Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Reality Kicked My Ass

Absolutely nothing funny or mildly amusing happened today. Don't get me wrong--the kids were great and I got work done around the house, but I watched way too much hurricane coverage on television. And cried. I then checked in with a friend of mine who just moved to Birmingham, AL and has family in New Orleans. She wrote back to say that her sister-in-law and her children are on their way up to stay with them indefinitely. They have no idea if they even have a house to go back to. Her in-laws both work in different hospitals in the New Orleans area. They also don't know if they have a home left. They are both at their hospitals working and trying to salvage what they can. The ex-brother in-law and his new family have not been heard from since Sunday and they are very worried. I then tried to get through to some friends who live in Gulfport, MS but the phones have been down so there is no way to know how they are. Jeff is in the Coast Guard so I would imagine that he is up to his hairline in search and rescue.

I went online and sent a donation and cried some more after I saw footage of children on the balcony of an apartment needing to be rescued. This time, Baby Girl caught me crying and became very upset. She has only seen me cry one other time and I doubt she remembers it. It was about a week before Peaches was born. The cleaning lady had not been gone 15 minutes when I discovered white footprints throughout the house. I followed them to the nursery where I found her "cooking" with all of the baby products we had received as gifts. There was a huge pile of paste on the floor comprised of baby powder, balmex, baby oil, baby lotion and baby bath gel. She claimed she was making pizza. I started to sob hysterically because I had just spent $75 for Agathe to clean my house.

After Baby Girl caught me crying today, she started to cry because I scared her. I then tried to explain that there was a big storm and lots of rain and wind, and then I realized-- she is 2 1/2--I'm going to scare her even more. I changed the subject by offering her Scooby Snacks and all was well. Later as I was fixing dinner the local news indicated that my county's Sheriff's Department had semi trucks 15 minutes from my house and they were taking donations and driving them to Mississippi. So I packed up the girls and went to Kroger and bought as much drinking water, diapers and baby wipes that would fit in the back of my Xterra and took it to the hurricane relief site. I explained to Baby Girl that there were babies far away that needed help and that they needed diapers and water. While she seemed to understand, she didn't seem upset, which was good. She was very excited at the prospect of seeing Police Officers.

So, for a couple of minutes I felt a little better. The television is off for the rest of the day.

8 comments:

Susan said...

I was reading the NYTimes online at 5:00 am this morning; I sat at the desk and wept for I don't know how long. So we're on a news fast here, as well.

And you reminded me of the 9/11 attacks, when Henry (who was 15 months old) found me sobbing in front of the TV. He just kept patting my arm, and then he started to bring me stuffed toys. And I turned the TV off.

Phew.

Anonymous said...

well done.

Cheryl said...

I told my son a little about Katrina last night- edited for his 6-yr-old understanding. The first words out of his mouth when he woke up this morning, before he even opened his eyes, were, "I'm so sad for those people in the hurricane." You gave me an idea- we have donation collection points here, also. Tomorrow, I'm going to take him to one so we can contribute, so he'll know there's something we can do in addition to the praying we're doing already. Thank you for the idea.

LoryKC said...

You taught her an important lesson about helping others and you gave her Scooby snacks. You are a great mom!

The June Cleaver Diaries said...

I need to do something, but I don't know what. We're on a ridiculously tight budget for the next 2 weeks. I know that sounds selfish, but we need groceries. Tomorrow, I'll contribute to the Red Cross at the store. SOmething, anything.

c said...

It's OK, SNM. They'll need stuff for a very, very long time.

Everyone, don't forget pet food when you send stuff.

Susan said...

Hausfrau, are you still there?

We miss you-come back!

Pinterest Failures said...

Hey Everyone-

Just got back from vacation. I will upload some photos this week! It will take me a week to read everyone else's stuff!!!