Support Group is on a roll!

This past week we held the third Support Group meeting at my church for families of children with special needs.  We had SIX families and a staff member attend!  We would have had EIGHT, but one house was full of sickos and another tired mommy accidentally fell asleep.  Considering that this group was thrown together in August, those are really exciting numbers.  Although I would have been excited by TWO.  And everyone seems to really be connecting.

The parents have all said, “Oh I needed this so much, thank you for starting this group!” And I smile, because one of the main reasons I asked if we could form the group was to help ME!  I couldn’t find a Christian support group nearby, so I started one! But I also have a heart to help people (on my good days), and all these pent-up ministry inclinations just waiting to be used.  Funny how God works… recently I was pretty upset that things didn’t work out the way I planned with another ministry that I wanted to be a bigger part of.  I was not given the opportunity to be in the leadership role I thought I wanted and I couldn’t understand why.  I have gone to seminary for goodness sake!  I got skillz!  But now I see that God had at least 2 reasons for holding me back on that ministry: 1. to humble me and give me more of a SERVANT’S heart, and 2. if I had become a part of the leadership of that other ministry there is no way I could have helped start the support group!  So I didn’t get what I thought I wanted because God had something better in mind, even though I had to wait over a year to see what God had planned.  Think about THAT sometime.

Just call him The Flash

My Percy is fast, I tell ya, FAST!  I can’t keep track of the many times I have frantically chased after him as he gleefully ran away.  He doesn’t care where he goes, as long as he GOES.  Plus he has a habit of disappearing on me in public.  Am I the only one this has happened to?  My Mom claims she NEVER lost track of us when we were kids (even though I can clearly remember several instances of being lost in the store).

The Mouse Man Cometh

Mr. Exterminator just left.  Soon my mouse problem will be over.  I have mixed feelings about the methods he is using, although at this point I just want this infestation to be GONE and have very little compassion left.  Sorry, PETA.  This mouse messed with the wrong lady.

Mr. Exterminator placed traps with poison all over my garage.  Oh my.  I had hoped he would just catch them somehow and take them away.  Poison means they will suffer.  Should I feel more guilty than I do?  He said once I find green poop it won’t be long before they are dead.  Now I am REALLY grossed out!  Not only that, but I potentially will have DEAD MICE in my garage in about a week.    

And don’t get me started on the poop.  My garage is a MESS.  I am finding it EVERYWHERE.  On top of my hot water heater, in a case of drinks, on a pair of shoes.  I even found an empty bag from Kraft Mac’N'Cheese on a shelf, with poop in the bag.  The little booger had carried the bag up onto my shelf and crawled inside for a snack.  YECK!!!

Unclean!!! Unclean!!! and other updates…

 

Want to freak out a germophobe?  Give her mice AND toxic black mold in the same week.  I am SO about to freak out.  I feel the need to steam clean EVERY.THING. I own.  What a week it has been!

Let’s rewind to the start of the week.  We had an exhausting day at church last Sunday due to the infamous pink sticker incident.  That had a happy ending though, and I am very pleased with how the staff handled the situation.  In fact, I now have even MORE respect for the individual involved!  

I had a feeling today might not be a good day…

As I was getting ready for church this morning I began to have an uneasy feeling in my stomach that something bad was going to happen.  I don’t get these very often, but when I do I am rarely wrong.  The feeling grew.  Then as I walked down the steps I heard my almost 4-year-old say out of the blue, “I don’t like Mommy anymore.” 

I was stopped dead in my tracks.  Did I hear that right?  “What did you say?”  He repeated it AGAIN.  “WHY?”  I asked.  “Because you make loud sounds,” he replied, and my heart broke into a million pieces.

By “loud sounds” my son means yelling.  Yep.  Sometimes I yell.  I don’t want to.  But sometimes I get so tired and frustrated and I just, just… GAAHHH!  I hate it when I get like that.  (See The Mom I Do Not Want to Be)  And now to see that it has changed my son’s opinion of me makes me feel awful.  Truly awful.  I went to church with a sinking heart, eager for wisdom and comfort.

