Just For Fun

you wake up in the middle of the night and you still have your teeth
clenched
“Respite” is going to work
you’re at least 15 minutes late to work every morning
a “good night” means that no one was “seriously injured”
everything is planned around the “mood of the minute”
there is always a “Plan B”, “Plan C”, “Plan D”, “Plan E” and so on.
you stay up until midnight waiting for your child to fall asleep
homework takes at least 2 hours of preparation
you always anticipate a reaction to a request
your other kids can’t wait to go to school
all of the exits in the house have alarms and rooms have motion sensors
you have the therapist and the hospital phone numbers memorized and
on speed dial
you are on a first name basis with all of the school personnel
your neighbors look at you and try to avoid eye contact
your ability to tune out noise is realized during an office meeting
everything in your house must kept “out of reach of children”
you have a spare to everything
you have to e-mail everyone so that they don’t hear what is really going
on
relatives no longer want to visit
the 5 minute trip to the grocery store takes the rest of the evening
vacation time is the week your kid is suspended
you argue with your spouse that it is your turn to do overtime at work
you spend half of the week being "normal" and the other half on the
internet with other parents of bipolar kids
parent/teacher conference take most of the afternoon

Darkness is all around us,
Sobbing is all I hear
The sound of sadness lingers,
Bad times are surely near.

The walls begin to bang,
Then the earth begins to shake.
A scream comes from across the room
with words I cannot take.

I hear a sudden laughter
And, with joyfulness and glee
A little child is smiling
While looking right at me.

-BP Parent