Friday, May 23, 2008
That's More Like It
Yesterday I returned to the grocery store. I put my cart away after unloading my groceries. And it seemed to me that everyone was smiling at me as I drove away. (Insert sigh of relief.)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I'm Shmuck. Nice to Meet You.
I am one of those crazy moms who braves the grocery store with all kids in tow. And yes, I'm WELL aware that there are many moms who have MORE kids than I, or maybe you even have TWINS to deal with. Doesn't make MY trip to the grocery store any easier.
I have the little one who sits up front facing me and chews on the unbelievably filthy handrail during our whole trip -- unless I dare to give him something we plan on buying; in which case he decides that his shopping trip must consist of dropping it on the floor every five seconds, while chewing through any sort of packaging it has. (Hey, maybe I should just give HIM those annoying toy or electronic or makeup packages that take me 38 minutes to rip through. He might have the item out of there in 38 SECONDS flat!)
Then I have DC, who simply must touch EVERY THING SHE SEES. Seriously. I think she thinks she will die if she doesn't touch everything in the store. Besides that, she runs through the store either screaming or growling like bear ... for 45 minutes. But I remain calm, thinking to myself, "Well, she's not hurting anybody. And I do(at least) go during the week and middle of the day so it's not completely busy. And maybe if I ignore her she'll stop. Maybe. Probably not, but maybe."
And last but not least there's Miss Priss, who prances through her life as if she's on stage performing The Nutcracker. But not the regular Nutcracker. The musical. It's the musical where she's gotten to make up a song that never ends, about a girl who's lost and very sad and tries to find some friends to play with but there's nobody to be found until she comes across a terrible monster who scares her away and she runs through the forest to narrowly escape her death only to find that her prince is sick and SHE must save him before he dies so that they can fall in love and have true love's first kiss and get married. It's a good song, really, but after the first ten minutes just about anybody would get the jist, and she could end it right there and we'd all be impressed. But for some reason she thinks it needs to go on and on. And on. And on.
I'm also one of those mom's who tries to usually put the cart away where it belongs after unloading my groceries into my car. It's the least I can do, after subjecting the store's employees to my traveling circus act. But today was different. I was tired. I was hot. I was just plain lazy. And there happened to be no car parked in the spot next to me. Would it really be so bad to just leave the cart there for one of the bag boys to take back to the store? I mean, I certainly wouldn't be the ONLY one doing it that day, right? I'm probably one of only a very few people (with kids) that usually puts it back anyway. Not rationalizing, of course, just stating the facts.
So after I close up my car, I put the cart in the spot next to mine and let it go. Now, I'm no pro at leaving my cart just anywhere, so I didn't watch it to see where it would land. I just figured it would coast down the parking spot until it hit the concrete block in front. I hopped in my car and started it up. As I looked up, I noticed that there was a couple in a car in the next row over (that faces us). Not directly in front of me; they were in front of the empty space. The space that today I decided was reserved for my empty shopping cart. I saw them watching the cart. I saw them looking at me. And I felt so lame. But for all I know, they are the kind of people who let their cart soar down the parking lot EVERY time they go to the store. Maybe they couldn't care less that I dumped my cart convieniently next to my car instead of it's little cart corral further down the isle. So I just ignored them.
As I backed out of my spot, I then noticed a nice black BMW parked in the next spot over from my cart's parking spot. And I noticed there was someone inside. And they started to back out, but just a couple of inches, and then stopped. When I saw my very own little shopping cart smacked right up against their fender, I wanted to slink down in my seat and hide. Through two sets of tinted windows (his and mine), I could FEEL his eyes glaring at me, staring me down. And I kept on backing out. As I slowly drove past him on my way out of our isle, I was seriously expecting someone to jump out of that cute little car and scream at me. I thought maybe I should stop, get out, apologize and take my cart to it's home where it belonged. But instead I just left, feeling like a total idiot.
Yes, I have a name, but you can just call me shmuck.
