I have a standing rule at home for Kiddo: If neither Lovey or I are there, no one is allowed in the house. Normal rule that I'm sure you may have had growing up too. Then again, maybe not since times have changed.
This past Friday, one of Kiddo's friends stopped by after school, let's call her E. No big deal, they were sitting out front just chatting. Later, Kiddo told me that E had said that the house smelled amazing: like cookies and candy and Christmas. (I hadn't taken the tree down at that time.) I have a thing about the house smelling nice, so I was happy with that comment. Apparently, E also asked Kiddo if she could come live with us. I laughed that one off at first. BUT. Later, Kiddo told me E's entire storoy.
<break out your hankies>
Her dad is just MIA. Kiddo asked where he was, but apparently, he's a non-entity, similar to Kiddo's own sperm donor. E said when Kiddo asked, "I ate him." Funny, but sad. On top of that, if I can totally take their word for it, E is currently living with her brother and step-sister who are in their early 20s because E's mom ditched her and left the state.
Does Kiddo get on my nerves every once in a while? Sure, what 15 year old doesn't? But to ditch your child and move across the country and leave her so unceremoniously in the care of your other child who isn't that much older? OMG, I think my heart just broke.
I haven't been able to get this out of my mind. Lovey asked if I wanted to adopt another 15 year old. No, I don't. I honestly don't even know how E is managing to escape Children and Family Services, but I am happy that she is at least still going to school. I feel terrible about this and I don't know what to do.
I think that the least I can do is allow E to come over on Saturdays and probably Sundays to hang out with Kiddo. Not that we're "normal", but at least for a couple days a week we can pretend to be so E can have somewhere where her life can seem normal. Ugh, the sadness!
And on a completely different note…….
Last night on my way to yoga, it was wonderfully cool and crisp outside. And maybe you'll understand this if you've lived far enough from a big city. The air tasted good. Like fall and leaves and, well, winter too I guess.
And one more completely different note……..
It takes a lot bring the sports world to a standstill, but there was no ignoring the magnitude of the moment. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pushed back his first pre-Super Bowl news conference one hour so it wouldn't conflict with the inauguration.
"What we're doing here today pales with what's going on in our nation's capital," Tomlin said.
Steelers principal owner Dan Rooney and his son Jim hand-delivered a game ball from the team's AFC Championship win to Obama on Monday, at a dinner Obama hosted for Arizona Sen. John McCain, the man he defeated for the presidency. Dan Rooney campaigned for Obama in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
"He's a [Chicago] Bears fan first, he admits that," Dan Rooney said Tuesday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "But he's a Steelers' fan. He's said it, and all his staff, they're rooting for us [in the Super Bowl]."