Flashback Fridays

The radio station I listen to in the morning always does a Flashback Friday on Friday mornings. They play a group of songs from the 80's/early 90's than have a contest to guess flashback songs. I thought that would be a great idea for my blog. So my goal is to post each Friday a flashback.

I dropped Autumn off at my parents house yesterday before work and decided to check her sugar before I left. It was 535. Very high. Scary high. I called my boss and said I would be a little late. I wanted to wait 30 minutes, re-check her and make sure it was coming down. After the 1/2 hour it was coming down so I left.

On the way to work I was thinking about when she was first diagnosed and the 3 1/2 days we spent at Children's hospital. Thinking about those days still brings tears to my eyes.

What I was mostly thinking about was the shots. If you had told me weeks before that that I would be giving her 4+ shots a day, I would have said you were crazy. I was the person who had to put my head between my legs when I got a shot myself, and had to look away, or better yet, be out of the room when my kids got a shot. I couldn't even watch someone getting one on TV.

Within hours of getting to the hospital I could see a difference in Autumn. She was quickly returning to her happy self. It's amazing what insulin does for us. The reason we had to be in the hospital so long was we needed to be trained on how to take care of her. She could have easily gone home the next day had we known what we were doing.

Training to give a shot is very quick. A nurse came in, showed us how to do it, we practiced on an orange and the next time she needed a shot we had to do it. There is no messing around with this. You don't get a week to practice and get up the nerve to actually do it. You're thrown in and it gets done NOW.

The first shot after training was her lunch shot. I was shaking from head to foot. I felt like I could throw up. I was dizzy. I hadn't slept in 48 hours. I hadn't eaten in I don't know how long. I looked at Todd and said "You have to do this one. I will get it together and do the next one, I promise". He did the shot. He cried, Autumn cried, I fell apart. I had to leave the room I was such a mess. But I got it together. I went back into the room, hung out with my amazing little girl and braced myself for the big moment.

Dinner time came and it was my turn. I looked at Autumn and told her I knew she was scared. I told her I was scared too. But I was going to do this. I was going to be brave. I was going to take care of her. We would get through it together. I got the shot ready, gave it to her. She looked at me and said "That hardly hurt at all!" I couldn't believe it. This amazing little girl was extra brave and such a trooper. With tears and laughs I hugged her tight and told her I would always be there for her. We were a team. We could do this.

And we have and will continue to. She is now on a pump so we only have to do the site insertion once every 3 days. Much better than 4+ shots a day. I'm so proud of her and I'm pretty proud of myself also. I had an inner strength in me that I had no idea was there. I've even offered to give shots to friends who have needed them for various reasons. I still don't like watching a shot being given by someone other than myself, but I've come a LONG way with them in the past 3 years.

I love Mondays!

I used to think the saying above was true. But this week I have changed my mind. I love Mondays. I think they are going to be my favorite day of the week this summer.

I am taking Mondays off work for the whole summer. When I told my best friend, Teri, she was more excited than my kids and promptly told me she was coming over every Monday! We live almost an hour drive from each other, so we don't get to see each other that often. Being together every week will be a HUGE treat!

She arrived our first Monday around 1:00pm with her 2 boys. My kids were anxiously awaiting her arrival. We loaded up our snacks, towels, beverages and sunscreen and hit the lake. The day was pure heaven. I got to chat with her for 5 solid hours! The kids were all happy. The weather was AMAZING. It was a perfect day.

We already have our plans for next week. Who knew I would ever look forward to Monday's?

I love summer!!!

It may not officially be summer by the calendar, but in Mommy-World the second school is out for Summer break, the season begins.

This also means, for me, that I am officially a mom of a high schooler! I'm not sure how that happened. When and how did I get old enough for that? It seems like yesterday he was in preschool and I was crying my eyes out in the parking lot. He's already a great, independent kid, but I know high school will bring more independence and more changes. I want to say I'm ready for them, but I'm not sure. These next 4 years are going to fly by and before I know it my first born will be an adult.

