Y Me and Other Unquestionable Questions

Kindsay vs. Knob

2012-01-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

I get up about 6 AM, get me and the boys ready for school, push Kindsay along and attempt to guide her away from Punky Brewster meets Lady Gaga styles, stay at work for seven hours attempting to teach 24 kids with severe disabilities standards that have blown past them long ago, leave at 3, pick up the boys at school, get home with dinner plans forming in my mind along with the list of stuff I

Surprise Surprise!

2011-11-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

If my husband knew I was posting this he would K-I-L-L me....but it's history that must be written down and if I don't it will be forgotten, though it may take our lifetimes to forget it. First...a little update on my other children. Ty is my free spirit who looks up on Google "How to be a hippie"...rainbows, long hair, Birks...hurray. I tell him it's also a view on life and that he may need

Madonna Brewster

2011-11-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I recently had an IEP with Kindsay's teachers. Oh, what an angel! Sweet sweet girl! They go on and on about how wonderful she is. Good--I tell them--better that she is an angel for you than have her treat you the way she treats me. Bup Bup! I DO get to see a wonderful Kindsay. Don't get me wrong! I have moments that are tender and lovely with her, but they are few and far between...

My Story

2011-10-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

We have been advised to write "our stories" for future generations. I'm going to start writing mine, but I wonder if it is something worth sharing? I'd love your feedback about whether or not I should make this public. I know my kids will have to wait until I die before I'll reveal it to them because some information about our parents is too "ew" to know about as long as we can look them in

Home Home On the Range

2011-08-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, my daughter married this last July. No, I wasn't happy about it. Yes she is in another state. No the there will not be any children ANY time soon...Yes I'm a mother-in-law and it's all over. I miss her, I mope about it on occasion, but what can you do? You can say, "Well, at least you have Kindsay for life!" Thanks... The hamster? Who placed bets on when it would die? Let's not be

Mr. Mom

2011-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

I've got the best husband in the world. His philosophy is that if I'm happy, he's happy, and not begrudgingly either. And I'm glad he's got that attitude because while I'm working summer school, he's at home with our kids and uses the time wisely by taking care of business. For example, he learned how to use the washer and dryer the other day. He also scrubbed a toilet, which he hated but I

Pre-Elay

2011-06-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Summer has begun...actually it's almost half-way over, but our vacations began last week. Kindsay's phonetics dependence has her sending massive texts out to all those in my contacts in my cell saying we're off to "Elay"...I never bothered explaining, but we went to L.A. with some friends and their kids and an hour into our visit I told my friends to get a good look at my kids because it would

Here We Go AGAIN!

2011-06-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yes....my husband is allowing another animal into my home, one that is weak against the fury of an unforgiving master. It's my neighbor's fault. They went and got a hamster for their cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls. Sweet girls with only the best intentions for their new ball of fluff. That got my boys into a frenzy. They've been on a hamster kick now for the past couple of

Kindsay Dearest

2011-06-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Kindsay has many strengths--she's great with technology and decoding print. But social skills? I remember when she was in preschool and I'd ask her how her day was. She couldn't answer the question. I started asking her the question and then answered it for her so she could hear the proper response with hopes that she would eventually start answering me herself. "What did you have for lunch

My Life: A Walmart Commercial

2011-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

I don't shop at Walmart...I have before, but it's something I try to avoid at all costs (no pun intended.) Lately, they've been using a commercial where you see a shopping conveyor belt rolling along with a bunch of seemingly unrelated items until you see the person who bought them in a predicament that brings all the items together. I've realized how very true that is. You all know that I

Border Patrol

2011-05-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that my oldest child is from a previous relationship, although my other children are unaware of that and will continue to be so as long as I can hold them off. When I say relationship, I mean he was a former boss who dated an employee. When I say employee, I mean I was a minor preyed upon by an older man (six years older, but hey..when you're seventeen, that's a ton.) When I say

The Sleep Over

2011-04-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know, it's a scary prospect, but it has been done, and if my respite angel is in a good mood, it'll be done again. Speaking of angels, there are few people better than family. My baby sister has zero patience for kids, yet she's a special education aide and she has two of her own. She continues to struggle with children, yet she's committed and dedicated to her children and students. And on

The Black Hole

2011-03-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

I realize you are apprehensive about reading any further, and I don't blame you knowing what we know about my Kindsay Grace. Just when you think you've heard it all, or dry-heaved it all, we are blessed with more. I try to imagine her husband-to-be...perhaps that guy on movies that the girl dumps for the better guy because the nerdy one has an allergy to everything and has a humidifier hooked

