Misty Eyes.

Chapter Three

Dear Diary - June 14th, 2017

Mommy took me to the pool today. Now that I'm ten, she said I can go on the small diving board. She still makes me wear the floaties, so I don't look as cool as all the other kids. I think next time we go I'll sneak out of her sight and slip the floaties off so I can swim around without them. 

She also wants me to stay out of the big kid pool. She wants me to stay in the kiddie pool and the playground, but I think ten is too big to play in the kiddie pool. I'm so much more mature than all those toddlers. I know big words, like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I bet they don't!

I actually learned that word from my music class last year. My music teacher, Mrs. Pearl, showed us a movie called "Mary Poppins." I thought it was kind of stupid, but I learned the big word, and I try to use it every time I can. I think it makes adults think I'm smart. 

Mommy told me that my vocabulary is getting very impressive. I try to replace little words with big or sophisticated ones. (See, I did it there. Instead of saying "extra" or "impressive" I said sophisticated. And spelled it right, too!) 

Not many kids in my grade are very good at spelling. Whenever we do peer grading, I always have to mark other kids' tests for bad grammar. It makes me feel like the teacher when I mark them wrong. I'm smart, because I work harder than they do. 

I deserve to feel smart. Mommy told me that.

I'll update you tomorrow, diary! Hopefully it's nice again, because I might get to go to the park with Kenzie if so!

I love the pool. I love swimming. Mommy doesn't take me often, but when she does, it's always really fun. That's why I'm so excited for tomorrow. Mommy never lets me hang out with my friends, but tomorrow she said I might get to if it's nice. 

Daddy told mommy she needs to start being nicer to me, which made me feel bad. I don't like when Mommy and Daddy fight. Their fights always revolve around one person-- 

me. 

It's not the best feeling in the world, knowing your parents' marriage is falling apart because of you. I try to stop their fights. Whenever there's tension, (another word I learned recently!) I always try to change the subject. Sometimes it works, but recently, Mommy always shuts my attempts to stop the fights down. 

Last week they had a fight during dinner. It had been raining a lot and there had been some thunderstorms, which led to the power going out. Daddy came home to see that nothing had been done around the house, and when he asked why, Mommy said it was because the power went out. 

"I don't understand, why's nothing done? There are piles of clothes in here!" he exclaimed, a tired expression on his face. It made me sad. 

"The power has been out all day, Daryl! All you do is sit on your bed and play video games, you don't get to complain!"

"The power's been out all day?"

"Yes!"

Mommy lied. The power had gone out only a little bit ago. I'm not too sure why I did it, but I did. 

"Mommy, why are you lying? The power went out recently. It hasn't been out all day?" 

As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw her face go pale. She and Daddy looked at me, and I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over me. I still don't know why I did it. I mean, for some reason, when I thought of it, it felt like the right thing to do, until I actually did it. 

"What?" he turned and faced Mommy. "Are you serious right now?"

"Oh whatever! You always want to sit there and pretend you're doing nothing wrong, I have to do all the work in this house!"

I watched as they argued. 

I just wish Mommy and Daddy wouldn't argue so much. 

Maybe I should write about it in my diary.