5 Year Journal Day 4

     Today's prompt is "The best part of today?" Well, technically, today hasn't started yet. It's 11:46pm, and I'm up. I can write about Thursday though. It was a tough day for me. I woke up around 12:45 am and stayed up until about 3:00 am. I accidentally woke Caleb up while talking to Bella. She was begging me to go back to bed with her. It was thunder storming really hard, and she was scared. When I finally went back to lay down, I was followed by Bella and Caleb on to the couch. Those 2 took up most of the space on the couch, and I was hanging off the edge. The tv was sounding alarms for tornados and flashing flooding throughout the morning. At about 5:45 am, I woke Caleb up to have him move to his recliner, and off the couch. Bella may have followed him, but I don't remember. I was able to sleep until my alarm went off at 8:30 am. We woke up, but I was drained. It was still dark outside from the clouds and rain. I was awake for a few hours, and decided I needed a nap. I was able to rest for a brief time before Caleb woke me up by talking loudly on the phone. I woke up, took my afternoon medications, and started dinner in the crockpot. I was awake for a couple of hours before deciding that I needed a nap. It was then that I decided that I was not going to make it to my online class. I was just falling into a deep sleep when Caleb woke me up again by talking too loudly on the phone. By this time I gave up on getting my sleep. I had a headache and no motivation to get anything done. I was super exhausted. I ate dinner, took my night time medications, and went back to the couch, where I sleep.
     Caleb wanted to cuddle, which doesn't usually last long, and he climbed on the couch beside me. Bella was laying on top of me already. The best part of the day was playing around with Caleb on the couch. He likes to rough house, and be tickled. He made me laugh and I started coughing. I already had a full bladder, and it made me leak. He didn't believe that it happened at first until he felt the evidence on a blanket I was sitting on. LOL I don't know, I guess you have to know Caleb, and/or had to be there. He can make me laugh so hard sometimes. It can be hard to hold it in!
     Before we moved to the couch, Caleb and I argued about eating dinner. Lately he has not been eating the dinners I make. It's frustrating as it's normally the best source of nutrition he gets all day. I only cook one meal a day, and that's dinner. We usually go to pick up his meals from the school for breakfast and lunch. He hasn't been eating those either. I don't like making food for him to eat, and it going to waste. If he doesn't eat with me at dinner time, the food doesn't get eaten and gets thrown away. I hate that. So it really makes me try to get him to eat dinner with me. I'm also trying to keep him from arguing with me when I tell him to do or not do something. It's a work in progress. He has to learn to communicate his feelings without talking back and yelling. He did come to me afterwards to ask for a hug, so that was nice. It's nothing personal. I just want him to eat healthy food at least once a day. I don't think I'm asking for too much.
      I went to bed early, hoping I would sleep through the night. I unpacked my new CPAP pillow today, and used it. Guess who is using it too? You got it. Bella! Yep. Sleeping next to me with her head on my pillow.
      I struggled through the day because I was tired and drained, because the weather was dark and rainy, and also for one more reason. Nichole, my sister-in-law, was traveling, and unable to have our normally scheduled video calls. On a regular day, we see each other multiple times a day for at least 20 minutes at a time, and I get to see and/or hear my niece and nephew. Today there were no calls at all. It might be this way until she goes back home, as she is visiting her family for the summer. I hope we don't lose contact, but it's a possibility. I don't talk to anyone as much as I have been talking to her. I don't know that she is aware of how important our calls are to me.
     In other news, my facial hair is growing out again. Caleb wants to either tweeze the hairs out or shave them for me, but they don't generally bother me. I explained that I have a hormonal imbalance, and that is the reason I have facial hair that is highly visible. He is asked "Is that dangerous?" I told him that I didn't think so, just meant that I have hair on my face, which most women don't. I went on to explain that we are mammals, and as humans, we have hair from head to toe all over our bodies. It's just that some are more visible and thicker than others. It really made him think. Ahhh... science!
     After we played on the couch, he went to his room and brought some of the books I bought for him out. I was excited, but didn't want him to know. I want him to want to read. I bought several bundles of gently used books that he might like to read like "Goosebumps." He brought out a series that I read as an elementary school student, "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. I was so happy. He asked me what he should read, and I tried to get him interested in reading the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books first. He lost interest before he sat down, but the seed has been planted. He has plenty of National Geographic published kids' books on science and history. He loves World War 2 information and pictures of military equipment and weapons. So far, I haven't been able to get him a World War 2 book from the National Geographic collection, but only the Civil War and World War 1 books.
     I have to schedule his days better. It's hard enough for me to schedule my days, as I have to schedule according to how well I am feeling that day. Caleb is always well, and I can not keep up with him. My cousin, Max, mailed him his XBox 360 and some games some days ago, and Caleb has not been able to pull himself away ever since. So, I am going to use game time as incentive to get his work done. He needs to be doing daily chores around the house, spending time reading books, and spending time learning math in order to earn time. I don't have extra money these days, but I would like to be able to buy him some used games as incentives to meet educational and housekeeping goals for a certain time frame. He also needs daily exercise. He likes to go for walks around the neighborhood. I am currently teaching him that it is important for me to have quiet time during the day, where the tv is not making sound, and there is no noise. There also needs to be a screen time freeze at certain periods during the day, where he is not using electronics at all.
     I would like to be able to give him an allowance so he can learn to be responsible with money, but I don't see that happening any time soon. I'm trying to re-establish money habits in myself first. My Aunt Lisa bought Caleb a quarter collection keeper. Caleb has been looking for the state quarters to add to it. It's cute.