parenting | Lessons from my daughter

I don’t understand why so many people “hate” Mondays.

First, I try to not use the word hate, as I feel the meaning of it is more powerful than any dislikes I might have. I am sure that I am capable of hate, but I hope to never feel it.

Second, if we didn’t have Mondays, whatever day would follow the weekend would be getting all the harsh comments so this is a lose-lose situation.

I don’t mind Mondays, actually, today, I loved it.

1st. I woke up to the sun lighting my room and the birds singing nearby my house

2nd. Emily and I had pancakes for breakfast. When I make pancakes on the weekend, I make too many that way we can have leftover pancakes on Mondays.

3rd. I love my job! Going to work was a break from the chaos when Emily was a baby. It keeps me sane and balance, I love getting lost in my work knowing my family is ok.

As a child, I saw my mom love her job. She was a kindergarten teacher and she LOVED it. She studied at night to better herself and spent some of her own money to better her class. She was a single mom with 3 kids… I never heard her complain.

4th. I love my life!

I take after my mom, she loves life and taught us to appreciate what we had. We were far from being financially rich but we were rich with love. We were rich in essentials. We had a really nice house, we had food, clothes and everything we needed. Not all we wanted… All we needed. As kids, we sometimes felt cheated of things our friends were getting but as an adult now, I can’t believe how lucky I was and still am to have my mom.

5th. Hubby is now working day/evening instead of overnight. He is working from home so Emily as a safe place to be during summer vacations. After 3 years or so on overnight, it’s nice to have him home and to be off together on the weekend. It was nice to wake-up next to him on Monday morning when the house is quiet as opposed to waking-up to the dogs barking when he was getting home.

6th. Over the last week, hubby and I crossed stuff off our to-do list. Still lots to do but this not sleeping all day (for him) on weekends is awesome! I see the light at the end of the tunnel! He even started our small vegetable gardens. This is all really exciting.

So, today was awesome and tomorrow will be awesome too because I will make it! I (and you too) have the wonderful power of being happy. Mom always reminded us of situations worst than ours and to this day, I can find my happy place anywhere.

On a side note, my new notebook (journal) above will help me document my blog…

I am more a journal person than a computer person.

After 2 years of blogging away without a plan, I have realize that I’ve lost track of the stories I told you. 😦

I will take time to document the posts I have written, I will make copies and store them somewhere safe and I will list all the stories I still have to tell you.

That way, I can cross them off as I write.

And because I can’t go to Chapters and only buy 1 thing… (My new journal)

I got a notepad to help me make a plan, 1week at the time.

And a book about decluttering…. hopefully this will give me good ideas on how to organize us a bit more 🙂 And a book full of really interesting recipes.

I can’t wait to try some.

How was your Monday?

As I am struggling to write a post about Emily’s day at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

I’ve decided to introduce you to another fantastic family.

Let’s meet Megan and Wade.

1. Can you tell me about your family?

My husband Chris and I are both teachers, and reside in Illinois with our almost three year old son Wade. We are expecting our second child any day now.

2. Tell me about your loved one with cri du chat syndrome.

Wade (3 in May) was diagnosed with Cri du Chat at 4 months old. He was born full term on May 16th, 2012 and we brought him home a day later. We spent the first few months trying to figure out why he was constantly vomiting. We went to several doctors, and no one could give us answers. He was having a hard time putting on weight. At around 3.5 months we took him to a pediatric GI. We walked in his office, sat down, and started telling him Wade’s symptoms. As soon as Wade let out a cry, the GI stopped dead in his tracks and said “Has anyone ever said anything to you about his cry?” From that point on we were sent through a whirl wind of tests, and then received the official diagnosis at 4 months. Hearing all of the negative things that he would never do was the hardest. Today, Wade is the happiest kid around. He loves “ball” of any kind, music, water, and anything that spins. He has not had any major health problems and surprises us with something new he can do all the time. Wade loves to eat, especially popcorn and macaroni and cheese, and is a pretty good sleeper (which we are so thankful for).

3. Tell me about doctor appointment, therapies or school.

Wade started OT, PT, Speech, and Developmental therapy at 5 months old. He continues to receive each of those therapies for 1 hour a week. I truly believe that these therapies have helped him more than we ever thought possible. He also participates in aqua therapy and equine therapy. In March he started at a local preschool program, four mornings a week. He will start preschool full time in the fall, going five mornings a week. As for doctor appointments, the first year was full of them. It felt as though we lived at the hospital. However, once they had run every test imaginable to make sure nothing else was wrong with him, the appointments decreased dramatically. We now just go every 6 months for hearing and vision, and check-ups.

4. Tell me a success story.

There are so many success stories, that it is hard to pick just one. When you hear that your son may never walk, talk, or even live past 5, you celebrate the little things in life. Wade started “walking” independently about 4 months ago. He is still unstable, but is getting better with each passing day. Our latest success is that he is going potty on the toilet (both #1 and #2 ). He never tells us he needs to go, but whenever we put him on, he goes. I would definitely say that verbal expression is the hardest for him, but he does have some words (Dada, ball, hat, bye bye, etc)

5. What else would you like the world to know?

The first year was by far the hardest. Joining the 5P- group on Facebook has been a life saver for us. It has connected us to so many families. We have been able to meet several of them and feel like a normal family for a day or two. We look forward to attending our first conference this summer.