Gnasty

2011-02-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is an embarrassing post. Please do not judge me. Until you've lived with Kindsay, you can't. As you all know, my oldest has moved out and left a vacant bedroom, one which my youngest, Ty, claimed the day after she left. He moved his Littlest Pet Shop onto her bookshelf before I could clean it off, and has adamantly corrected me every time I've referred to it as "Bek's room." The boys

Gulliver's Travels

2011-01-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

I don't use bad language, not that I'm condemning those that do, but because I don't, my kids are very naive about cuss words. Sometimes it's funny to hear a child innocently cuss, but it's even funnier when they use it incorrectly. The most my son, Garon, has cussed happened in the last month, and within a week of each other. The good thing is that he was so unaware of the words that when he

Code 4

2011-01-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

It finally happened. I know what Code 4 is! I think. I'm assuming at least. Picture it--a calm Thursday evening after school. I'm content after having straightened the house, finished getting dinner ready, and getting the children's homework done, which is most of the time MY homework. I'm enjoying a relaxing moment in my bedroom checking emails, reading the news, listening to my boys play

The TALK, you know what I mean?

2011-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

So here's the deal I made with my husband, although he did not agree to it. I will explain to our daughters where babies come from, and he has to explain it to our boys. Since his mother taught him about sex by never talking about it and hoping I knew it all and could teach him on our wedding night, it was an awkward thought that Greg hoped would never transpire. I told our girls when they hit

The Thin Line

2011-01-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, my daughter is special. For those of you just joining us, she is a fourteen-year-old anomaly that no child psychiatrist has been able to diagnose. I know we shouldn't live and die by a diagnosis, but as a parent, having answers is important. Her current label is one with a form of autism and emotionally disturbed with severe anxiety, but she's run the gamet of labels in

Spring Break

2010-12-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hello and long time no report! A shout out to Dani for reminding me to sit and write! Spring Break? It's Winter Break, you say. Spring Break is a reference not to that week off in the spring, but to my daughter who parades around the house as though she were on spring break. Try not to picture it, help it if you can--a 14-year-old in a sports bra and underwear pulled into her crack cruising

Garon--Senator in the Making

2010-10-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is a quick one, but man--my son is going to be on a billboard someday. He has such grown-up thoughts and figures things out long before I ever do. While cleaning the kitchen table, Garon was noticing all the stuff stuck in the cracks. I'm scrubbing and reminding him WHO is responsible for that... his response: Being a parent is kinda like payback for being a child. Nailed it.

Kindsay Strikes Again

2010-10-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

Does the fun ever stop with Kindsay?, you ask...after reading my blog I'll let you answer that. For you newcomers--NO! With children with special needs, being extremely specific to the details of little consequence, is very important. Picture it--It's Sunday afternoon and Grandma has taken the children to her house for a "party"--meaning, she took my boys (of course Kindsay declined) and my

Kindsay's Island

2010-10-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

Some people have heard me say that if Kindsay was left on a deserted island, she could survive just fine. She can't tell you what day it is, what she did last week, answer anything abstract at all, but she can swing a deal. I'm telling you--RESOURCEFUL. Her birthday was Oct 2, and we gathered as a family at a restaurant. I offered her cash or a friend party and she threw her friends out the

Here I Am!

2010-09-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Summer is over and I'm back into the grind. I go home after work and literally topple over. For some reason, my job is mentally and physically exhausting. Updates? Here ya go: Bek is a college girl! Yessirreeee....at Reedley City College she goes full time. It looks good on her since she seems to get hit on everyday at school, she tells me...yikes. She has NO idea what she is aiming

Foot Meet Mouth

2010-07-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am the first person to admit I am a social moron. I hide from social activities for that purpose. I don't know what comes over me, but I almost can't act right in public so I avoid it altogether. I remember reading somewhere that kids who were super smart academically were usually lacking in social skills, and I, having gone to special schools for smart kids, fit that description neatly. You

Red Blue Face

2010-06-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Embarrassing moments are character builders, aren't they? When we hear about others' embarrassments, we're so glad it wasn't us, and yet we all have them, don't we? I certainly have my share. This post is one of them...and hopefully not one of many I remember. It was 1996. I worked at a produce procurement company that arranged purchases of produce from local shippers to grocery food chains