boston twin mommy | controlled chaos since 2009

polar express on the cape!

2012-11-05T16:38:00.001-08:00

All Aboard! The Polar Express comes to life this holiday season as the Cape Cod Central Railway rolls out of the station bound for the "North Pole!" Come early and climb aboard with your family to cozy-up and enjoy our festively-decorated vintage train cars.

Dancing chefs deliver hot chocolate and a cookie to each guest to savor while music from the Polar Express movie plays en route to the North Pole. Make sure to have your tickets handy, because your conductor will be by shortly to punch each child's ticket. Before arriving at the North Pole, the iconic book, The Polar Express is read as your Chef turns the pages to share the beautiful illustrations in the original book. With the station far away, The Polar Express magically arrives at the outskirts of Santa's North Pole village, where Santa Claus himself and his elves joyously welcome the train! As you stay comfortably settled and warm in your seat, Santa and his helper elf board the train! During the return trip, Santa will greet each child with his signature holiday spirit and the first gift of Christmas: a bell cut from his sleigh. It is said that only children and those who still believe can actually hear the bell ring. Join in the singing as your Chef or Conductor lead Christmas caroling on the 30-minute return trip. For those wanting the magic to last or to do a little Christmas shopping, visit our gift shop in the station for special Polar Express gifts and merchandise. Oh, one last thing, children are encouraged to wear their PJ's; adults who still believe have been known to wear them, too! So, are you coming? All Aboard!

All Aboard the Polar Express is coming to the Cape Cod Central Railway, visit http://www.capetrain.com/ or call 888-797-7245 to climb aboard.

Jingit Makes It Easy to Earn Money for Education! #jingit4edu #Cbias

2012-09-19T09:34:00.001-07:00

now that the little m's are in pre-school, i find myself always looking for ways to help. they attend an awesome public preschool here in my town. it's a dedicated elementary school building that has about ten classrooms (which is amazing unto itself!)
anyhow, because they are a public school, they are always strapped for funds. i was a pretty good box top collector last year on my own and the girls loved bring in their little baggies full of colorful squares.

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/jingit.aspx?b=generalmillsboxtops&utm_source=CollectiveBias&utm_medium=blog_instoresnow&utm_campaign=GeneralMills_8.12.

well, i recently heard of an *awesome* little app that you can use to help earn even more box tops *and* money just by watching an ad or two (or in my case, hunting through walmart picking up items i already needed anyways! score!)

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/jingit.aspx?b=generalmillsboxtops&utm_source=CollectiveBias&utm_medium=blog_instoresnow&utm_campaign=GeneralMills_8.12.

LOOk at all them there Box Tops! Woot!

Signing Up for Jingit:

1. Go to Jingit on your computer (OR you can go to Walmart and sign up directly there!)

-OR- Download the Jingit iTunes or Android App

2. Fill out the Registration Form with your name, email, zip code, birthdate, and mobile number (you must have a Facebook account)

3. Verify your Registration with a verification code sent to your mobile number

4. Start watching ads! Just select “Next” after you watch an ad and answer survey questions

I am brand new to Jingit, but I am hopeful that because they have a $10.00 weekly earning limit there might actually be opportunities to earn close to $10.00 a week on some weeks. Jingit features ads for national brands – so it doesn’t matter where you live, you should be eligible to view most of the ads.

Also, even though I went on over to Walmart to pick up some back to school items (and get *four* box tops on some of the kid's snacks and cereals) you can watch the ads from home. If you can't get out, you can still earn!

All opinions are my own, of course. This is a compensated post brought to you by Collective Bias!

Leap Frog Twitter Party Tonight! 9/6/12

2012-09-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

Boston Twin mommy has caught wind of a Leap From Twitter Party tonight!!! These Touch Magic learning toys are great... my girls love 'em! Catch you later on the interwebs!

There is no greater joy than watching our little ones playing and having fun, but that joy is even greater when we know they're learning at the same time! And when it comes to educational entertainment for our children, we all know that LeapFrog leads the market. That's why we're so excited to introduce you to Touch Magic™ learning toys by LeapFrog!

