Quick catch up for those of you thinking, "who the heck is Rachel?" Rachel is my first-cousin. She graduated high school, didn't like her immediate option for college, so she moved from Ohio to Texas to live with us for a year and go to Midland Community College until she figured out what she wanted to do and where she wanted to be. It was a great year. She covered our house in hair (seriously, this girl sheds like no other) and ate all of our food. When she left, she took a little piece of all of our hearts with her. She's forever part of our immediate family.
Rachel is back in Ohio now. She found a college that she loves, friends she can't live without, and is working hard to reach her dreams. We are so proud. We miss her like crazy.
We don't talk to her nearly enough. Last week, we decided to fix that and set a Skype date. After school, when things settled down and homework was done, we called. The kids were SO excited. They were jumping up and down and dancing to the ring tone as we were calling through. The minute Rachel picked up, they all got stage fright and got super quiet.
Hannah was the first to decide she wanted to speak up. Right about that time, Logan decided he wanted to yell in Rachel's face and see what she was all about (he was a month old when she moved out, his memory was a little fuzzy). In true drama queen fashion, Hannah got upset that he stole the spotlight, threw herself on the ground and refused to look at anyone.
We left her like that and went on about our business. The other two Lynch kids charmed Rachel's socks off. Logan ran around, said all of his new words, and did all of his tricks. Camden caught her up on preschool life and drew pictures for her on the magna-doodle. When it was just about time to hang up, I saw Hannah at our dining room table making a drawing.
Thinking she was over it, I walked over to see if she was ready for her turn to Skype with Rachel. I got an evil look, looked down and saw a paper covered in x's. I asked what she was drawing and she meanly said, "X's. They are for you."
OOOOOOoooookay. I was clearly on her s*@t list. Without taking her eyes off of me, she wrote "MOM" and angrily drew a line through my name. I burst out laughing. It was hilarious. She was mad and so mean about it, but seeing that adorable little face be so horrible was more than I could take. I saw her eyes narrow and knew I was really going to have a devil on my hands if I didn't think of something fast.
"Hannah! I'm only laughing to keep myself from crying. Does that mean you don't want me to be your mom anymore?"
"Yes. I don't want any of you. I want a new family." By now, she had drawn all of our names with an angry line through them and a huge X over the whole bunch.
Obviously, I lost my mind and started laughing again. It was HILARIOUS!
"I'm going to live with Rachel!"
I told her that I was very sad and sorry that she was so upset that she didn't want to be part of our family anymore. I also told her that it wasn't an option to move away because we love her way too much to let her go. I gave her body, still rigid with anger, a huge hug, whispered that I love her, told her I understand getting so mad you want to leave, but that I hope she changes her mind because of how much she means to us.
Ten minutes later, I got this....
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Hopefully, she always gets over her mad so quickly. And hopefully, I can learn to control my laugh impulse when my kids are working through a mad.
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