Silas was invited to his first birthday party last week. Sometimes certain activities will pop up and they will remind me how my family dynamics are different from that of other more "normal" families. Birthday parties are one of those, I guess. When my kids have birthday parties, we don't usually have a lot of people over. And other than Anna, my kids don't get invited to birthday parties. It's the reality that my twins don't have friends - they aren't old enough (mentally) to have that sort of relationship with others. I'm not upset about it - it's just how it is. So when Silas was invited to Tyler's birthday party, it was something noteworthy. Silas had a super awesome time and behaved really well. I was proud of him. Here he is with Tyler (our neighbor). Aren't they cute??
The other day I was needing something. You know how it is...you just need a little treat. Sarah introduced me to these little gems. So. Good.
Calvin wrote a sentence and wanted to get a picture with it. He has a love for life unlike anything I have ever seen. His writing skills are coming along nicely. We have been trying various ADHD meds with him. Nothing has worked. I am teetering upon giving up the search. He IS learning, so...hmmm.
Okay...three days ago was a REALLY hard day. It all began with me taking Silas with me to visit my awesome friend, Valerie. After a two hour visit, I began my drive home. I noticed that the power steering was out on the van. It is REALLY TOUGH to drive the van without power steering. Then I saw that my temperature gauge was up on H. I pulled over and let the van cool down for 5 minutes and then would restart the van and drive for less than one minute before the gauge went back up to H again. I did this a few times before realizing that at that rate, I would not be home in time to pick up my four older children. I began to panic. Tyler was in class and didn't get phone reception - for some reason - so I was left to myself to decide what to do. It was difficult! I prayed for help, cried a little, and then began making phone calls. I called roadside assistance and they said they would arrive in an hour. I had a state trooper come by and a sheriff, to see how I was doing. I found someone to pick up my kids. And 90 minutes later...the roadside assistance arrived, just as my friend Alison drove up to give Silas and I a ride home. Thankfully, he took his nap for an hour of our wait. That was nice. I arrived home stressed, but grateful for the help I'd received. Tyler arrived home completely unaware of what I'd been through - his voicemails and texts hadn't popped up yet. Perhaps it's time for him to move up from his dinosaur slider phone...it was a hard day!
The next day, we had to coordinate schedules, as the mechanic hadn't fixed the van yet. I drove Tyler to work, and then picked up Silas early from preschool so I could meet some friends for a birthday lunch for my friend, Ercilia. We had a good time, but it was stressful - for ME - to have Silas with me. Then I picked up the four older children from school (didn't have time for Silas to take his nap) and run to the doctor's for a routine appointment for Anna. Tyler was in school so I had to take all the kids...in the truck...I found myself doing some major deep breathing, trying to hold it all together. We go into that tiny room and meet with the doctor. She seems nice enough, until she asked me to keep the chaos down. Um, excuse me? I have FIVE children, surely you can see them all here, and Silas hasn't had his nap, so he was quite whiny. Uggggh. After the appt, I take all the kids to the pharmacy and to have Calvin do some routine blood draws. I come home, put Silas down for a nap and I followed suit. It had been two HARD days in a row and I was emotionally exhausted. I prayed for comfort and didn't feel any peace. And then...Tyler found this on our porch:
I am so grateful for the person who was in tune with the Spirit and brought me a little package to brighten my life. I know that God hears my prayers and that He loves me.
2 comments:
Love it. Looks like you need a new more understanding doctors office.
That is so hard to take all the kids with you! I know. It's one thing to take them to a store or somewhere where they are moving around, but a doctor's appointment is even more tough because they're confined to a small space. I wish people would be more understanding. I felt sorry for a lady and her daughter who were just in the waiting room the other day. The daughter was being a little loud - nothing obnoxious, just being an active kid. An older gentleman said something like, "Could you please keep your child quiet? There are other people in the waiting room." He was polite, but I don't think he should even have asked. (As if we have some magic solution for keeping kids quiet and still...)
On a different note, isn't it amazing the power of chocolate/sugar? I was reading something the other day about sugar. It acts like a drug in the body - it actually affects the same brain chemicals as heroin and morphine (different results obviously). But it still has the power to make us feel good. That's great for when you're having a bad day. Not so great for weight loss, and it's addicting! Anyway, not judging at all, but the book was an interesting read. "Little Sugar Addicts" by Kathleen Desmaisons. I am one (sugar addict) and have some little sugar addicts too. :) Working on that...
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