How To Raise Native Children....(On Reserve) #wattys2017

5. Jonathan

After having Eve, I decided I wasn't going to have any more children. I didn't like the way Frank changed. I had a hard time dealing with his crap on top of managing the kids and the home. Kevin was still struggling with his asthma. I had to keep my home dust free. Everyday, I would wipe something or wash something. Every week I had to clean the entire house. There's 'spring cleaning' and 'fall cleaning', I did it every week. I'm not complaining, it just became mundane. Take the kids to the park, go for a walk, visit family, clean house, go to the park, go for a walk, visit family, buy groceries, clean house. I would take the broom and brush the tops of the walls and corners, then I would use a sponge mop to wash the walls. I dipped a rag in a bucket of hot water and bleach and stuck it at the end of my broom handle to wash out the corners. I'd take another rag and dip it into a different bucket with warm water and wipe the leaves of all my house plants. Washed the windows, wiped out the window tracks, wipe down the walls and railings. I'd take everything out of the cupboards and wipe them out, I'd even wipe the cans, boxes and containers before putting them back in. Empty the drawers and wash them out and wash everything that was in there. It didn't matter if they were clean, I threw all the utensils, cooking ladles and knives into the sink. I had filled it with hot water, bleach and dish soap earlier. I vacuumed the stairs and the vent covers. Took all the curtains down and threw them in the wash. Climbed on a chair to dust the curtain rods. Washed out the washer and dryer by hand. Then turned the washer on using hot water. I poured bleach directly into the basin and some detergent. I always thought that it would clean beyond the basin. I, also, turned the dryer on at its hottest setting for 20 minutes. High heat helps to kill germs. I chose to believe so, anyway. After wiping everything down, I would do a once over with peroxide. I would buy large bottles from the dollar store to use for cleaning. I never liked to scrub. I was lazy that way. I would spray the peroxide onto my stove top, the screen in my overhead fan, the window tracks, the ceiling fan and any grimey place in the kitchen and bathrooms. Let it rest for a bit then spray again. This way, all I had to do was wipe the dirt and grime away without having to scrub or spend endless hours cleaning something. It was also great for cleaning elaborate things. Any trinkets or embellished handles. Made it go a lot faster. And, since I was the type of person who kept the bare necessities, I was able to get all the cleaning done in one day. It was the laundry that took forever. I made sure to wash the curtains right away so I could put them back up before nightfall. Then I washed the bedding and ran them through the rest of the day. I, also, vacuumed all the mattresses and sprayed them with peroxide, as well.

That was the typical, weekly, cleaning routine. It helped to minimize Kevin's asthma attacks and kept him out of the hospital. I had to rush him in once to twice a month for asthma. But, since I found a working cleaning regime, I had to bring him in once a month to once every two months.

Eve was only six weeks old when we moved down the street. It was a bigger duplex, but was still only two bedrooms. It was a nicer layout and in a 'safer' section of the street.

Frank spent a lot of time away, as usual. I, still, couldn't get him out. I loved the days he wasn't around. Enjoyed SOME of the days and hated most other days he was home. He did settle down since Eve. But, there were a lot of things that bothered me still. Life was......Manageable, with Frank, for the time. He started to see a councelor and and a drug and alcohol councelor. I thought things were perking up. But, there was still an issue of him cheating on me. Whenever we argued about it, he made a point to say that we weren't married and he saw no reason to be loyal because of it. And since everything else seemed to be doing alright, I married him. Young, niave and stupid!

Eve was displaying some issues that I didn't quite understand, at first. She would scream and I couldn't console her. I didn't understand what was going on with her. I tried everything, rocking, bouncing, swaying, swinging, singing, talking, massaging, but, nothing seemed to work. It wasn't until I was bathing her, one night, that, by fluke, I discovered that submersing her ears was what settled her. Was the strangest thing. But it worked. And so, everytime she cried, inconsolably, I would put her into a sink for a bath and submerse her ears. She would stop crying almost instantly. I hadn't figured out what made her cry like that. But, drowning out all the sounds told me she had some kind of sensory sensitivity. She was, otherwise, a good baby. Healthy and strong.