All parents know things seldom turn out the way we planned, and this week so far has reinforced this concept. It was my well-orchestrated, completely-planned idea on Monday to attend a big meeting with all of the State of Alaska Bring the Kids Home folks, behavioral health providers, and parents of children in the out-of-state system. But as happens sometimes, and as an unintended reminder to me that other people need my attention, I did not go.
Yukon and I were awakened at 1 a.m. Monday morning by the heart-stopping, attention-grabbing "Mommmyyyyy" call from Bear. An earache the likes of which I had never seen before had gripped my youngest in a torturous sort of misery that subsequently kept he, and us, awake until almost 4:30 a.m. No way I was going to send him to preschool and his friend's house, even though he tried his best to convince me he was "just fine". Not. Yukon and I didn't feel fine, and we didn't have an earache or fever. We just felt hung over in that "morning-after" sort of way the only comes from having a sick child toss and turn and kick you in the stomach hour after hour, and in your own bed to boot.
So, I did not attend the meeting, and barely made it to my telephone and email to inform all the principle parties of my regrets. But something else was brought to my attention as well; the need to remember that our child with the disability cannot and should not be center stage all the time. Yukon and I need to remember the delicate balance that exists between our two children and their individual needs, and act accordingly.
It all worked out okay; I had another parent report back to me, Ms. M gave me the scoop from the State's perspective, and I was able to send my thoughts via email. I had been focusing my attention solely on this one day, and I truly feel as if I was given a little wake-up call to bring me back to reality.
We all need that, sometimes, don't we?
1 comment:
Here's to balanced parenting...may we all have a steady center to our lives.
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