If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.
Dinner, bath and Driving Miss Daisy was accomplished with only minor issues. I’d be shocked if it was TOO easy. We got back home and I tucked Ben and Zeus in bed. Then I got Horizontal and waited for sunset.
I also took a picture of one of the hills in the northeast. The color of the setting sun on the granite was pretty
Ben got up at 8pm, during sunset. I told him it was bedtime and he needed to use the bathroom, get a snack, whatever, but it was bedtime! I got him tucked him back in bed, gave him a kiss and closed the door. He was still awake at 9:30pm
After sunset I ate, did my night things and waited for it to get quiet in Ben’s room. I took my pill around 10:30 and went to sleep around 11:30. Younger texted, then called me, so I didnt get to go right to sleep.
Ben did the yelling run-by just before four-thirty this morning. “Gramma come living room!” I stumbled to the couch, flopped down and awaited further instructions. I had to fetch his water bottle, the tablet charger and gummy snacks. I had to “help” him up from ground outside, I had to Write The Words.
The alarm told me to give him meds, so I did that too. I uncovered The Bruminator and took his picture.
Ben wanted me to write more Words. I set an alarm for 7:10 and told him when it went off he had to get ready and go get his Mama from work. He did well, didn’t argue or lag. The only issue was after we were home and getting out of the car, he reached up to the dash and pressed the Power button on the car. I was still close enough for the clicker thingy to register, so the accessories came on. UGH! I had to go back and turn it off.
With the Prius there’s no key. You just press the button, but you have to have your foot on the brake pedal for the engine to start.
Into the house and the battle to get past Dogzilla. Daughter went to her room, Ben and I settled in the living room. Ben dumped his chalk then changed his mind and set up his dominoes instead. Dogzilla kept knocking them over, so I had to call him up on the couch with me.
The weather Guessers used their dart board, magic eight ball or pulled numbers out of a hat and predicted a high of 89F (32C) today. The temperature was supposed to go from 75F to 80F (24C to 27C) between 10am and 11am. I turned the AC on at 10am. Ben took the sweater off, so he was getting too warm. That’s the point of the AC anyway… keeping Ben from overheating and blowing a gasket.
We sat on the couch for a while then he jumped up and ran outside. I waited five or ten minutes, then went to see what he was doing. He was trying bust the cinderblocks of the wall on the property line. I got him down and he ran back in the house. It would have been good for him to play outside a while, just not breaking things. Sigh!
When he settled down with his tablet he said “Gramma?” I asked what he wanted. He said “Gramma, look!” So I looked. It was an actor’s name. It was Write The Words time! He didn’t stick with one movie, he jumped around to different names. Then he started just making names up. Sometimes I think he really does want to see if my head will explode.
He got tired of making up names for me to write and went over to the chalk. He sat there for a minute and changed his mind again. He went to where he’d left his dominoes and started setting them up. He did that for a while then came back to the tablet and sitting on the couch with me.
I had been fighting off sleep. I was losing the battle with some very long blinks and some straight up dozing. Little five minute naps were joining together. I didn’t cross completely into Sleep, but it was right there with a welcoming committee.
Daughter got up at 2:00 to take over. I went to my room to lay down and Ben followed me. I thought everything was okay but he started freaking out and telling me to get dressed and go to the store for chalk. I told him the chalk would come tomorrow but he wants it now. He was kicking at the front door, he was screaming at me. I told him that I didn’t even know what store I could go to. I told him I had been looking, looking, looking for chalk and none of the stores had any. It was all gone, that’s why I had to order it in the mail. I told him about the three separate deliveries we’re expecting. He mumbled something then said “I’ll do it myself” and ran outside.
Daughter went out after a few minutes to see what he was doing. They came back in the house together. He jumped on my bed and started telling me to get dressed and go to the store again.
I was afraid we were headed towards a meltdown. He tried to do his chalk thang several times today but most of the pieces are too small for the shaving he likes to do. I think it’s like his “picking”, it gives him some kind of satisfaction. The repetition of it soothes him too. Anyway, when he was getting ready to get in my face to tell me to “get dressed and go to the store to buy new chalk, RIGHT NOW!” he saw my back first. He saw the spots of plaque psoriasis on my back. Some of them are two or three inches across, big scales of skin. He started picking. Usually I make him stop. Today I let him do it.
He spent about thirty minutes picking at my scales and that seemed to calm him down. That and his 2:30 meds kicking in. I hope the chalk delivery comes early tomorrow.
The pizza has gone into the toaster oven, I texted Younger to see if she’s available to come over if Ben goes full nuclear and I’ve showed him pictures of the chalk that’s coming. It’s still bubbling but he’s making Happy Noises and I have Younger on standby for when I have to Drive Miss Daisy at 6:30. The countdown has begun.
Thanks to Melanie for sharing this site. Remakes aren’t always good, but like the other site Post Modern Jukebox, I like the twist on this one.
Thank you for coming by Casa Cuckoo. It was a good day for the most part. I was worried there for a while, but it worked out. Come on by tomorrow, see what Ben does with his new chalk. Daughter is off tomorrow night, so that always changes things too. Never a dull moment here, that’s for sure! See ya tomorrow.
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HUGS!
