So BM dropped off all skids on Sunday evening, they had been there Thursday night thru Sunday afternoon because skids were off school Friday thru MLK day. I wanted them on Monday for myself because they have been begging to go to my moms house and my mother finally found sometime in her extremely busy schedule (sarcasm) to get them. Saturday sd15 texts me and says sd5 is sick. Vomiting everywhere, has a fever the whole nine. I tell her to keep an eye on her for me. BM is flaky about that stuff, sometimes she is right on and other times not so much - recently sd5 fell through an enormous hole in the floor to the basement of BMs shitty half finished house and got huge cuts from her hip to her armpit, what does BM do? Puts Vaseline and a homemade bandage made out of duct tape, band-aids and paper towels on it. MacGyver himself couldn't even figure out how to get that thing off. This time she was properly medicated and made to rest.

Anyways, that was Saturday. Sunday she brings them home, says sd5 has been doing just fine and just as the words come out of her mouth ss3 projectile vomits all over the porch, himself, his coat, SO and BM. They send him inside to me, she books it (don't blame her) and I end up trying to peel vomit encrusted layers off of him, shower him, medicate him and pray he doesn't puke in the tub! Needless to say I tell mom - No go. Another time. sd9 gets really upset she cant go considering she is the only one not sick. Not my fault kiddo. Middle of the night sd5 shits pants in the middle of the night. Following morning, I call off work due to vomiting, crapping children. Thankfully they are all off school already. Day goes by fine, fairly normal meals, no crapping uncontrollably or puking. I think OK worst is over. There's a 24hr flu going around - must've been that. Wrong. WRONG.

6:30am today ss3 comes in and informs us that he has thrown up downstairs. What the heck he was doing down there in the first place is a mystery to me. I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep so SO has to get up and investigate. He comes up a while later. Girls get up to get ready for school. Then the mayhem begins. sd5 comes in yelling about ss3 who threw up in front of their room and the bathroom blah blah blah, phone rings its the high school - sd15 threw up, come and get her. SO and I flip a coin to see who does what. I get vomit cleanup and school get off for sd9 and sd5. Cant find sd5 boots ANYWHERE. School has a strict policy about winter wear otherwise they sit in the library for recess. In the process of looking I discover dogs weren't properly locked in sd9's bedroom last night so they left me many presents all over downstairs area rug. Still looking for boots - step in dog piss on area rug upstairs. Feel like maybe, just maybe someone or something is going to die. Still haven't addressed carpet vomit. Get sd9 and sd5 off to school. SO comes back with sd15 and runs frantically upstairs to get ready for work. Then the cleaning begins. Mopping floors in kitchen where ss vomited. Bleaching everything I possibly can, cleaning bathroom etc. I quarantined ss3 to his bedroom with movies and toys and books. Like hell I'm getting sick. I get sick and the whoooole operation stops. SO is trying to get ready for work. He's hollering about being late and needing lunch. I stop my attack on the upstairs vomit carpet and make him some lunch. He discovers that he can't eat what I packed. Remake lunch. Shove him out the door. Just as I start to think that MAYBE I can eat breakfast he calls me to ask if i can drop paperwork off to his lawyer. I'm thinking sure - let me just pull on my wonderwoman panties and get right on it. Hang up with him. Remember sd9 had DR appt at 8:30 that got lost in the shuffle. Call and resched. Start dishes and vomit/shit laundry. I've already thrown away any shit undies. I'm beyond cleaning them, plus I paid for them - BM hasn't contributed one single thing besides 1 pair of shoes for each of them in a year. I can throw the undies I paid for away if I want. Will I eat today? That is the mystery of the day.

