The baby turns Five tomorrow. School starts for the just turned 8 year old tomorrow. They are both girls. I have to constantly say this fact, because their mother, my daughter, gave them both gender neutral names, LOL.

The baby is excited. She will be starting Kindergarten this year. Since we have moved, they are NOT going to be going to the Catholic school that the older one has attended since Kindergarten. I am a bit nervous about them going to public schools, although the district we now reside in has a brand spanking new school from K-12 which was only built two years ago. I have met some of the staff and they all seem excited to be teaching. I view that as a good sign, even though the school district as a whole is not rated very high on the State school report card. I think they are in the “needs improvement but didn’t do as well as they should have” category.

They do have a gifted program for the primary grades which starts in 1st grade which is pretty phenomenal. Most schools don’t do gifted till at least 6th grade or above.

Buying school clothes was fun. We just had uniforms at the other school. Of course, it’s a bit more expensive !! But, there is no tuition either, so it all works out.

Yesterday, I took MY baby to register for college. Due to the “Lucky”???? fact that DH is a disabled vet and we live on a pension, she qualified for everything. AND, since she is going to the local State University, the grants covered the entirety of her tuition and books. THAT was lovely.

A couple of funny things happened. We were sitting there, and this kid from a local school was also registering. He was what is called out here “a stout boy” which doesn’t imply fat, it means stocky, well muscled and probably a football player. He was sitting a few feet away. They called his name.

He got up and MINCED across the floor. Literally. Walked on his tiptoes. As though, um…sort of like when you slide your high top tennis shoes onto your feet, but your feet don’t go all the way in, and you then have to WALK your feet into the shoes? That’s how he walked.

Aside, I said, in a sort of whisper to my daughter “That was hard to keep a straight face during…” and looked over. She was quite literally holding her hands over her entire face, doubled up with laughter and trying hard to NOT let that poor boy know.

Then we are sitting in the financial aid person’s office. The daughter looks at me and says “you like have BLOOD all over your face !!”

I am like, WHAT? WHERE?

And wondering where the blood is coming from. Did I suddenly enter into a zone of extremely low pressure and am bleeding profusely from both ears? You’d think that I would NOTICE something like that?

I have on my usual going somewhere type outfit. A blouse, easy to put on with a skirt which ends just above my mid calf. Old female 50ish year old hippie clothes.

The financial aid lady is bent down behind her desk looking for a paper which we need to fill out.

Quietly, but laughing the entire time, she tries to direct me where to wipe my face with the hem of my skirt.

Okay, you had to be there.

But, she is now a student. No classes before 10 am. No classes getting out later than 8:10 pm.

Lucky girl. So then I drop her off at her bio mom’s. The girl had tried to live with her older brother and his wife, it didn’t work out. So, she had moved back into her moms with her two half sisters, mom and step dad.

She was busy painting her new room. Getting excited about going to college and all.

Gets there, gets dropped off. Goes inside. Brother and Brother’s wife are there. They tell her its impossible to go to college for no money. Funny, cause we just did it. She just shrugs it off.

Her mom tells her there must have been some catch.

Her stepfather starts a big fight and kicks her out.

This baby has tried her whole life to make people happy. Why they must all rain on her parade is beyond me. She is such a good kid. Level headed. Funny. Intelligent. Caring.

I hate them all.

So, she came out. Her boyfriend brought her.

And, yes. I told her she could move in. I don’t know that she will. Her grandparents (my inlaws) live a short distance away from her bio mom. But, she doesn’t really want to live with her grandparents, who are older, and quiet.

I told her we could bunk the babies and she could have the little one’s room. Now, if she accepts, I have to figure out how to inform the baby that for her 5th birthday she will probably lose her bedroom. But, she would rather have her Aunt anyway.  Ahhh. Life.

I hope she can find a place to be, whether it is at home with us, or somewhere else, where for the first time in her life, she will not be pulled, stressed and emotionally challenged.

That is the life of a co-parenting situation. There is LOTS I haven’t put here. But suffice it to say, her life has not been emotionally easy.

But, she is my baby, (via painless birth and marriage) and I love her and will do whatever I need to do to make her happy. She deserves that.