Join us for a fun-filled twitter party where we'll learn all about LeapFrog Touch Magic™ learning toys and share some learning tips of our own!

LeapFrog Touch Magic™ Twitter Party

Date: TODAY, September 6th

Time: 8-9 p.m. EST

Location: #LeapFrogTouchMagic

Host: @MomTalkRadio (Maria Bailey, Founder of MomSelect)

Touch Magic™, a new product line from LeapFrog, brings intuitive touch technology to preschool toys for the first time. Combining fun, learning and creativity, Touch Magic™ learning toys use touch technology that recognizes every tap, touch and swipe to bring each product to life. We'll be highlighting the Touch Magic™Rockin' Guitar so you know the party will be rockin'!

After hearing all about how amazing the LeapFrog Touch Magic™learning toys are, we're sure you'll want to snag them for your own child. That's why we'll be giving away five (5) LeapFrog Touch Magic™prize packs, featuring an assortment of toys valued at $100 each, throughout the party!

firsts and seconds

2012-09-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

it was a summer of firsts and seconds...
first time jumping into a pool or lake or ocean by themselves...

first summer of no hospitalizations!
first time we've thought about breaking out the 'elf on the shelf' in mid-july just to get them to behave
first round of developmental testing for madeline
second GI doctor for her too... that is a post for a different day, but all i'll say is go with your gut (no pun intended). our little gal is not right from a GI point of view and because of her communication issues, she can't tell us. after months of frustration and pain, we are finally moving on from chb's department and onto a place where we hope we can get an answer
second trip to sesame place!

first trip to storyland (with a second coming a couple of weeks!)

first time with molly in the driver's seat... holy crap!

first hike up a mountain for ms. madeline

and and an AMAZING couple of days at the beach for this family... never thought i'd see the day. :)

it's been an amazing summer and i can't wait to see what the fall will bring (besides school schedules, doctor's appointments and madeline's upcoming eye surgery)

Why 31?

2012-08-21T10:48:00.004-07:00

a new post about 'Why?'
http://alifelesschaotic.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-31-story-why-amy-why.html

Check out Thirty-One's September Special

2012-08-15T08:23:00.001-07:00

Awesome deal! Check it out!
http://alifelesschaotic.blogspot.com/p/september-2012-monthly-special.html

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY: Leap Frog Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar

2012-08-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

to say that my children are obsessed with music is the understatement of the year... madeline has walked up to a lone man playing guitar on a beach and tried to play it herself. molly wants a constant dance party (even in church... makes life interesting, you know?)

their parents did meet in the marching band after all. it's a dork love story for the ages really. they will be members of the umass minuteman marching band class of 2031. yup, that's right. *then* they can go to harvard and get their medical degrees! :)
anyhow, we were selected by leap frog to test out their new leap frog touch magic rockin guitar.

this thing is awesome! it really is touch magic, similar to the touch technology on a smartphone. super cool.

Molly loves the technology. See how thin and light it is?

it's nice and light and isn't a blazing glory of noise and parent-cringing blasts. the girls love it!
get your own and enter leap frog's rockin' guitar contest for a chance to win $500!

GIVEAWAY TIME! enter below to win your very own leap frog touch magic rockin' guitar!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a bronze anniversary

2012-07-18T12:15:00.002-07:00

8 years! how they fly by... if you had told me on our wedding day eight years ago that we would be celebrating our eighth anniversary dinner at friendlys (covered in black raspberry ice cream) and swimming at the y's kiddie pool i would have laughed out loud. funny how life throws you curveballs huh?
as a bride i do remember the day flying by and trying to *remember* it. savoring the moments... the beautiful day, the wonderful music (thanks to our amazing ummb friends (one of whom flew across the country with his tuba just for the occasion)), the amazing flowers (our venue, independence harbor has the most beautiful gardens and flowers. i have major garden envy)

well, happy bronze pete! i wonder where we'll be in another eight?

