January 28

We are approaching Sarah’s 10th birthday (coming Tuesday). Each birthday is always a mixed bag of emotions on my side. I am amazed that she is going to be 10. That is clearly impossible because she was just born yesterday. I am so blessed to have her and the people who have come into my life because of her uniqueness. As long as I only think about how far she has come then I am blown away with awe and gratitude. When I slip into noticing where other 10 year olds are in their lives, especially those children with whom Sarah played when she was a baby, then I stumble emotionally and feel like I am back on an empty road with dust swirling and waving goodbye to all who are so much farther ahead. 

Amy is getting better at doing her coat zipper. She never wanted to practice doing it, so it seemed to help when I personified the zipper and spoke to it about how it needed to cooperate and behave. She has now done it at least twice by herself (she had in the past but then stopped practicing and sort of lost the skill).

Sarah got her second report card of the year and made progress in several areas! One of them was social! I had to send the card back and did so before taking notes on the other specifics. 

Yesterday with G, Sarah had fun drawing sad faces. She drew 42 of them, which we all know is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

I have the Sad Brow photo book ready to give to Sarah. I’m so excited. I hope she loves it as much as I do. Actually, I hope she loves it even more than I do. No one loves a sad face more than Sarah.

January 22

Yesterday in the wee hours Sonia and I boarded a bus for DC and joined the multitudes. It was an amazing experience. It was also a very long day with lots of sitting, lots of standing, some times of being squished a bit, being cold, being hungry, and being tired. I have been much more emotional than I expected in response to seeing the pictures from all around the US and around the world. When I see the clips with the roar of the crowd I am teary. Each person who marched was a like raindrop and together we made it pour. Thank you to all who marched and thank you for all who supported the marchers. Thank you to Carl who made it possible for me to march by staying home with the girls. He took them to gymnastics, took them bowling, and ended the day with pizza and a movie. (We have found a pizza place that makes pizza Sarah can eat!) He and the the girls also watched the DC March on tv, pretending to see us in the crowds. He made the house a clean place to welcome me upon my return. This is not a small feat nor a small gesture! Today I am way more exhausted and sore and tired than I expected. I’m just wiped out. Carl took charge while I napped for a couple hours this morning. I feel teary thinking about that too. Feeling supported in whatever one’s venture is such an amazing feeling. 

In a time that feels long long ago I started teaching the girls to tie shoes! They each did it once with my coaching on Monday and then Sarah did it again with my coaching on Tuesday! I’m slightly uncertain about the method. It seems easier to teach but I’m not sure it is really the best way to tie a shoe well. It is easy with my shoes but harder with Sarah’s.

Tuesday Sarah didn’t have school and requested that I get a sitter (instead of me taking her to daycare) for when I had an appointment. The day felt very easy and harmonious. She helped take Amy to school mostly easily. The only meltdown was when I said she had to get dressed before having a turn with her iphone. On school days she always has to be dressed first but on weekends she doesn’t. I can see how the day was sort of in the middle since Amy had school and Sarah didn’t. Once her storm passed then she got ready easily and helped take Amy to school easily. We spent many short bits of time hanging out and playing together and doing some vision therapy homework. We had a wonderful game of catch with a dishcloth (clean and dry) for much longer than I expected her to last. When it was time to get Amy in the afternoon she got ready easily and left the house easily!!! That was amazing. I don’t know if it was because of having such a relaxed day or because I had more focused time with her or because it was warmer or just that I got lucky. When Sc arrived Sarah said, “Hi, Sc!” Then she and Sc and Amy had a wonderful SR session that included going to a ball and Amy holding up her hands for a high 5 which then turned into Sarah giving her a high 10 repeatedly while Amy counted by 10s to 100. When I came in and announced that dinner was ready Sarah said sweetly, “Ok. I will come down with an open mind.”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been speaking to the girls about having an open mind about dinner, but still. Still. This was wonderful. When Sarah is sweet she is sooooooooo sweet.

Sarah actually went easily to help get Amy from school every day! I had forgotten that that is how it always used to be. 

Lots of love and support to all of you.

January 14

The girls have strep throat again. This is the second time for each. Neither time has either of them showed any signs of having a sore throat or being very sick at all. It is always other little odd symptoms that are different for each child so it takes me a while to realize they need to see a doctor. Anyway, I have been washing everything all the time. 

