In search of the straw...

...that broke the camels back. Apparently that is my mission at this point in life. In the last couple of posts, I've gone over our medical issues. Now, maybe I should go over the rest of our "life experiences".

Our foster child, who is incredibly bright and sweet, is also one of the most difficult kids I have ever met. He is manipulative, and has learned how to milk the system and most adults for everything they have to offer. For instance, in school, he is continually getting into trouble in class, and then getting sent down to the office, to do his work with the social worker. Problem is, he enjoys this. I mean, get sent out of class to have quiet time with this woman who cuts your work in half, spends most of the time talking to you and making jokes, and then makes sure that you don't get written up, because she doesn't want you to think negatively about school. Hello??? The first time I go in and meet her, she is explaining how perplexed she is that their method isn't working, and that he just seems to be getting sent down to the office more and more. Seriously, she's the one with the degree, and I am just a stay at home mom, but when I mentioned my opinion, it was like the light bulb clicked on. But even with me working closely with his teacher, I have still had 5 phone calls home in 7 days, have been to the school 2 times, and had to pick him up early once. Not a good track record. The sad part? This is a major improvement from before. At least at this point, he is actually turning in his school work, completed, and is only getting sent out of class once a day, instead of 3 or 4 times.

But, now, my 6 year old is feeling incredibly left out, because my husband and I are trying to work so hard with our foster son. My son is not a bad kid, so he usually ends up doing his homework at the table with us, and then after dinner he just kind of hangs around. I feel horrible that he is feeling pushed aside, but how do you explain to a 6 year old that you love him more than anything, but at this point, the other child requires a whole lot of watching, without sounding like a total shit head parent?

Our daughter, now that she feels better, is just out of control, the little pain in the ass. I swear, someday I will figure out how to say, "you aren't the boss" in toddler talk, and then maybe she will chill out.

I am in major disagreement with my step father on how to handle our foster child. I agree that counseling is a good idea, I just also think that there have to be bigger consequences for bad behavior other than a "talk". I happen to favor the "yucky chore" consequence, such as picking up the dog poop in the back yard, or having to move rock from the backyard, or so on. Nothing heinous, just not top in a 10 year olds book. But my dad is on the other side of that. He believes in reasoning with a child. There is a reason I am the parent. That's all the reason they need, right.

Oh, and plus, we have started receiving the medical bills from our Friday night foray into the land of the sick 2 year olds. The ambulance bill arrived, and, TADA!!! $897.41. For a 20 minute ride. Let me share how they broke down the charges:

• Base rate: 1 unit: $621.08

• Mileage: 20 units: $257.60

• Disinfect ambulance: 1 unit: $2.86

• Gloves, Exam (pair): 2 units: $0.39

• Linen pack:1 unit: $4.51

AND.... the whole reason we had to take the ambulance......

• Oxygen: 1 unit: $10.97

I can't wait to see what urgent care and the ER are going to charge. Don't forget, we have to pay almost everything out of packet. Well, only the first $5000.00. I guess it could be called chump change, because we are the chumps that signed up for this insurance plan!

I guess that it's not as bad as a lot of people have it, but come on! I thought the saying was that bad things happen in 3's, not 30's! Sorry. I guess I'm turning blogspot into bitchspot. But on the good side, I no longer feel like I am going to explode!!

Not again!

Alright, let's go back to our lesson of February 13, and the evils of sick children on the wallet. This lesson was reiterated to us this weekend (St. Patricks Day, to be precise) courtesy of our WONDERFUL 2 year old. While all of you shits were out partying and enjoying being young, we ended up having to take Lexi to urgent care, because she was breathing funny. Interesting experience. We get there, and it's empty. I know, not normal. So they took her back to triage after a 10 minute wait, and proceeded to immediately put her on oxygen. Yeah, before even registering her or getting our deposit. You know it's bad when they give treatment before having our bank account info! So, after 4 hours of chest x-rays, and breathing treatments and steroids, they inform us that they can't send her home, and in fact, they are sending her to Phoenix Childrens Hospital. By ambulance. Lights and sirens blaring. Then they inform us, they bleary eyed, exhausted parents (it's midnight by then) that only one parent can go in the ambulance. Great, so I get to drive through St. Paddy's day construction traffic to Phoenix, terrified the whole way. And I know where NOTHING is in Phoenix! So, I get there, after learning the hard way that I-10 is one lane only and everyone and their mother is on it, at about 1 am. I ask very nicely where my daughter is, and they can't find her. WHAT?!?! I said, they just brought her in by ambulance, I know she's here. The response? She's not up on the board. Who fucking cares!!!! Find my daughter! So, the nurses are calling all over, and finally, this obviously overpaid shit head doctor looks up and says, She's in room 8. Thanks, buddy. You couldn't have said that 15 minutes ago?? So I go in there, and her o2 sats are still low. 4 more hours, and a major breathing/steroid treatments later, they decide she is well enough to go home. The verdict? Asthma. We get an inhaler. Finally, we arrive home at 5 am, and manage to get to bad by 5:30. Lexi gets up before 9. Apparently she's feeling better, or so we thought. By Sunday afternoon, she is puking everywhere, nonstop, and has diarrhea bad enough that we went through an entire pack of pull ups in 1 day. Obviously, something is wrong, and it ain't asthma. We get her to her regular doctor Monday afternoon, and we find out the truth. She has frickin pneumonia! The stupid hospital sent her home with an inhaler for frickin pneumonia!! And to top it all off, apparently from being there at the hospital, Steve, Lexi and I all caught the stomach flu. So, we now get to pay, out of pocket for the most part, for urgent care, x-rays, the ambulance, ER, and respiratory therapy, none of which managed to accomplish anything in regards to her illness. On top of that, we have to pay for her regular doctor, 1 regular visit and 4 follow ups, the inhaled steroid, the nebulizer and the albuterol. Won't complain about that because she costs WAY less, and actually managed to do her job. But the other fuckers, better believe they are going to get a piece of my mind!!! As soon as I quit puking...

How can you tell?

How can you tell if someone is qualified to be a parent? I mean, you have to take classes and past a test to get a driver's license. You have to pass finals each year in school just to move up a grade. You can't sell houses, join the military, or even serve food without taking classes and/or passing a test. But, no, it's perfectly ok for anyone to have a kid. You just need to go have sex and get pregnant. Now, I know that this may seem to come out of nowhere, but after a week of taking care of another person's child because that person is too into drugs and their own concerns to do it, I get pissed. And, since this child is older, the bad behaviors have been there for years. Now, is this the fault of the child, who has known no other lifestyle, or is it the fault of the parent, who made the decision to have 3 children, and then ignored all but their most basic needs (and even then, not always) so that they could go out with their friends and get high non stop. Yeah, I chose the parents as the guilty party, too.