Thus Says Suzanne...

a good start

We fetched the munchkin yesterday and things are off to a good start.  She and the youngster are having a great time playing together.  

Remember the Barbie house?  The munchkin likes it all the way.  

the return of the neglectful blogger, with some big news

I've been a neglectful blogger.  Mea culpa.  

We're adding someone new to the household today.  A five-year-old girl I will refer to here as the munchkin.  (That's the big news.)

In other news, it is clear to me that the school district is not ready for prime time when it comes to the youngster so she is officially being homeschooled.  I love it, love it, love it!  (So does she.)  

The youngster is pretty excited to have a sister again.

She asked for a book

Getting the youngster turned on to books has been an uphill battle.  She loves stories, and the audiobooks I buy for her and that we get at the library get a workout, but she hasn't really been all that interested in reading.  

She has two books (and audiobooks) about the secret lives of dolls and what they do when the humans aren't around.  She loves these stories all the way.  

When she has no assigned homework I have her read for 30 minutes a day.  This vacation she's been taking that seriously.

Yesterday she was reading one of the books about the doll people, and asked me if there were any more stories about them (last time I checked, there were not).  I discovered that indeed there is a new story and when I told her she begged me to get it for her.  

How could I refuse?  In fact, just so that she has time to dig in before her vacation is over I paid extra for one-day shipping.  She likes reading!  

it's bloody hot in here

It was frosty here this morning so I added a sweater and sat down to work.  I normally keep things on the cool side during the winter (duh, it's cheaper and I'm the only one here during the day).  I got up a few minutes ago and could not get over how hot it was in here.  Checked the thermostat and it was NOT where I had set it.  Clearly the youngster is going to need a refresher course on not touching it since she had set it to 80 degrees!  

this just keeps getting better and better (that's sarcasm you hear)

When the bus driver picked up the youngster this morning she told me the bus would be coming at 6:15 tomorrow and thereafter.  Really?  At the beginning of the year it came at 7:05 AM.  That's a big change.  School doesn't start until 8 AM and it's only a 15 minute drive. 

She gets out at 2:10 in the afternoon but they want to bring her home at 4 PM.  Right, because we wouldn't want her to have a life or anything.

All told, they propose that she spend over three and a half hours a day on the bus which is three hours longer than it takes to drive her.  School is only in session for six hours.  On what planet is it reasonable to have her spend more than another 50% of that time on the bus?  That's unreasonable for a kid with no issues. 

I'm so ready to get an updated IEP in place.  This is beyond ridiculous.

Roman Polanski - the cold, hard facts

I am astonished to see people coming out in support of the child rapist Roman Polanski.

Lets' be clear.  He accepted a plea deal and made a confession.  It wasn't until he realized he would actually be held accountable for his crimes that he bailed for Europe. 

Debra Winger came out in support of him yesterday whining about how this had upset the art community, and advocated for his release.  Whoopi Goldberg talked about how it wasn't "rape-rape." 

Let's also be clear about what it was and then someone can help me understand why he should be freed, and how what he did wasn't "rape-rape."

He groomed a 13-year-old girl for the act, telling her he would photograph her for Vogue, and worked his way up to partially clothed images.  He provided alcohol and quaaludes to the 13-year-old girl.  He suggested she get into the hot tub for more images and instructed her to dispense with her clothing. He disrobed and got into the hot tub with her.  He took her into the house (remember she had been been drugged and plied with alcohol) where he proceeded to engage in oral sex with her.  Then he penetrated her vaginally but when he learned she was not on birth control (why would she be - she was 13) he decided to penetrate her anally where he completed the sex act.  

It's my assertion that anyone voicing support for his freedom is profoundly intellectually challenged and/or morally bankrupt.  Justice delayed is justice denied.

sweet but...ugh

Recently, the youngster saw a commercial in which a child packed a lunch for the mom.  She loved that commercial.

This morning she said she had a surprise for me and wanted me to go into the kitchen to see it.  She packed me a lunch, pictured at left.  Just so you know, it's two kinds of bread, American cheese (ick), Miracle Whip, mustard, and basil paste.

She's going to ask later how I liked it.  I want to be honest, without telling her that I didn't eat it.  Even the dog turned up her nose at this combination. 

scorched earth

This bus driver situation is pretty much at critical mass this morning.  The head of the transportation department arranged to have a different driver for the youngster but when I asked the driver what time to expect her home in the afternoon I was told between 3:50 and 4:00 PM.  That's more than three and a half hours on the bus every day!  She's only in class for six hours a day.  This is completely unacceptable so unless the principal (who is working on the situation this morning after an e-mail exchange with me) resolves this before the youngster gets home this afternoon I'm going to switch to a scorched earth approach to this situation.  That won't be pretty but I guarantee it will be effective.

My patience for this foolishness is at an end.

Barbie gets all the cool stuff

It's not everyone who can say they landscaped a yard in less than an hour.  I laid this stone patio and walkway, planted three trees, some shrubs, grasses and ground cover.  I even included a bird bath. 

Barbie gets all the cool stuff.

the bus driver messed with the wrong kids

Imagine for a moment that you are the adoptive parent (very recently having accomplished the adoption after three years of fostering the child) of a child with a background of profound abuse and neglect in their family of origin.  Imagine that for the last three years you have engaged in three different types of therapy with them, and helped write an IEP to place them in a special program designed to meet the needs of severely emotionally disturbed children.

Now imagine that the child gets a new bus driver.  The new driver brings your child home an hour late.  The child comes home on the first day reporting that the children asked the driver to turn down the music, but that the driver responded by turning it up.  Your child reports that suddenly there are teenagers on the bus and that one of them gets into a shouting name-calling match with a friend/classmate of your child.  When the bus driver moves the friend/classmate to the front of the bus to sit next to your child, your child lets the driver know that you have instructed your child (for very, very, very good reasons) not to sit next to boys on the bus.  The driver tells your child, "Your mother is not driving the bus and she is not the boss on the bus."  A teenaged girl takes your child's backpack and places it behind the driver.  Your child comes home very unhappy and confused.  The other children on the bus are standing up on the bus and are very agitated.

The next day your child comes home sobbing and tells you that on the ride home the bus driver told her "shut the hell up, look outside and enjoy the ride." Your child is so frightened that she says she can't ride the bus anymore.

Well, if it were my child (and it is) there would be a big dust-up involving formal letters of complaints until I was assured that this driver would never again drive my child or her friends/classmates anywhere again.