It could be that I am just overly tired. Tired from taking care of a sick toddler all week, and now that the weekend is here and she's feeling better, a sick husband. Which is worse. You know. Than a child.
Maybe it's because I feel like I'm coming down with the horrible cold everybody else has, and I really can't. There's no one to tend to me.
But the fact is, I snapped tonight. Not a BIG snap, but a snap all the same.
We had a little birthday celebration today for stepdaughter K. She will be nine on Wednesday, so since both she and her 4 year old brother are staying the weekend with us (a favor to the ex-wife, who has done numerous favors for us), we decided to celebrate her birthday today.
Our next door neighbors have a seven year old daughter who likes to play with K, so we invited her to come over for make-your-own-pizzas, cake, and playtime.
The kids had a good time making their own individual little pizzas. Little neighbor girl had hers eaten before K or Brother had finished their first piece, but whatever. She's a stockily built girl, and obviously likes to eat. When we had the cake, she gobbled hers down and wanted another piece. Okay, that's fine. There's lots of cake. And after everyone was finished, I carefully wrapped up the remaining cake to send home with K to share with her mom and stepdad.
Time for some background. Our neighbors are really nice people. And every time we've had them over, for parties, dinner, whatever. Hell, even when they haven't come over, we have always sent plates of food home with them. Usually it's because P gets in one of his extreme good neighbor moods, and offers up everything in the house for them to take home. Which irritates me a little, because, well, because. But, you know. So what. Thing is, they don't just take a little -- they take a LOT. Like enough for their coworkers, and friends who might drop by the next day. I'm not kidding.
Don't get me wrong. I don't spend a lot of time sulking about this. Or even thinking about it, really. But today, after we let little neighbor girl know it was time to go home, she stands in the kitchen, looking rather defiant. I asked her what was wrong. She doesn't say anything, just points to the cake. I said, "What?" She said she wanted to take some cake home with her. I said no, sorry, the cake is for someone else. I've already wrapped it up and it's being sent home with K tomorrow. Then K pipes up, saying, "Oh, let her take the cake home." And then P chimes in with, "Yeah, wrap some up for her." I got extremely irritated at that point and said NO again very firmly, stared K in the eyes, whispered to her, "Listen to me now, K." Gave P a cold glare, and held my ground.
Fortunately for them, they understood me and dropped it.
Now, if this child had been so full from dinner she couldn't eat her piece of cake, or even her second piece of cake, I certainly would have sent some cake home for her to have. I am not the devil, after all.
But come on. Am I to believe that every time she or her family visits my home they need to leave with our leftovers? Isn't that just silly?
So P's not mentioning it, and I am not mentioning it, and K is not mentioning it. Which is good. In my mind, there's nothing to talk about.
I've decided I need to let my feelings be known about even seemingly trivial things like this. For a long time I've wanted to put an end to this "tradition" we inadvertently started, but felt my efforts were always sabotaged. Well, I guess we all know how I feel now. Didn't mean for it to come out at K's birthday celebration, but that's when the old camel's back broke, so it couldn't be helped.
Sigh. Even I know how petty and stupid this all is. Isn't it always the silly stuff that bogs us down? Bah. I'm going to recline now. If I had a powder, I'd take it.
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