KIAAA conference

We are back from the KIAAA conference. It was long. boring. confusing. stressful. tiring. I never knew where I was supposed to be, who I was supposed to be with or what I was supposed to be doing. R and I’s room overlooked the indoor water park, so rest was never attainable. Sure, they closed the pool down at midnight, but Robert forgot his machine (sleep apnea isn’t fun folks) and we spent every evening designing INVENTIVE AWE-INSPIRING ear plugs. I finally downed a few Tylenol PMs and used a headband to hold tissues to my ears. I tried to sleep a few minutes during the day, but Suzy, one of the munchkins I babysat figured out where my room was and would stand outside (remember there was a water park right outside the glass wall) giggling until I opened the curtains and invited her in for a game of ‘find the moose’. I thank god that the damn moose was never found because it kept her entertained for hours. The moose game, plus two GIANT bouncy balls were the best $7.00 I have ever spent in my life. When I found out that Suzy had an attachment problem and didn’t bond well with anybody except her family I went to target and bought a few toys. I knew that Suzy had to like me by Saturday night or I would have failed my job. Saturday night was the big night for her dad, who was president of this event for the last time. Last year, as president, he had wanted his wife to join him for the big dinner but Suzy didn’t want to go to the daycare they had set up at the motel. This year was his last chance. That meant I had less than three days to get acquainted with Suzy. Saturday night she said goodbye to her mom and we hopped in the car. For the first few hours she was fine. We had a blast. During the ride to pizza hut, however, she abruptly stopped talking to me. I couldn’t see her well in my mirror so before I started panicking I asked her brother what was going on. Silence. I started flashbacking to the night before we left for the conference. On that Tuesday night I had the double T’s in my car. Tiffany was singing and Taylor was picking a scab on her knee. Taylor started to complain that her knee was bleeding. I asked Tiffany if it was and Tiffany stopped singing and said, “no SIGH it’s not bleeding, but her Band-Aid fell OH MY GOSH HANNAHJANESTOPTHEEECARRRRRSTOP THE CAR!” I pulled over to a side street, shot out of my car, yanked open the backseat and found two hysterical girls crying over a sudden nosebleed. Apparently Tiffany had bent over to pick up the band-aid. When she looked up taylor’s nose was dripping blood everywhere. The whole episode freaked me out like nothing else and I doubt that I will ever fully recover. I think it was the sudden burst of noise that scared the peewaddens out of me.
Last night, however, was totally different. I knew that both kids were awake, but I couldn’t get them to talk. Finally Joseph spoke up and said that Suzy did this sometimes. When we stopped for pizza I was worried that she wasn’t going to get out of the car but she hopped right out. When we got inside she still refused to speak to me, joseph or the waitress. This went on until we got back in the car and then, without warning, she was back to her giggly, talkative self. The giggly side only lasted a couple more hours and that’s when she completely turned and became very argumentative. It was a very weird experience. I was glad when it all ended. R and I managed to get home about 2:00 this morning. We just woke up a little while ago. It was an exhausting trip that had a few bright spots, but I can honestly say that I’m just happy to be home. I will post a few pictures later.