Circus - It's not for everyone.

I got excited when I purchased tickets for us to go to the circus.  Who doesn’t love the circus?  The animals, the acrobats, the guys on the motorcycles, and even the clowns; it’s filled with excitement, danger, and humor.  But maybe too much of all of this, is not a good thing for everyone.

I feel bad that I am quick to dismiss Ian’s inability to handle loud noises and bright, sometimes blinding lights.  I know that he doesn’t like the fireworks on the 4^th of July (or the nightly fireworks they do at Disney).  He also wasn’t a fan of the cannons going off when we visited Colonial Williamsburg and wanted to get far away.   It’s a feeling that I don’t understand and since he suffers silently, it takes a lot for me to realize what is going on.  

 Part of me feels that if he keeps an open mind, he will enjoy whatever it is we are doing.  And it’s just the opposite for him.  Ian is keeping an open mind hoping he will live through it and it will end as soon as possible.

Jeff was able to recognize what was happening when we went to the circus on Sunday.  Everything started off great and we were all happily munching on our popcorn.  Then with about 15 minutes left to the end of the show, Jeff said he was taking Ian outside.  Ian couldn't take anymore.  Ian was miserable.  My first thought (and 2^nd and 3^rd thoughts) was Ian is ok.  Don’t give in to it.  But Jeff stood his ground (and it’s a good thing too) and took Ian out of the Patriot Center.   Meanwhile, Sam who you would expect to have all the sensory issues, couldn’t get enough of the circus.  She was glued to the action and absolutely loved it.  The cutest thing was listening to her comments, “I didn’t see that coming.”

I quickly realized (ok, I don't know how quickly it really is when Ian is about to turn 10 next month) that I have been glossing over Ian’s aversion to loud noises and bright/blinding lights for many years.  It’s not fair to him because he doesn’t make the raucous Sam does to get noticed.  I feel horrible and hope that from this day forward I can be more mindful to what is happening with Ian when he is not feeling comfortable in a situation I've put us all in.  

I had a chat with Ian yesterday afternoon and apologized for all the times I told him he was going to be ok.  Clearly he wanted out and I need to be ok with that.  I asked Ian what I could do to help him.  He said I should give him the option to stay home and let us go without him.  Ugh. I hate the idea of us doing something without him.  I don't know what the perfect solution is.  I asked Ian if I got him earplugs/noise cancelling headphones would that be ok.  He said he'd want a blindfold too.  Um, no. That is not ok.  

Ugh.  I know there are many times that events have a special showing that is geared towards special needs -- the lights always stay nicely dimmed, the music is never that loud., etc.  Maybe I need to keep an eye out and try these kind of performances.   

I give Ian credit for always trying.  I give me a slap on my hand for not being more attuned to my son.  I hope to be a better mom for him and help him instead of telling him to get over it.

Clearly, this picture taken before the Circus began. 

Sweetly Balanced

When we were in Richmond during Spring Break, we visited the Science Museum.  One of the experiments we experienced was seeing if we could perfectly balance ourselves.  The idea was to step on this machine and gently rock your body from left to right to left again until the light stayed lit in the middle.  This meant you were perfectly balanced.  Once you had the position, the timer would start counting to see how long you could hold it.

All 7 of us gave it try.  It was really neat to see how quickly we could get our body perfectly centered. Most of our group got frustrated pretty early on trying to get the machine balanced.  Ian had the best luck at getting the timer to hit 30 seconds relatively quickly after getting on the machine.  I barely could do it.  I think I got the timer to 10 seconds before I leaned to much to one side again. And believe me, I stood as still as I could to keep anything from making the platform move even the tiniest bit.  Sam stepped on the machine last.  From the second she stood on it, she had it perfectly balanced and the counter started. And the counter kept going and going and going.  She reset the timer 3 times before we told her we had to keep moving to another area of the museum.  Not only did she master the balancing part perfectly, but she was able to move/swing her arms and turn her head while standing on the machine.  Nothing was getting the machine to leave its balanced position.  It was pretty phenomenal and such a surprising moment for us all to witness. 

