Category Archives: Parenting

Parenting

Halloween 2013 – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

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Halloween 2013

 

Halloween was never a favorite holiday of mine.  I don’t remember it being a big deal for me as a child, nor can I come up with more than a few homemade costumes that I dressed up in: queen, cowgirl, and possibly a witch.  When we moved to Florida, it really went downhill, because costume choices were limited when the weather was still in the 70’s.  Besides, no self-respecting teenager would ever be caught dead trick-or-treating!   In college Halloween was a good excuse to drink and go to parties.  In my early 20’s, when I was waiting tables in grad school, I worked on Halloween night because it was always a lucrative night.  Once I entered the professional world, I’d usually opt to stay late, rather than deal with the insane traffic of parents rushing home.  It was only when I had my own children that I started to get it.  Thanks to my kids and their excitement, I now look forward to Halloween.

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This year was bittersweet, because our seventh grader decided he was done with trick-or-treating.  Between (all of) you and me, I don’t think he wanted to stop, but was probably succumbing to peer pressure.  Middle school crap.  He volunteered to stay home and watch Barrett – and Rich and I jumped on that.  Traditionally, trick-or-treating with Barrett has been a challenge.  Often he’d just walk past a homeowner, into their house – to explore their pantry, use the facilities or check out what they were watching on TV.  Talk about mortifying!  Eventually it became part of the tradition and Barrett moments made everything a little more interesting.  Now an era was ending. Continue reading Halloween 2013 – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly →

Parenting

Sending My Baby Off to Kindergarten

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IMG_20130808_064721_078My baby, child number four, started kindergarten this year and it truly, physically hurt.  I’m not exactly sure why I’ve had such a strong visceral reaction.  I don’t know if it’s because he’s the last one or if it’s because of the grief I’ve been feeling all summer.  Either way, the event has left me with a thin veil of melancholy, which is affecting my overall outlook on life lately.  Six weeks later and I’m still not passed it.  I now have two children in middle school and two in elementary school.  No more toddlers.  No more preschool.  Oh the cruelty of time…”The days are long, but the years are short.”

I’ve been dreading this all summer, but there was no more putting it off.  Cammy is six years-old, and he’s already been held back a year due to a number of factors: his July birthday, his physical size, his speech articulation and his mommy’s inability to let go.  When we attended kindergarten round-up before school started, I swear it felt like I was walking on death row, as I made my way down the hallway to what would be his first elementary school classroom.  I didn’t feel any of the excitement I’d felt when I did that with Hunter, nor any of the anxiety I’d had when I escorted Bear.  I didn’t struggle with bittersweet ambivalence as I’d had when it was Audrey’s turn.  This time, I felt sadness.  I felt old. Continue reading Sending My Baby Off to Kindergarten →

Autism, Parenting, Personal

Autism, I Am Aware

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April is/was (depending on when this finally goes live) Autism Awareness Month.  meandbearSince I’m the parent of a child who has autism, I felt compelled to write a blog about Autism Awareness.  I feel a great responsibility when I write about autism, because we all have our own story.  I speak for myself and for my family, but not the autism community as a whole.  As with anything, there’s good and bad with autism and most people who know me will tell you that I don’t like talking about the bad – I choose to focus on the good.  Believe me, this has been an evolution on our journey.  For the sake of authenticity, I have to address the bad, but I’m not going to dwell on it.  And honestly, the good is so much more fun to share.

I’m aware that autism, as with most permanent medical conditions, is life changing.  So far, hearing the words “your son has autism,” is the single worst moment of my life (and there have been some bad ones).  Back when we received our diagnosis, I didn’t know where to turn, what to do or what to think.  My only reference point was Rainman.   It was a very hopeless time in my life – one I really don’t like to revisit, lucky for you!   Continue reading Autism, I Am Aware →

Parenting

Cammy the Inventor

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So my Cammy kind of has me in the palm of his hand (and I’m in big trouble when he figures it out).  When I got home from our trip to Seattle, he was very excited to show me his invention.  I was excited to see it.

He held up a hanger with a pair of his underwear hanging on it and gushed, “Ta da!” Cammyinvention

“You invented that?” I asked.

“Yes!”

“What is it?”

With excitement, he declared, “It’s an undershirt!”

Say what?  Continue reading Cammy the Inventor →