On Wednesday mornings I take Helen and Alice to Mother’s Morning Out at church, and I go to Bible study or run errands. This morning I had an appointment with the doctor to find out if I did indeed have a UTI (yeppers), and I was going to go to the grocery store when I was finished at the doctor’s office.
Well, I was sitting in the exam room waiting for the results and waiting to see the doctor when my cell phone rang. It was Miss Arlyn at church, calling to let me know that Helen had been totally hysterical since I left over an hour before. Alice, however, had slept for that entire hour (gotta love that 9:30am nap!). I tried to talk to Helen, but she was hiccuping so much she was unintelligible, and she was too hysterical to hold the phone.
I told Miss Arlyn to ignore it as best she could, and even send her into the other room to calm down by herself if she needed to. We pretty much ignore Helen’s tantrums — even the public ones — so there really haven’t been a whole lot of them. She doesn’t get anywhere, so she gives up.
About 30 minutes later, I got back to the church, and I spent another 30 minutes or so playing with Helen in the nursery so that she wouldn’t only recall the emotional FIT she had had today. Then everyone went outside to play on the playground, and Miss Arlyn recommended I leave for a little bit to see how Helen did. So I went and chatted with the church secretaries and then came back. Helen had withdrawn as soon as I left, but she didn’t cry. I guess that’s an improvement?
The only thing I can figure is that Miss Tina, who is usually there, was not there today. Her 17-year-old son, Michael, was there in her place. Helen is very uneasy around men, and that may have freaked her out a bit.
Poor Helen. So many neuroses, so little time…