This also means, for me, that I will have a child in each school this next school year. Autumn in 3rd grade elementary, Zachary in 8th grade middle school, and Josh (sniff, sniff) in 9th grade high school! If I feel old today I can only image what September is going to bring when I can't remember who needs to be where and when! So maybe that independent high schooler won't be so bad! I may have to make him into my assistant to help keep everything straight!

Our first full day of summer break is today. I don't have to work until noon. Autumn came in and asked if she could crawl into bed with me this morning. I had no idea what time it was. 9:30! I can't remember the last time I slept that late. I love summer! Zachary and his 2 friends (one of which is planning on just moving in until September) got up at 10:00ish. Joshua is still in bed. Did I mention that I love summer?

Looking forward to these lazy mornings, of which I can participate 4 days a week!!! Looking forward to my Monday's off work, on which my BFF has promised to keep open so we can hang out!!! Looking forward to NOT packing lunches every day!!! Looking forward to eating dinner on the deck under my new umbrella!!! Looking forward to the beach and lake!!! Looking forward to spending quality time with my kids.

I love summer!!!

Manners count

I've always had high expectations of my kids with manners. I expect please and thank you's at all times. Some times they have to be reminded, most times they don't.

The other might Zachary wanted to go to a school function. The texts involved went like this:

Z - Will u take me and Mitchell to the school at 7

M - For what?

Z - For Record Mimes

I was just leaving work when I got this text so I waited until I got home to find out exactly what he was talking about. It was a class presentation that one of his friends was involved in. So at 7 I took them. I told Zachary to text me when I needed to come get him. Here is the text:

Z - Meet us at bk at 805

M - Don't you mean can you PLEASE meet us at BK at 8:05?

No response from Z

M - Say please or I'm not going to get you
Z - Please

A little while later:

Z - Actually meet us by the busses please

Notice the please at the end of the last text? The kids is smart, he knows that I would have been mean enough to make him walk the 2 1/2 miles homes had he not corrected what I took as a snotty-demanding text and said please.

I would love to think at age 13 I wouldn't need to remind him. And I could make excuses and say he didn't ask nicely because he was texting, but it only takes a couple extra seconds to type in the word please.

Manners count.

5 minutes, please!

It's been WEEKS since I've had a nice long conversation with my BFF. I was thinking this weekend if I could just have 5 minutes to give her a call, I would be so happy. But than after a little more thought I realized that 5 minutes wouldn't be nearly long enough. I'm thinking we need a good 2 hour chunk (minimum) to at least TRY to get caught up.

We have kept up somewhat on Facebook, texting and emails. But it's just not the same as a nice long chat. A phone call would be acceptable at this point. An afternoon with just the 2 of us would be pure heaven.

My kids are very rarely without friends when they're out of school. And they're socializing all day in school. I admit, I'm a little jealous. When did it happen that my friends had to be pushed to the side so I could make sure my kids had time with their friends? As they get older it gets both harder and easier. Harder because I have to carpool them around everywhere and keep an eye on them to make sure nothing inappropriate is happening while in my care. Easier because they only need me to drive and feed them when they're with friends.

I would like to set a goal of a couple hours a week devoted to just her and I, but reality is...we are both moms first. And we are GOOD moms, so we put our kids first.

I have faith that I will get that conversation soon. I know she is missing me as I am missing her.

Mommy Chaperone

I've been the parent of an elementary school aged child for 9 years now! If you are a "senior" parent like me, you've learned all the in's and out's of the good, the bad and the ugly of these wonderful elementary school years. (And I still have 3 more years to go!)

One of which is fieldtrips. I was shocked that first year of kindergarten when the note came home for their fieldtrip and it said something like "champerones will be picked on a first come, first served basis". What? Not every parent could go? I was lucky enough to be one of the chosen for that particular trip.