Classic Nursery Rhymes

2012-07-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

i *love* that my kids are learning nursery rhymes in their preschool. they are a classic and i've actually found them to be a great tool in helping madeline with her speech.

we were lucky enough to review a cute, classic dvd and cd set with every nursery rhyme you could ever think of. the dvd set is quaint. think classic... really classic. it reminds me of something you would have seen on sesame street when i was a kid.

you know what though? i love it. i wasn't really allowed to watch much television when i was a kid and some of the new shows are just too much for kids i think. (sheesh am i sounding old or what?)

check them out on their website or on facebook. you can purchase them on amazon.

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. All prizing for MSM giveaways is handled by a third party unless otherwise noted. For this reason prize fulfillment can take up to 90 days after the winners information is received.

Thoughts On A Family Vacation

2012-07-11T06:22:00.001-07:00

Hmm... I have had a most splendid time with the family so far. An extended vacation is the way to go...

a life less chaotic

2012-06-22T12:26:00.002-07:00

have you checked out my dedicated Thirty-One site for my business yet? Check it out every once in awhile. I'll have specials/giveaways and special offers over there.
http://alifelesschaotic.blogspot.com/

oh red solo cup

2012-06-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

well..... this has been the longest week on earth. i am so looking forward to the weekend. in the vein, weekend = red solo cups, does it not? ok, so i actually don't really even use red solo cups (i use purple ones occasionally because they coordinate with my outfit... duh), but they *do* remind me of cool, crisp college afternoons and that's fun right?
they also can actually help a busy mom! who knew?
ps... totally kidding about coordinating my cup with my outfit... sort of...

traveling with an oxygen dependent kid

2012-06-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

i am certainly not telling you anything new with this statement but...
traveling with kids isn't the easiest thing ever.
people have written countless articles about how traveling with kids can be "easy!" and "fun!" and "tear proof!" clearly these people have never sat with two hungry three year olds on the tappan zee bridge in bumper to bumper traffic.
traveling with kids who have special medical needs? well... i will say this. IT. CAN. BE. DONE. (ooh, i just shouted that... like from the top of a mountain (because last year i thought it was a fallacy))

we've got one girl on continuous oxygen (but getting better at being off for periods of time here and there) and both girls with g-tubes and special formula. one of our girls does not do very well at eating by mouth and needs to be fed over a pump (or bolus fed) on a very regular schedule. they both have a significant amount of medications.
so, how do you do it? plan, plan, plan... and start early. i will say, especially if you have a kid on oxygen or another medical intervention, you can't exactly wake up in the morning and take off for another state on a whim.
1) plan as far ahead as possible. one of the best things you can be when the being the parent of a medically-complicated child is to be *organized.*
2) traveling with oxygen requires calling a travel center through your durable medical supplier (dme). they will find the correct contacts with you and provide you with contracts to ensure that the proper amount of oxygen is delivered where you need it to be. (don't think you can pack a whole bunch of oxygen tanks in the trunk and call it a day. it's hazardous and subjecting them to vast temperature fluctuations is asking for a problem).
3) we find that the liquid oxygen tanks work best for us. we have a travel container that we can refill from a bigger tank. it allows us to have a large tank delivered to the hotel room and we can fill as many times as we need on it.
4) when packing, take anything you might need as far as accessories... this includes a regulator, connectors, "christmas trees" (those green pointy plastic connectors) and the correct size cannula. on our recent trip to pennsylvania and new jersey our first hotel's tank was delivered with an adult cannula and a humidifier bottle for the wrong type of tank... the new jersey tank was delivered without a regulator altogether, no connectors and no other accessories. we thankfully were able to fill off of the tank so we weren't completely lost, but that could have been a disaster. lesson learned on our end.

