(no subject)

[the_rck]

I fail at parenting today. Okay, not really. Except...

Delia is bored. Delia is very energetic. Delia is very social. Delia is demanding to 'go somewhere fun.'

It is hot outside. I can't drive (even if I could, we don't have and probably couldn't afford a second car). My stamina sucks. Making a single phone call to talk to a human being takes as much out of me as walking half a mile (multiply that if I'm asking the person on the other end for something). I'm agoraphobic and have generalized anxiety. I deal with those last two primarily by limiting my exposure to stressors so that I don't fall apart.

I suspect that most people can see how the second and third paragraphs above conflict...

My efforts (half a dozen e-mails and three phone calls) to set up play dates this week have all failed. We've got two playdates and a visit from my mother scheduled for next week, but nothing at all has happened this week apart from a brief trip to the public library and some time out in the yard.

Today, our options are (a) a school playground that's usually empty and has no shade, (b) the yard, (c) the public library or (d) the Hands-On Museum. My preference is for (e) none of the above, but really, that's not fair to Delia. We'll probably go to the Hands-On Museum. We haven't been there in a while, and we have a membership. There may even be other kids there (which is really what Delia wants).

I'm just not looking forward to spending half an hour out in the heat to get there and then tramping around after Delia as she explores. That much time on my feet *hurts*. But Delia's four. I can't let her run around the building on her own. She's not old enough, and I am her mother. I signed up for this with my eyes open.

::sighs:: I suspect I'd be doing better at all of this if I'd managed to avoid thinking about anything stressful over the last week. Except that I don't want to be utterly irresponsible and bury my head in the sand while people are talking about things that matter-- national infrastructure, racism, my mother's plans, etc.

Anybody got a magic wand to wave to make it all better?

Comments

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

No. :(

I have a hug?

[the_rck]

Hugs help. Especially with Delia managing to delay our departure by having a bathroom accident. I'm now trying to decide between waiting half an hour for the nearer bus or walking twice as far for a sooner bus.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Ouch! g'luck.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

I'm waving and waving, but I think geography is interfering. *shakes fist at world*

Hang in there, sweetie! *hugs*

[the_rck]

::hugs back:: Thanks!

[the_rck]

The problem with that one is my asthma. I can't go near a chlorinated pool. We're close enough to Fuller Pool to get there in a short bus ride (bracketed by just manageable walks).

It ends up being another one of those things that I could do if my health were better.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[sorcycat.livejournal.com]

What about a backyard wading pool?

[the_rck]

We had one. We need to replace it, but Scott hasn't managed to find one. (Basically, he didn't have time to look until a couple of weeks ago and then couldn't find one in our price range that would meet our needs. This is another drawback to my not driving. Those sorts of things all require Scott's participation.)

[sorcycat.livejournal.com]

Shop without leaving your home! Take a look at these I found on Amazon...

Pop-up (no air): http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Leisure-SA-4827-60-Inch-Pool/dp/B000CEXNTE/ref=pd_sbs_t_1_img/105-8459848-3798064?ie=UTF8&qid=1186166059&sr=8-6

An alternative (needs air):
http://www.amazon.com/Swimways-13155-Spring-Pool-60/dp/B0001I1GWM/ref=pd_sbs_t_3_img/105-8459848-3798064?ie=UTF8&qid=1186166059&sr=8-6

Larger Pool (needs air): http://www.amazon.com/Intex-Swim-Center-Sunfish-Family/dp/B000058TJ3/ref=pd_sbs_t_1_img/105-8459848-3798064?ie=UTF8&qid=1186166059&sr=8-6

Air pump:
http://www.amazon.com/POOL-HAND-PUMP-DELUX19-34L/dp/B00005017X/ref=pd_sim_t_1_img/105-8459848-3798064?ie=UTF8&qid=1186166059&sr=8-6

[booniverse.livejournal.com]

Matt-Matt and I *might* still have the plastic pool from last year's bru-ha-ha. We discovered too late in the pool buying season that mice had used our cool blow up pool for storing foodz and were stuck with your simple plastic 4' pool deelie (about what...1 foot high?). This year we got a cool blow up replacement so if we still have the other pool, we have two. We don't need two so if you want the plastic one, I'm sure Matt-Matt wouldn't mind getting it out of the garage.

[the_rck]

We'll take it, assuming it's intact.

Now we just have to get rid of the old one. It's no longer in usable shape, but it's too big to shove in the trash.

[weisshund.livejournal.com]

Would the garbage truck pick it the old pool if it was placed next to the trash bags or can? (Not sure what system A2 uses.)

[the_rck]

Sadly, no. They don't pick up stuff that's over a certain size unless we make special arrangements and pay for it. It's a small, rigid pool but still too large for normal pick up. If we cut it up so that it fits in the trash can, they'll take it, but otherwise we're out of luck.

[booniverse.livejournal.com]

OK! We have the pool and Matt-Matt is only too happy to let it go. I'll take a look see at it to make sure it is intact but we only ever used it for the one Bru-ha-ha.

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Augh!

I feel your pain. I don't go outside in this weather. At all. And I have been grumpy with excitable kids becoz of it. Becoz they like outside. But I can't just send 'em out without me.

It seems like such a fail at motherhood. (G'motherhood in my case.)

[the_rck]

I know. It's hard when they want something that ought to be reasonable but isn't due to circumstances.

I remember the neighborhood where I grew up. Four year olds were out and playing. Of course, there were a couple dozen kids, and some of them were quite a bit older and able to keep an eye on the way things were going generally. Also... Not a street with much traffic at all.

[kyrielle]

*hugs* Alas, I don't have a magic wand to make it all better. I can offer a bit of sympathy?

[the_rck]

::hugs back:: Sympathy is much appreciated.

And I have survived the trip out. I'm tired, and my feet hurt, but it's done. Now Delia's playing with pausing and playing a DVD (she just learned how to make that work with the remote. She feels that it's a great power that she *must* use).

[cherydactyl.livejournal.com]

Kid with more stamina that you is a hard problem. You have my sympathy. I hope you found a solution.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

*hug*

(and my apologies for not being more available lately, with Kendra in full-day camp for much of the summer)

(we are available on weekends, though)