Trouble has been brewing on the hill for a few days. Money is tight, stress levels are high, CJ's hubby, BJ got hurt on the job and is home. His foot is in a cast and he's on crutches, waiting to see an ortho doctor.
Kids don't mind, Stacie and CJ think the kids should do it all while they study on the computers, but kids are kids and will do just what they can get by with. CJ and BJ don't want Casey staying in the sheddage with Ana, so they keep her up at Stacies.
Yesterday Stacie and I went shopping all day, when she came in and walked in with her arms full of groceries they are sitting on the couch watching tv, nothing done all day long..they being CJ and BJ.
They have words.
This morning Dylan comes down with a pair of the girls' socks on and I ask where his socks are..he can't find them. I know why. He never puts his clothes away, never puts them in a clothes basket. The room he moved into was a mess and has become more of a mess.
Today Ana began the chore of gathering up the rest of her clothes from the room Dylan has been sleeping in. I go up to help and am horrified at the mess in there, so I call Dylan in and give him a good talking to. I came down the hill, tended to my chores, ate a bite and then went back up there. I told him we would clean that room and even though he wanted to stand around with his finger up his butt, he did help.
After a while his mom and dad came into the room. I told them what I was doing and that it wasn't my place to do it but the grown ups in the house wouldn't so I was.
He had an electric heater piled on top of clothes and I know he has run it at night..so unsafe. I took it out and I told them he didn't need a heater in that room. He could cover up and get warm.
Stacie had asked CJ and BJ to stop sleeping in the living room-either BJ or Casey was always in there, so they took Casey into their room with them. Stacie told them if DHS got wind of it there would be trouble. CJ read it as Stacie was threatening to contact DHS. Emotions ran high.
Between Stacie, Ana, Dylan and myself we cleaned up that room. At one point, BJ and CJ came in and asked if they could talk. They told me about their problems with Stacie and I listened, but made no comment. BJ wanted to know if anything Stacie was saying was coming from 'down the hill', meaning from me and Paw. I assured him that whatever I had to say I'd say to their face. We discussed the Casey/shed issue, BJ not wanting Casey to stay down here, reason being he knows what he did at her age, etc. I told them they had the right to decide I wouldn't argue that with them. For now though, Ana was staying in the shed.
They then left and went to CJ's grandmas for Christmas. We finished up the room brought an extra mattress for Casey to sleep on, brought Ana's desk and a coffee table down, then took Casey's clothes and her chest back up the hill, into the house and into the room. We noticed beneath a desk in the living room were some of Casey's clothes just dumped on the floor. I thought Stacie would bust a gasket. Seems Casey had simply dumped them there because her chest was down the hill. I know through out the week when I would be up there Stacie or CJ would tell the kids to do something with that basket of clothes and point toward about 3 baskets of clothes. I also know there was a pile of laundry by the washer that would have challenged a small washateria.
So....the Pattersons are gone, Stacie is working on her living room, I take Ana to spend the night with a friend. I come back, wash my dishes, put on my soup, put some sweet potatoes in the oven, sit for a few minutes and start this email when a text message comes in--u are needed.
Grumbling I head up the hill, not realizing the Pattersons are back until I see Dylan outside with Shandi. I go in, find Stacie in her room crying. Seems Casey has come in and told Stacie she is a fatty and no one likes her and they can't wait to leave from there. CJ, BJ and Casey are holed up in their room.
I go back there, open the curtain and tell them I would like for all of them to come into the living room. We need to talk. Casey sits there while BJ and CJ gets up. She sits there with her head down. Come on Casey, I say, no answer. Her mom and her dad speak to her and finally she says to BJ, I am waiting on you. He won't move until she does so she grudgingly gets up and walks into the living room.
I talk to them about communication, blah, blah.......finally Stacie and CJ apologize to each other.
Then I turn my attention to Casey
Me: Casey why did you call my daughter a fatty and say ugly things to her
Casey: head down, not looking up, no answer
CJ: Answer her, Casey
Casey...no response
BJ: Answer Ms Klara
Casey: no response
Me: And that is part of the problem. Casey you either won't reply or you smart off and tell me it's none of my business or you give me an answer a mile long with all your excuses as to why you did whatever
CJ: Casey thinks no one loves her here
Me: Well I don't know what else I can do. I refuse to kiss her ass. Otherwise I've done everything I know to do to make her feel welcome
At this point Casey finally barks out something and for the life of me I can't recall what it was she said but whatever it was, it pissed me off big time because of HOW she said it.
So I say: I will not tolerate being spoken to that way. You are always saying we take Ana's side, you say Ana gets her way, yet YOU take your phone to school
Casey" Ana takes her too
Then there is a back and forth on whether or not Ana takes her phone.
Me: Well she may take it when I don't know, but all you have to do is say she has it. I will handle it. On the other hand you got yours taken, you raised the money to get it back, your mother had Stacie take her to school to get the phone.......at this point I see CJ bury her head in her hand and Casey looked like she would die.
I continue...your mother said you would NOT get your phone back but the next morning you not only had it but took it to school and you say Ana gets her way...I look at CJ when I say this because it's CJ who always says Ana gets her way. Not only does all the above occur, but then your mother gave you the money to pay your friends back.
At this point Casey yells...She did not. I earned that money babysitting Dylan and Shandi.
Me: Wow, how wonderful. Your mother pays you 25.00 to babysit Dylan and Shandi but all Ana got was a box of Zebra cakes. Now WHO gets petted, who gets their way, who gets treated special around here.
At this point CJ jumps up and runs out.
I stand up and tell BJ, I am sorry, I cannot talk with your daughter because she is always right, never wrong and always cops an attitude with me. I have to go before I slap the shit out of her and out the door I go.
Later on Stacie comes down the hill. She tells me that BJ will not go looking for CJ because he mad at her because she did not tell him the truth about the cell phone. Wooops. I let the cat or shall we say the cell phone story out of the bag.
BJ was always complaining because CJ seemed to spend all his money. Now he knows where some of it goes...paying Casey off. :) Oh well.
I have family coming for supper. My sister and her family, my brother and his lady...they arrive bringing cake and a meat tray, I have fixed homemade soup and we smile and eat and enjoy each other's company like nothing is wrong. BJ makes it down the hill on his crutches and thanks me for enlightening him on where his money has been going. Eventually Casey comes in. I walk to her, hug her tell her I love her and invite her on into the circle. She is all smiles and light as though nothing has ever happened. Stacie walks over to her and hugs her too. Whether Casey apologizes or not, I don't know. I don't expect one, maybe I should.
But tonight I'm just worn out.
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Character is what we are, not what others think we are.
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