5) confirm, confirm, confirm. you may annoy the customer service representative, but i'll give you a little scenario as to why you should. when we got to our second hotel there was no oxygen tank as contracted... after numerous phone calls and headache my husband managed to find someone on the phone (it was a saturday and the message service simply told us they couldn't find anyone... great huh?) we thankfully had filled the travel tank prior to our departure from the pennsylvania hotel and had enough to get us through a number of hours. we went to the family function and got word that the tank was delivered to the hotel. phew right? not! we get back and we're exhausted. there is no regulator, there is no accessories... worse yet, we can't fill the tank that we have either because the dope that dropped it off didn't fill it correctly and it wasn't pressurized. as i sat listening to my kid huffing and puffing and about one second from getting in the car to go to the nearest emergency room they finally show up with the tank... at 1:30am. yes, you read that correctly.
anyway we survived. be organized, paranoid and somewhat annoying and you will have a great time. :)

a pretty delish review and giveaway

2012-06-07T12:36:00.002-07:00

check out this giveaway for belvita! i love the blueberry ones. thanks to amy d. for pointing me toward this!

sesame place bound!

2012-06-06T08:35:00.001-07:00

well, i think my husband and i are officially insane... we just decided last weekend to head to sesame place with our girls... this weekend.
there is a function for someone in my husband's family about 45 minutes away and when our in-laws told us about it, p and i looked at each other said... we have to go. (and then my panic attack started)
the love of sesame street is somewhat fleeting (well, i guess that's not true. i still love it and am 34. *but* madeline and mommy are currently obsessed!!!)
madeline is truly obsessed with elmo. we currently use pampers that happen to have elmo on them. she scales the gate, gets over to the changing table and takes out each and every diaper to give him 'kisses.' the mess drives me insane but watching her carry around a little diaper giving it hugs is endearing. yes, i know... get her an elmo doll you say. she does! she just prefers the diaper. hey, each to her own!
anyway, i'm currently in the process of making our 'list.' (we're only leaving tomorrow night. nothing like waiting until the last minute!) for those that travel with kids a list is a necessity. for us it's even more crucial. thankfully we'll have the night nurse start to prepare a lot of the medical stuff we'll need and my husband has already contacted the oxygen company to get a tank to the hotel where we will be staying. it's a little extra work, but i'm proud to say we finally feel confident enough to be able to take something like this on!
we went last year and the girls loved it, even if they didn't really understand exactly what was going on. in hindsight they were a little young but we were just so excited to be able to take them somewhere.

and how can you resist these cute little faces??? wish us luck!

fast fun fundraising with Thirty One (and me!)

2012-06-03T22:30:00.003-07:00

do you know an organization looking to raise some much needed funds? are they looking to fundraise *and* provide the families with something they could actually use? (not that boxes of candy bars and wrapping paper aren't fun) i can totally help with that!

my lovely director has charged me with finding two organizations this june that would like to host a fundraiser. if ten families sold just ten large utility toes (which happen to be on the customer special) your organization would make $1,500! woot woot! I'm in boston (obviously) but i have helped host a fundraiser remotely (and the organization earned over $2,500!)

try me out today. i'm fun, creative and low-key. i'm trying to get my name out there and would love for you to pass this on! read the document embedded below for more great information and ideas.
contact me at 31giftsAmy (@) gmail.com or via my website (http://www.mythirtyone/com/AmyThirtyOne) more the deets! muchas gracias!

GIVEAWAY: One In a Million Dad $200 Gift Card or CASH Giveaway

2012-06-01T12:07:00.001-07:00

I may be a Boston Twin *Mommy* but there is a Boston Twin "Daddy" who is just as dedicated to our little loves. In celebration of Father's Day, I have teamed up with Plum Crazy About Coupons and Flabby Fashionista to bring you an *awesome* giveaway! The prize of a $200 Gift Card will be awarded to one person that will be chosen by Random.org from the Rafflecopter entries below.

This giveaway will run from June 1st 12:01 AM until June 10th 11:59 PM, 2012 so you’ll have enough time to present dad with a gift. The prize is your choice of a $200 Gift Card from Home Depot, Lowes, or Paypal Cash!
You must be 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook, Twitter or any other social media. Please stop by the other participating blogs to say hi and enter one of their giveaways. Thanks and Good Luck!

