Rewards Day

It was Rewards Day at school, basically the last day of the quarter at school, and a chance for the kids to relax a bit and have some fun.  Madison was wanting a version of Minecraft for her phone, so that was an easy reward for her to have.  She was playing this today with friends a good bit and enjoying her day, as she should.  Her first quarter has been the strongest one she's had so far, scholastically.  Traditionally, it's a bit of a slower start to the year, but this year she was just fantastic right out of the gates, to the point that we haven't even thought so much about this class or that.  She does, of course.  She thinks about Spanish, or even Algebra, getting to special help classes.  Keep in mind that as she's going to the special help session, her average for the class this quarter has been a 97.  She's certainly doing the best she can, and she seems to be enjoying school lately, so at least that's one thing off our minds.

Nana had a better day today, which of course isn't saying much.  Let's just say the insults and constant badgering went down a bit, replaced by more weeping, hugs, and a need to have someone close by.  It's been prophetic that Camille has chosen to do this one theme with her kids for small groups:  the Full Armor of God.  Never before have we just been so focused, Mommy and I, preparing our hearts and our minds each morning, putting on that armor so that we can endure.  Next week, Uncle George is coming, and that is when we'll make some decisions, but the bottom line is that she clearly has memory lapses, and again, she doesn't eat unless we're sneaky about it.  We straight-up ask her, and she'll refuse to eat anything.  There are days that she has eaten nothing at all, and she doesn't care.  

Anyway, the hope is that she gets medical attention she needs.  I believe that with the proper prescription, a lot of these symptoms will fade, although I know there's not permanent cure, and things will get worse as time goes on.  But I think she can function fairly well with something to calm her mind of that agitated and restless spirit.  I just don't know what that is, hence the visit to the doctor.  The problem is that she is so strong-willed that she will deny that she needs any help at all.  But we can't just let her go out and drive.  We've spoken to a few officers, and in that respect we treat her as a potential DUI.  Yes, it's her vehicle.  Yes, she's a British citizen.  But if she goes out and hurts herself, or even hurts others, then that blood is on our hands.  It may not be legally on our hands so much, at least depending on the lawyer.  But we will be haunted the rest of our lives by what happens if we allow her to go out now, before at least seeing a doctor.  The big thing now is that she wants to go anywhere but here, and she wants to go now.  And that's the back-and-forth battle of the week.  She keeps calling her friend in Florida, the one she thinks lives north of here, and her friend doesn't know the extend of the memory issues.  Neither does her other friend in Florida.  When Nana is on the phone with them, she's there in conversation and things seem almost normal.  When Ye-Ye and Nana were over here a while ago, it wasn't as obvious to them either.  But Ba-Ba warned us a year ago, and he was telling us what was going on over the past year, and there wasn't much he could do about it, as he was facing his own battle with stage four cancer.  Ba-Ba, Uncle George, Mommy and I - and even Madison - can see it on Nana.  And it's been hard.  To that extent, I've been making arrangements for Madison to be at different places each night or day, just to be away from the stressful situations. 

Still, I can see it wears on her too, and I don't know what to do exactly.  I do my best to explain the situation to Madison, and I know she understands, and hopefully she knows our heart about this.  We just want Nana to be okay, but next week we're going to have to make some firm decisions that could be explosive to the family dynamic.  Like getting a tetanus shot, it may hurt at the beginning, but it can help with the overall pain.  That's what it will be like next week:  one ginormous needle.  Because one way or another, we have to get some professional medical advice and help.

Again, today was better.  I was at work for a bit today, working towards this weekend, plus other series in November and December.  I'm not getting as much work done either, and that's another thing about all this.  Work is certainly suffering at the moment.  But I do have things wrapped up for this weekend, and I do have a role for Madison on stage this Sunday.  She's relishing the opportunity to be up there on stage again, the actress that she is.  She's good at it too.  She'll be in drama next week at school, and I hope she enjoys it.  It's great to try things out, but one place she'll always have a home at is on stage at KidPak.  The other actors enjoy the new addition, and she fits right in with our cast.  It'll be fun.  It's a simple role, but it's a good one to come back to the fold with, as she and one of her friends will be onstage, and of course in my office with the others rehearsing.  

Tonight, Nana was all giggles, and it was such a contrast to everything to the point that it seemed a little off.  But we'll take it, of course.  We sat down and watched another seasonal movie, one she liked very much.  It was "Goosebumps."  The fact that she enjoyed it so much was hilarious - at the end of it, she told us she could watch that movie again!  We had a nice sit-down on the couch, all four of us.  She patted the places where each of us were to sit on the couch, and together we sat down to watch the movie for an hour and forty-five minutes or so of peace and quiet with Slappy.  Yes, I know that sounds odd.

Anyway, we prayed tonight, and we read from our devotional too.  We're all so tired at night that sleep comes easy.  But Nana is up in the night, and that might explain things further, as we sort of get up too, listening as she wanders the house.  It's a challenging time, but we're going to get through it.