Lil' Genghis, future world leader Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Saturday, August 06, 2011

It was a rough day

Note: This post kind of got put in the wrong spot in the wrong way, so it's reposted here, where it was meant to be.

It was a rough day.

dad woke up and saw that someone else was posting some crap on Facebook about a U.S. military unit that had suffered awful casualties, only it was actually from a year ago, and it followed someone else's posting on Facebook about a bunch of Marines who'd supposedly just been killed that week without getting any credit, except some of the people didn't exist, some had their names spelled wrong and others weren't Marines, and all had been appropriately recognized. This isn't the kind of thing to get wrong, but someone with ill intentions spread this, and it got picked up by people with good intentions, and that just rubs dad the wrong way.

It was a rough day.

And just a few minutes later, news breaks that several dozen American soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan.

It was a rough day.

Not long after, Lil' Genghis woke up and didn't have a very easy morning. Then she wanted to leave the restaurant before lunch arrived, just grumpy and impatient. Then we went to the pharmacy and auto parts store, and she threw one hell of a tantrum in the auto parts store, because she really wanted a $4.59 Superwoman keychain fob, and she wanted it then. dad wound up carrying her out of the store, but still had to go into the pharmacy, which led to more screaming and tantrums as she waited in the car, followed by threats of throwing up on people or pouring water on parents.

It was a rough day.

So we got her home, and she napped, and she woke up and went to a movie -- "Pooh" -- with her good buddy Ethan, then ate some McNuggets and played around on the playground. Then threw another fit because Ethan had to go home with his mommy and get some sleep and time with his mom. Big screaming fit again, because Ethan was leaving and she wanted to spend ALL of her time with him, forever, and she wanted to have a sleepover and she just hadn't gotten enough time with him. (Mind you, she's hanging out with him Sunday, and had already hung out with him Thursday and Friday, so we're looking at at least a four-day streak.)

It was a rough day.

And so mom and dad are wondering if the first week of school wore her out, or she's getting a low-grade bug from one of her new classmates (99.1 degrees), or just what the heck is going on, because she's a sweeter kid than this and we can't explain it.

It was a rough day.

And so Lil' Genghis was supposed to be getting ready for her bath, and dad checked the DOD site to see if any more information on those dozens of soldiers had been released, and finds a new press release. In a completely different incident, a man from Lil' Genghis' town had been killed in Afghanistan. A few more phone calls and e-mails later, dad learned the man, Specialist Mark J. Downer of Warner Robins, Ga., had been a daddy.

It was a rough day.

So dad went in and hugged Lil' Genghis, who wouldn't look away from Woody Woodpecker, and kissed her, and told her he loved her, and left the room to walk the dogs, tears on his face. He came back and with mom did a group hug, loving someone so precious, and so innocent, and so wonderful, and maybe not so very different from another child nearby who just lost innocence.

It was a rough day.