Military Wives Saving

Giveaway Promote

Angie’s Wraps

The Frugal Buffalonian

2 Dogs 1 Cat and a Bird

Mom Does Reviews

DonnasDealsAndMore

Adventures of the Mommy Homemaker

Wraps With Wendy

Fabulous Deals and Steals

It Works! Wraps By Katie

Our Small Hours

Foster

Thanks and Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GIVEAWAY: Pat The Bunny: Deluxe Edition!

2012-05-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

growing up we had a 'pat the bunny' book that had been passed from one cousin to the next... i was one of the last cousins to get it and remember not only sitting with my mom reading it, but looking at the blue crayon marks that someone had left before me and feeling the worn pages beneath my fingers. like many of the golden books, it's totally a classic and i was pretty excited when we got one at our baby shower so i could share it with madeline and molly. we actually got a lot of books, which had been absolutely awesome. my kids are turning into bookworms and i couldn't be more excited.

so, pat the bunny was recently re-released with four pages that were originally restored from the 1940 printing. i don't think i had those pages in my book (which has to be in my parent's attic from when my sister was done with it... hmm) and was pretty excited to be able to check the new edition out.

considered the original touch-and-feel book, pat the bunny was first introduced to children in 1940. dorothy kunhardt incorporated everyday activities like looking into a mirror, smelling flowers and feeling daddy’s scratchy face to encourage interactivity and sensory stimulation. today, pat the bunny continues to inspire togetherness and first memories between caregiver and child by introducing baby to new experiences like patting bunny’s fur or putting a finger through mummy’s ring.

also consider it a score for one lucky reader, who will also be receiving a copy of the book. enter below on the rafflecopter form. good luck and check out random house kids on the interwebs:

Twitter: @randomhousekids

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randomhousekids

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:

this promotional post was made possible by mom spark media. I received a copy of pat the bunny in return for this post. Thoughts are my own.

huzzah!

2012-05-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

happy thoughts for a decidedly rainy day:

there is homemade macaroni and cheese just waiting to be heated up in my fridge today. it's straight from the kitchen of my mom and dad so it's going to be delicious (and perfect for tonight's rain)
a lot of plants i think are weeds are actually sprouting flowers because of the rain, prettying up the joint. as long as you have a pretty flower you can stay! (even if you're kind of taking over the side yard)
i am caught up on laundry. my laundry room is directly off the kitchen so you wouldn't think it would be difficult to get it done, but for some reason it *is.* why little people generate so much clothing is beyond me. my girls have waaaaay more clothes than i do.
one of my cousins is getting married this summer and i just got the 'save the date.' i'm excited to not only have a date night (can you hear the angels singing in jubilation), but i have an excuse to get a new dress and get my exercise and tan on. spin class is always just a bit easier knowing you've got a mini to get into. (and the fact i can say a 'mini is making me grin ear-to-ear)
... i'm wearing size 12 pants today... last year, i was wearing double that.

huzzah to the little things darnit!

