Supermom

Who wants to hear a stupid story? Ready? Scarlett is Superstar of the week at school, which means she filled out a questionnaire about herself, decorated a poster with a life-size tracing of her body, and brought numerous items in to show the class, including her favorite book, which is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7), but she had to bring in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1), because 7 is not really appropriate for a class of six- and seven-year-olds. Exhibit A: The first chapter is called The Dark Lord Ascending, and the teacher reads part of the book to the class. Also, a lot of the girls are reading this series, and we didn’t want to ruin anything for those who hadn’t finished yet. So we compromised and sent the first book.

That’s not the stupid story. It’s just the build up.

She’s had a great week as Superstar. Being the center of attention has helped her behave and listen well in general, which she has trouble with, but she’s also six years old so I don’t think that’s terribly abnormal. And last night at dinner she decided she wanted to decorate a small piece of paper with stickers for each girl in her class. There are 21 of them, so not including Scarlett we needed 20 pages.

She set to work and finished 13 last night. This morning she was to do the remaining seven before school. As her carpool was coming, she triumphantly announced that she had 20 pages done. And then she told me she had included the teachers. Which means, for all you math geniuses out there, that two girls were missing. Read More>

|Categories: Life, Parenting, Relationships, Venting | Tags: , , | Permalink

Looking Forward

Rob and I watched the movie Gleason last week. He was out of town when I attended the San Francisco screening, so this was his first time seeing it. Now that it’s on iTunes and Amazon, I highly recommend that everyone check it out if you haven’t seen it already.

Seeing the movie for the second time was eye-opening for me in new ways. The first time I watched it, I was very focused on the relationship between Steve Gleason and his wife Michel as they navigated ALS. It seemed like they came to the disease from such a place of strength and connection, yet it was and is an incredible challenge to maintain a relationship. Rob and I know all about that, and judging by the conversations I have with other ALS patients, we are not the only ones. So this time, I set the relationship stuff aside, and I just watched Steve.

I watched him as a strong professional football player, muscled and aggressive and fast. I watched him as a groom, and as a traveler. I watched as he fell while attempting to run across the rug of a church. Read More>

|Categories: Faces, Life, Meditation, Progression, Relationships | Tags: , , , | Permalink

Fighting words

Last week I wrote about being sad, and I got some great responses from people who could empathize and sympathize. My favorites were the people who assured me that their kids are diabolical candy sneaks, which absolutely made me feel better because it’s nice to know that some things are near universal. So today I thought I would write about something else that is pretty universal, and that is the difficulty of being married to another human person. Rob and I have all the normal arguments that you might expect from a couple who has been together for 11 years. But we also have the arguments that stem from ALS and the way that it has thoroughly changed our dynamic.

Take teeth brushing for example. This simple act can start a war in our house. I want Rob to understand that the backs of my teeth need to be brushed. He claims he does understand that, and insists that he brushed them. But he didn’t. And so here we are, me not wanting my teeth brushed by someone else, him not wanting to brush someone else’s teeth. And both of us annoyed with each other, because yet again it didn’t go well. I can see his point. He is not the kind of person who enjoys being criticized when he’s trying to help. Is anyone that kind of person? I still want clean teeth. We are at an impasse, and so we begin hurling our strongest ammunition, going in for the kill.

Rob calls me a Dementor, the soul sucking happiness destroyers from the Harry Potter series. I give him points for creativity, but I am sort of extra annoyed because he knows that I consider myself more of a Professor McGonagall type. Read More>

|Categories: Life, Relationships | Tags: , , | Permalink