Thursday, February 12, 2015

The Band-Aid and the Ointment

I'm really glad that my day started with and UP because it got a little tough later in the day, so my fuel tank was full enough of fit not to get to me too badly.

At our play performance today we had an awesome audience! I think partly because a lot of the kids were from Santaquin and I knew 3 of them! It was so fun to see them and wave to them and see how much they have grown since we moved away.

They were such a fun crowd that we were all just feeding off of them and it made for such an energetic and fun show... so energetic that Mrs. Pinkerton lost her microphone in all the hubbub! A little stressful but just goes to show you how hard we work up there.

Doing 7 shows a week (one every weekday morning and 2 evening shows on Monday and Friday) really makes you feel close to your castmates. I am just loving getting to know so many people through doing plays. It's so fun to get to know people I never would have otherwise! I even spent 30 minutes telling them all about Fragile X and I could tell they really cared about me and what we, as a family, face. It's endearing.

Because of having such a great morning, during my intake meeting with our new (new because we've never had one) behaviorist, I didn't fall apart into tears as I was giving her the run down of Sister's trials and struggles and why she's here to help me.

Sister has had a rough bout of it lately and it gets really hard to talk about because it brings up feelings that bring me into a sullen and sad feeling.

All parents want to protect their children.

I dare say, though, that it is a little more overwhelming for parents who have children with mental impairment. There are just some things that my children don't fully understand no matter how much I teach them... I guess it's like when you have main-stream level kids at different ages you are able to teach them at the age level they are at. I have to try, most times, to keep things at a 18 month level for Baby, a 5 year old level for Sister and 8 years old for Brother. But, it is tough when they are so much older on the outside... it's just tough.

So, that's another great thing about looking for the UPs in my day—it's not always the band-aid at the end of the day, but can be the ointment that continues the healing process as pain comes and goes.


These flashback pictures of the kids work pretty well for UPs too!

Brother at age 8 or 9, I think, with his times tables pride!

Sister at about age 3 having a juicy peach on the back porch in Santaquin!
Baby at age 1-ish doing her O.T. (Occupational Therapy) with our friend, Mary
Day 43 of 365 Days of Up

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