Spina Bifida Moms My experiences as a disabled mom with spina bifida raising my healthy and active daughter Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 55 4299

Articles from Spina Bifida Moms

Mama Monday #76 2007-09-24 07:22:00 Theme: AimI am a short, tiny woman. I also have small feet that, because of my leg braces, require me to wear only flat (but not too flat) shoes.You need to know these things so that you can understand how difficult it is for me to find clothing and footwear for myself.(Hmmmm.... maybe that's why I don't ever crave shopping for myself - it's almost always a futile quest).But there is a family wedding coming up.... and there's my sorry collection of pants to deal with on a daily basis.... and Kohls does have a petite section. We'd be near Kohls anyway when we go on our date on Saturday night....Might as well give it a shot, then.Okay, so I did make my way to the petite section of the store. But it seems to me like they cater more toward the short-but-larger woman. I could find sizes P8-P18 with incredible ease. But my P2 size - nada(Yes, I too was shocked to see I was a P2. Last I knew I was a P4. But then I remembered that the clothing industry in general has been altering their s ...

Sweetie Saturday #75 2007-09-22 07:46:00 I'm happy to announce that Sweetie has gotten much better at Simon Says. It's now a rare instance where we can mix her up in the game.This past week she and I were playing and I used the opportunity to quiz her smarts.Simon Says, What's 2+2?4!Simon Says, how do you spell dog?D-O-G!This went on for a while, with me asking her basic intelligence questions appropriate for her age. But one answer that did kind of happily surprise me was when I asked her,Simon Says, name a country other than the United States.Without much pause, Sweetie excitedly answered,Thailand!(See there? Maybe we do talk about you guys a bit after all!)---------------------------------------------------Speaking (indirectly) of my far-off cousins, my aunt and uncle from Georgia (my cousin's parents) came for a brief visit earlier this week. How wonderful to get to see them again!Sweetie has met my aunt and uncle before, but that was about 2 years ago. So, in preparation for their visit, Hubby and I went over with Sw ...

Mystery Bloggeter 2007 2007-09-19 20:37:00 Blah. Blah, blah, blah. I'm feeling blah. And glandular. And yucky. Don't want to feel yucky! Yuck.So tonight, instead of a funny and/or thought provoking essay on life in general, you're getting funny and/or thought provoking pictures:Do you know what this is?How about this?Go ahead and give me your best guesses. Maybe I'll pick a winner to win.... something. Or, maybe not. Yeah. Probably not. Cuz, really, it's not all that difficult to figure out what these things are, if you ask me. But still...Guess. Or not. I don't care.Ugh. Yucky, stinkin' glands. ...

Mama Monday #75 2007-09-17 08:00:00 Theme: RespectThis is a really awesome book and a wonderful activity-&-information0-filled website. It's marketed as a place for kids with spina bifida to go to learn and grow. But I really think it's a great site for any child - disabled or not - to visit.Teaching all kids everywhere to respect the differences of others and to not be afraid of those potential friends who may look, act, or move around a little differently than themselves. How cool is that?! ...

Rejoice, Reflect.... Relax 2007-09-16 09:08:00 Friends - today is the day!Today is the day to Rejoice, for we have been sent word of a wonderful new website - Disaboom.com. A website aimed at disabled adults seeking information, support, and friendship. The site is up and running already with a ton of interesting articles, blogs (like mine!) and communities. By the end of September it will make its official premier and be a true thing of beauty. Disaboom.com - Transforming the way people living with disabilities communicate.Today is the day to Reflect. For, as a member of the Disaboom blogging community, I am presented with the perfect opportunity to sit back and remember all the things that got me to who I am today - the loving and capable mama (who happens to have spina bifida) of my healthy and active Sweetie.See, here at Sweetie & Me, I'm mainly writing about the here and now. And the reality of that is moving much more toward plain ol' "mom stuff" and somewhat away from the "disabled" mom stuff. Yes, of course my spina b ...

