on the absence of social safety net
Apr. 19th, 2015 10:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancing_crowI don't know why kids talk to me, except I listen, which i am coming to believe is more and more not a thing that adults do for kids much less adults doing for/to each other.
I am grateful that kids with issues show up and I can listen and feed them and drive them around, and then they get it together, give or take, and slope off to the rest of their lives. I am good for temporary propping up, and listening as hard as I could. It is probably as well that we do not have an enormous house, because i would fill it full of strays and sad children, and try to make them happier.
Now I have this 18 year old, so she's technically an adult, yes? Insane as that theory is - and her mom's been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, and her mom is getting a long and complex surgery on Tuesday, and I am SO so so glad i have another mother to talk about this with. This kid is an only child of a single mother. They don't have a lot of family. They are skating along the abyss of poverty. Every time i hear or read someone complaining about those people taking and not producing, i want to scream in anger and frustration.
lots of art, no horses
Aerin was home, back and forth, over the weekend. She and Alice were doing friend things, above and beyond sister things, which makes me so unbelievably happy. Today we had a vat of chocolate mousse, with 5 spoons, in honor of something, and Aerin made Al Tax cupcakes because when he does our taxes, I make him a cake and that seemed like a good idea. In going over her taxes, he thanked her for winning a scholarship with many zeros after it, and I suggested he should make her a cake for that. So: cakes are gratitude for financial scrimmages.
spring feels so good, I have been walking to town for no good reason, just to stretch my legs and get some sunshine. And some coffee.
I am grateful that kids with issues show up and I can listen and feed them and drive them around, and then they get it together, give or take, and slope off to the rest of their lives. I am good for temporary propping up, and listening as hard as I could. It is probably as well that we do not have an enormous house, because i would fill it full of strays and sad children, and try to make them happier.
Now I have this 18 year old, so she's technically an adult, yes? Insane as that theory is - and her mom's been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, and her mom is getting a long and complex surgery on Tuesday, and I am SO so so glad i have another mother to talk about this with. This kid is an only child of a single mother. They don't have a lot of family. They are skating along the abyss of poverty. Every time i hear or read someone complaining about those people taking and not producing, i want to scream in anger and frustration.
lots of art, no horses
Aerin was home, back and forth, over the weekend. She and Alice were doing friend things, above and beyond sister things, which makes me so unbelievably happy. Today we had a vat of chocolate mousse, with 5 spoons, in honor of something, and Aerin made Al Tax cupcakes because when he does our taxes, I make him a cake and that seemed like a good idea. In going over her taxes, he thanked her for winning a scholarship with many zeros after it, and I suggested he should make her a cake for that. So: cakes are gratitude for financial scrimmages.
spring feels so good, I have been walking to town for no good reason, just to stretch my legs and get some sunshine. And some coffee.