How Many Children Do I Have Anyway?

he past several weeks, we've gotten into the habit of taking my Sister to church with us on Sunday mornings. Then, we bring her home for dinner, spend the afternoon together, go back to the afternoon service, and take her home after supper. It seems to be just the right amount of time for her to be home. When she spends the night, breakfast becomes very stressful for me. She is such a morning person --- I, on the other hand, I'm not. Most of the time when she's with us, she never stops talking, and what she says is just repetition over and over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly. It's just that it does increase my stress when she's home for more than a few hours of time.

There's a lot more to monitoring her than some people might think. She needs to be watched all the time so that she doesn't get into things that she's not supposed to be into, very much like a small child. We've had trouble with her with everything from eating too much food to cutting herself with razors. She can't be left alone at all! For example, yesterday afternoon when she was home, I went downstairs for 20 minutes, and while I was gone, Mom and Dad went to take a nap. When I got back upstairs, sister had helped herself to a snack. It was less than half an hour after we finished eating.

One Sunday morning, we were going through the line at coffee after church. Sister started taking the amount of food she wanted, and then I had to have her put some of it back because she taken too much. I looked up at my pastor's wife who was serving coffee and shook my head. She chuckled and said, "How many children do you have now?"

You see, I have three children of my own. Two of them are grown and on their own, and one was at home with us. I have a stepson who is married, and they have a baby. I'm taking care of my parents, which is often like taking of children, except I can't discipline them. And then there is Sister.

Yes. I have nine children. And I am truly blessed.

The Guardian

One job I've inherited that I wasn't expecting when we moved here is guardianship of my younger sister. She is mentally retarded, and as such, has been a ward of the state since her 21st birthday. Our parents have been her guardians, but now, they can't handle the task anymore, and have passed the role to me. This'll be interesting.

My sister lives in a group home in Big Town. Her favorite TV show is Cops (this will be important later). For the past several months, she has been in love with a guy who lives in another group home near hers. When I first heard they had gone on a date, I was excited and thought maybe she'd be able to get married. That's always been her dream! But, not only are the guy's guardians not open to the idea of him getting married, but apparently, he is some kind of a "Casanova," having been seeing several women at the same time. He told my sister once that he'd broken up with all the others, and that she was his only girlfriend. But, they have group dances, and my sister caught him kissing another woman at one of them. :(

So, I've seen her twice in the last couple of weeks, and each time, I've comforted her while she cried, listened to her tell me how much she loves him, and tried to help her understand that... well, he's a pig.

I think I made a breakthrough yesterday. We were walking through the grocery store, and she said, "He's a bad boy. He's gonna go to jail!"

It's a shame, honey, but they don't put boys in jail for breaking girls' hearts. Not even on Cops. But at least, I think she finally understands.