Other years your name would be put into a hat and the teacher would draw the number of chaperones needed. I think I got picked a lot not because I was lucky with the draw, but because I was active in the school and the teacher and students all knew me. There were very few trips I missed with my boys. I enjoyed those trips (aside from the long bus rides) and am glad I was a parent who was able to do them.

Autumn was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) the spring before she started kindergarten. Suddenly these fieldtrips had me feeling sick to my stomach. What if I didn't get picked? I couldn't let her leave the school for an entire day on a fieldtrip without me. At this time I knew nothing about 504's and school plans for Diabetics. Lucky for me the principal at the school was wonderful and helped me with it all. She strongly advised that it be put in Autumn's 504 that I attend every fieldtrip. Woo Hoo! I was in no matter what! Not only could I take care of my child, I would get to experience all the excitement and fun with the other kids.

Monday we went to the zoo. It had been a good 3-4 years since I have been to the Detroit Zoo. (The Toledo Zoo is our zoo of choice). When the bus was on the exit ramp waiting to turn onto the bridge I looked over at the zoo and saw what looked like a million kids and at least a thousand school buses! I have to admit, I got a little nervous. I was only in charge of 5 kids. But mix 5 kids in with a million others and things could get ugly.

My group came up with a plan. We would head to the back of the zoo first and make our way back. It was the perfect plan. It wasn't as crowded as I feared and the kids stayed with me. We had a wonderful time.

Being a chaperone to the boys now is a whole different story. They don't want me to go on their fieldtrips anymore. It hurts a little, but I respect it. I remember what it was like to be a teenager. Now I'm just a vehicle to take them from place-to-place in the off-school hours. I don't dare get out of the car though. Drop off's only! Their friends do hang out at my house and I'm allowed to talk to them, so I guess I'm not that embarrassing!

Either way...fieldtrips or transportation...just call me Mommy Chaperone!

Blog, blog, blog

If you are on FaceBook, Twitter or one of the many sites where you post things, you've probably felt like I often feel...everything turns into a post in your mind.

Someone can cut me off on the road and I'm mentally composing a post about it. While I don't post everything, I think about posting most of it. I'm pretty active on Facebook. Sometimes I wonder if people are really interested in what I have to say. Writing this blog in another outlet for me. Where I can go into more detail and share an entire story instead of one simple event. If you start reading it and don't find it interesting, you can simply move on. For me this is a form of therapy.

I've never thought about being a writer, but I always envied those who could. If I had an entire week to myself I would most likely spend it reading and being creative. My 2 favorite things to do. I'm always amazed that authors can write a book and turn around and write another one. It's a real talent.

I follow a couple blogs. They are moms like me who post mostly about daily events, their family and their feelings. I live for those blogs. I get that email letting me know they've added a post and I can't wait to snuggle up with my computer and read what they have to say.

One of the blogs is a friend of a friend who I have met, but don't really know. It's fun to read about the challenges she faces in her day to day life. She is also close to my age and posts a lot about being in the 40-zone! If you are in that zone or have already passed it, you know what I mean. Things start changing mentally and physically. Things you are not prepared for. Good to know I'm not the only one.

The other is the wife of a guy I have known since my crazy party days. Reading this blog almost makes me feel like I am stalking him! I talk to him a couple times a week and we often have conversations about the blog. He doesn't keep up on it like I do so he's always curious to see if he's on the shit-list or not. The funny part is, she doesn't write about him often. She does however post wonderful pictures of him. Pictures in the bathroom, pictures of him sleeping. These crack me up.

Then there are a couple blogs I follow that are parents of diabetic children. These are the blogs that show me that us moms are doing the best we can. We make mistakes, we are not perfect and diabetes is a never-ending guessing game. They share things that our kids doctors would cringe at. But this is reality people. Life is not text book perfect.

Blogs to me are like books. They're telling a story. It's even more fun when the stories are about people I know. I hope one day someone will feel like that about my blog.