This past Tuesday I am watching Sam at gymnastics and noticing something along the same lines of the balance machine.  This is Sam on the balance beam.

 

 Sam looks amazing being able to hold this position.  How cool is she!?!?  No matter how young I was, I would've NEVER been able to do this. 

It's all about the core.  Her ability to balance is amazing.  I love how Sam can do stuff like this.

I thought this picture was neat too.  Shows Sam is flexible too!

Spring Break - the show must go on.

What a motley crew were we.  In the 48 hours we were out of town for a little Spring Break getaway, my kids and I fell apart.

I had a head cold (seriously, my head felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds and was in a massive state of fog), complete with a raging sore throat.  Sam's trial week of no miralax was an epic failure.  Despite her being back on the magical powder for 5 days leading up to our departure (and believe me, she had started to go again with great results), Sam experienced a major back-up/blockage and was in a constant state of feeling like she had to pee and periods of pain in her side.  And lastly, Ian had his own set of issues. Something he ate didn't agree with him and at 12:30am at the hotel, he woke-up, ran to the bathroom and threw-up EVERYWHERE.  More than a few times. Ugh. 

It wasn't pretty.  Sam's screaming out in pain, Ian is throwing up, and all I want to do is stay in bed and take lots of Nyquil.  Oh and I forgot, Sam also threw up at our last stop on the trip, right before we went go-karting.  Yowzer!

When I would check in with Jeff and give him a report on how we were doing, he kept offering to drop everything and come get us.  We were traveling with my friend Susanne and her kids.  She too was quick to say we could cut the trip short and head home.  I just kept feeling that we would turn a corner and it would get better.  Each thing on its own was not enough to call the trip short, but when you write it all down and read it, it sounds a bit ridiculous we didn't throw in the towel.

Despite all the issues, we enjoyed our time in Colonial Williamsburg, Richmond and go-karting.  The kids and I will  return to Williamsburg (most likely in the Fall) and make sure Jeff is with us. He would adore the town.  We even heard the Declaration of Independence recited, along with the Calvary doing a reenactment.   The coolest thing was seeing the kids hang on the townspeople every word.  They couldn't get enough.  From the wigmaker, to the blacksmith, the wood maker, taking the tour in the Governor's palace, the kids were glued to every demonstration and hung on every word.  

Once we got back home, we started to return back to normal.  I took Sam to the doctor.  She will be fine as long as we don't withhold the miralax ever again!   Ian didn't get sick again, proving it had to be something he ate and not anything more serious.  And my cold started going away.  Unfortunately, Jeff caught it.  Although I kept telling him, "It wasn't me."  :)

So close to the big number.

BIG NEWS!  I've just hit 190,000 miles on my car.  At this point I am even impressing myself with the kind of numbers I'm seeing. My plan to see it turn 200,000 is looking more like a reality every day.

It took a full year to get this last 10,000 miles completed.   With my tires and brakes only a year old, there is no reason why I can't make it another year.  The biggest problem at the moment is that I am burning oil at a rapid rate.  I make sure to check my oil every 2 months or so. And it usually requires 3 quarts when I do get it checked.  There isn't an oil leak because that issue had been taken care of about 4 months ago.  Other than that, the car is humming along nicely.  I am still very fond of it.  Don't get me wrong, I've got my eye a new car. It would certainly be nice to drive something using all this new technology they've invented (back-up camera, bluetooth enabled, USB ports, multiple charging ports, 3rd row of seats, etc).  I don't lack a list of features that are being included in even the base models of cars these days.  But it is not time yet to say good-bye. 

Fortunately, 13 years ago, I made a wise decision in what I purchased and am not tired of my CR-V yet.   The car has certainly been good to me.