Back in the game!

I'm back!!! Where have I been you might be asking?

Running around like crazy!  For the past month or so I've pretty much felt like a chicken with it's head cut off.  We have been in the process of moving.  On top of preparing to move we've had family out to visit us, my husband's graduation events, a quick trip to New York, a not so quick trip out west to visit our families, planning and pulling off a family reunion, finding a renter for our current house, the big move, and then trying to get settled in our new home.  Whew! It's no wonder why I'm so tried!

Trying to get settled here has been one adventure after another. It seems that nothing as gone according to planned, which when you're a big planner, like me, that can really throw you through a loop.  For example, the first five days in our new house were spent without appliances, air conditioning and WATER.  That means no cleaning and painting like planned but more importantly no showers or working toilets.  I'm a mother with two young kiddos who are both potty trained so this turned into quite the ordeal.  When push came to shove there were times that my kiddos had to use a bag in a garbage can as their toilet.  It was great fun!

Lucky for you I decided against taking pictures of my kids pooping in a bag but I did take a picture of what it's been like to not have a dryer for a few weeks. Yep, those are the kidlets undies hanging from the cupboards.  We've had to get creative lately.

After the first week when we were basically just in survival mode, I tried to start doing the work that needed to be done in the house so that we could officially move in. (As of now most of our stuff is still packed away in the garage.)  With the hubby now starting to work, that left a lot more for me to do at home.  It was going much slower than I hoped for various reasons.  One afternoon once I got my daughter down for a nap and pulled out a new game for my son, hoping this would keep him busy and out of my hair so I could finally get some painting done. I had saved this game, Cootie Bug, for just such an occasion because this kiddo is a huge bug fan.  Problem was that the game was new and the parts were a little stiff and not working as he wanted.  I felt like every 10 seconds I was being interrupted to help him put in various bug parts into the buggy body.  This was not what I wanted.  Finally I got frustrated and snapped.  I rudely told him that he needed to just do it himself and leave me alone.  Yes, this was not one of my best parenting moments.  My ultra sensitive boy started to cry and a after a few minutes I started to feel bad.  All while painting, I remembered my Grandma Burdett and how patient, loving and positive she was.  I then started to tell my son about how big he was getting and because he's getting so big it means he can do things by himself even if it is hard.  I then told him about the story of The Little Engine that Could, a story that my grandma always told us when we were trying to do something difficult.  I still remember the first time I learned to water ski and her sitting in the boat telling me to say "I think I can, I think I can" over and over.  I told my son that it might be hard to push those small bug parts in by himself but if he kept trying he could do it.  For the next hour or so he played with the game as happy as a lark all by himself, occasionally I would hear him whisper to himself "I think I can, I think I can." This gave me plenty of time to paint and reflect.  I realized I needed The Little Engine that Could, talk just as much as he did.  I have been getting frustrated with  house projects lately and the whole moving situation.  I needed to remember that I am a very capable and strong person.  I can get through this if I have a positive attitude and work hard.

When Jaxson was done playing with his game he was so proud of himself for doing it all by himself.  This also made me realize that often I have been robbing him of a sense of self accomplishment by doing things for him.  In a way I have been enabling him.  As a therapist I saw many parents do this with their children with disabilities and I swore to myself I wouldn't do the same.  I've realized I've probably been holding my son back a lot lately by doing things for him.  Tough lessons learned and too bad I will be learning most of them the hard way with my oldest.

Going through these experiences has sure made me grateful for all the little things I take for granted, such as a flush-able toilet and my healthy body.  Wish me luck on our new adventure!  And here's to patience, hard work and a positive outlook!