Homecoming 2011

Jonathan's high school had Homecoming this weekend. He asked his good friend (and fellow clarinetist) Anna to the dance. He and Anna and 3 other couples all went together. For the "day date" (because a proper Homecoming date is more than just dinner and the dance), the group hiked to Battle Creek Falls then went and got ice cream. After ice cream, the girls were taken home so they could get ready (and the guys could take desperately needed showers). That evening the ladies were picked up and the group had a photo session before coming to our house for dinner. I set the dining room "nice" for the dinner... flowers, candles, china, crystal, etc, then served the meal... waffles (at the boys' request). While I was putting the final touches of the waffle-fest together (waffles with whipped cream and berries or with syrup and butter, bacon, fruit salad, white grape juice, and strawberry trifle), the youngsters fiddled around on the piano and sang songs (I never did stuff like that for my high school dance dates). After dinner the group went to the dance. Jonathan declared the night "the best night out ever!"P.S. Only one of the guys was legal to drive and he only had access to a Honda Civic. I got asked to be the chauffeur (and the photographer and the cook).

September 11, 2011

How do I go about writing a "Ten Years Later" post when I still don't understand what happened on September 11, 2011? I know the obvious information- 4 planes hijacked, more than 3,000 people killed, 2 buildings destroyed and 1 severely damaged, countless families destroyed, millions of people all over the world affected; but I don't understand 9/11. I don't understand the hate that would malignantly live inside a person that would cause one to commit such a horrendous and heinous act. How could there be others that posses that same degree of hate and happily agree to participate in such a despicable plan? How was it that not one of the hijackers wavered and backed out? How can such hate exist?

Ten years ago I was getting Jonathan ready for a day of first grade. The phone rang and my friend who I carpooled with was calling to see if I was sending Jonathan to school that morning. I said "yes, why wouldn't I." She told me to turn on the TV. That's how I found out about the terror attacks. Both planes had already hit the World Trade Center Buildings and the South Tower had collapsed; the Pentagon had been hit; a fourth plane had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, but it was unknown at that point if that crash was related to the horrors in New York City and Washington D.C. I turned off the TV and got Jonathan off to school. I told him that planes and crashed into buildings and that no one was really sure what was going on, but that he would be safe at school. After dropping Jonathan off at school, I turned on the radio as I drove home. Less than a minute later, I listened on the radio as the North Tower collapsed. I drove home and turned on the TV and sat in front of it for the majority of the next 3 days. Sometime on September 14th, I couldn't watch the footage anymore and I turned the TV off and walked away.

I remember the feeling I had in my chest. It was a bleak heaviness that sat inside me. I'd forgotten that feeling until Friday (September 9th) when I heard something that brought that sad heaviness back. KSL radio was broadcasting in preparation for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and was doing an "at this moment in history" segment and they reported that at that exact moment 10 years ago, Mohamed Atta boarded the flight that would take him to Boston. Two days later, he would hijack a plane that departed out of Boston and fly it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Hearing that "this day is history" blurb brought that sinking, dark feeling back to my chest. I guess I should be grateful that I don't understand the irrational hatred behind 9/11. It makes me heartsick to know that while a millions of rational human being around the globe mourned the losses and devastation, a few sick individuals were celebrating.

For a while, most of the world came together, united though this horrible tragedy. May the unity and brotherhood felt around the world in the days and weeks after 9/11 be never forgotten. May tolerance and acceptance of others grow in the hearts of all people on the earth. May we all work together for a global community of support and love, and may all recognize the inherent value of each individual.

"He Doesn't Qualify for Services"

That's what I was told by the Alpine School District (ASD) yesterday. I was stunned. For the past 5 months all I have heard in reference to Miles from Kids on the Move (KOTM) is how far behind he is or that he has this disorder or that one or is autistic or some combination of everyone's opinion. So when I took Miles in for his ASD evaluation yesterday, I was stunned to hear that Miles does not qualify by test scores into the ASD early intervention program. I was panicking. How could Miles not qualify for services? He's so far behind and I've been told ther are so many "problems" with him. He's been making so much progress by attending the KOTM playgroups; I've felt he's been making speech progress as well, but now that Miles is about to turn 3, all services from KOTM will be taken away and the ASD said he didn't qualify for services. I was fearing regression or, at the minimum, no progress. I didn't know what to say. And then the ASD representative said something that made all the difference- "He doesn't qualify for services, but we feel strongly that services need to be made available to him." I was relieved. the ASD has agreed to continue speech therapy for Miles and want him to attend one of their "special needs" preschools. I don't know the details yet, but those will be made available to me within the next 10 days. The evaluators acknowledged that Miles is "catching up" and want that progress to continue, so they opted to give the referral from KOTM and their observations more weight than Miles' test scores so he can continue in an early intervention program. Thanks, ASD!

FYI- Miles has made great improvement in his speech. When he tested with KOTM 4 months ago, he was in the first percentile. Yesterday, he tested in the 10th percentile. His receptive language score moved clear up to the 17th percentile. They did find some "odd gaps" that helped him qualify for the ASD services for which he technically doesn't qualify. For example, when given pictures to match, he's in the 96th percentile; when verbally asked "which ones are the same", he can't do it and ranks only in the 3rd percentile. The other thing the ASD did that won them points was that they were concerned about me. They repeatedly asked me how I was doing and how I was dealing with the things they were telling me. It's annoyed me that the KOTM people would just tell me what they thought Miles' problems were and it seemed that they didn't care how I felt about about what they were saying.

