One Track Mind

Five more days to go and (maybe) this will stop.

Haley does not want to listen to reason.  She starts talking about going to Grandma and Grandpa's as soon as she wakes up, before her feet hit the floor.  She is constantly trying to get me to get her suitcase out.  She wants to pack her DVDs that she has meticulously stacked.  She wants me to get the "case" out for her toothbrush and the shampoo and conditioner that are sitting on the bathroom counter.

Yesterday I tried to convince her that we were looking forward to a visit from Grandma and Grandpa.  That they were coming to our house (not the other way around).  I got this idea in my head that if I showed her the route they were going to take it might help.  I have no idea why I thought that was a good idea.  I think I am losing it.

I typed their address and our address into Google maps.  I showed her the the blue line that indicated the most likely route that they would take.  I pointed to our house on the map and to their house on the map.   I clicked on our house and showed her a picture of our house.  She thought that was cool, but she wanted to see Grandma and Grandpa's house. I tried to click on their house to see if there was a photo.  There wasn't.

I got her ready for school and sent her out the door.  I enjoy the reprieve.  I get about seven hours a day of not having to listen to her talk about going to Grandma and Grandpa's and explaining to her that we are not.

When she got home it started up again.  I finally got to the point where I wouldn't answer her.

That didn't really help.

She stood at the top of the stairs and ranted.  After about five minutes I thought it would have been smart if I had been recording it, you know, for posterity.  She went on and on about going to Grandpa's and crying and then talking about crying.  Her teachers would have been amazed.  I am sure they have no idea how loud she can actually be when she wants to be heard.  Not everything she said was recognizable.  It was just a lot of grunting and moaning with the occasional understandable word. "Uh, uh, uh, Grandpa's house, uh, uh, Heather, uh, uh, uh, cry..."

Pretty soon her Dad came home.  He came in the room where I was and talked to me a few minutes and then went upstairs.  By then she had quieted down some.  All of a sudden I hear "How would she have gotten a picture of my parents house on the computer?"  I said, "I typed their address in to Google maps this morning?"

My husband's parents usually call on Thursday nights just before Haley's bedtime.  She likes to listen to them talking on speakerphone.  She rarely talks to them, but she really enjoys hearing their voices.  I went up to get her ready for bed and saw that there was an aerial view of their house on the computer screen.  I said "How did you get that picture?"  My husband said "That is the picture that was on the screen this afternoon."  I told him that I hadn't seen it before.  We just looked at each other.  He showed me a small brown mark on the screen.  "We think that is Heather."

How did she get that aerial shot to come up?  I will never know, but I imagine it will be on our computer for some time to come.