This week was the week of bus frustration. A week ago on Friday, Sarah’s regular driver had an emergency situation so when I was expecting Sarah to arrive any minute, I got a call saying that a new driver was on the way to the school but might not get her until 3:15. She normally gets home a few minutes before 3 and then has her SR session with G on Friday at 3. I do understand emergencies so this was ok to need to cancel the time with G. I decided to go get Sarah rather than have her there for any longer than she needed to be. Monday afternoon when I was expecting Sarah to arrive, I again got a call. This time the substitute driver just didn’t show up so a new sub was on the way but her pickup would be quite late. Amy and I hopped in the car and brought Sarah home. Tuesday morning the bus was late. I called to see if it was coming. The line was busy for several minutes. When I finally got through they said it was a driver in training and would be there in 15 minutes. 30 minutes later it was pulling away with Sarah finally on board and with two more kids to get! They were leaving my house when school had already started 15 minutes ago! If I had known how late it was going to be, I would have just taken her at the usual time and she would have been on time. We were ready in our entryway for an hour! Sarah was screaming for the van for a large portion of that time. I felt out of sorts for the whole day.

On the plus side, Sarah had vision therapy after having a break at home and she had a notably better experience. She also sometimes does some of the activities on her own at home, which is good because the notion that she would do any of them at my suggestion is laughable. When the therapists shows Sarah what to do and prompts her to do the same, Sarah easily and happily does it. When I suggest that we do one of the activities the idea is usually roundly rejected. This is why it is good to have multiple people involved in raising our little bear.

I have been enjoying reading good books. For many months I had books that I wasn’t really fully enjoying but wasn’t letting myself abandon and they gummed up the works because then I just didn’t read. Now I am flying through books and loving it. I just started reading Peter Nimble by Jonathan Auxier. I love it so much. There are some sentences that are somehow so perfect I just want to eat them and I am delighted to have a book this delicious. Why is it so hard to remember that I need good books the way I need good food and time with friends?

Monday and Wednesday were quite low-key when I was home with sick kids, then Thursday and Friday were quite packed. I haven’t seen so many clients in so few days for years! Not that it was a huge amount, but compared to my normal amount it was and it felt great. It was also a good reminder to up my Alexander game. When I only see one person every couple of days it is ok to sometimes be sloppy with my body mechanics. When I see 5 people in 2 days then I have to have good use or else I get myself all messed up in my own muscles. I had to do extra speaking to myself about using my legs because on Thursday afternoon I went on a very long walk so my legs didn’t think much of the idea of putting in more effort. 

My parenting win for the week was making individual omelettes last night for dinner. I hardly ever cook omelettes so I didn’t feel entirely confident. The filling was red pepper, bacon, and cheese (Daiya shreds for Sarah). They tried them! They liked them! They ate them! I will do this again! 

Anyway, I hope you are all well and warm and that no one has strep and that your buses are all on time.

January 7

It is really easy to have revelations and solve all of my problems when the problems are not present. I swear that I had everything figured out. I remembered that when the girls scream or resist (and I mostly mean Sarah here) then it doesn’t mean that I am a bad mom. I had plans for how I could playfully navigate around the tricky times. I was implementing the plans! And then I wasn’t. Then I was going under into tightness and needing to leave the house to get Amy from school and I had no space for Sarah’s increased and strong resistance and then I was yelling and feeling like a failure for not sticking with my plan and clear thinking. 

Then I had a good talk with my mom in which she gently reminded me about how this might be more of an involved inside job to clear my own stuff. Sometimes I don’t quite realize that I need to have a big cry about everything that has been feeling difficult/impossible/heartbreaking. So I did. I cried and cried. Then Sarah came in and climbed on my lap and gave me a kiss and said she would fill my snuggle tank. Then she was calm and helpful with dinner and only protested a tiny bit. Bedtime got a bit rough with the girls fighting in the bathroom and I was disappointed in my parenting again. While Carl read to the girls I had another good cry. I’m sure there is more to come. These things do accumulate. It is sort of like filling a bag of trash. Every once in a while you have to empty the can. Anyway, the beauty of all of this was remembering that sometimes I don’t have to have the answer. All I have to do is let myself feel the feelings that I have been trying not to feel. Often crying them out seems to solve things in some magical way. Possibly it is just that I have clearer and cleaner energy and the girls respond to it differently. (Wait, does this mean I can’t blame them and their stuff for my stuff?!?)

Now to back up...

