Blended Family

Pippa

The first morning in our new place, things were a bit awkward.  Lin and I both had our own rooms, as well as Elliott and Joey.  The little kids shared a room.  None of us were really sure how to act around one another.  We weren't exactly a family.  Lin and I certainly weren't together, but we were in charge of everyone.  We were basically three families mashed into one.

We'd done some basic grocery shopping the day before, so we had cereal and toast for breakfast.  The little kids were up early as usual.  It would be a lazy day, including some unpacking of boxes.  It was most important to get the kids settled first, then we'd deal with our own rooms.

Elliott and Joey still had daggers for each other.  Hopefully after a few days they'd start to relax a little and realize they could exist in the same space and not fight.  Later that morning Lin and I realized we were off to a rough start.

"You're hogging the Wifi!" Elliott accused Joey, standing at her bedroom door.

"Not my fault if I got on first," she told him.  She had her laptop open, along with an iPad and her phone.  Why on earth would she need all three at the same time?

Lin stopped in the hallway.  "Joey?  Do you really need your iPad and your laptop at the same time?"

"Yes!" she told him.  "It's a project for school.  It's not my fault he's too dumb to understand that."

"Josephine, you need to be civil," Lin told his daughter.  "Pick one or the other, or go to the library to work."

She grumbled and switched off her iPad reluctantly.  Elliott stormed back to his room and slammed it shut.  We might have to get a better wireless plan.  We'd underestimated the amount of WiFi teenagers used.

With the teenagers holed up in their rooms, Lin and I busied ourselves with unpacking and watching the kids.  Jack was beginning to crawl, so he had to be watched more closely.  Alex didn't really understand the concept that her little brother could swallow some of her toys, so we had to be vigilant about picking up little parts from the floor.

As the week began, I felt a lot less stress now that we didn't have to worry about trading the kids off.  In reality, there were four people who could keep an eye on Alex and Jack, though we wanted to use the teenagers sparingly.

If we were hoping the transition would go smoothly for Joey and Elliott, we were sorely mistaken.  They were constantly arguing.  On Thursday, Joey informed me that Elliott had thrown some of her clothes out because she'd left them on the floor of the bathroom.  After almost a week of similar incidents, I'd had it with Elliott.  I stormed to his room.

"Give me your phone and your laptop," I told him, holding out my hand.

"Why?" he asked, glaring at me.

"You've been nothing but mean and petty to Joey since we moved in here," I said.  "It's childish and I'm tired of it."

"I told you I didn't want to live with her, and you didn't listen to me."

"That doesn't mean you get to make her life miserable with your little tantrums," I said tersely.  "Phone.  Now."

He stood up and fished for his phone in his pocket.  He slapped it into my palm, then gave me his laptop, then glared at me.  He'd never looked at me like that before.

"I hate you," he told me.  "I'm going to Dad's."

I chuckled humorlessly as he found his jacket in a pile on the floor.  "Is that going to be your answer to everything?  Every time you don't like something, you're gonna run?"

"At least Dad listens to me," he spat.

"Your dad lets you do whatever you want," I countered, following him out of the room.  He stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door loudly.  Jack started screaming in his crib.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I went to the kids' room and picked the crying baby up.  Just like me, he was shaken by the slamming door and the manner in which Elliott left.  I gently shooshed Jack as I swayed him back and forth, crying my own tears.