"My poo poo won't come out!"

So today was another Shattered Glass kind of day.
For whatever reason, Df woke up at 6:40 this morning so I sat up with her until we woke E up together. It was pretty ok, E refused to put on his clothes because "the other nannies didn't make me put on my clothes before breakfast" "Well, I'm not the other nannies." But after that, it was pretty smooth sailing. I was happy to see Df had already started a movie by the time I got back upstairs after he left so I layed down and watched it with her. I dozed on and off...I felt really strange today...I'm praying I don't catch what Df had. Then we did some homework until A finally woke up at 10:30 ish. "I was up until 3!" "Well did you get all your work done?" "yes, but that's not what I was doing?" "What were you doing?" "You can guess" "Gossip Girl! You should be ashamed!" So she hung around recooperating from her night...with more Gossip Girl until Df's fever came back. She called the doctor to schedule an appointment and asked Vala to fix lunch as soon as possible. (It's Sheeren and Cavit's day off on Wednesdays...though I thought it was Tuesdays) We were getting ready to eat, then came a huge crash and an exclamation from Vala. My heart sank. Oh no. Turkish yelling, I waited for it to pass until A came in and exclaimed "idiot!" at me (about Vala though, not myself) "What happened?" "She said she was feeling faint! She didn't eat breakfast, didn't have time, and now there is broken dishes! It's ten to one! How stupid is that?!" Sometimes I wonder if she says these things to them or if she just turns around now and vents to me. For their sake, I hope it's the latter but I HIGHLY doubt it. So we ate...it was a lonely meal for me. A's dad was here so it was him, Eren, Df, and A and no one spoke English ever...AND the men weren't supposed to eat with us so we had to split the tiny minced meat patties between five instead of three. I finished in about three seconds. After I was putting Df's jacket on her but I didn't zip her up because we weren't leaving yet. But then Caramel ran out the door so she followed her. "Df! We need to zip up your coat if you're going outside!" Then A arives as Df walks back in and says" Ugh! Look at her! She's all unzipped. She can't leave the house like this! You need to make sure she's always zipped!" There was no point in saying anything but I felt so gross I just wasn't in the mood to be agreeable. So I had just made some kind of "Ok, will do face" but I think I just looked exasperated. So, here's a shocker, as we're walking out and she makes me carry one of her bags, instead of walking infront of me, she stretches out her arm and offers a friendly smile and lets me walk out first! It might not sound huge, and it's not, but for A, it was a little act of kindness...so I'll take it. THEN on the way there, Yilmus aslmost ran into the car infront of us and I've never heard such a dramatic gasp before. After A yelled at him about using his phone he just said "pardon" over and over again. I figured he was safe though, I mean, the man's been with them ten years. They clearly don't mind having him around. At the doctor we discovered that Df had larengitis and he gave her some medication to take the next couple of days. I'm sick of that doctor's office and I've only been here a week and a half. So we headed home after A picked up the medication and she gave me my instructions on the way to dropping her off at the hair place. It was all very complicated for such a simple medicine. After she explained she said, "So you think it's ok?" "I mean, I've never heard of such trouble but I'm sure you trust your doctor." "No, I mean, can you do it?" "Oh yes, that makes much more sense..." When we got back I sent Df upstairs and went down to the kitchen to fix her medicine...I boiled water, then let it cool, poured into a 15ml container, poured that into the powered formula, shook it, then gave filled up a two headed spoon and gave it to her. Then I bathed her, practiced math in the tub, dried her hair, gave her fresh clothes, and she was off. E got home then and was very cheery. He gave me a hug and everything. I was hoping it was an indication of the night but it was not. I spent an hour trying to get him in the tub then finally, after talking to Cavit, he said he'd do it if Sirin did it (by the way, I just found out that's how Sheeren spells her name so that's who I'm talking about). I just don't understand why this kid hates me so much. I'm very nice to him, I swear. So then I try to find Sirin and she's no where to be found and I try to get Df to translate to someone the situation and she's confused and it was such a mess. And also...a little embarrassing, because I don't know what he's saying to Vala and Cavit in Turkish about me and all they know is that he never wants me to do things...only someone else. But then, I go to check on him in the bathroom and he's sitting on the toilet, completely losing it. "What's wrong, buddy?" Through a lot of screaming and crying and broken words I deducted that he was trying to poop but it kept "coming out then going back in". He was completely panicked. It took everything I had not to crack up laughing. God bless every mother who ever walked this earth, humoring all our irrational fears as she went. "It's ok buddy, this happens sometimes. It's completely normal and it's okay to be annoyed because it is very annoying. But you don't need to be scared." "But I am very scared!" Poor kid. "Ok buddy, I just need you to relax ok. Let's just talk about it for a second." So I sat infront of him on the toilet, wiped his tears away, and held his hand as he explained in full detail the movements of his poop. I nodded my head sympathetically the whole time and affirmed him often by saying, "I know bud! That's so annoying!". I felt like my mother. So I got my cell phone and called A telling her the situation and that it was scaring him and though everything was fine I think he needed to hear his mommy's voice. "Oh yes, thank you so much" So she talked to him for quite a bit, told him it was normal and hung up. I got him a book and he continued to try as he looked at the pictures...we sang some songs, etc. Finally, he said he'd get up and maybe after salad, it would come out. Then I did it... "You know what else might help?" "What?" "If you took a nice hot bath." That's right. I went there. "Why?!" "Because the warm water will relax your muscles and it might be easier for you to poo poo." "Okay." Victory is mine. So we bathe and as soon as he