Other adventures from the week include Amy coming in one night while I was cooking dinner and telling me in a panicked voice that she had put an eraser up her nose and it wouldn’t come out and that she didn’t know that was going to happen. I called Carl to discuss what I should do, imagining that I needed to take Amy to the emergency room right away. Luckily, while we talked Amy managed to blow the eraser out. I have never been so glad to see the product of someone’s nose blowing.

On Wednesday Sarah had vision therapy right after school. Sarah was upset about not going straight home and she was screaming a lot at the beginning. I was defensive about how I couldn’t get her to stop screaming. I was embarrassed that I was defensive. I was mad that she was screaming. I was thinking that if I were a better Son-Rise mom then I wouldn’t have been upset about her screaming and I would have taken her home. We slogged through. Once I was out of sight then she had a productive and easy time with the vision therapist. Then we went to get Amy, and Sarah would NOT get out of the car. I was very mad and worried about being late to get Amy. That did not feel like my best parenting moment. Anyway, for future weeks I will either have a different appointment time for Sarah or I will get her early from school so she has time at home first and/or I will have someone else get Amy. On the plus side, when we went to OT, Sarah wrote her name the best I have ever seen her do it. Once again, I feel that this is at least partially attributable to vision therapy. I think it is helping her connect her intent with her ability in a new way.

I did have a great parenting moment last weekend. Normally I have Carl do baths and hair with the girls because Sarah protests less. He was not around at the time that baths needed to happen. I predicted that Sarah would scream and protest. I did not want to do it. Then I thought about how much she loves sad faces so I decided that I would be the one having a hard time in a big playful and exaggerated way. I sat down with her and told her there was something I had to do that I really didn’t want to do. I wailed, “It’s too hard to do! I can’t do it!” She was laughing and loving it. Continuing in that vein, I carried her upstairs and got her into the tub. She only protested a little and she also repeated “it’s too hard to do” with great glee. While washing her hair I sang a Colonial-era song called “Paper of Pins.” I moved my sitting position back and forth to sing both parts. She loved it. That was a nice surprise because whenever I sing anything I never know if she will love it or tell me to "stop singing, please.” 

One of my Christmas presents was a cassette player! The most important reason that I wanted this was so I could play a tape of my dad’s stories and songs that he performed as as Colonial peddler. These are so deeply familiar to me and so much fun to hear. It was also exciting to see the girls’ reaction when they heard a bit of Granddad’s voice coming out of our music system. I also want to use this to brush up on the stories that I used to tell and that I think the girls will like. 

For Sarah’s birthday at the end of the month (EGAD she will be 10! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???), I am making a photo book for her of exaggerated sad faces. Sarah loves it so much when people make sad faces. She is always asking Carl to make a sad brow and she uses her hands to make it seem like he has a large sad mouth. Creating this book is one of the most fun things ever. 

Lots of love to all of you and whatever feelings you are feeling. Perhaps there is some profound lesson in how much love Sarah has for sadness. What if we gave our own sad selves that level of delight?

December 31

Christmas morning. 

Me: it’s too early to go downstairs. We can’t go down before 5. What time is it?

Amy: 4:45

Me: (laughing and laughing some more)

By 5:30 we were down stairs and by 7:30 we were done with Christmas morning. Naps and lunch were completed by 11:30.

One morning, Sarah was watching a show while Grandpa was in another room. She ran in to tell him that a character on the show was eating cheerios. How awesome that she wanted so much to share this information with him that she would get up in the middle of the show and find him and use his name and look at him to tell him this! As with so many things, we now take such beautiful social connection from Sarah for granted, but it really was something that we never knew for sure would happen. While I break it into parts for description’s sake, it often comes quite naturally and easily to her at this point for her to use a person’s name, look at them, and tell them something. It isn’t that she is thinking of what thing she needs to do next, it is just how she is. And sometimes such connection is seemingly impossible, which is why it is still notable when it happens.

Carl and Amy were building a lego structure on Christmas morning and Sarah joined them, becoming very excited about building the striped awning. For those of you who have walked with her anywhere you know her love of striped awnings and that she points them out everywhere all the time.

The girls received the Waterworks card game and Carl and Sarah were going to play. Sarah was very disappointed when she found out it was a card game rather than something with real pipes and water. Being his amazing self, Carl took her to Lowe’s and they came back with the works (ahem).

