to make sure it was OK for her to come inside, so she got to come in and play with Isaac with his toys.  She said, "You weren't kidding when you said he had a lot of toys!"  He probably has more toys than she does.  Spoiled doggie.

It was an interesting visit.  She is a really smart, articulate, engaging nine-year-old.  She looked around my apartment and said, "I think you like kitties a lot."  I guess the cat curtains in the living room and the drawings of my cats done by a friend of mine gives it away, huh?  But it was pretty perceptive for a nine-year-old, I thought.  She also told me I have "a lot of cool stuff."  I really don't have a lot of stuff, but she liked some of the decorative boxes I have on the living room bookshelf.

Then she said, "I think you must be really lonely here."  I was surprised she said that and asked her why she thought so.  She said, "Because you are all by yourself here in this apartment."

I said, "Well, Isaac is pretty good company." 

She looked doubtful and said, "Maybe you need someone to live with you."

I said, "Isaac lives with me and he is pretty good company.  And after tomorrow, my kitty Cayenne will live with me, too."  She still looked skeptical.  I don't know what I make of that.

Isaac, a.k.a. Casanova

One of my neighbors has started calling Isaac "Casanova."  Isaac has a... well, I don't know what to call it.  A group of little girls that live down the street that adore him.  They are like Isaac groupies.  One of them is his friend K, whom I've mentioned before.  She is his biggest fan.  She loudly proclaims to everyone that "I love this dog!"  But there are three other girls, ranging in age from five to seven, that also adore him.

When they see me walking Isaac, they run to greet him.  They have begun asking if they can walk him.  I let them, but I keep a hand on the leash, too, in case he decides to take off after a deer or something.  He is way too strong, there is no way they could hang on to him if he bolted.  They are pretty good at taking turns walking him.  Most of the time, they are able to decide among themselves whose turn it is and when it is time to let someone else have a turn.  Occasionally I have to step in and help with the turn-taking, but most of the time they are able to work it out themselves.

K wanted me to meet her mom tonight.  I actually spoke to her mom one day when she and her mom were out walking and I was out walking Isaac, but she wanted me to walk to her house and meet her mom this evening.  I'm not quite sure why but I figured it was a good idea.  If a nine-year-old kid is hanging around with an adult, the mom should know that adult and I wanted to make sure it was OK with her mom that she was walking with me.  One of the other girls in Isaac's fan club is K's sister, and the other two are neighbors.  I met one of their moms, too.

I am thinking of asking K's mom if it would be OK with her if K helped me with Isaac sometimes, things like giving him a bath.  I have a hard time doing that sometimes because when my back is bothering me a lot, it's hard to bend over the tub to wash him.  I bet K would have a blast bathing him, though.  I mean, I would be there to supervise, but she could easily bend over and wash him.  I think she'd love doing it.  And it would be great to have someone to help sometimes.

Isaac loves her, too.  He loves all the girls, of course, but I think K is his favorite of all the kids.  He gets so excited when he sees her.  The reason my neighbor is now calling him Casanova is because this evening Isaac was standing there, surrounded by these four little girls, with one rubbing his ears, and one rubbing his back, and one rubbing his belly, all at the same time, all telling him how pretty he was.  He is so spoiled!