I have the little one who sits up front facing me and chews on the unbelievably filthy handrail during our whole trip -- unless I dare to give him something we plan on buying; in which case he decides that his shopping trip must consist of dropping it on the floor every five seconds, while chewing through any sort of packaging it has. (Hey, maybe I should just give HIM those annoying toy or electronic or makeup packages that take me 38 minutes to rip through. He might have the item out of there in 38 SECONDS flat!)
Then I have DC, who simply must touch EVERY THING SHE SEES. Seriously. I think she thinks she will die if she doesn't touch everything in the store. Besides that, she runs through the store either screaming or growling like bear ... for 45 minutes. But I remain calm, thinking to myself, "Well, she's not hurting anybody. And I do(at least) go during the week and middle of the day so it's not completely busy. And maybe if I ignore her she'll stop. Maybe. Probably not, but maybe."
And last but not least there's Miss Priss, who prances through her life as if she's on stage performing The Nutcracker. But not the regular Nutcracker. The musical. It's the musical where she's gotten to make up a song that never ends, about a girl who's lost and very sad and tries to find some friends to play with but there's nobody to be found until she comes across a terrible monster who scares her away and she runs through the forest to narrowly escape her death only to find that her prince is sick and SHE must save him before he dies so that they can fall in love and have true love's first kiss and get married. It's a good song, really, but after the first ten minutes just about anybody would get the jist, and she could end it right there and we'd all be impressed. But for some reason she thinks it needs to go on and on. And on. And on.
I'm also one of those mom's who tries to usually put the cart away where it belongs after unloading my groceries into my car. It's the least I can do, after subjecting the store's employees to my traveling circus act. But today was different. I was tired. I was hot. I was just plain lazy. And there happened to be no car parked in the spot next to me. Would it really be so bad to just leave the cart there for one of the bag boys to take back to the store? I mean, I certainly wouldn't be the ONLY one doing it that day, right? I'm probably one of only a very few people (with kids) that usually puts it back anyway. Not rationalizing, of course, just stating the facts.
So after I close up my car, I put the cart in the spot next to mine and let it go. Now, I'm no pro at leaving my cart just anywhere, so I didn't watch it to see where it would land. I just figured it would coast down the parking spot until it hit the concrete block in front. I hopped in my car and started it up. As I looked up, I noticed that there was a couple in a car in the next row over (that faces us). Not directly in front of me; they were in front of the empty space. The space that today I decided was reserved for my empty shopping cart. I saw them watching the cart. I saw them looking at me. And I felt so lame. But for all I know, they are the kind of people who let their cart soar down the parking lot EVERY time they go to the store. Maybe they couldn't care less that I dumped my cart convieniently next to my car instead of it's little cart corral further down the isle. So I just ignored them.
As I backed out of my spot, I then noticed a nice black BMW parked in the next spot over from my cart's parking spot. And I noticed there was someone inside. And they started to back out, but just a couple of inches, and then stopped. When I saw my very own little shopping cart smacked right up against their fender, I wanted to slink down in my seat and hide. Through two sets of tinted windows (his and mine), I could FEEL his eyes glaring at me, staring me down. And I kept on backing out. As I slowly drove past him on my way out of our isle, I was seriously expecting someone to jump out of that cute little car and scream at me. I thought maybe I should stop, get out, apologize and take my cart to it's home where it belonged. But instead I just left, feeling like a total idiot.
Yes, I have a name, but you can just call me shmuck.
Friday, May 09, 2008
A Season of Firsts
In my brief -- and I use the term "brief" loosely -- hiatus from the blogging world, our family has been experiencing a lot of firsts. For the FIRST time, DC took a tap and ballet class. To say she was excited about her clickety, clackety tap shoes would be the understatement of the year ...
'nuff said.
Miss Priss started her FIRST season of soccer.
If we post video of any practices or games, it will not be hard to see why we've also decided that this is probably her LAST season of soccer.
And little Mini Man also experienced a FIRST ... crawling!!! We have all been so ecstatic to see him on the move. I haven't gotten any real good video of it yet because he stops whatever he is doing the second he sees a camera on him. I'll have to try sneaking around from behind tomorrow. It took him 13 and a half months, but to us it's nothing short of a miracle. There's been a whole lot of clapping, cheering, and high pitched screams of "Yeah! What a good boy!" goin' on around here. And he LOVES the attention. Shoot, if everyone cheered for me every time I got up and moved around, I'd feel like a rock star too.
