Archives for October 2008

Lately Laylee’s been all about making goals. This Saturday she woke up with a whole diet and fitness regimen planned out. She would eat 2 bananas cut up with a knife, 2 apples sliced with the apple slicer and several glasses of water. She would then do back exercises in her exercise spot under the stairs and check her back to see how strong it was getting.

After completing her exercises, she told me that although she knows they are not “real” exercises, she’s pretty sure they worked because she got all sweaty. When I told her she’d better put her sweaty clothes in the hamper she said, “No. It’s okay. I just stuck them under my pillow to dry out so I can wear them again tomorrow.” I’m not sure if this action stemmed from a desire to save me work cleaning the clothes, a desire to save the planet by using less water and power or the fact that the outfit is pink and sassy and a gift from her grammy.

They’re in the wash even now. The wash that never ends. The wash that is sucking the life from my very soul. But I digress.

She told me that her entire Saturday fitness routine was to make her back strong like a real ballerina. She cannot WAIT to be a real ballerina and as she twitches and flails her way adorably through ballet class each week, she asks me if she’s ready for point shoes. Not yet honey. As long as the other moms are gasping and saying, “Oh MY!” each time it’s your turn to pirouette across the floor, you’re probably not ready, but I really really like you.

I’m glad she has a goal though and she is getting better.

Today my chest congestion was back so I skipped my workout and slept in late. As I headed down the stairs, I found Laylee waiting by the front door. She was all dressed down to her socks, shoes and jacket. She was wearing her backpack which she’d already loaded with her water, folder and a Laylee-esque snack.

“Wow,” I said, “You’re ready early.”

“I know. I made a goal last night not to get late slips anymore so I woke up really early and got all ready.” She squinched her face and gave me a double thumbs-up. Oh my word she’s such a KEENER! And do I love it? Yes I do.

I got myself and Magoo dressed, fed them breakfast (for which she took her backpack off) and went to grab my keys when she asked me, “Hey mom. Can I add something to my snack that I wanted to ask you about?”

“Sure.”

“I want a piece of pork tenderloin. It’s okay. I can just eat it cold from my bag.”

So her kindergarten snack today consisted of a bag of peanuts, a slab of cold pork and a tub full of dry cereal. She dressed herself. Her back is strong. I think I’ll keep her.

It was tough for me this week to listen to calm classical music or none at all. I really enjoy my heart-thumpin’ dance tunes. They get me going like auditory caffeine and I had a rough time cleaning the house and staying motivated without turning the place into a disco tech.

However I did notice more calm moments in the house and in the car and I was glad to have them. If it weren’t for this challenge, I may never have found out about what Laylee had learned in music class last week and the music had a calming effect on both of my kids.

The best part of the experiment came on Saturday when I drove to Gig Harbor and back to run a blogging workshop at a conference for moms. I was nervous that I’d fall asleep listening to classical music alone in the car for over 3 hours. But the weirdest thing happened. I decided instead to take Rebecca’s advice and drive in silence. It was amazing. I can’t remember the last time I’ve taken a long drive with nothing to listen to but my own thoughts. When I’m with the kids I use the music to occupy them and block them out and when I’m alone I enjoy choosing whatever music I want and rocking out. I was amazed at how many thoughts there were to think and I truly was not bored or drowsy the whole way there and back. I’ll definitely try to spend more time in silent thought as a result of this experiment but I’m also excited to meet back up with my good friend ABBA Gold.

How did it go for you guys? Any breakthroughs? Was it tough for anyone else?

Dare to Simplify Week 2 — Multitasking at Meal Times
I am a hopeless multi-tasker. It’s truly sick how many things I try to do at once. I never finish books, tasks or thoughts half the time because I’m trying to do 10 other things at once. It seems a little broad, complicated and unrealistic to set a goal to stop all multitasking this week. So what I’d like to start with is avoiding multi-tasking during mealtimes and this includes all meal times. Can you sit through 3 meals a day with your family without doing something else? I’m fine at dinner but at breakfast I sit the kids down with their food and run around doing 10 other things while they and I eat. Lunch isn’t much better.

Meals are a good time to relax, unwind and get closer with my family but I tend to think I’m too “busy” to actually do it. One week, 21 meals, sitting, eating, and talking like a civilized person who’s more interested in my family than in being productive. I’m gonna give it a try.

I’ve taken the week off from exercising. I’m nursing a chest cold and have had two extra little friends in the house for the past 2 days. However, if you’re still in peak physical condition or even a bit of peak, you should find out when your local Buddy Walk is taking place and get out and get moving.

Kath is a big supporter of Buddy Walk, an event that promotes the inclusion of people with Down syndrome and raises money for the National Down Syndrome Society. Seattle’s walk is this Sunday. If you can’t walk yourself, take a minute and a few dollars to support another walker.

It was a good day. A little sick. A little crazy. A little tiring. But good. We left the house at 7am and headed into Seattle for an early morning CT scan. I had so built Laylee up about how cool it was to go into a giant tunnel that was like a big camera that she practically jumped up on the table and grinned at the tech as she strapped her head down. When it was all done, she thanked the woman and gushed about how awesome it was and how jealous Magoo would be.

The pictures show everything to have developed normally. Everything’s where it should be and it’s all the right size and apparently the right colors, gray, white or black in the pictures. The good thing is that although her hearing loss is permanent, it doesn’t appear to be degenerative.

Then we met with an audiologist again for another rousing game of put-the-block-in-the-bucket-when-you-hear-a-beep. Super fun! Laylee loves that game even more now that we’ve read the book Oliver Gets Hearing Aids a couple hundred times. Her results were the same. It’s frustrating to sit in the booth and hear the beeps and see her staring straight ahead concentrating, straining to hear but not getting it until the volume has been turned up several times. I just want to wave or give her a sign, text message her, anything to help her win this particular game.

The truth is that it could be a lot worse. She is fully functional with a little trouble hearing some sounds and some volumes. She would get along fine without any help but will do even better with some understanding and in a few weeks some hearing aids. We took the molds today for a pink sparkly pair which should be ready in a few weeks. Very fashion fabulous.

In the 5 hours we were there, we also met with a geneticist, a therapist who hooked us up with a state specialist to help with school stuff, a couple of other doctors, and a cafeteria lady who sold us some un-naturally brightly-colored ice cream. The consensus is that Laylee’s a precious peach who probably inherited her hearing loss from Dan, also precious but somewhat of a culprit in this instance, and that it’s bound to remain stable if we don’t drop her on her head or start taking her to Rage Against the Machine concerts fortnightly.

It’s good. We’re blessed. Our insurance is with one of the few companies that will cover the entire expense of the hearing aids and tests, so far amounting to several thousand dollars. She’s happy, we’re calmer and everything’s gonna be alright.