strength of an egg

2012-05-21T10:08:00.001-07:00

someone sent this to me recently... it struck a chord...
Parents of medically complicated children are often referred to, or viewed as, having strength "like a rock". Albeit flattering, it isn't quite true. It is more like the strength of an egg. An egg, you ask? Yes! If you think about it, you'll see my point. An egg has a polished, smooth outer appearance, with no cracks or weak spots visible. It seems almost inconceivable that the inside might not be smooth or solid. Most children, at some point, are shown the famous "egg trick". An egg set at just the right angle can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and cannot be cracked or broken. Yet the same egg, tapped gently at an ever slightly different angle, will break. The contents, once so neatly concealed, will come spilling out. The no longer perfect shell will be crushed. It looks so fragile that it seems inconceivable that it ever held any strength. A rock, on the other hand, is solid all the way through. To break it is almost impossible. If you succeed, you will find that there is nothing inside but more rock. It takes a lot more than pure hardness to hold the hand of hope. Parents of medically fragile children are not solid all the way through. We hurt, we fear, we cry, we hope. It takes a very careful balancing act to keep the shell from being shattered. "Balancing an egg" while running a household, going for doctors' visits and hospital stays, keeping the family together, and holding on to the constantly unraveling ties of your sanity can be very tricky indeed! Occasionally, the angle will be off and the shell will break, shattering hope and all the neatly secured appearances of a truly fragile existence. Unlike Humpty Dumpty though, parents of medically fragile kids will pick themselves up and put themselves back together again (if we are lucky).
as our girls continue to improve each day, i thank god that we were so lucky. and then sometimes i'm absolutely overwhelmed at all that there is to do. this weekend was one of them...
i don't know, but yesterday i was just lamenting how we can't just pick up and go. anywhere. ever. so. frustrating.

fifty shades of.... what???

2012-05-19T06:37:00.003-07:00

fifty shades of... ummm...

so i've never been into harry potter or twilight or any other 'trilogy.' i'm not into magic or spells or wolves or vampires. i was told that this 'fifty shades' was based on twilight and pretty much excused it... until i saw a bit on 'good morning america' or something like that as i was rushing out the door one morning. people were giggling and giddy talking about it and later that evening, i figured i'd see what the heck the riotous gossiping was all about and ordered the 'free sample' on my kindle... what. the. heck?
that was my first thought... people are 'reading' this? the prose was elementary and the writing was 'meh' at best... and then i kept reading... just long enough to say 'WTF?' out loud. people are reading this? ...and are telling other people publicly that they're reading it? annnnnd then i ordered the book. ha.
what once was saved for those scary little books you see at newsstands with shirtless cowboys holding fainting women with impossibly long hair on the front cover is now mainstream. i guess. i think. it's almost a little embarrassing to know your friends are reading it. i'm just glad i don't know if my mom is.
...and while i've heard a few men have turned up the nose at this 'fifty shades' parade, i think men's health is spot on. just roll with it boys.
what do you think about all of it?

field trip to the farm!

2012-05-17T09:18:00.001-07:00

thank goodness for modern technology. while i couldn't chaperone this field trip to weir farm in hingham, i was given a play-by-play from the girls' nurse at the scene. they are looking a bit skeptical of this giant chicken in this picture... they also need haircuts... they are wearing the preschool bibs (red) and the black straps are their backpacks for their feeding pumps (in case you were wondering). :)

crap control conundrum

2012-05-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

i can't decide if i'm extremely unorganized... or whether i need a 'family manager.' i'm starting to understand why some of these 'Bravo-lebrities' have personal assistants. my kids need one. between doctor's appointments, two preschool classrooms, therapies, work, bills, house... ahhhh! there are other mommies out there. they are put together and organized and neat. i'm willing to bet they don't have a mountainous pile of paper that is 'important.' (how can *all* 200 sheets of paper be important?) they can actually find their underwear and their kids' socks match. they probably have closets... and a basement... and an attic. {the fact we didn't think through our first home purchase is fodder for another day)
i constantly complain about only have one bathroom. why is that darn thing not spotless?
there has got to be a better way. i'm a pretty good juggler, but i'm getting to that 'one ball more and i'm definitely going to drop them' scenario. it's frustrating. anyone have a proven system for getting it under control?

