Thursday, May 30, 2013

Confessions of a weary single Mama

and I really want to stress only sometimes, I get tired...not tired like oh it's been a long day, but TIRED. I'll caveat this entire post with I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING, but sometimes being a single mom just gets old. Normally I am so proud of myself after doing some work on the car; believe it or not I actually like dealing with the engine and knowing a teeny bit about what is going on in there, or where something should go and occasionally actually being able to put that thing back or in or over. The other day, however, after working hard on the car both inside and out (which I only really had to do thanks to a shoddy and sloppy job by my mechanic), I wanted to come in and sit and have a glass of wine. YES, Linda wanted wine!

A moment to catch your breath.....   ;)

The cleaning fairies did not come. I breezed through the door and THEY HAD NOT ARRIVED. What? Isn't that how it works, hard working single woman comes back into the house, exhausted, weary...she trods through the door to find the house literally sparkling from corner to corner?? Dinner wasn't made, laundry wasn't folded, beautifully chilled glass of wine not magically placed in my hand, and worst of all--no cheering crowd to praise my handy auto work.

Quite the contrary awaited this lady. The crowd erupted into chants of "WHAT'S FOR DINNER, WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" Enter the realization I was heading to the store as that crowd balked at the idea of just skipping dinner just this one time. Seriously, what is it with these kids and always wanting food?!? ;-P The kitchen sink was full of dishes again (and excuse me but why is it that those fairies always manage to show up (the mess-it-up fairies as opposed to the clean-it-up fairies)? Yes, I know the answer to that and I'm working on training those kids--um, I mean, calling out to those fairies to arrive in proper time and consistently.

Two hours later store was visited (driven to in said sparkling van), dinner was made and eaten, kitchen and dining room cleaned. That bottle of wine in the fridge kept calling out to me....I just felt that it was still too early to have that delicious burst of sweet relaxation-in-a-glass. It was time to watch "The Voice" (no early to bed in our house on The Voice nights), and laundry was finally dried, folded, and put away! The show was over and finally...bed time! Sounds good, I know, and again I looked at that wine bottle; however, bedtime with my ASD son means another 30 minutes at least, many routines that have to be done to gently walk him through his sleep anxiety every night. I'm proud of the progress he's made--it has been months since he has woken in the night, wandering around in a night terror--and again **I wouldn't change a thing** but this night I just wanted to get bedtime over, and YES get to that bottle of wine!

11pm and after 5 or 6 or 7 "one more hug"s and "Sweet dreams!" and "Nothing bad's gonna happen right?" and "I love you", Z was settled in bed. M was watching her Dr. Who and well, she's 14 and does her own going to bed stuff lol. Ah, time for that wine, I thought, until I realized I hadn't done my workout. This past Monday marked 3 weeks straight of my exercise routine being done every single day and, while the temptation was great to skip it, I was too afraid to let it go since I haven't hit the "30 days to a habit" point yet and it has taken me 2 years to finally put exercise back into my life. FINALLY, at 11:30 I went for that bottle of wine. Realizing how late it was and knowing how fast the morning arrives, I decided to just have a half a glass. Pulled the bottle out of the fridge, got my pretty real glass wine glass from the cabinet, started to pour...and tipped the bottle more as it just wasn't coming out. I tipped a bit more and finally that pretty red liquid began to fill my glass. And stopped after creating about a tablespoon size circle in the very bottom. That was all, it was empty.  Guess it had been that long since I had touched the bottle that I had forgotten the last time I had some wine, I had poured a full glass, taken two sips and realized I just didn't have the time to sit and enjoy it and poured it out, leaving the bottle by the sink to rinse and recycle. Apparently those fairies are mischievous cause they put that bottle back in the fridge for me, how helpful. THe night became a benadryl, bottle of water, and bed night.

Sometimes I just get so tired that I just want to feel tired; but there's just not time even for that. I feel guilty saying it but I know there are other bone-weary Moms out there, too. Loving Moms who also WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING, who just now and then feel exhausted. It's okay--I believe we're allowed and we have to stop thinking we can't feel that way because if we admit to feeling tired it will feed the negative nellies around that will say "see? you really want to be married/inarelationship" "see? you really don't want to homeschool anymore" "see? YOU CAN'T DO IT". NEWSFLASH, it's okay, we are okay and we'll keep being okay even if we admit our humanity now and then.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Monday, April 22, 2013

LEGO Lapbook!!

We finished another lapbook, finally!! Zach was reluctant at first, he feels like he knows all there is to know about Legos and there was no reason to do actual, gasp--ASSIGNMENTS! Once I got him to really look at the ideas for this fantastic lapbook from Walking by the Way and we spoke a little more about the great thinkers who are quoted in this project, we got to creating! Most elements are from Walking by the Way, I will notate the things that we got on our own. We found the awesome Lego stickers at Joann's, and ovbiously we used our own pictures of Zachary's personal creations throughout. :)

The cover. Zachary created the collage on the computer!
Inside the first side, and the "map" opened.

Side flap open (the flap with the map), mini books open
There were 4 words but we lost one!
The picture all the way to the right is one of many firehouses he created.

The blue "Mission and Vision" flip flap book (important to Zach to have this in his Lapbook)

Top left & right: middle flap flipped over and Lego Fun facts fanned open
Bottom left: Famous Thinkers Quotes (cover) and Minifig Timeline minibook
Bottom right: blue flap flipped open and mini-fig timeline open, that was Zach's idea,
we used readwritethink.org to build a custom time-line!
The photos here are 2 different HUGE Lego ships Zach built.

Famous Thinkers Quotes Copywork

Under the Famous Thinkers Quotes "book", and the Lego Math minibooks
                                       
Picture of Z's Ectomobile, above the Lego Graph
                                 
Lego Math Minibooks open

Back Cover Lego Timeline from http://www.lego.com/

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Our Very Own Idol


Zach typed this on his own and in his own words. (it was originally in a word document and I copied/pasted his words into the photo) Reading his words and then holding back the flood of emotions that washed over me was tough; my heart filled with both pride in his amazingly positive attitude and outlook, and longing to make sure he gets everything his heart desires.(okay, I want that for all my kids) These words say so much more than wanting to reach the master builders. Zach has his eyes on the future and will work hard to get there. He is beginning to understand that tasks in life are harder for him and that certainly breaks my heart at times, yet even as he realizes his obstacles he is willing to work to overcome them. As far as I am concerned, that is the making of a true role model and idol. I will forever be grateful to The Lego Group not only for their wonderful products that remain "toys" that have stayed true to the original mission of getting kids to PLAY and IMAGINE, but also for how they reached out to Zach several months ago when there was a mishap with an order. (the poster in the background is part of what they did for him--personally signed by several master builders) I am in the process of trying to find Laura that not only corrected the problem but went on to send him things that changed his life! (not to mention deeply touching his brother, sisters, and his eternally grateful Mama).

If you would like to, please leave comments for Zach! (positive only please, they are moderated for that reason). He'd be so happy and amazed to have "fan mail"!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Hope for Ella: H.O.P.E. for Ella

HopeforElla had a new blog post with a short video to share and help raise awareness of Neurofibromatosis!
Hope for Ella: H.O.P.E. for Ella