I wish I could say that the day got better from there.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, life sure has swept me off my feet lately, or at least kept ‘em moving. I have a LOT of activity going on, but so far am handling it pretty well! Although I still haven’t finished unpacking from the beach…

Last week Thomas started back at preschool. I had prepared his teacher for his anxiety, and warned her that sometimes he is genuinely scared, but sometimes just manipulative (he says, “I’m scared!” when he doesn’t get his way). I also warned her about his sensory issues, aversion to being dirty, how he won’t do finger paint, etc. I asked her to please CHALLENGE him to overcome his fears while also being sensitive. Tricky! As school approached he got increasingly anxious and told me, “Mommy, please don’t leave me all by myself at school!” I remained positive for him, even though my heart ached, and thankfully there were minimal tears at dropoff the first day. Later at pickup I braced myself, only to hear, “He was my star student!” The teacher said he listened (what? whose child is THAT?), he was the line leader (it was a TRAIN!), and he even did a HANDPRINT!! Last year he refused to do the handprint. I was thrilled! He has LOVED school every day since then, and when asked who his friends were at school he named 2 buddies AND his teacher.

I Wonder about “Tropic Thunder”

To see or not to see?  That is the question many are asking about the new movie “Tropic Thunder”.  In this movie there is a mocking depiction of an actor who portrays individuals with special needs.  The internet is ablaze with articles and comments firmly divided on the subject.  I am leaning towards NOT see.  Let me tell you why.  Better strap on your thinking cap… 

Wacky and Wonderful

Yup, that’s my life… very “not boring”.  Sometimes I just have to crack up at the absurdity of it all.  My life is SO platypus!  Or, to use a new phrase I heard recently, “Beyond Ordinary”.  That is the name of a blog carnival hosted by a wonderful website I just found called “5 Minutes for Special Needs”.   

So for my first “Beyond Ordinary” post I will tell you about some of the wacky yet wonderful things that happen in my house.  Take bedtime for example.  It get more complicated with every day.  Try as we might to have a routine our 2 little boys seem to want something different every night.  One night it’s singing, another night it’s 10 books, and then we have to battle them to go to bed because they want to read 10 more!  Add to that chasing a naked 2-year-old Percy around, trying desperately to get a diaper on him, and it can be exhausting.  Plus lately Percy has started insisting that DADDY tuck him in and not me! (*pout*)  I had begun to dread bedtime instead of looking forward to the sweetness of our bonding rituals… although I always got a kick out of Percy’s habit of sitting on my lap, naked, and squealing like it is the most hilarious and naughty thing he has ever done.  “Oh NO!”  I cry.  “Wet bottom! You put your wet bottom on me!”  to which he squeals and cackles even more loudly.  It is a staple to our nighttime routine.  Not boring. 

Steven Curtis Chapman on “Larry King Live” 8/7, 9pm ET

Here is a thoughtful article from CNN.com about the Chapman family, their loss, and their heart for adoption.  Our Tragedy and God’s Love for Orphans.

Steven painted a beautiful image of adoption’s spiritual symbolism: “My wife and I had always supported the idea of adoption, and as Christians, we understood the importance of loving and caring for others. But what I had not yet grasped was that adoption is a physical picture of what Jesus has done for me. I did nothing to deserve God’s love; in fact, I was living as an orphan, without hope. Yet God chose to pursue a relationship with me, and through the death of his son Jesus, I was adopted into God’s family.”

Steven will be on Larry King Live tonight to talk about their grief and their faith.  I rarely watch TV, but I will tonight!

Little Maria was killed in a tragic accident in the driveway of the family home. Organizations like Kids and Cars strive to raise safety awareness and help prevent further non-traffic vehicular incidents.  Another wonderful non-profit is  Annabelle’s Angels,  started by a family who tragically lost their child in a backover accident.  I highly encourage you to read more about blind spots and Rear Safety awareness.

Previous posts on the Chapman Family:

Maria Sue Chapman

Memorial Service for Maria Sue Chapman

Shocking…

“Ignored Woman Dies on Hospital Floor”.   This article  REALLY got me going.  Another one of my hot button “issues” is the stigma attached to mental illness and the way that people with psychiatric conditions are often made to feel ashamed, embarrassed, and even frightened of revealing their condition to others.  They have faced dehumanizing treatment and misunderstanding from the media and society.  There is also often sub-par, even inhumane, conditions in some psychiatric care facilities.  

The callous disregard for human suffering that was described in this article from cnn.com made me feel horrified, sad, disgusted, and incredibly angry.  The poor woman had been waiting for TWENTY FOUR HOURS for a bed in a New York psychiatric hospital when she finally collapsed on the floor, convulsing and then lying completely still.  What did the staff do?  NOTHING.  For a full HOUR.  Finally someone walked over and NUDGED HER WITH THEIR FOOT, only to discover she was dead.  What did the staff do THEN?  Try to cover it up.  But the surveillance video tells it all.

I have not watched the video.  I will not watch the video.  But I WILL say, something has got to change.