The boy is home

Well, my son is back home. He was gone 3 and a half weeks. That's a long time.

I flew him up to Missouri, and his mom drove him halfway back, to Atlanta, where one set of his grandparents on his mom's side (her parents both remarried) drove him most of the rest of the way down, and I got him at about halfway between where they live and where I live, which is about 45 minutes worth of driving. On my way up to get him, I cried in the car, to the point where I had to pull off to the side of the road. Apparently, I've been keeping my emotions in check while he's been gone, because I was surprised by how much came out...Last night I saw Benjamin Button, and at the end there's a toddler that they show, and it just made me cry, too, because I missed him so much.

When he got out of grandpa's truck, he saw me and just gave me a big hug, and would not let go. He just held me and held me. And I held him, of course. In my mind, I'm feeling like Linus from Peanuts after he's reunited with his blanket. I got his suitcase, and one or two other things in the car, and we were off. I went to my mom's, and then later to my sister's.

A bright note is that he is now fully potty trained. He asks to go to the potty now, and all I have to do is help him get his pants off.

But that's about the only bright note. He is more articulate than when I last saw him, which is good...I sent a bunch of clothes up there that didn't come back. His mom says that those clothes don't fit him anymore, so they didn't send them back because she says I'll just put them on him...but what she does is reject clothes just because of the tag, rather than if they actually fit or not. Drove me crazy when we were together. So now I've lost a lot of clothes for him, and when I asked her to send down the clothes that she has him wear when he's up there, she said no, that I need to buy him clothes, since that's what the CS is for. Sigh. I can't make her send down the clothes that she has him wear for 3 weeks...and neither can I prevent her from stealing his clothes...wtf is that all about?

And...all his Christmas presents he got up there are not coming home. Not one thing that he got for Christmas made it back to FL. When I asked her about that, she says he should have some toys up there. And I agree, but the next time he'll be up there, it'll be for a week, and then 4 weeks in July. Not everything needs to come here, but it is HIS stuff, and he should get to play with it all the time, not just when he's with her. Especially since he's with her so little.

And then there's his hair. She warned me it would be short, but we're talking military grade short. It does not look that good. She said he wanted it, so....It's not allllll buzzed off, but it's way short. My mom saw it and said, "It'll grow back..." I totally agree.

So while I'm happy he's back, I'm aggravated at these three big details.