CLOSED: GIVEAWAY: $25 CVS Gift Card

2012-05-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

UPDATE 5/22/12: Congratulations to Miranda Ward!

who doesn't love cvs? i have one within walking distance and i sometimes wonder how people live without having one they can walk to. i will firmly admit i have put my girls *in their pajamas* into the stroller to walk and get milk. my husband had the car with the car seats and i had to get some stuff. i *may* have also walked out with a new hairbrush, new lip gloss and some gummy bears, but hey! i got the milk.

well, now you have a chance to fill your basket full of your own gummy bears. win a $25 gift card to be used at any cvs pharmacy! i'm trying out a new giveaway platform, so let me know what you think! pass the word along and good luck!

i didn't receive anything from cvs for this. i just like it and wanted to reward my readers with something useful! woohoo!

iep imperfection

2012-05-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

i. e. p. do you know what that stands for? have you ever sat in one of those meetings? if you haven't... well... consider yourself lucky. i am so *thankful* that the process exists. my children, even with one developmentally behind and one with impeding medical issues (oxygen), are able to attend school just like every other kid, even if it is in a modified way.
i will *also* say that the process has become less of a pathway and more like a briar patch. it's ridiculous. it's even more ridiculous that the team working with my girls are absolutely fabulous... but the process by which it all works and that we're all required to be confined to is asinine. it is. it really is. (i'm trying to sound emphatic without sounding like an angry, crazy iep mom (more on those later)).
we recently had our "follow up" iep meeting for both girls...
{pause button} kind suggestion: if you happen to have two kids at the same school on an iep, request separate meetings. our initial iep meeting was almost 4 1/2 hours long and i thought my head was going to pop when i came out of there. notwithstanding the fact that my kids are drastically different in what they need, just the sheer volume of information made me numb. i found myself staring blankly into the universe wondering how in the hell i even got there... and dreaming about lunch. i was very hungry and thirsty, which makes amy a disagreeable young lady for sure!
{play} both girls have made some major strides. madeline is stringing two word phrases (sometimes) but will sing, in her own jargon, 'twinkle, twinkle.' her physical, occupational, and speech therapist are so pleased with her progress and we couldn't be more pleased. considering she came home eighteen months ago and couldn't sit up? i'll gladly take it!
the team was *very* excited to announce that our ms. molly wasn't in "need" of the substantially separate classroom in their eyes. she could me integrated into a regular classroom, oxygen and all... which is *great* except they want to keep all of her therapies in place. and the three-year-old classroom only meets three days a week. so they're suggesting that next year her schooling be dropped from five days a week to three days a week with the same exact amount of time being pulled out of class for therapies. the more i think about it, the more i think we should contest it. but how? there are so many minutiae to the process and my husband and i really need to sit down and read it thoroughly.
on one shoulder i have who i call 'ms. positive' cheering for ms. molly. we were told she is the *quickest* kid ever to "graduate" from the substantially separate classroom. yay... i think.
then i have 'ms. negative' sitting on my other shoulder. she is decidedly heavier and louder than ms. positive and she's getting increasingly worried that i'm missing the boat on this one. the team suggested that molly 'shouldn't really be enrolled in another program anywhere until she "graduates" from her therapies' but then suggested the local drop-in family center. um, hello? first, i *work.* yup, some mom's have to work outside the home... wish i didn't. but i do. second... hi, she's on oxygen. she can't just be 'dropped off' anywhere. in fact, when i looked into other programs for her when i wasn't sure what the deal was with the town preschool, most places said they didn't feel comfortable having a kid on oxygen (with the cord and dangers that come with it) and the medicines and the g-tube and the feedings. i get it. liability. aydda, yadda, yadda.
to me, that's not a viable option. the preschool setting she's in right now is right for her, even if the subject matter on some days isn't 'challenging' (their words, not mine). seriously, she's three. get her to clap to music, sit still in a circle and tell people when she's peed her pants. let's be realistic!
i'm trying really hard to 'be part of the team' and adopt the 'praise, suggestion, praise' method of communication. i don't want to be one of those parents that storm in there with their blood boiling and get everyone's guards up before anything is accomplished. that isn't beneficial for anyone.
when it comes down it, i've realized that i need to treat this adventure (and yes, it is an adventure of leviathan proportions) just like a construction manager. the whole project is somewhat overwhelming (although the final drawings of what things *could* look like are beautiful) and the punch list is there for me to go through one by one.
... and i'll have to wear a hard hat for some of it.