Part 168 ~ 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.

Daughter started the coals in the grill at 5:30pm. Daughter and BFF sat outside talking and Ben played. I stayed inside until closer to sunset then took pictures. The Parrots were doing flybys and hanging out in my Pecan tree, but my abdomen hurt, so I wasn’t up to pacing around the backyard. I did my Science though.

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Ben ate outside then Daughter gave him his bath. He put on his new Jack Skellington onesie pajamas and he, Zeus, Daughter, BFF and Other Friend sat in his room and cracked about one hundred glowsticks. They had a Glowstick Party with the lights off. Everyone got necklaces, even Zeus. It was TOO crowded in there for me. It was also too busy with energy. BFF is mellow, but Daughter and Other Friend are boisterous, over-the-top people. Ben was having fun, and that’s what matters. At one point Daughter asked if he had a good Birthday, and Ben said “Best Birthday ever!” It was very cute.

Younger didn’t come by. By the time she got off work, she was tired and Ben was in the tub. She’s planning on coming over after work today (Thursday) to sit with Ben when I Drive Miss Daisy.

The Glowstick Party ended around 8pm and Ben and Zeus went to sleep. Daughter’s friends stayed, ate BBQ and chatted until a little after 9:30pm. I just did my thing, talking to them a little when I was in the kitchen or on the way to the baño.

At 11:15 I nuked a burrito. I didn’t feel like eating and nothing sounded good, but I didn’t want to go two days without eating. I can do it, but it’s not healthy and I’ve already lost a lot of weight since KOOTIE DAY, March 13th, when everything closed and lockdown started.

I gotta keep my strength up so I can be a good peasant for HRH, and so I can run away from home in ten years or so. I ate, took my pill, and konked out sometime after midnight-thirty.

I woke up around 7am. I’d woken several times in the night like always, and I heard Ben get up, but I also heard Daughter, so I drifted back off. Anyway, 7am Zeus was sniffing, Ben had Bounced and Daughter was giving him his meds. I got up, got coffee, uncovered Sven and got him fresh food and paparazzi’d him.

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I went outside to look at the sky. The sun was very bright in the east, no clouds. The west was still covered with remnants of the Marine Layer. It was gonna be a warm one today. I checked the Weather Guessers app and almost cried. Labor Day Weekend is always brutal, but this is ridiculous.

It looks like our AC units will be running just about non stop. Hopefully this weekend will be Summer’s final sendoff.

Ben hung out in my room with me until 8:30 or so, then went to play with his chalk. He got a new box for his Birthday. He had a Zoom School session scheduled for 9:30am and Daughter started giving him countdown warnings around 9am… “half hour until computer with you teacher”.

She told him again at 9:15, 9:20 and at 9:25 started getting the computer ready. He was NOT having it. He had been playing with his chalk and didn’t want to stop. I tried to help after he kicked his bag of dominoes, scattering them everywhere, but he was scripting Angry Words and ramping up.

We got him to sit in the chair for about thirty seconds, then he threw himself to the ground. I tried to tell Daughter to give up and just let it run, but I think she feels judged, so she was yammering “please, Ben. Come on, Ben. Sit in the chair. Time for school. Please, Ben.” etc… on and on. Ben ignored her, doing his scripting. It made me anxious just hearing it from my room.

Ben eventually spent the last five minutes of the thirty minute session sitting in front of the computer. He was so close to completely losing it. SOOO not worth it! We skipped the 11:30 group. Like I told Daughter, we should “try”, yes. But it’s not worth pushing him to meltdown status. What does that accomplish? Ben is smart. He learns quickly, when he wants to. There is no forcing Ben to do something he doesn’t want to. We should save the “no negotiation” for things like safety. We have to pick our battles, and I’m not willing to “die on Zoom hill”.

Thankfully, Ben was okay after the session was over. He sat on the couch, next to Daughter and watched his tablet. I don’t think he wanted to fight either. High praise was given for the five minutes he was able to sit at the computer.

I asked Daughter if she needed a break, but she said she was awake and she’d let me know. I took morphine for my Ouchie and did my Stuff. I could hear Ben making his Happy Noises around 11:15am. I’d only been up for five hours, but the day already felt forever long. Seems like a lot of days have felt longer recently.

At 12:15 Daughter went to her room. Couch Sittin Time for me. I didn’t ask about times or any of it. It’s never correct anyway, why bother? Ben played with dominoes for a while, then moved to chalk.

Over time I was able to pick up the dominoes from the three areas they were scattered, straighten up the couch, which had all kinds of stuff on it and generally neaten up a little. Just bending and moving hurt, so I didn’t do as much as I wanted to.

Ben’s Adderall half has been moved from noon to 1pm. We’re hoping to combat some of the afternoon issues. We won’t be adding or increasing any meds but his doctor told us we could play with times to see what worked best for him. Anyway, he took his half pill at 1pm. He may not be doing much learning on the Zoom, but learning to swallow pills instead of needing them crushed is important for Ben’s life.

Meds at 2:30pm and a break from the chalk. Ben came and did some Couch Sittin with me and asked for a coke. (diet coke) I grunted and groaned my way off the couch and got his soda for him. It’s actually better, I think, for me to move every once in a while. I stiffen up if I’m in one position for too long. Ben watched his tablet, ate some “green chips” (sour cream & onion Pringles) and drank his soda.

I got up again and cleaned up some more. Daughter got up at 4:00 and said “He’s alseep.” I told her that it just happened cuz I’d only been cleaning up for a few minutes. I got him mostly awake and gave over the couch to Daughter.

I texted Younger to make sure she was still coming over to sit with him while I took Daughter to work. She said she wanted to go home first and change, also go by 99 Cent Store. (Also, she didn’t really want to hang out with her sister, I’m guessing. She got off at 4pm and we dont Drive Miss Daisy til 6:30pm) I told her she didn’t need to bring a gift, he’d be happy just to have his Auntie.

Ben is awake for now, but obviously tired. He’s going to need monitoring and jostling until after he has his meds. First med is usually 5:30-5:45 and the rest around 6:15pm. Dinner and bath are required also. At least I don’t have to stress over getting him ready to ride in the car tonight.

Thanks for hanging out for the rest of the party last night and starting the day with us. Except for the Zoom School thing, we had another good day. Daughter works tonight, is off tomorrow and then works Saturday and Sunday nights. I don’t know when or if we’re Zooming tomorrow, all I know is we need to pick her up after work in the morning. I guess we’ll find out about the rest of the day together. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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