Mother's Day Weekend

I'm happy to report that we had a mostly successful Mother's Day weekend.  It's clear that the combination of the anti-depressant and atypical anti-psychotic seem to be giving Danielle the ability to control herself.

Of course Mother's Day weekend has oddly never been a source of major blow-ups.

On Friday, we went and saw the much-anticipated movie (at least at our house) Dark Shadows.  I was a big fan of the original series when I was in high school, and managed to catch it on syndication.  FosterEema had never seen it, but she got turned on to it when we discovered Netflix offered the entire series.  For a while, we had a regular weekly Dark Shadows get-together with a friend.

When I heard the movie was coming out May 11, I could hardly wait.



I have to say that I absolutely loved the film, though it wasn't nearly as funny as the above movie trailer would suggest.  The critics have largely panned the movie, claiming that it doesn't do a good job of being a comedy or a horror film.  Although I agree with that assessment, in that it is both Gothic and funny, I don't think that makes it a bad film.  Now I will admit that there are a couple of changes in the story line that diverge from the original TV series' story line, but I don't think that takes away from the film.  Die-hard Dark Shadows fans need to come into the film with an open mind, remembering that this is a movie based on those original characters, not a loyal recreation.

I've actually paid to see it twice in the theaters, which is a huge endorsement.  We don't go to the movies all that often because of the expense.  I have a hard time buying three tickets to the cinema, when I can buy a DVD of the same film for the same price or less, and then I'm able to watch the film as many times as I like.

Danielle didn't like the film nearly as much as we did, I think largely because some of the humor went completely over her head.

On Saturday, we went out to dinner with friends, and this was probably the only unpleasantness of the entire weekend.  Danielle has a habit of suddenly "feeling sick" whenever we go out with our friends, and this was no exception.  She kept leaving the table, claiming she was throwing up in the bathroom.

We largely ignored the behavior, as this has been a long-time pattern of Danielle's. We don't see the behavior at home, only when we are out doing something she doesn't want to be doing. I find it frustrating, because in addition to the attention-seeking behaviors she creates as she makes a big show of running off to the bathroom, she generally will order a large meal that she will ultimately not eat.

On the drive home, I raised the issue of her behavior during dinner.  I didn't make a big deal of it, but I did say that we were tired of the drama, and didn't appreciate buying her food that she didn't eat.  She tried to argue a little, but I didn't bother to say anything more.  I'd said my piece, she knew how I felt, and that was all that needed to be said.

Sunday morning, she gave FosterEema a hand-made mother's day card.  Inside, she apologized for her behavior at dinner, though she did insist she really was sick.  "It would be nice if you would believe me!" she wrote, adding a couple of very unhappy-looking frowning faces.

There's no doubt in my mind that she probably works herself up to feeling sick during these episodes.  Still, I think she does it to attract attention, as it only happens when we are going somewhere with our friends, especially if she wasn't the one to pick the restaurant.

Sunday afternoon, we paid a brief visit to my mother, and then we headed home.  Danielle went to bed early, and FosterEema and I spent some time writing.  She's working her her second novel, and I'm working on the second draft of my first.

Although we didn't do anything terribly exciting (other than see Dark Shadows) it was a decent weekend.  It was nice to manage to escape some of the drama that many foster and adoptive parents experience on Mother's Day weekend.

For that, I am truly grateful.