I am now completely off my headache medications and so far so good in terms of no actual major headaches, though the meds have probably only just left my system. I do still get whispers and I expect that may be how things are for a while. The most exciting aspect of this change is that I am now allowed to have grapefruit! I am still riding through the waves of panic, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night for any reason. I am worried both about the headaches returning and about then feeling stupid for coming off the meds too soon. Perhaps I could consider only worrying about the headaches. 

So many people have been expressing their dislike of 2016 as a whole. There are certainly things I wish I could change, but I just can’t actually feel mad at the year. From my perspective for our family, it has been an incredibly wonderful year. A year ago at around this time we were dealing with daily poop accidents that were interfering with Sarah’s schooling and the general joy of everyone in the family. We found out she was super impacted through her intestines and we fixed that. We are still certainly facing food questions about how to get her system fully, healthily functional so she doesn’t need miralax, but our daily life is so much better. Sarah finished kindergarten and we found her school for first grade. After months of worrying and feeling like the right school just didn’t exist, we found the right school, thanks to word of mouth and people being wonderful. She is thriving. She loves taking the school van. We started vision therapy and it seems to be the right thing to do. We have continued to be blessed by the time, attention, expertise, and love of all of the people in her life, from her volunteers to her sitters to her OT to her gymnastics teachers. Amy finished preschool and started kindergarten at a wonderful school in walking distance from our home, a school where we get to see a friend/sitter every day so I felt sure from day 1 that there was someone who loved her right there in the building. Amy is thriving, reading, writing, and loving school. She drew a picture of herself at school and wrote that it was her favorite place. Carl loves his work. I love my work and have gotten to do more teaching than in previous years. With every class I become a better teacher and massage therapist. My headache situation got so prolonged that it got my attention in a new way which led me to connecting with my wonderful Jenny-Rise MT. I found a place to volunteer giving free pregnancy massages to women who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them. It feels like the perfect fit. We survived transitioning from having Sonia with us full-time to having her move into other jobs and to having me take over running things without as much help. We have had wonderful visits with friends and family. I read good books. I stopped reading not-good books before finishing them. I still love Zumba. Life is just good. Hiccups, speed-bumps, panic, worry, self-doubt, uncertainty, mistakes and mis-steps all present, it is still good. There were so many wonderful things that I know I am forgetting to mention lots of them! There are many incredibly wonderful and loving people in the world. I am blessed to know all of you. 

December 24

Amy seems to have suddenly learned to read. I know it hasn’t been sudden in reality, but it still seems that way. She knocks my socks off just as much as Sarah does, even if I take it for granted that she will. Still. Wow. 

With her new sewing machine and Carl’s help, Sarah made a pair of pants! The only fabric I had was snail fabric so that is what she used and she made pants for Cookie Monster. I can barely stand the adorableness.

This week it was Amy’s turn to get strep throat. If Sarah hadn’t had it then I certainly wouldn’t have known anything was amiss with Amy. She barely seemed sick, but I recognized the rash and took her to the doctor. Luckily it was a day when it was easy for me to stay home without changing any plans. I have realized that for most of my appointments to happen on any given day I need to have 6 people/institutions functioning normally: the person I am meeting, me, Sarah, Amy, Sarah’s school, and Amy’s school (or daycare or sitters). No wonder I often see my plans flash before my eyes. Last week I benefited from the girls’ uncle A being available to hang out with Amy when her school was delayed due to the cold. This week I benefited from Grandpa being in town and available to help because Sarah’s school and daycare were both closed Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday I had a wonderful SR session. It had been a while since I’d been in the room and it felt so good to really connect and play with no distractions for an hour. We did a few rounds of giving each other kisses and saying “oh thank you!” and a few rounds of pretending to be sad or that our clothing was sad. We discussed what pants she wants and how she wants to go into the basement to open her Christmas presents now. (She already figured out that she could move the step-stool to the basement door to unlock it.) Then I started trying to sing songs and she kept playfully telling me not to. I would make a big playful deal out of it, especially about the varying amounts she would let me sing depending on the song. At one point I asked if I could sing about the color blue. She said yes so I sang the verse from “Jenny Jenkins” about blue. “Will you wear blue oh my dear oh my dear, will you wear blue Jenny Jenkins? No I won’t wear blue ‘cause the color’s too true. I’ll buy me a fauldy rauldy tildy tauldy seek a double ro—oll, Jenny Jenkins Roll!” (note: when I was little I thought the song was about socks. It is actually about a choice of wedding dress color). I worked my way through the colors and ended with the verse about “Now what do you care so I don’t go bare?” Sarah found that line so funny! I kept singing it over and over, helping her learn it. Then I wrote it on the white board wall and asked her to sing it. I love that she could be learning a new song and using her reading skills to help her. Now she is working on learning the lines about blue and she laughs so much she can barely get the words out. 


