Fabulous Miss S.

Toe Nail Clipping

Tonight I was putting Noah through a purposeful painful ritual that i'll call TOE NAIL CLIPPING, I know, right?  Send that mother to time out right now!

It's a sensory issue for him, overly sensitive toes, feet, something like that.  I just tell myself it must feel like intense pins and needles. 

He thrashes and screams and fights me and pushes me away.  But, before his toenails grow down and back into his foot, I have to clip them. 

Picture, if you will, a blacksmith holding a horses hoof between his legs facing backward.  I do the same with Noah, basically. 

After one good clipping he screamed, "GET OFF!"

And I looked at Marc and he looked back at me and he asked if that was what I thought it was and I said that it was.

So I looked at Noah, directly in the eyes and told him that I would stop because he asked me to. 

** This is his first "request" and "demand" and it was appropriate and spontaneous. 

Woo Hoo!  Success. 

Not success: the other 9 toenails still in need of attention. 

 

Lollipop Kids at Homestead Farm

On Saturday, between rain clouds, we hoped over to a local farm about fifteen minutes from our house for a little Open House at the Petting Farm Day, hosted by Lollipop Kids.

Lollipop Kids is a small foundation established by an incredible lady who is a speical needs mother herself and has decided to help others by sharing what she has learned. 

At the event at Homestead Farm I saw a lot of kids of all ages, some with Autism and Down Syndrome and some who were profoundly physically disabled.  I watched a mother wheel her son's wheel chair alongside the cage of the baby goats so he could watch the flullfy baby animals frolick around.  Even though his face was frozen without expression, I could see that they both shared that moment together. 

As we all bounced along in the straw coated flatbed on the hayride portion of our farm-tour, it fell silent as the kids all calmed and relaxed, grateful for the sensory experience of the bouncing wagon and the white-noise hum of the tractor.  A few kids fell asleep, most were just heavy-lided in their parent's laps.  Most of the moms had the fatigued look that I recognize all too well but riding together in that wagon we were just Moms, doing the best we could do for our kids, giving them experiences in life that would help them grow. 

It also gave me pause to see all these dedicated and devoted parents. 

Thank you Lollipop Kids!

And, Thank you Homestead Farm!

It was an AH-MAZING day.

 

 

 

Good times

We went to a local farm on Saturday for a great event hosted by Lollipop Kids.It was great, Noah had a blast. 

 
 

 

Mama Called the Doctor

Have you ever meant to call someone, like a doctor, or your credit card company, something not altogether enjoyable and you just seem to put it off and put it off for, like, weeks? 

Today I called my old therapist.  I haven't seen her in four or five or maybe even six years.  Everything possible in my life has changed since I last saw her and I am desperate for that kind, caring voice to help me sort of the turmoil and angst and sadness and joy I am feeling these days.  I left a message like it was no big deal and afterward I felt, better. 

In Good Enough is the New Perfect, there is a passage from Ellen Seidman's blog (Love That Max)

If you need therapy, get it.  I did.  If you need to cry, do it.  I did.

I called my old therapist because I need to work on letting some things go, accepting more help, choosing where to cut corners and enjoying more of each day and each moment with my kids. 

I really relate to this passage  because she talks about the "loss of innocence" and "loss of expectation" that comes with a Special Needs diagnosis.   I go through cycles of time when this is harder to live with and then I come to a good point of acceptance and happiness and then I fall off the wagon again. 

It's a bumpy ride, this life.

Cheverly Truck Touch - Saturday May 7th

What are you doing this weekend? 

A friend of mine is co-chair of this event and really, who doesn't love a great TRUCK TOUCH?