Miles exits KOTM and enters the ASD program on his third birthday. He'll continue going to his KOTM playgroups until his birthday, then we'll start his new adventure with the ASD.

Last Day of Work

Yesterday was Jonathan's last day of work! Since his last shift was in the lower parking booth so I decided to get a video of Jonathan in action! He wasn't too thrilled about my plan...


I think his customer service skills were more courteous when the customer wasn't his mother shoving a camera in his face.

Frustrating Day at Church

I think most people don't realize how much their words can hurt another. Three times today I was on the "that hurts" end of people's comments. All of the comments had to do with Miles. I know Miles can be difficult to deal/work with. I know that some days he is harder than others. This morning he was extremely difficult. It's also Sunday, which means we took Miles to church, and church means nursery. Miles did well in Sacrament Meeting. After that meeting concluded, I told Dan to take Miles to nursery and get him situated and I'd be in shortly to relieve him. As I was leaving the chapel, a lady who has a very direct as a manner of speaking stopped me and bluntly asked, "Is there something wrong with Miles?" I stopped and answered her plainly and gave her a general overview of Miles, his speech delay, his therapists, etc. Our conversation, at the time, didn't bother me because I knew this lady didn't mean anything rude by her direct inquiry. I got to the nursery and Miles was mad and I knew it was going to be a long day. Dan left and Miles started crying for his daddy. His crying gave way to screaming. It's frustrating enough dealing with a screaming 2 year old, but to have one of his nursery leaders say to another adult in the room that she just hates screaming (and who doesn't), is hard for me to hear because it's not like I'm letting Miles scream; I am trying to comfort him and help him problem solve whatever it is that is upsetting him. A while later, while the 13 little ones were happily playing, two of the nursery leaders were talking about how the nursery would be different in January when the 3-year-olds "graduate". Then they started talking about what a nightmare the 3-year-old class will be because so many of them are difficult (and that's me putting their conversation in a polite manner). They had this conversation openly in front of me and singled out Miles as one of the difficult ones (as if I didn't know). So while lady #1's direct question initially didn't hurt, in combination with the other 2 incidents, all of the events of the day hurt. Special needs, delayed, or just stubborn... it doesn't matter to me. Miles is my little boy and I love him and I want what is best for him and I don't think that is nursery. I think I'm done with it. I don't want to keep taking him to a place he dislikes so much and where he clearly is not wanted.

The Man of Steel

Or maybe I should call this post "Get Your Head Out of the Toilet" or "Potty Talk". My blogging has taken a backseat to a more important and time consuming adventure. I've been potty training Miles for the past week. He's one impressive kid. He has a bladder of steel! I've felt that Miles was "ready" for quite a while now, but our summer schedule was so busy that I didn't think that I had the time to dedicate to him for a successful training seminar. The big boys went back to school on August 23rd and potty training started August 24th. The first thing I learned about Miles and potty training is that he is stubborn and had the ability to "hold it" until he decided he was ready to "go". One day 1, Miles held it all morning until nap time when he got a diaper, then he peed the world. Once nap time was over, Miles refused to "go" again until he, on his terms, was "ready"; then he grabbed a bowl and peed in it, and did that another time before bedtime. At bedtime he was happy to get a diaper and pee in it. Day 2 was very similar to day 1. Day 3 was annoying. It was the breaking point for both of us. Miles was no longer happy to pee in a bowl. He decided he wasn't going to pee at all. So when he had to go, he'd pee into his hand, then pinch off and wipe the pee on me. I told you he has a bladder of steel. Despite being really grossed out, I must admit that I was impressed with Miles' control, but by the end of Day 3 I was ready to abandon the potty training for another month or so. However, perseverance paid off and starting on Day 4, Miles decided that the big potty was cool and that he liked to pee in it. His pee-pee training has been a breeze ever since. Now I'm looking towards phase 2 of potty training... he's not willing to sit long enough to accomplish his "other business". That's this coming week's goal.

Fair Food Has Gone Too Far

For years I have been in disgust over the much "food" you can buy at a fair; some are fairly normal (funnel cake, french fries, corn dogs), but others are definitely "out there"... deep fried turkey legs, deep fried Twinkies, deep fried Snickers, deep fried Oreos. Last year's novelty item was chocolate covered bacon. This year's novelty "food" has topped them all and has crossed a line. The new novelty fair food this year is Deep Fried Butter. That's right- it's fat fried in fat. I didn't think it was possible to make fat fatter, but I have been proven wrong. The "deep fried butter" vendor puts a stick of frozen butter (1/4 pound) on a stick, then coats the butter in a cinnamon-honey batter, then the whole thing is fried until it is golden brown. Sick! One stick of fried butter costs close to a pound of butter at the grocery store... about $4. Mr. Never-Miss-a-Photo-Op-Pretty-Boy Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has tried Deep Fried Butter and declared that it tastes "like a cinnamon roll, but buttery-er." Nice. I want him to get an angiogram before he makes it on the ballot in my state.