D is for Dresser

When I asked the child for a letter D object to photograph she immediately said, "Dresser!" I'm noticing that she basically looks around and says the first thing she sees that starts with the letter of the week. I may have to be more careful of her surroundings when I ask her for a word! Luckily her Dresser is not looking as bad as it sometimes does. I just cleared it off and "reorganized" it a little over a week ago.

To be fair, this is one of the few places the child can put things that she doesn't want her siblings to mess with. They can't quite reach up there yet, and it is certainly out of sight for them, so they usually ignore whatever is up there. These may be among her most prized possessions.

The jewelry box on the right is a music box with lots of little drawers to hide treasure in. You may also see her John Lennon glasses, her "fossil" and clay fairy that she made in 2nd grade, and her cherished "Squinkie" salon play set. Less important (to her) the clothes stowed inside. The purpose of the dresser in her mind is to protect her special things.

Where is your treasure?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." - Jesus

(Matthew 6:19-20, NIV)

I know you want to delve into more dutiful D delicacies, so click here.

C is for Cup and Cop

I'm continuing the alphabet series with the child's input on what I should photograph and write about as we work our way through the alphabet. This week is Crazy with the end of the school year upon us, so I'm a little late, but this is what she came up with.

When I asked her for a C word she was getting ready to go outside with Daddy. So maybe Daddy was just on her mind. His cup was sitting on the table nearby, and that settled it. "Cup," she said, "Daddy's Cup." and then she had second thoughts...

"I can think of another C word, Mom - Cop. But there aren't any cops here to take a picture of." (Thank Goodness.) After a few minutes of pondering she went to the box where our train set pieces are and found this police woman. "Here's a Cop, Mom."

I think it's fun that the character is a police woman. I want my girls to grow up knowing they can do any job they set their hearts and minds to. I also think it's fun that these are both that cobalt blue color that I love so much.

Daddy complains that this "cup" is more of a glass, but we'll just let that slide for now, 'mkay?

For a Complete Cast of C Compositions, visit this link!

B is for Blanket...and book

I almost forgot to ask the child to tell me something that starts with B that I could take a picture of. When I remembered, she was already snuggled up with Daddy for Bedtime Stories. When I asked she said, "Um..." and in the intervening pause I gave her a suggestion (Bad Mommy...) I'll include my suggestion below because I'm so dang proud of it, but first, I'll show you what she came up with on her own several minutes later. She finished her story with Daddy and came out to the kitchen to tell me she had thought of another idea for B, "Blanket! My Rainbow Blanket." Since the Blanket is a bedtime must I had to take a quick photo and pop her Back into Bed.

Her "Rainbow Blanket" is another gift from Grandma. Noticing a trend here? I think she got it when she was one. She is now eight and she still loves it and takes it everywhere except camping. She doesn't want it to get dirty so camping is not an approved activity. I love the Noah's ark imagery. She loves it because it is colorful.

What I had suggested to her is Book. She was very excited that she got to bring home her Poetry Book from second grade yesterday. She had been looking forward to this project since we toured the second grade classes on open house night about a year ago. Writing has been an increasing challenge for her, but her teacher says that poetry was very encouraging for her. Maybe because it is short. Maybe because poetry is unconventional anyway. Maybe she just likes the "free spirited-ness" of it. Her dedication at the beginning of the Book says it all "I dedicate my poetry book to my mom and dad for letting me do what I want." So here are some pictures of the front (left) and back (right) covers of her Book. They were asked to decorate the covers with fireworks and these were her original creations.




And one sample of her poetry... (a color poem)

Red is a smooth brick.
Orange is the cap on the glue.
Yellow is the bright sun.
Green is the field grass.
Blue is the cold ocean water.
Purple is a sweet plum.
Pink is the evening sunset
Gold is some autumn leaves
Peach is some skin.

Yes, this girl loves her colors!

 

To see the other B posts don't

forget to visit the Linky List here!

A is for Apron

I am trying something new for a while. A friend of mine suggested taking a blogging break. It seems my kids need me more right now and blogging is (sadly) the most dispensable of my activities. I think my official sabbatical will be June and July, but I'll be "winding down" a bit in May...moving away from the heavy hitting. I am going to TRY to keep up with alphabe-Thursdsay each week, but I'll be keeping it simple (what else) and hopefully giving you a little glimpse into the child's brain at the same time. Each week I will ask her to help me find an object in our house that starts with that week's letter. It has to be a physical object that I can photograph, and they will all be her ideas. Disclaimer - photographer I am not...

When I asked her to help me think of an A word, she said, "How about apron?"
"Which one?" I asked (we have several.)
"Mine. Yours are all boring!"

I see. So here is a hastily snapped photo of her apron, the one her dear Grandma sent. We use it for baking and also for art projects. I love that it is wipe-able. She evidently finds it non-boring.

To see the other A posts, click here.