I had more amazing Jenny-Rise sessions this week. It is so deeply amazing to have the feeling that everything is going to be ok and that I can put down my concerns, fears, stresses, tears, planning, and thinking for an hour and really just be. I can let go of things I have been carrying for years. I can stop being scared of my headaches and of pain. It feels so deeply healing. I wish I could give this gift of healing to everyone everywhere. It is amazing to have someone who seems to find the cracks, boulders, and hiccups in my system as if they are drawn visibly, someone who can directly target them with either incredibly gentle work or with pressing hard and specifically on a trigger point that hurts like hell but offers freedom. It is the combination and the blend that always feels so right that there must be an instruction manual attached to me though I have yet to see it. There are also times when I don’t let myself let go. After a session with all of the amazingness just described then I usually freak out a bit and think that I can’t deserve such a gift and so then I’m not quite as much in the moment the next time. It is priceless to have J still be with me, fascial connection made, waiting. As soon as I had the thought that I could really let go and accept the gift of healing then, fwoop, my fascia and muscles let go and started to move. It was instant once I allowed it. It just took many many minutes for me to allow it as I moved through my thinking. I feel like this has profound meaning for how I live life in general. 

There are so many moments with my kids where I don’t fully allow whatever is happening to be ok. It might be that they are being noisy and playful and I just find it annoying. But, if I am in the SR room then I allow it all in a different way. I embrace it and go with it and then it feels so much better. I feel so much better. My intention going forward is to allow those moments, to let go into those moments more fully, to embrace them instead of holding some of me back in annoyance while trying to pretend otherwise. I want to let the annoyance go. Or if I can’t, then I want to move out of the situation more cleanly and clearly. (Admittedly, while I have been writing these words I have been more than happy to let Carl deal with the screaming children.)

Another experience that seems to have profound implications was when the girls and I made gingerbread cookies yesterday. I had promised them that we would so even though I didn’t particularly feel like it, I started the process. The kitchen was such a mess already that there wasn’t adequate space for everything. The dough didn’t quite cooperate at first so it took longer to be ready. The girls were impatient. It was not the completely easy and joyful experience I had hoped for or that I imagine happens in other houses where parents are more relaxed about mess and control than I am. But, we made the cookies anyway. They are yummy. They are beautiful. I muddled through. So even if I can’t always be the relaxed person I dream of and even if my kitchen is almost always a mess and even if the kids are impatient and even if the process wasn’t what I envisioned, we still did it. Maybe that is life. It isn’t always what we think it will be. We don’t always have the circumstances we think we need before embarking on a project. But we can do it anyway. It can yield results anyway. Have I ever been the perfect Son-Rise mom (in my estimation of what perfect would be)? Rarely. Have I still run a Son-Rise program from start to now ebbing evolving finish? Yes. Has Sarah been thriving more than she would have if we hadn’t done all that we have? Yes. Is my kitchen still a mess? Yes. The cookies are good. We are good. The kitchen and life are a mess, a beautiful mess, and it can all happen anyway even when I can’t control it all. Even if I can’t let go of everything and fully go with the flow. 

Last night before I had decided what to cook for dinner both kids assured me that they wouldn’t like it. Then they snarfed it. It’s nice when it goes that way.

I hope you all have happy holidays and snuggly warm rejuvenating moments. May we all sit with ourselves gently and kindly, accepting the gifts of love, friendship, and help that abound, even while we are surrounded by messes. 

December 17

You know you have a child with eating restrictions when a couple of hours before attending a birthday party you are hastily whipping up a batch of cupcakes so she will have something to eat at the party. I had been meaning to make them for days because I like to have them around as a relatively healthy treat. I kept putting it off because, well, I just didn’t feel like it. As soon as I realized that I needed them for the party I had a batch in the oven in 22 minutes. This was last Sunday. Unfortunately, then Sarah didn’t get to go because she had a fever. She didn’t want to eat or drink anything. Except a cupcake. That went down just fine. 

