Schooldays

Hot topics in my Facebook circles:
Sexual identity
Autism and its portrayal on television
Self care

So here I will say: I think the androgynous “Barbie” doll is brilliant. My girls have been confused by the way the boys’ toy aisle is green and black and full of fighting toys and the girls’ toy aisle is all pink and makeup-related toys. I’m always going up-current to tell them, “Girls are all different. Different interests, different strengths, different opinions!” I actually avoid toy aisles when I can, because the marketing pushes them to conform to one version of girl and they just don’t all fit. It creates unhappiness and discontent. Unlike. A doll that is more androgynous is great for this. When it comes to the LGBTQ+ issues, I don’t have a strong/firm belief about what is write or wrong. (80% of my Christian friends can gasp now!) I do have a strong opinion, though… don’t worry. Wait for it? I believe we should love each other. And I certainly don’t believe we should villify or condemn any “sin” over another. I am really uncomfortable calling LGBTQetcetera behaviors sin, though, because it’s not like it’s a chosen difference in brain/body chemistry. There are loads of intersex traits that have caused infanticide and abandonment for ages. Should those people abstain from marriage? What’s God’s heart on this matter? Anyway. I’m not digging into the Biblical or historical context for this debate, because I just don’t have time. For now, I will settle for loving and welcoming everybody, no matter their gender status.

Autism is not all high functioning. Autism is not always a superpower. Autism is not always a sort of “next step of evolution.” Autism can not usually be altered or cured. Nope. Those things are true for a fraction of the autism community. So it’s great to be aware of those differences and celebrate them. But, it is a disservice to the rest of the autism community to guide the public’s opinion into thinking that it’s “what autism is.” For many, many, many people, autism is a disability that cripples and harms and just generally sucks. We learn to live with the limitations and we find ways to survive and even thrive… but it will never look like The Good Doctor or Forrest Gump. That’s all.

Self care. It’s come to our attention that my personal self care regimen needed serious beefing. That, or I wouldn’t be able to sustain this mothering business with any semblance of mental health. Anyway – it’s taken a lot of planning and intentional prioritizing, but I feel like we’re off to a really good start this fall. For me, self care looks like eating, scheduling medical or therapeutic care for myself, self patience, exercise, and drinking more water. And resting. And leaving the house regularly. Three days a week, I leave the house for a few hours with kids to take them to lessons (art, ballet, taekwondo). I also have one additional day each week where I leave the house ALONE for 2-5 hours to run errands, go for a walk, or eat sushi. I go on Saturday and Brian goes on Sunday. It’s hard to trade off like that, but the reward has been worth the cost. Anyway – I’m too tired to write more. This blog has a million pictures and it’s taking too long. I’m drinking coffee and lying down for a bit.

School has started! And extra curricular activities! And while in day-to-day brain-space, I struggle to think beyond the moment or the hour, when I look back on photos, we’ve had a pretty spectacular August and September! I’ll upload and caption some photos for remembering by.

Love you! Don’t hate my conservative-liberal Christian self, k?

Hiking food!

All the girls have cooking projects associated with their skill levels. Anna made banana cream pie with meringue. YUM.

Maggie made french toast!

Daniel was talking a mile a minute yesterday morning. I encouraged him to call Grandpa… which he happily agreed to!

Captain before getting another buzz cut.

Wonderful family turnout for Carrie’s 7th birthday!

Daniel (100% tube fed) wanted to play with the cake.

My lovely 7-year-old.

Birthday moments.

Maggie made “monster fruit” for one of her cooking projects.

Maggie made “monster sandwiches” for a cooking project too.

Fifth grader!!!

1st grader! (pre-school level schooling)

4th grader!

Preferred pose.

1st grader!

A SEVENTH grader!? What happened to my babies!?

Cute things happen when the kids have my camera.

Sunny days.

Before we left the lid off during the rain recently. Oops.

The grass is now green again! Just a couple weeks of rain and it’s all back.

Love these dogs.

A moment’s respite in the garden with my honey.

Spending some time in the shade of our fruit trees.

Love

Daniel is wearing an eye patch on alternating eyes to address some vision concerns.

“Exotropia is a type of strabismus, which is a misalignment of the eyes. Exotropia is a condition in which one or both eyes turn outward away from the nose. It’s the opposite of crossed eyes.” Taking turns with eye patching will hopefully strengthen each eye.

A sweet moment this morning.

My oldest and my youngest.

Taking the schoolbooks outside.

Jordan after going for a walk… time to throw a bit of gravel!

Carrie says that she prefers sparring with short people, because it’s hard to reach above the belt with adults!

Sparring practice at taekwondo.

Maggie’s turn to spar with the high level black belt.

We’re learning fast, but there is a lot to learn.

I sat out of sparring this day to aid in the recovery from a cold virus.

This is what I do when I take myself out for lunch.

We were trying to film a congratulations video for Neal and Stephanie at their wedding.

Jordan at the pediatrician appointment. He does not like doctors. He coped really well… made it through without a complete crash.

Saying farewell to a special day at the beach.

My friend and I got to spend ALL DAY without kids at the beach to rest and restore.

Our pretty house after new exterior paint.

A sweet moment on a tired evening.

Daniel did a long evaluation for both speech and occupational therapy. This was at speech. We get to start in-home therapy soon!

My silly Maggie.

Brian’s been going on backpacking trips – just little 1-3 mile ones lately. This time, they stayed overnight!

Camp!

Creek!

They’ve had fun learning about and shopping for used hiking gear.

My sister and I got to go out to dinner with my big brother!

Anna had her vision checked.

Scary painter maneuvers… it’s two stories down!

Our dogs ran away in a spectacular thunderstorm! They were found nearby, soaked and limping. Such a relief to get them home. They were nervous for a few weeks after, but seem to be settling again.