Sweetie Saturday #74 2007-09-15 07:36:00 Sweetie's big thing to work on these days (so sayeth her parents) is Listening. Ugh! How the stubborn child doth like to fight and ignore... ignore and fight! All the live long day.To try to teach her about listening in a fun and interactive way, she, Daddy and I played Simon Says last weekend. (well - Daddy and I called out the commands while Sweetie tried to keep up with us).Long story short - Simon Says did not go so well. She didn't listen close enough to hear if Simon really told her to do something or not. It actually may have been partially our faults, though. I think we may have given too many Simon Says commands in a row before finally throwing one in without the necessary prefacing words.At one point I was so fed up with her just not getting it that I found myself being short with her, saying....Sweetie, this is not a ga......! I mean. I know we're playing a game here, but we're also trying to teach you something. You need to listen much better to hear whether or not Simo ...

Help!... No, Wait. Don't. Or Do, I Guess - If You Want. Oh, I Don't Know - I'm So Confused! 2007-09-12 21:01:00 One morning while in Hershey, we went outside our hotel to catch the shuttle bus to Hershey Park. And we were surprised to see a really. long. line.Oy!Admittedly, we were lucky the previous times we'd used this service - getting to the pick up/drop off spot just in time to hop on the bus before it took off for its destination. Perfect timing! But not this go-round. No sir.Having read the large sign in the entranceway of our hotel, we knew that the shuttle came by every 30-40 minutes. So who knew if we were joining the line close to the arrival of the next bus or just after the last bus took off? We'd just have to wait and see.At any rate, from our far back position in the line, we figured that even when that next bus showed up, we wouldn't make it on anyway.And we were right.Oh well - we'll get on the next one for sure.Grumblings and kvetching continued all around us, but Hubby and I just stood and waited. And Sweetie was surprisingly patient as she quietly stood and waited with us ...

Mama Monday #74 2007-09-10 08:45:00 Theme: AmbivalenceOne behavior of mine that I'm none too fond of (although I tend to think most moms do the same thing) is this - upon hearing the "wondrous" milestone-surpassing achievements of nearly any child, I - somewhat completely beyond my control - feel I MUST put in my own two cents about the wondrous milestone-surpassing achievements of my Sweetie. That is - I act completely ambivalent and unimpressed with whatever the other child's skill is and am all, like, Oh, Sweetie does that/did that too. In fact, most kids I've seen about that age can do that. It's not really so amazing - except, you know, it IS amazing that Sweetie can do it. But not your kid. Psssshhh. Whatever.Ummmm. That's bad, huh? Not very nice of me, right? But - on the other hand (come on, you can admit it) - it's so totally true!I think moms (well, parents in general) absolutely pull out all the stops when discussing their kids with each other. - Oh, Tommy could read at 2 1/2 years old! - My, that's ama ...

Hubby Sunday - Special Edition 2007-09-09 13:58:00 You know, they say its too expensive these days to have kids. But it's so worth it to not always have to go upstairs yourself.(said after sending an eager Sweetie up to turn on the A/C in her room). ...

Sweetie Saturday #73 - Multi Media Sweetie Edition 2007-09-08 08:04:00 Ummm..... I don't think it's much of a secret that Sweetie watches more than her fair share of T.V. At home on the weekends we try to fill our days with other activities. But evenings and Nana Days seem to have a lot to do with all things T.V., videos and the like.So of course, for the last 3 weeks or so, Sweetie has been asking me almost every day,When is Labor Day, Mama?Why? Because that's when the "all new" kids shows start on our local public TV stations.Sweetie, in fact, had been so excited for Labor Day to finally get here that I once asked her (jokingly)...Is Labor Day your favorite holiday?And she answered (seriously and enthusiastically)...Yes! Because all the new kids shows start!Come last Monday when the Big Day had arrived, Sweetie happily watched all the great programs - Super Why, Word World and new episodes of Curious George.Looking at my happy, learning-curious little girl, I leaned over to give her a kiss.Happy Labor Day, Sweetie.Happy Labor Day, Mama - as I got a s ...

