Debriefing

Well, we made it past another Hallmark Holiday. Or, as a friend said, "What's the name of that big card company?" The boy grands have not picked up their e-valentines. The girl grand loved the e-tine and sent one back of herself, singing "Happy Valentine's Day" To the tune of "Happy Birthday". She has a great, stand up and shout it out voice, which I envy. She's also a family gal, thanks to her mother.

It's probable that One and Two are thought of by the other grandparents as family kids. They do spend every holiday with their mother's parents and sibling and the sibling's scary son. Said sibling - lets call her Elle - heard her biological clock thundering about ten years ago and hooked up with a guy she'd known in high school. It looked like, sorta like, love for awhile. He was living and working in CA, she in AZ but Southwest made the back-and-forth an easy hop, so they carried on for awhile. And Elle got pregnant, probably on a visit to CA that coincided with One's 7th birthday party.

It was all down hill from there. Elle was happy in AZ and didn't want to leave. But the sperm donor's life was in CA and he couldn't leave and have a job. She agreed to move and then dragged her feet. Then they broke up. Then the baby was born two months early. And now he has every learning disability and personality disorder you can imagine. He got kicked out of first grade.

One and Two's mother kind of likes this. She herself is a second child, always running to catch up. Elle was always (until her kid was born) much more adventurous and interesting. Now, Elle has apparently accepted her second-class-citizen status, in return for the crumbs from her younger sister's table. And the kid probably needs daily therapy. She who is rigid, rockbound and self-righteous WINS!