Friday, August 12, 2011

Apologies

Daughter is good at apologizing. She's got the words down. Today I spent over 5 hours painting our privacy fence while she sat and watched, or dozed. The fence is a shadow box fence, which made it a challenge to paint. I was able to use a roller on one side of each board, but the alternating boards and support structure all required tedious work with a brush. Mine was a bit more challenging than the one in the picture because the support structure is between the boards. Actually, I guess it's not fair to say she watched or dozed off. She pulled a few weeds, and she painted about 12 inches of one fence board. She went into the house to clean the bathrooms, but didn't do them. She probably only sat for 4 1/2 hours.
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She apologized when she wanted to get a snack, asking if she could go check her blood sugar. She was quite disappointed when her blood sugar was 107, because it meant she didn't need a snack. Of course, she wasn't sorry enough to get up and do something to help, she was just sorry enough to try for a snack.
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When I finally finished the fence, I was tired and sore. After I showered, Daughter immediately asked for supper. I asked Daughter to please do the bathrooms she'd promised to do earlier in the day first. That made her mad, so she went to her room to pout. Eventually, of course, she got hungry. So, she came out and apologized. She had to apologize so I'd feed her. Unfortunately, I had to get up and feed her, even though it hurts to move. She can't get her own food because I have to keep things locked up. I can't let her go hungry because of the diabetes. She was sorry long enough to get me to dish up some left over chicken macaroni salad for her. She wasn't sorry enough to be pleasant or cooperative. She did get a lecture about how I'm sick of apologies designed to get her something, and how frustrating it is that I have no choice, I have to take care of her, even when she's being terrible to me.
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After supper she plopped down on the couch so I could see how unhappy she is because I'm so mean to her. I told her if she wasn't going to take care of her responsibilities, she should go to her bedroom. So she is back in her bedroom, probably curled up on her bed pouting. We talked briefly about her fears while I was painting, but right now she doesn't want to solve any problems, she wants to feel abused. She's mad at me because I won't take her out shopping tonight.
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My original plan was to give the fence two coats of paint. My new plan is to go back and do touch ups to those areas that I missed. I'm hoping after a good night's sleep I'll feel good enough to plant the flowers I have waiting tomorrow. First, though, I'll need to do laundry, and I'll probably end up cleaning the bathrooms because they're bothering me and I'm tired of trying to get Daughter to do them.

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