NOT-SO-TERRIFIC TUESDAY

Have you ever tried your best to do something good, then "WHAM!" it all goes wrong??

Such was my yesterday.....I was watching my cousin's seven year old girl, and my teen daughter was babysitting for my other cousin's children, ages approx. 5, 3, 18mo. The younger 3 have a HUGE FEAR of animals, any kind of animals, particularly the kind that I have: cats and dogs. They had been over a few weeks ago and did very well; however, yesterday did not go as expected.

Round #1. I'm not sure what it was, but from the time they got here until the time they left, they were in a heightened state of anxiety over my animals. I finally got the cats to go elsewhere around the yard, and for awhile, all was fine. Then, when the 3 became fussy, and the little one needed a diaper change, I told my teen daughter to bring them in the house. One problem though...the 5 year old saw my dog's face in the other room, through the glass door, and all you-know-what broke loose. This kid went ape-y on me. Literally. I was holding the little one and he was trying to climb all over me, because he was afraid that the dog "was going to get him." ????? I said the dog won't get you because you are outside and she is inside!!

Okay. Round #2. Got all 3 inside, finally. I had to have the the seven year old (who by this time is watching this whole scene with intense fascination) stand by the door and kick her legs, as if to kick the dog away. Only then could I convince the 5 year old that is was "safe" to come inside. Once inside, things didn't go any better. My teen daughter took all 3 into her room, put on a little kiddie video, and shut the door. We couldn't leave the door open, because if we did, the 5 year old literally had a melt down. He'd jump up and down, screaming and crying, because he thought that this dog was there. Now, here is the interesting part; the dog was more scared of the screaming boy, so she (the dog) never, ever came near ANY of the kids.

All.Is.Quiet....For about 1/2 hour. Then the troops became restless. I was exhausted by this time, and I had flopped on my bed for a few moments peace and quiet. They.Found.Me. Oh goody....

Okay. Time for Round #3. Teen daughter attempted to convince five year old that all was safe in the house, because the 3 year old needed to go potty, the 18 mo old needed a diaper change, and I was upstairs trying to hide. That five year old started up again with the jumping, screaming, squealing, yelling, hollering, crying...you name it.....a meltdown big time. I ran downstairs, and took the 18 mo old, told teen daughter to just get the 3 yr. old to the potty, and basically had to let 5 yr old melt-down. By this time, the seven yr. old was moseying around the corner and just watched the whole proceedings with that same fascinated look. She didn't say a word....that was the funny part.....she just stared at them like they all were nuts!

Okay. Round #4. The Mom showed up to take all 3 home. Now, keep in mind, teen daughter and I do this kind of thing no charge. We do not like to charge family, because we feel that you should do all you can for family. I was talking to Mom and explaining that the 3 kind of had a rough time of it (you could say that again!!!) and that we quieted them down by laying pillows and blankets in teen daughter's room and putting in a video.

*****Before I go any further, I should explain that because of the church we all belong to, having television is frowned upon, and a lot of members of the church do not have cable tv or tv to watch videos/dvds on. They just prefer to not have than kind of wordly influence on their children. We do have tv to watch videos and dvds. ******

Mom was not really happy about this. She basically told me that she would prefer that we not do this again, as she felt her children would "have nightmares" if they watched these shows, since the children are not used to this type of thing. She wanted to know the name of the video, and I felt like I was being interrogated. It was uncomfortable, and I could tell that she was NOT HAPPY with us, AT ALL, but I smiled and assured her that it wouldn't happen again. She left with the children, teen daughter and I went inside and I went into the bathroom and cried.

Here is why I cried. I just felt that we had tried our very best, but it just wasn't good enough. Ever had those moments?? My son says that I am just too nice, and people take advantage of me. I think he might be right.

So, this post is a little more of a downer than I what I usually blog about, but it really is just more of a venting type of thing. I figured if I get it off my chest, and onto my blog/journal, I would feel better. And, you know what, I kinda do!!