Lots and Lots of Not Very Much 2007-09-05 21:09:00 Uhhhh.... so..... it's Wednesday already, huh? That's nice. I guess to many of you it feels like a short week, what with the holiday and all. But not me - I have Mondays off from work anyway, and I took my Labor Day holiday off from work last Thursday. So this week is just same ol', same ol' to me. Bummer.So... can't really think of anything to post about tonight. And believe me, I've been trying to come up with something.Oh! I could write a funny post about how I think all my aches and pains and medical annoyances and life-in-general-hassles are related to spina bifda. Yeah! They've just gotta be, right? Well, no.I could write about the back and forth discussions Hubby and I have been having over the last few weeks about what to do with Sweetie and her education for the next two years. Does she move up now to the next level at her private day care center, thus solidifying the decision that she must go to public kindergarten next year? Or do we have her repeat the Pre-K program, ...

Mama Monday #73 2007-09-03 09:10:00 Theme: LullabyHmmmmm..... of all the themes to trip me up, who'd have thought that it would be this one?We all love music so much - especially Sweetie. It's so funny to hear her singing along to the radio (pretty accurately, too) and/or coming up with her own little ditties. She's such a dramatic little performer that, once she reaches the proper age, Hubby and I are definitely going to get her into some local children's theater.But calming songs - lullabies - now that's not something Sweetie's interested in. At least not these days.As I know I've mentioned here before, there used to be a song I'd sing to Sweetie when she was an infant. And this song would, without fail, calm her down and lull my over-stimulated babe to sleep. It worked like a charm - as long as I was the one singing it.This was a song Hubby had learned while he studied in France. A friend of his there would play it on the guitar. Hubby liked it so much that he taught me a small portion of the lyrics (since, as ...

Of W(h)ine and Song 2007-09-02 09:12:00 Did someone, somewhere decree that all Sundays are now International Whining Day? Or maybe it's a newly declared American holiday. No? Oh. Okay, then. I guess it's only a "special" day for we three fortunate folks in the House of Sweetie and Me. All I know is that Sweetie sure knows how to do it up right - Every. Single. Sunday.Ugh.Anywho, enough about the whine. Moving on to the wine! (and this time, some not associated with The Traveling Vineyard - although, if I had my druthers, they absolutely would be).Yesterday we hosted Nana and Papa for dinner. This, in exchange for their decorating sense (Nana's) and brawn (Papa's) while we produced our own version of FreeStyle for our living and dining room areas. The rooms now look great and our evening meal together, while meager, was tasty nonetheless.Before the turkey burgers and chips were served, mom and I toasted our furniture-rearranging-successes with a bottle of Root:1 Sauvignon Blanc, 2006 from the Root:1 Winery. (well, I pers ...

Sweetie's Big Adventure 2007-08-29 20:14:00 So, what to say, what to say? I feel like I could write several posts about our trip. One just about the traveling. One about the amusement park. Another about the water park. One about the hotel and staff. Something about the food. One about Milton Hershey and his company in general. Of course a huge ode to Hubby for his supreme awesomeness (what with all the driving, lugging, and putting up with 2 tired girls and all). Etc., etc., etc... All, of course, with plenty of pictures.Alas, if I were to do all of that you'd all be in for one loooonnnngggg post. The internet version of the dreaded vacation slide show presentation.With that in mind, I'll do my best to sum it all up as efficiently, and as interestingly, as possible. (still with a ton 'o pictures, though. Sorry).As I mentioned in my last post, our car trip was really pretty good. It helped that, in addition to the towel, activity books, and blanket, we also had these things to keep us all entertained:Lots of great music.Fun c ...

Mama Monday #72 - A Day Late 2007-08-28 20:33:00 Theme: CooperationAaaannnndddd.... she's back!Sorry about that. We've been away for a mini vacation. But now we're home. Exhausted. But home.How appropriate it is that Cooperation is this week's MSO theme. Because Sweetie was oh so cooperative during the majority of our trip to and from Chocolate Town. Really! I'm not even being a little bit sarcastic. She honestly was, by and large, just great! (of course she was - she's Sweetie!)Nine hours in the car going to Hershey. Seven and a half hours coming back (40 less miles cuz we didn't miss any signage - as we did on the way down - sending us on a detour through the PA cornfields and back roads). And Sweetie hardly peeped at all. She was the epitome of cooperation and loveliness.In fact, one time we complimented her - about half way home - telling her how proud we were of her behaving so well during the long car ride. And that sent her off into a mini whine-fest about how long it was taking. But even this was resolved with a little ...