Splendid Mayhem: Yet Another Busy Week!

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.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Yet Another Busy Week!

Monday:
* Logen's 1st Kindergarten FIELD TRIP!!! (Nana is going with him, I have a test)
* Jessica- French Ch 2 Exam
* Logen- Private Speech
* Madelyne Reese is due (Adam's brother/Sister-in-law's baby)

Tuesday:
* Take Van in to get fixed (get a loaner) the TPMS lights some on when we go on road trips and it's 'clicking', theres also something wrong with the steering column (all covered by warrenty!!)
* Logen- Private Speech & PT (I think we are going to drop the PT, he'd be in therapy til 5:30- thats too long of a day--- what is your opinion?)
* Spaghetti Dinner at Logen's School

Wednesday:
* Jessica- 2nd Developmental Psych Test

Thursday:
* Jessica- Dr
* Logen- Private PT

Friday:
* Logen- Private PT

Saturday-
* Logen- Private OT
* Birthday Party x2 (think we will be skipping one)
* Adam & Jess going to see "Cymbeline" for class. Joy-- always wanted to see this one and Adam is so stinkin' excited I am making him go with me!

I'm off to study! I hope you all have a wonderful week!