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King Ben's Grandma 
Hope all goes well this evening. Hugs 🤗❤️
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I haven’t heard him yet tonight🤞… Zeus is at the door sniffing sniffing… making sure I’m still here probably 😂😂🤗🥰
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I was missing you today and was hoping that everything was okay. Try to sleep early today. Hugs.
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Ben was Mr Interruption Today! Every time I tried to read or write “Gramma?” Then I kept falling asleep🤪🙄😂😂 It was a fairly mellow day, except for the afternoon and even that turned out okay… weird day🤷🏼♀️
Gonna try to have an early night🤞 We’ll see if Ben and my Daughters cooperate🤦♀️🤣🤣🤗🥰❤
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I hope the universe cooperated and make it a restful night for you.
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This might not be my place to say so, but I think Ben tending to your plaque psoriasis is sweet. I know he has an obsession with picking at bodily things that he shouldn’t, sometimes creating more of a problem than he’s trying to solve, but in his mind he’s taking care of you.
And thank you, as always, for being so honest with the stories of your daily life. The more we talk openly about the realities of our lives, the closer we get to that point when we all stop judging and start embracing. Hugs.
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It felt like a Monkey Moment…😂😂
Human bodies are wonderful, amazing, disgusting things! All the stress has got my psoriasis on overdrive, so I leave little pieces of my everywhere 🤷🏼♀️
So many people are having trouble with their mental health and I truly believe that Social Media and “perfect” pictures of glamorous Insta lives is causing part of the problem. People look at their lives and are unhappy and dissatisfied that they dont have all the cool stuff, they arent going to the trendy places, the don’t look a certain way…
I felt so isolated, like I was the only one over the sexual abuse when I was a kid, the domestic abuse, the issues with my pain and disability, Ben and his meltdowns (which were daily when he was younger)… we absolutely need fewer Judgey McJudgeypants and a whole lot more hugging… virtual or air hugs until its safer, and for those who dont like being touched.
I am shameless. Shame is a hurtful thing. Feeling ashamed is feeling less than… Shaming someone to make yourself feel better is bullying, mean, hurtful and doesnt really make you feel better anyway.
Remorse is healthy… shamr and guilt are useless IMO.
And now I’ll say Thank you, offer virtual hugs and🤐🤐😉😂
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You just keep on giving – scales and all! 🙂 That was nice of you to let him “scratch his itch” so to speak to prevent a meltdown. I hope the chalk comes in today for both of your sakes! Those dart-throwing weather people! I am hoping mine are wrong (again) this week and something changes. We have a heatwave coming. It is supposed to be in the 90’s all week with humidity. Right now the humidity is at 82%. Uggghhhh! So gross!! Anyway, hope you have a great day today, with lots of chalk and chill. 🙂
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Its actually been a rough morning, with an emergency trip to Walmart. 😱🙄
Things are looking better now though. Fingers crossed🤞we can put everything before 9am in the rearview and have a ReStart!
90° AND 86% humidity 😫🥵 I hope the Guessers are very wrong!!🤞🤞🤞💖
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AW! ❤ Thanks for the virtual air hugs (as I’m one of those untouchables 😆 And for the nod to the medieval tune box. They did “Creep”? Oh my gosh!! Now I have to scurry away and go listen to that! Cheers Angie!
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You’re welcome and Thank you and You’re welcome…😉😂🎶💃🏼
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Here we are set in a temp pattern. Basically 64F everyday. Good on you for letting him have a pick. I like that creep video. x
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That Bardcore channel is pretty cool, like the PostModern Jukebox channel. I love when popular songs are remade with a twist, like Weird Al Yankovic.
I guess picking at my psoriasis scales is better than picking at his scabs and WAY better than a meltdown. He’s such a little weirdo! But he’d have to be… he’s part of my family😉😆😂😂😂💌💌
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Your constant honesty is wonderful. You are so right about the fake realities of people’s lives depicted on social media creating problems with our mental health because we feel our lives aren’t as perfect as other people’s. It’s a bit of a vicious circle because it is easy to only show the best bits – many, many of us are guilty of that and it perpetuates the problems. The Creep cover is so clever – my son shared it with me the other day as he is a big Radiohead fan.
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If I only showed the “perfect” bits, I wouldn’t have anything to write about.🤣🤣🤣 Everyone has troubles, I think we’d be a lot more tolerant and accepting if we realized that we have more in common than differences.
I think all the crazy stuff that happens in my life is funny. Ben picking at the scales or plaques or whatever on my back is funny, and hey! It worked😲👍😆
I felt SO much shame about my husband’s alcoholism and how he treated us when he was drinking. Also the ups and downs of long term opiate use, even prescription use, plays with ones mind. I know it made me feel like a drug addict and that felt shameful too. Then Ben’s violence and all the things he’s destroyed during meltdowns or just for fun felt shameful too.
I got tired of it! There’s no reason to feel shame. If I write about it, maybe others will realize they arent alone, they wont feel embarrassed, they’ll be able to talk or write about things that bother them.
I want to help. I’ve always wanted to help everybody. Maybe this small blog will have a ripple effect🤷🏼♀️
🤗🥰❤
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The shame is a terrible thing and also blaming yourself. You are so right that there is no reason to feel it and I’m sure sharing your experiences really helps others to feel better about themselves. 🙂
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