All tuckered out after a day on the run.
'nuff said.
Miss Priss started her FIRST season of soccer.
If we post video of any practices or games, it will not be hard to see why we've also decided that this is probably her LAST season of soccer. And little Mini Man also experienced a FIRST ... crawling!!! We have all been so ecstatic to see him on the move. I haven't gotten any real good video of it yet because he stops whatever he is doing the second he sees a camera on him. I'll have to try sneaking around from behind tomorrow. It took him 13 and a half months, but to us it's nothing short of a miracle. There's been a whole lot of clapping, cheering, and high pitched screams of "Yeah! What a good boy!" goin' on around here. And he LOVES the attention. Shoot, if everyone cheered for me every time I got up and moved around, I'd feel like a rock star too.
All tuckered out after a day on the run.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Dealing
Because there are some of you that I don't have current email addresses for, and also because this blog is used as a type of journal for my family, I decided to post my email message from yesterday here.
Thank you to all who have already responded; for your kind words, the offerring of prayers, fasting and temple trips, and the love and support we feel from you. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.
Hello to all our family and friends,
We hope that each of you is healthy, happy, and having fun together. We're sending this message out hoping that you will all help our family by offerring some extra prayers in behalf of our little Mini Man. Not to worry, he is just fine, but we received some concerning information at our last doctor's appointment.
Mini Man went in a week and a half ago for his 12 month well check. Not much fun at all ... four shots. As is typical, his pediatrician asked, "Is he doing anything new? Is he walking yet?" When I replied that he was not even crawling, let alone walking, she started in with a bunch of different questions about what he IS doing, and at what age he started doing them. Long story short, we ended up with a referral to a clinic called Early Intervention, where they will observe him and decide if he needs occupational or physical therapy. We also were given a referral to a local neurologist, where Jack will have a CAT scan done to determine if he has Cerebral Palsy.
Just as a brief background, CP is in the brain, and can be caused by a myriad of things. In Mini Man's case, the most likely would be certain circumstances surrounding his birth. (If you read that first link, the end of the story can be found here.) He was not a premie, but only weighed 4 and a half pounds. He had to be recussitated immediately after delivery, and only scored a 1 on his APGAR. His breathing was complicated at first, but after only a couple days in the NICU, he was fine and sent home. He has always done fine since we brought him home, aside from some issues with going to the bathroom. We do not know if possible intestinal issues are related or not. He learned to sit on his own at 8 months old, and did not roll over until almost 10 months. One of the biggest symptoms/signs is the fact that he is ALWAYS on his tippy-toes. He will not (or cannot - we don't know which yet) stand flat footed on his own. We can force his feet down flat, but as soon as we take our hands off, he's back up on his toes. Even when holding him in our arms, his legs are straight and toes pointed. He does not wrap his legs around us to hold on. Now, these are things that COULD be considered normal, but were cause enough for his doctor to want him checked out.
Yes, we were confused. Yes, we were worried. And yes, I was sad. My first thought (as lame as it may have been) was that I wanted my son to have a great life. I want him to be "normal." I want girls to like him. I want him to go to his senior prom. If he were in a wheelchair, would it ruin his life? I've since come to my senses, reality and logic have set in, and I am at peace. I am at peace because it does not matter. If he has CP it does not matter. If he doesn't have CP, it does not matter. He is still the same baby, and he will still have a "normal" life. What kid EVER thinks their life is "normal" anyway?
So he will go into the Early Intervention Clinic on June 3rd for observation. We are still waiting on our appointment date with the neurologist. And that's the one that is the most important right now. That's the appointment that will tell us for sure. After letting this all sink in, we originally decided to keep this to ourselves until after his appointment with the neurologist and we knew for sure. We thought there was no reason making everyone worry about it when there was every concievable chance that he was just fine. And then the thought came to my mind, "What would it hurt to have everyone - not just us, but EVERYONE praying for him?" Now, I don't think that prayers will take this away from him, if it is part of Heavenly Father's plan for him. But I KNOW that there is power in prayer. And I know that it can only help Mini Man. It can only help our family.