Trisomy 21 - Down Syndrome

When I started this series on the various trisomy genetic disorders, I knew this day would come. How does one even attempt to summarize Down Syndrome in a short blog post? I'll start with the disclaimer that none of my primers are intended to be all-inclusive. They're just a starting point to begin to familiarize the public at large with conditions that sometimes are quite rare and unknown. Down Syndrome doesn't really fit the unknown category, but it may fit the misunderstood category. People may think they know what Down Syndrome is, but have some serious misconceptions mixed in with their facts. My hope is this primer will make you want to learn more. Down Syndrome doesn't really fit the rare category either. Trisomy 21 is the most common single cause of birth defects, and occurs in approximately 5 of every 10,000 births. The condition is named for John Langdon Down, who described the condition in 1866. Dr. Jerome Lejeune linked Down Syndrome with an extra copy of Chromosome 21 in 1959.

Like all trisomy disorders, Down Syndrome occurs when there are three copies of one chromosome (Chromosome 21 in this case) or part of a chromosome. You can look at my general post on Trisomy to learn how this happens. It is an entirely random genetic mutation that cannot be prevented. Genetic counseling is advisable for people who have a family history of Down Syndrome, women above the age of 35, or parents who already have a child with Down Syndrome. Trisomy 21 can be diagnosed prenatally. Screening tests may indicate a higher risk for Down Syndrome and more conclusive diagnostic tests such as amniocentesis can confirm the diagnosis. These tests may carry risks of their own which should be considered carefully.

Each individual with Down Syndrome will be affected differently, but there are several common characteristics, including:

• decreased muscle tone
• single crease in palm of the hand
• cognitive delays
• impulsive behavior
• short attention span
• heart defects - atrial septal defect or ventricular septal defect
• eye problems - cataracts, corrective lenses
• gastrointestinal blockage - esophageal or duodenal atresia
• hearing problems
• narrow airway - sleep apnea

With improved medical treatment options, the average lifespan for individuals with Down Syndrome is nearly the same as normative peers. With early intervention and supportive family, individuals with Down Syndrome can graduate from high school, attend college, and maintain productive careers. Finally, I think I've shared this before, but I want to emphasize that each individual has something to contribute to society, and we have more in common than we may think. Please watch this short video by a young man with Down Syndrome and his parents. It is well worth your time.


Additional resources:

• PubMed Health - clinical description
• National Down Syndrome Society - especially this page
• National Down Syndrome Congress
• DownSyndrome.com
• Praying for Parker - especially this post

Zapped

Today the letter of the week for

 

Is Z.

It's so fitting. the words that come to mind:

Zero - the amount of energy I have right now.

Zany - my life lately.

But mostly...Zapped. As in, that is how I feel.

I am not just physically tired (though I am that) I am emotionally exhausted. My brain hurts.

For now I'm going to chalk this up to the end of the school year - a season much like "the holidays" in which everyone tries to squeeze in one last...whatever...before school ends. It is the culmination of a lot of work from the teachers, and the kids, and the parents, and it is downright overwhelming. There's quite honestly too much to be done each day...

It is showing in the frayed edges of relationships around our home. I've lost my grip on my temper more than I wish. The child is struggling. We are struggling together.

So sorry to end the alphabet on a low note, but I know I'm not the only one.The cool thing is most endings are followed by new beginnings. Z is for zapped and A is for Anticipating.. So hang in there, to all of my fellow zappees.

To see more zany and Z posts, click here.

Sunday Digest 44...

...which I'm writing on Wednesday. Yeah...tough week. Actually I played a lot last weekend and I'm kind of paying for it now. Anyway - here are the coolest, most inspirational, most informative, most heart-tugging posts that I've found in my Internet roving over the last few weeks. Please enjoy and be sure to tell them you found them through The Simple Life.

1) This piece on waves from kidz pretty much sums up where I've been for the last four years or so. I'm learning to find treasures amid the surf.

2) As usual, Varda at Squashed Bologna nails it again with her piece about words. Varda is responding to the story about the father who planted a microphone on his son to find out what was happening to him during school. He discovered that his son's instructional staff were being verbally abusive to the children in his special needs classroom - children who often do not have the verbal abilities to tell their parents that something very wrong is happening. It's every special needs parent's worst nightmare. Yes, words are powerful.

3) I love reading Laura Shumaker's blog. Her book A Regular Guy was particularly meaningful to me because we live in the same area and I could relate to so much of her story from her son's early days. I also love reading about how Matthew is doing now as an adult with autism. On the one hand it's hard to hear that he is still struggling. On the other hand it's kind of encouraging to know that this is a long process and it's okay that we haven't figured everything out already.

4) Autism & Oughtisms post about words and rhetoric is also important, and kind of what I was trying to say here, but as usual said with more precision by A&O.

5) There have been a lot of mommy wars out there lately: tiger moms, working moms, stay at home moms, attachment parenting moms, blah blah blah. Katy at Bird on the Street says she is "Just a Mom" and that's plenty. I agree.