Pillow fights

Maggie is in her bed, but she would rather not be. You might wonder how I know that, considering Maggie cannot talk and her communication device is charging in the living room. It's simple, really. I just heard her nurse say "Maggie pillows do not have wings and they are not meant to fly."

Maggie is tossing things out of her bed to make sure we now she would rather be elsewhere. We are expecting someone in a few minutes and I want to keep her out of her chair until they get here so she can get a break from being in the same position for too long.

If Maggie has to do something  she doesn't want to do she protests constantly, which makes her a normal teenager, I suppose; but her protests do not involve stomping off and slamming doors. Rather, Maggie's  protests might be kicking the side of the bed or throwing anything she can reach. She laughs uproariously when these things hit the floor.  If she's truly upset she will cry and kick. That doesn't happen very often. As long as things are flying around her room, I now she's happy. 

It is exhausting to entertain her when she's like this, even though she is happy. You have to keep the banter going constantly. This happens a lot while she's being catheterized. I ask her questions like "who wants to get in her chair?" and she points to herself. "and WHO is going to put her there" - and she points to me. Or "Who loves Maggie" - and she hits me or "Who is the prettiest girl in the room" She always votes for herself first, the nurse second and I am last. I express my outrage, but she just laughs and laughs.

 We have various routines we do when she's antsy. The routines seem to calm her down and ground her. The answers are always the same, but the routine is important.  Once in a while she changes things around and completely amuses herself as she did this afternoon.  This is something her nurse Fely taught her many moons ago. I ask "How much do you love your mother" and Maggie points to the top of her head and then lifts her foot up to grab her toes as if to answer, "I love her from head to toe".  We did that today and she gave the routine answer. Then I asked "How much do you love dad?" She pointed to her head, then smiled slyly and put her hand on her KNEE.  "What", I said in mock horror, "only to your knee?"  She thought that was hilarious. She gave the same answer for Eddie and Tim and when I asked about me, I got the all the way to the toes response. 

What can I say, it's a mom thing. If the men in the house want the rest of that love, they have to play the game. She's in charge. Always.

Excuse me, I have some pillows to retrieve.