Splendid Mayhem: Parker's Going To College!!!! (avec moi!)

Welcome To Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Parker's Going To College!!!! (avec moi!)

Avec moi... with me.

Yes, my littlest Mister has been volunteered to go to my Developmental Psych class tomorrow afternoon for a demonstration. I'm not really sure what they'll do with him- but he's a cute lil mess- so, he's got that going for him :) I asked them to bring a duck. The ONLY think he will do on command is QUACK. Like a duck. It's so stinkin' cute. I only hope he'll perform in a large classroom of about 250 seats (and, who knows how many will show up it varies day to day).

So, wish us luck tomorrow. As we hike together. And, then ride the bus together. And, hike some more before we even get to the building.

I think he's excited about it though. I asked if he was going to school with Mommy and he says, "Yesh". I say- are you going to be good? And, he says "Bubba". I'm assuming that's a no :)