Secondary thought:

Every time sd9 is let down by some stupid shit from her mom she gets upset with SO and I. Its getting really old. BM lost her snow pants and so she calls me Sunday to let me know BM will not be purchasing her another pair because she can't afford it and that she will need some for the week. Great, girlfriend I am tapped OUT. We have what we need to get through and not much more. No one will go without the essentials and I told her she would just have to wait a couple more days and I'll get her a pair. Well she gets all pissy and upset cuz she can't do recess with her friends and she has to be inside etc etc. I so badly just want to say "You know if your deadbeat mom would pay anything for your care we wouldn't have this problem now then would we? If your mom wouldn't lose or destroy all the crap we buy you you would still have your brand new pair from last year. BM won't help, BM won't pay, BM won't do anything besides slap some food in front of them on the few days she is with them. sd15s bday was Sunday, she was upset to go on her bday but her mom threw such a hissy fit that she felt forced into it cuz BM tells her if she doesn't come she doesn't get any birthday or Christmas presents. BM got her 1 present and took her to the mall for her 3 hour time limit because BM's bf had stuff he needed to get done and he wouldn't watch any of her kids. It is up to us to provide them with EVERYTHING. Presents, Christmas, School clothing and supplies, you name it, and we do so why does sd9 get so pissy with us when her mom is the one who won't contribute to their care?? Why does it fall on me? sd9 makes the excuses "well mom doesn't have a job" and she and her mother don't believe she should have to pay anything. Explain to me how it is my income is just a given in sd9s little mind but her own birth mother doesn't owe a cent? It really frustrates me that we have to make up for BMs shortcomings. She screwed everyone at Christmas. We already knew that would be the case so we did Christmas the same as if they weren't getting anything from their mom. All of them came home disappointed and in a shitty mood because they each got 2 things. THEN sd9 gets upset with me when I wont let her take a bunch of her new Christmas stuff to BMs over New Years! Her house is like the black hole of Calcutta. Everything we send there either doesn't come back OR is destroyed because they have no supervision. I buy shoes. Kid steps in dog crap, BM throws shoes away. Sends kid home in 2 size too big football cleats. WTF? I send clothes. Kid comes back and I can't even recognize the shirt. It's gotten to the point where SO won't send them in anything other than "BM visitation clothes". We call them play clothes. "Kids lets change into your play clothes to go to moms! We know you guys play a lot while you're there so lets get you into something more comfortable!" How sad. Why? because I can't afford to replace 3 pairs of ss3 pants when he comes back home in shorts in December. I cant stand sending sd5 to school in koolaid stained holey shirts. They eat constantly at BMs and it shows on their clothing. If she wants to buy them clothes then she can let them get ruined all she likes. SO wont send gloves or snow pants. They NEVER come back. Ever. I have replaced 6 pairs of sd5's gloves, 2 pairs for sd9 and 4 pairs for ss3 since December alone. I feel horrible sending them improperly dressed but I have 25 days a month and how the hell am I supposed to explain to their school "Oh sorry my kids look homeless and never have gloves - their mom doesn't send any of their things back home".

Why are we just expected to make up for BM? SO offered her an extra evening during the week to have them after school until bedtime. He even offered to extend their bedtime so she could have them more than just 3 hours or so. She said it was a waste of gas to not have them overnight. That she just couldn't afford the gas to drive here. Then sd9 a few months ago sat there telling me her mom was sad that she didn't get to see them more often and that BM didn't think it was fair that we have them more than her. She said that BM doesn't understand why she cant just have them overnight and take them to school the next day!? Maybe because they are never there on time. Maybe because you live 25 minutes from their school in another COUNTY. Maybe because if you feel like keeping them home you just call the school say their sick then they show up the following day with a suntan and stories of their day of fun. Maybe because I get nasty letters from the school saying that weds nights homework is never done. Maybe because you can't afford the gas remember? But no seriously, she should have them on school nights. My sd9 is constantly worried about our gas situation because BM has run out of gas trying to take them to school the one time we let her. She's always saying "I can't have my birthday party there - its too much gas to get there" I'm like tell you what you be 9 and I will worry about gas. I got this. Thank God this year SO said enough is enough. No more overnights during school nights.

Oh yeah so why is it our job to make up for BM's typical failures?!