Both girls had school concerts on Monday but Sarah was home sick from school so missed hers. She seemed well enough to go to Amy’s concert so we were all able to attend, though Sarah spent the time asking to leave (until it was actually time to leave and then she wanted to stay and play with the chairs). Tuesday I sent Sarah to school because she seemed well enough, though she had a rash or hives of some sort all over starting Monday night. Given her skin sensitivity I wasn’t overly concerned, but I was puzzled. Then Tuesday night she told Carl that her ears felt like they were being squeezed like when she is on a plane. WOW. That is the clearest communication she has ever given us about what she is feeling in her body. So, to the doctor Wednesday…

Turns out she had scarlet fever. I had no idea that it is a kind of strep throat that comes with a rash. Sarah asked the doctor, “Can I wear your stethoscope?” and the doctor understood perfectly and let her wear it for a few minutes (and then cleaned it before using it herself).

This week seems full of people embodying my best intentions when I have trouble remembering them myself. On Tuesday the girls had dentist appointments and they are usually pretty easy. Luckily Sonia was available to help just like she used to. When we arrived Sarah was upset about various things. It was beautiful to watch Sonia in action again, being so creatively patient and calm in her explaining the situation to Sarah. A little later when it was Sarah’s turn to have her teeth cleaned, that did not go easily at all. My only guess is that it was due to Sarah being sick. What was beautiful was how patient and calm the hygienist M. was about the whole thing. She was the one saying that she didn’t want to force Sarah to do something Sarah didn’t want to do because she didn’t want Sarah to dislike the process in the future. Thank goodness for her wisdom because I was still feeling a bit anxious and like I needed to make it happen. Sometimes other people are my better self. 

I witnessed some beautiful Carl moments… It was bedtime and both girls were mad about it and didn’t want to go up to bed. I was thinking to myself, “I’ll show you mad…” Luckily Carl was in charge of bedtime. He asked the girls if they wanted a mad cat or mad bear ride upstairs. He then pretended to be such mad animals while carrying them upstairs as they giggled. 

I took Amy shopping for a new winter coat. She wanted something red. We went to Target. There was one red-ish coat in her size. She said she wanted it. We bought it. She wanted a treat at Starbucks. I got her a juice. Amy was very upset that I wouldn’t get her food because normally when we hit a Starbucks we also get food. I offered her an applesauce pouch or fruit bar. Nope. As we drove home she was crying about how she didn’t get anything she wanted and she didn’t like the coat. Awesome. After some calmer moments at home Carl looked at the new coat slated to be returned and suggested that he and Amy try to categorize the color by comparing it to other red and orange items in the family room. I am in awe of Carl’s ability to basically sidestep the emotions of the moment while still staying focused on the moment and somehow bringing in more connection and engagement with the kid(s). I did return the coat after all because I had seen some clothes I wanted to get for the girls for Christmas and had to go back on my own anyway. While I was there I found a coat we hadn’t seen before and it is the perfect Amy coat, covered in multi-colored triangles. Problem solved (for those of you who know Peg + Cat, cue the music).

Tuesday night with Sc….Sc brought presents for the girls. Sarah was disappointed they weren’t pants. Sc asked if she knew what one of the things was. Sarah didn’t so Sc told her it was a sewing machine. Sarah got a look of powerful understanding and said, “make pants!” The sewing machine needed batteries so Sarah asked for Sc to get the circuit board kit down because it had batteries. The sewing machine required a screw driver to open the battery compartment. Sarah said she needed Dad to come home. Sc said that happened at 7. Sarah went to the clock and moved the hands to be 7:00! What wonderful thinking she was doing. I am torn about her seeming to have this concept that Carl is the only one who can get her a screwdriver. This seems like a notion I should rectify in the name of women’s empowerment. On the other hand, I kind of like not needing to deal with certain things so leaving this misinformation in place could be rather handy. (She must not be remembering the times I have replaced the battery in her glow worm).

Sarah’s speech therapist at school wrote “Sarah came to speech with some of my 2nd graders. We played Christmas Bingo and Sarah was the “caller.” She named the pictures using a louder volume, clear speech (each syllable) & head up, looking at the other students. She did a very good job. I’m always amazed by her vocabulary!”

Sarah’s confidence and ability on the balance beams was very noticeably improved today compared to the past and that was even with no vision therapy session due to the scarlet fever.

Even with Sarah being sick I feel like this was a rather amazing and wonderful week. There is so much in the world that one can despair about, but it is endlessly rejuvenating to look at the people directly in my life because they are so deeply wonderful. I cannot help but conclude that people are amazing.