So we just wanted to let you know that we would really appreciate it if you would keep Mini Man in your prayers at this time. And we want to tell you all how much you mean to us. And that we have faith that our Heavenly Father will be there for us, no matter the outcome of these tests. We know that Mini Man is important; that he is a child of God, and that he has a special purpose here on earth. We thank you all for your love and support, and we'll keep everyone updated as we learn more.
Love to all,
The Man, The Woman, and family.
Thank you to all who have already responded; for your kind words, the offerring of prayers, fasting and temple trips, and the love and support we feel from you. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.
Hello to all our family and friends,
We hope that each of you is healthy, happy, and having fun together. We're sending this message out hoping that you will all help our family by offerring some extra prayers in behalf of our little Mini Man. Not to worry, he is just fine, but we received some concerning information at our last doctor's appointment.
Mini Man went in a week and a half ago for his 12 month well check. Not much fun at all ... four shots. As is typical, his pediatrician asked, "Is he doing anything new? Is he walking yet?" When I replied that he was not even crawling, let alone walking, she started in with a bunch of different questions about what he IS doing, and at what age he started doing them. Long story short, we ended up with a referral to a clinic called Early Intervention, where they will observe him and decide if he needs occupational or physical therapy. We also were given a referral to a local neurologist, where Jack will have a CAT scan done to determine if he has Cerebral Palsy.
Just as a brief background, CP is in the brain, and can be caused by a myriad of things. In Mini Man's case, the most likely would be certain circumstances surrounding his birth. (If you read that first link, the end of the story can be found here.) He was not a premie, but only weighed 4 and a half pounds. He had to be recussitated immediately after delivery, and only scored a 1 on his APGAR. His breathing was complicated at first, but after only a couple days in the NICU, he was fine and sent home. He has always done fine since we brought him home, aside from some issues with going to the bathroom. We do not know if possible intestinal issues are related or not. He learned to sit on his own at 8 months old, and did not roll over until almost 10 months. One of the biggest symptoms/signs is the fact that he is ALWAYS on his tippy-toes. He will not (or cannot - we don't know which yet) stand flat footed on his own. We can force his feet down flat, but as soon as we take our hands off, he's back up on his toes. Even when holding him in our arms, his legs are straight and toes pointed. He does not wrap his legs around us to hold on. Now, these are things that COULD be considered normal, but were cause enough for his doctor to want him checked out.
Yes, we were confused. Yes, we were worried. And yes, I was sad. My first thought (as lame as it may have been) was that I wanted my son to have a great life. I want him to be "normal." I want girls to like him. I want him to go to his senior prom. If he were in a wheelchair, would it ruin his life? I've since come to my senses, reality and logic have set in, and I am at peace. I am at peace because it does not matter. If he has CP it does not matter. If he doesn't have CP, it does not matter. He is still the same baby, and he will still have a "normal" life. What kid EVER thinks their life is "normal" anyway?
So he will go into the Early Intervention Clinic on June 3rd for observation. We are still waiting on our appointment date with the neurologist. And that's the one that is the most important right now. That's the appointment that will tell us for sure. After letting this all sink in, we originally decided to keep this to ourselves until after his appointment with the neurologist and we knew for sure. We thought there was no reason making everyone worry about it when there was every concievable chance that he was just fine. And then the thought came to my mind, "What would it hurt to have everyone - not just us, but EVERYONE praying for him?" Now, I don't think that prayers will take this away from him, if it is part of Heavenly Father's plan for him. But I KNOW that there is power in prayer. And I know that it can only help Mini Man. It can only help our family.
So we just wanted to let you know that we would really appreciate it if you would keep Mini Man in your prayers at this time. And we want to tell you all how much you mean to us. And that we have faith that our Heavenly Father will be there for us, no matter the outcome of these tests. We know that Mini Man is important; that he is a child of God, and that he has a special purpose here on earth. We thank you all for your love and support, and we'll keep everyone updated as we learn more.
Love to all,
The Man, The Woman, and family.
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