Part 60 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

3:30 is what time I got Bounced today. Fully dressed, again, he yelled that familiar phrase right into my ear. I was not a happy Gramma. I got up and went to the couch. Ben was extremely energetic. No one should have that much energy at 3:30 in the morning.

He ran around, played with his Barber Chairs, commanded me to tape things… normal Ben stuff. I tried to stay awake.

Daughter got off work early, she was in the sub-acute unit last night, so she was home at 5:30. She asked Ben if he wanted to go to her room and he followed her. I thanked her and went back to bed. Hoping to get more sleep.

A little while later they moved back to the living room. Ben didn’t stay in the living room though. He spent more time in my room than the living room, which would have been fine if he’d let me sleep. Apparently he could not be without my services. “Gramma! Open the juice!” or beating on my shoulder…he wanted me to be awake. Daughter yelled at him from the living room to leave me alone, but she didn’t get up and come get him.

At 8:30 she went to her room. Ben, naturally, said “Gramma come living room!” before she was even settled. I got up, resigned to another long day on little sleep. At least the weather was nice. A “normal” Spring morning.

After a few minutes of cracked out bouncing from Ben and grumpies from me, he settled down with his chalk. He didn’t stay there long before he was up and jittering around again.

10:30 meds were given while I was drawing white clouds in a pink sky. Why? Because HRH commanded it. Then I was cutting out clouds and giving him tape so he could put them on the paper. Then he tossed it aside for Zeus to lay on. I love arts and crafts time.

When HRH released me from duty, I put Sven in the shower

You can’t really tell from the picture, but the way he’s laying and where the water is coming down… he’s forming a dam and has a pool of water between the himself and the tub.

He was very yellow when I took him out, just after noon,

and gave him fresh Nom Noms. No grasshopper again. He hasn’t been eating much. Of course, he doesn’t DO much except glare at me.

I noticed Ben’s face was getting really red. It’s all those clothes he insists on wearing. So even though the temperature was comfortable enough for me, I closed the windows and switched on the AC. I knew there was NO way to get Ben to take any of the stuff off.

Daughter got up and came out to take over around 1:15. I asked why she was out so early? She said she heard me yelling and figured I needed a break. I apologized for waking her up. Ben HAD been making me very frustrated and I had been Huffing and Puffing. It was the tape. “I need tape!” Then I had to figure out what he was trying to do and then try to do it. I’d get it done or as close to it as possible, go sit back down, and resume what I was doing when he’d yell “I need help!” or “I need tape!” again. I was getting extremely frustrated. Daughter thought I was really really angry. I told her she could go back to her room, I’d be quieter. She told me to take a break. Not gonna argue, so I went to my room. Of course Ben followed me, I knew he would.

He chilled out a little, watched his tablet, sang What A Wonderful World… I started relaxing too. Maybe there’s just a bad vibe in the living room? I’ll sage it later.

Daughter came in to give Ben his 2:00 meds around 2:30. Right after that he started telling me to get dressed and go to the store. Then he said “something something Gramma, something something angry…” I told him I wasn’t angry. I told him I had been frustrated earlier but I wasn’t now. I told him I was “all better”. He really is a sensitive little guy. I hoped that my reassurances would ease the tension. And they did… for about 5 minutes.

He started looking for his squirt gun, which I had put in an out of the way place. I wasn’t hiding it, per se, more “out of sight, out of mind”. Anyway, I got it for him, knowing what he would do, but wasting my breath anyway. So for the next half hour or forty-five minutes, I got squirted. Not pleasant, especially in the eye or ear, but better than “You have to get dressed. You have to go to the store, buy a new Sweeney Todd Barber Chair toy, NOW!!” Yeah. Much better.

I think my lack of reaction bored him because he wandered off. And then he wandered back. He was restless, aimless and edgy… just like this morning. He told me to get dressed and go to the store a few more times, but I ignored it. Just kept my Zen, and tried to send it to him.

Daughter just brought his steak into my room for him. After dinner is bath time. I hope it helps him feel better and sleep better. We’re in the home stretch of another mixed day. Hanging on, baby steps, getting through each day. So, we’re at the end of another day’s adventures. Early start today and it will probably be an early start tomorrow too.

Tomorrow, Ben and I get to drop Daughter off for her physical and drug test. That should be interesting. I hope he does okay in the car and when we get home. I hope he doesn’t decide to flip out on me. I admit, I’m a little nervous and I wish Daughter drove.

Tonight’s exit song…hmmm… well, for some reason this one popped into my head just now. I got to see him in the early 80s. I almost got crushed, then pulled apart, then stripped naked… but that’s a different story

Thanks for stopping by, see ya tomorrow. Take care of yourselves, smile like you’ve got a secret, and hold on.

 

Hugs!!