Friday Flip Off's...

It's FRIDAY!!!! And that means that it is time for "Friday Flip-Offs"... this was originally found via THIS blog but was created by THIS blogger and you know me... I'm kind of a 'follower' so I had to join in. Here are my Friday Flip-Offs for this week.

1. The fact that even though I work outside of the home now, all the 'household duties' (except for mowing the lawn, shoveling and taking out the garbage) fall to me.  I was actually told this morning after 'someone' was complaining about the kitchen table being a mess that and I quote "It's not my job"... when I questioned just who's job it was I was given the "Not the person with a real job".... yep... its been one of THOSE types of days.
2. CANCER... simple as that it sucks!
3. People who do not follow doctor's orders and then wonder why things aren't going the way they should.
4. Stupid people
5. My washing machine... once again I (because its not ANYONE ELSE'S job) had to take the washing machine apart to clear the drain trap, which is no easy feat all the while having a 3 yr old over my shoulder trying to 'help' me. 
6. The disorganization of some organizations... I mean come on people if I can see/state your disorganized what does that say... I mean REALLY PEOPLE!!!

Oh I think that's good...

Hopefully the weekend off will help to 'fix' this negative Nancy funk that I've been in as of late and I'll be able to find the pieces of my home and put them back together etc.... wish me luck!!!

Totally Ticks Me off Tuesday

Hang on to your hats boys and girls... its gonna be a bumpy ride. Please note that this is just a venting of frustrations and some boiled over emotions... this is no way means that I do not like my life, nor do I not appreciate my life. I love the life that I have... and I love the jobs that I have in my life... I just needed to vent so that I can move on... Thanks.

1. When I was 'just' (not how I feel about it but how society classifies it) a stay at home mom, I completely understood and expected for the house hold duties to fall on to me. Even though I didn't 'just' stay home, I had college class loads, therapy appointments, soccer, swimming etc you name we were going and doing it. Granted the house wasn't always up to other people's expectations, but I was ok with it. My husband would certainly NOT be ok with it. He would get mad about it  and pull the passive aggressive card on it and just make little off remarks. But NOW that I'm working out side of the home (on top of class four days a week, swimming, Girl Scouts, dance etc) I had hoped that maybe just maybe I'd get a little help... nope. Most definitely not. In fact my house is more of a mess now that when I was home. Why you ask? Oh because you see when I was 'just' a stay at home mom, I would pick up the laundry after the children were changed into the bed clothes, and while it was more often than not on a pile in the corner of my living room, at least it was kept to that pile. I would have the children pick up some of their toys, and the dishes were always done before I went to bed. Now I come home to laundry all around my house, my children's toys all over heck and dishes stacked in the sink at odd and weird geometric angles. So I come home and try to find my home and I'm lucky if I can manage a load of laundry ( the other adult in my home has been forbidden from EVER touching my washing machine again since the last time he did it cost $200 and was a week without it) and get a load of dishes done while I am doing homework till 2-3 in the morning and get to start it all over again at 7am. 
2. I worked this weekend (as I do most weekends now) and we arranged childcare for the kids so that Chad could 'get some stuff done around the house'... I am THRILLED that my garage is clean... too bad I can't find my living room :(
3. Sick adults. Especially sick adults who get sick time. They wine, cough, hack, etc all night long while YOU don't get sleep and then they get to take a day off to sleep to recover from their illness etc. I don't get a day off when I'm sick... nope, on top of being sick I have to typically care for the others in my home who are also sick, on top of doing all the other things that no one else is doing.
4. In my next life I am totally being a dad!!!

First Reconciliation...

As the Catholic (albit a bad one) parent in our family it is my responsibility to take the children to their religious education classes... I do my duty and sign them up. We learn the prayers and we go over the homework etc.

This year as the parent of a 2nd grader going to religion classes she will be receiving two of the sacraments this year, 1st Reconciliation and 1st Communion. Last night I went to the parent meeting for the 1st Reconciliation and frankly it just torked me off....

Let's clear the air, there are obviously things that I don't agree with that are 'part' of or 'rules' of the Catholic church... no secret. And Reconciliation is one of them. I'm sorry but the bible clearly states "Jesus Died for our Sins"... DONE... plain and simple. I don't need to 'shame' myself any further by telling this sins to a priest ( who for the record has known me since I was 7 years old and therefor fully recognizes my voice) so that HE can offer to me the absolution of God.... Sorry just doesn't jive with me...

Does this mean that I do not confess my sins? No... I confess them to God and I repent for my sins in my own way.

So last night as I was sitting there I was torn... do I teach my child the 'way' of the Catholic church or do I allow for her to make up her own mind as I did??? Parenting is so not easy...

And the last thing that really stuck a bee in  my bonnet was when the priest stated "I know that all other ministers of other faiths wish they had confession the same as we do"... really? did you talk to ALL of them??? UGH!!!

All because of a story....

With the new school year starting for my daughter, I knew I wanted to be prepared. I wanted her teacher(s) prepared and I wanted her classmates prepared. So I searched high and low for all the information that I could that was teacher and child friendly on Sensory Processing Disorder. I found a lot of great things, but hands down the best tool that I found was the book "This is Gabriel, Making Sense of School" written by Hartley Steiner

I emailed her teacher to set up a time that I could read the book to her class. I told Shelby that I would be coming and talking about SPD and helping her friends understand it. This kind of set Shelby into panic mode. She instantly was worried about what others would think and how others would react. My husband and I explained to her that no one in her class would know that the book was about her, I would just be reading a story to the class and helping them learn the big words and about their senses...and that while she has SPD no one in her class would know unless she told them.

The morning of the story time came.... Shelby was bouncing off the walls with her anxiety. She had to take a few items with her to school to help herself remain calm, but she went. She greeted me at the door when I came to read the story. The teacher quickly organized the room full of kindergarteners on the circle time mat and I took my seat to read the children the story.

I first asked them how many senses they had? No one really knew, so we started listing them, the kids gave me taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. We started discussing how we used those. And then I brought up proprioception and and vestibular. The kids had no idea what I was talking about so we 'tried' to find these senses on our bodies. We spun in circles and jumped etc and we were able to find out the meaning of these senses... we made sense of them.

We then read the story...

The children were so excited to not only hear the fun story and see the awesome pictures and understand a little bit more about how people can be 'different'.... BUT for the first time EVER I saw my daughter PROUD of her SPD!!!! She loved knowing that "This is Gabriel..." is basically about her too, she loved telling her friends about the whys and how comes of how SPD effects her.. for example she said "That's why I get to stand up when we write our letters" or "that's why my shirt sleeve is wet" etc. SHE WAS PROUD to be HER!!!! It brought so much joy to me to see that for ONCE she wasn't embarressed about being 'different' she was enjoying every second of it...

We taught her classmates the words propreiception and vestibular and 'showed' them what those senses were etc. The kids LOVED it... they were so accepting of ALL OF IT and it literally brought tears not only to my eyes but to the eyes of her teacher and also the aid in the room.... and all it took was a story....

So to the author THANK YOU!!!! Thank you so much for writing this amazing book and for sharing Gabriel's story so that other parents/families/children can help others understand more about their 'quirks' ... but mostly... THANK YOU for giving us this story so that I could FINALLY see my baby girl proud of herself.... THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart... there is NO way that I can EVER repay you.. THANK YOU!!!!