Well, we made through yesterday without our Granny! Got a call this morning that she had made it back to Montana safe and sound and had had a good trip. Praise the Lord! I always feel a little nervous when a family member is in transit. I mean, what happens if they never show up at their destination? Get lost? Blown up by a terrorist? I prefer to have my family members either safely by my side or safely near their homes where they can be easily traced. And losing someone in Bridger is pretty near impossible since everyone knows what everyone else is doing ;).
Ella did well with Sarah yesterday. I don't think that she's going to give Sarah the problems that she did for her Granny. Which I believe if an excellent sign of attachment. L feels safe taking her frusterations out on her FAMILY because they are safe. She seems to know who her family is. Me and her Gran.
I was only gone 5 hours. I'm not going to stress getting a full 6 hours a day in right away - may have to ease into it. Ella woke up from her nap still tired and yawning (had a late night taking Gran to the airport, then an early morning) and we were both kind of like, "Now what? What are we supposed to do without Gran?" L was at the point of being cranky and angry with me until she slipped on the mat and clonked her head on the table. That brought on a good bunch of tears that I think she needed to get out of her little system and she was almost clingy the whole rest of the day.
We had some good mother-daughter time and were able to take our dogs and go for a lovely walk in the Botanical Gardens with Kathryn and her friend. Sanyu actually got to go off leash and didn't chase ANYBODY and even listened to me! Passed by three little kids who she was getting ready to go and greet but came back when I called her. You just can't trust Bridger off leash because he is so darned aggressive. I have determined that instead of an Indiscriminate Friendliness Disorder the boy has an Indiscriminate Aggressiveness Disorder. I have never seen him go after a woman but a man or child, of any race or size, is fair game. Great when he's on Guard Dog Duty but not so great when he's on Family Dog Duty and you're trying to recreate somewhere with the family dog in tow. Must say, I think family dogs make the best guard dogs though. Ella and I and our home are always safe when Bridger is around.
Because of L's tired and clingyness I canceled dinner out with a great family. I really wanted to go but L needed to stay and chill at home. I mentioned that Cody was missing our neighbor Diana and Ella told him, "Sorry Cody. Diana is in England." After a while she said, "Mommy? Do you miss Granny?" She will ask you a question like this when she is feeling it herself - it's like she doesn't want to do it alone. I told her that I did miss Granny, it made me sad that she'd left but that we would go and visit her in Montana when Ella was four. Ella mulled this over for a while and then declared, "I'm four." Needless to say we did not jump on a plane immedietly and head for Montana!!
I am SO GRATEFUL that Mom came when she did and stayed as long she did. I was dealing with a lot of stress, anger and relational issues from last year and sadly, was taking a lot of my anger out on little L. That's sick! And I didn't even realize that I was doing it. I just really, really needed my mother. Who says parenting is over after the kid turns 18 and leaves the house? Being a mom is a never ending job, even when your kid is 27 years old and living on another continent!
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