gets out he says, "I'm gonna try poop." (Sits down) "Hmmm. It's not coming but it is a little bit more!" "Well thank goodness! Let's try again later!" So D comes home and is gone again in a flash. We eat dinner, play some, etc. Then bed times comes around. I HATE bedtime. Only for E though...Df is usually great. So Vala brings me his milk (they each have a glass before bed) and says that I'm on my own because she needs to go iron. So everything is going fine until E says he wants to play soccer. Well it's 8:45 (bedtime is 8:30, 9 at the latest) so I obviously say no but he can play tomorrow. He says he's going to call his dad and ask. "It's bedtime E, he's not going to say you can." But he refuses to listen and proceeds to dial the number without actually turning the phone then freaks out because it won't dial. Then he runs to Vala who tells him to go to bed and he starts messing with her and stealing her head band so she playfully goes into the storage room and shuts the door as in, "I'm staying here until you go to bed." But he freaks out because he thinks she's locked in there, which I can't explain to her from the other side of the door so Df comes down to see what the ruckus is about. Finally, Vala comes out, he sees she's ok, and we start walking up the stairs. Then she says something to him from the other room and he comes running back down. I could have kicked her in the shins. I was so mad, in not so many words (literally...mostly hand gestures) I told her to be quiet, that I was this close to getting him upstairs. She was very sorry. So I start ushering him upstairs and he freaks out...followed by kicks. I grabbed his arms and sat him on the stairs, "E, that is enough. There is no kicking. There is no yelling. And there is no hitting. It is time for bed." He's screaming at the top of his lungs so Df tries to talk some sense into him. Then in English she says, "But E, Caitlin has to take your arms because you're always doing bad things to her. You are always hitting her or kicking her." So I told him, "E, I would never hurt you, I only put your arms down so you can't hit me. If you just talk to me, it wouldn't be this hard." I'm going to have to A next time I see her again...if he really thinks I'm hurting him it's a problem. If he's trying to get me in trouble, it's a problem. If he thinks I should just stand there and let him hit me and not say anything, it's a problem. There are lots of problems here. "Well, I'm going to sleep right here then." We're sitting on the marble stairs by the way...the ones only the staff uses no less. Df looks at me, as if to say, "we got this" and says, "ok, E" and walks away. I hit the marble. "Man this floor is hard! You are going to be so cold and uncomfortable. Good night!" and I walk off too. He cracks up, "no no I'm coming!" and just like that, normal E is back. I feel like I should name the two personalities or something, they're so different it's ridiculous. After a lot of talking, I put him to bed then go tend to Df. While I'm in there I hear, "Clake lin! I'm scared." "Scared of what?" So we through the routine of me checking under the bed, explaining how all the windows were locked, and that in the event anyone ever came into the house, I would tie them to the chair and E would hit them with another one. I told him I'd lay with him a second and he wrapped his arm around my neck and I rubbed his back. He has to be bipolar, I'm telling you. So Df and I check her fever again, just in case and I tell her, "I need a favor from you." "What?" "I need you to speak in English with E as much as possible when we're all together. He is clearly upset when I try to talk to him but when he yells in Turkish there isn't anything I can do about it, you know?" "Yes I know, it is very hard." "So can you do that for me?" "Yes." Here's hoping. So we went over her spelling and I turned out the lights, "Can you stay with me a minute." "Of course." Finally, by 9:15 I was out to the TV room. Not bad. I was called down when D called and asked me "did he ever ca ca?" "Yes, yes he did." "Okay, see you." So while I was down there I thought I might as well make some tea. They have a whole store's worth. Vala immediately hopped up, excited I wanted some and pulled out green ginger tea, "Caitlin, this is one of the best kinds" (that's almost a direct translation! I understood a whole sentence!) and I even understood as she explained to me that it was one of A's favorites and she liked to take it before bed to help her sleep...granted there was a lot of hand gestures in there but still. So as she showed me how to fix it, I sat down with a mandarin next to her and she stroked my hair and said somethings that insinuated she wished we could have a conversation. Me too...I'm so sick of her trying to talk to me and me always responding with "I just don't have any idea what you're saying" and her looking back blankly. So I thought, what the heck, this time with them has been given to me. (It was A's class and she had dinner after so she won't be back for a bit) So I sit down and do my best to talk...Vala says the mandarin is too small and digs out a HUGE orange from some unknown crevice. She was very proud of herself. It was the biggest most delicious orange I've ever had in my life. As we ate I found out that Vala has a four-month old girl named Albena but had no luck on finding out how often she gets to see her or where she is. I was about to take my tea up and had said good night when as I was leaving Sirin walked in. "Good night" I told her. "No goodnight. Sit down." (Also in Turkish) and she had brought out three things of photos! I saw pictures of her and Cavit's two children...a girl about Df's age and a teenage boy! I saw pictures from Cavit's birthday (in November) with Yilmus and pictures from Sirin's birthday (in May) and they were laughing and dancing. They were wearing nice clothes and she had on makeup and styled hair. This might sound silly or superficial, but for some reason I was very relieved that they had such a cheerful life outside of this house...because in this situation it's hard to imagine that there is more than this for them just because I see them when I wake up and when I go to bed...I see them everyday in their uniforms and that's all I know. I was very grateful. I finished my tea, I've written my blog, I'm about to fall over, but I'll probably watch some of A's black market DVD's just because I can. It's nice to have the TV room to myself...D is still out too. I think Wednesdays could start to be my favorite days :)