9.15.2007

Sometimes It Takes a Good Right Hook... Sometimes It Takes a Good Right Hook

Sometimes It Takes a Good Right Hook...

...or a hard head butt to one's rather costly and fragile dental work to be reminded of one's priorities.

Leelo needs to be in Leelo-friendly environments. If we keep insisting on taking him along with us to restaurants and activities that include few outlets for him to be Leelo, or don't pay enough attention to him while we chat with other people, we can expect behavior like that battering ram to my face. Which sent me into instant tears (I am a pussy plus it fucking HURT) in front of Iz's friend Emma's family, who came out to breakfast with us before so generously taking our daughter to the Cal football game all day today.

I was really desperate for a "normal family outing" and "pleasant social time with adults at a place other than my own house," and so was being selfishly needy and having too much fun when I should have gotten Leelo out of there ten minutes earlier. Or at least remembered that If I'm not going to give Leelo my full attention, then I need to keep a safe distance between me and his head/hands. But he was being so good for so long that I took the vigilance down a notch to grab more social goodies. And now we know yet another family who will regard us with good intentions but guarded pity, and likely will think twice before they let their daughter come over to play. EXCELLENT.

Being assaulted felt particularly awful as Leelo has been such a sweetheart lately. He's been very present, happy, and interactive; he's had lots of appropriate social smiles of real pleasure (especially when we play games he likes, or he sees me coming to take him off the bus); he's been hugging and kissing me a lot; he's been playing with his sisters, holding their hands when walking, participating in silly games of imitate-Izzy-jumping-in-the-pool; he's even been using great language overall, including telling us "No" appropriately and with greater facility. All five of us were rolling and laughing in my bed this morning, for fuck's sake! Happy times and a lowered guard.

Leelo's not-so-gentle reminder of his needs was somewhat welcome in that we are coming up on the season for planning Family Holiday Get-Togethers. And we're going to have to be very careful about the arrangements, because I am really hoping that we can avoid another post-holiday-season, months-long Leelo meltdown.

We already told everyone that we didn't want to travel this year. Unfortunately both sides of our family then told us that they intend to come spend the holidays with us. I don't think this is realistic. I think we'll have to have people visit in shifts. I think I'm going to have to ask my sister-in-law Bree if her extended family (they *always* spend every Christmas together) can perhaps not come here. I think we will have to ask Seymour's parents if they can leave on Boxing Day and host a second Christmas for Bree and her people in the senior Rosenberg's new Las Vegas home. And I am grateful to Ep, who has volunteered to swap houses with my mom for the holidays so that we'll have a place to put any stray relatives of mine. Or perhaps take Leelo, should he become overwhelmed at our place. He still asks to go to Ep's house (our old house) almost every day.

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