Societal Breakdown

Being the good Dutch girl that I am we took the kids to see the USS Silverside in Muskegon with the b1g1 free coupons we got from attending a free White Caps baseball game.  Then we decided to splurge and take the kids to McDonald's with b1g1 free coupons from the same game; of course ordering water to drink.  Since we were up there we then went to the beach in Grand Haven for about 3 hours to play in the sand, (another good Dutch girl move, go after 6 you can save money on sunscreen) then we caught the musical fountain.  Landon summarized the day perfectly as I was holding his little hand walking back to the car..... "This was such a fun day Mommy!"

But my "mommy" heart has been troubled lately.  Raising 3 boys into adulthood in today's crazy mixed up world is concerning to say the least.  Then a friend posted on FaceBook of her concerns over raising two of her boys, that are black, in today's screwed up world.  I can't get that post out of my mind.

So back to McDonalds and the breakdown of society; if your looking for a post on clean living please read someone else's blog.

We totally enjoyed our Bacon Mclub sandwiches, I thought it need more Big Mac sauce and pickles but for free I won't complain....anyway I asked Grayson to refill my water cup.  He came back to the table totally puzzled and very surprised.

You see a twenty-ish year old male was taking a drive through order outside to a waiting car, when he passed the drink station and saw Grayson filling my water cup, with water.  He told Grayson "Hey kid, fill your cup with pop, they don't care!"

Grayson came back to the table and told us what happened.  I wish I could convey his reactions as he retold this, the emotion, shock, and utter disbelief that someone would even consider doing such a thing.  It was same reaction he had when he learned of  someone, who is very dear to him, doing something very similar to this.

I have been pondering absolutes; moral, ethical, societal, personal, and biblical lately in relation to the upcoming 2016 presidential election, and the more recent shootings in Florida and Dallas. So I am going to talk about a few absolutes to start with.  Ready?

John Deere tractors are green.
Plants need water.
Roosters are noisy.
Licking a frozen pole hurts.
Bullets kill people.
People do answer questions.
Stealing is wrong.
Abortion is murder.
Breast feeding is best. Hillary Clinton should be in jail.
Pink camouflage is stupid.
Vaccines are not bad.
Antibiotics cause yeast infections.
French fries are not a vegetable.
Boys love dirt.
The Bible is infallible.
God is not dead, nor is he a myth.
Some people don't care what I am talking about and won't finish reading this post.

You get the idea.  Some of these you will have no trouble agreeing with me, others not so much And herein I feel is the root of the problem. What is an absolute? What is the criteria for deciding something is an absolute? Who decides which one is right and which one is wrong? Are there consequences for breaking an absolute? Why do we need them? Do we need them? Are absolutes truth? To be continued.......

Working again

Yikes, after almost 11 years, I am reentering the work force.  I am so torn.  Helping to pay the mounting bills will be a good thing.  Not hearing about 3 boys' day as they walk in the door after school and missing treasured time at the dinner table are some of things I am already mourning.

My dear friend Amber is a single Mom.  She gets ZERO help from her kid's dad.  She has worked 40 plus hours a week for years to provided for her children.  Missing out on many school functions that happen during the day.  She gets her children up sometimes at 4:30am just so she can go to work.  She has to mow the yard, do the laundry, cook, clean, doctor visits, figure out car and home repairs all ALONE.  She will stay up late so her kids can do the things that will help turn them into responsible young men.  Her children are well rounded, they are respectful, the are obedient, they are secure.  I admire her determination, her strength, her ability to cope, she is a strong strong woman!!!

I am slowly realizing how much I have taken these last 11 years for granteed.

I know her children will speak highly of her unselfish sacrifice when they become adults.  I can already hear the administration in their young voices when they speak of her.  

My hope is that eventually I will be free of my selfish attitude, that my sense of loss will be replaced with her positive, selfless attitude. 

 I want to be a Mom like Amber when I grow up.....

Neurologists update

Today we had our 6 month Neurologist appointment.

I got a big high five and a way to go for pushing them to do the genetic test.  Which in a way made me irritated.  If you notice something is wrong with your kid, pain, visible differences and the like wouldn't you, as a parent, pursue an answer?  I mean he complains a lot about his legs, he tremors like he has Parkinson's, walks like an old man.....  Who wouldn't push for answers?  Anyway...rant over.

I met with both the NP and the Doctor so they explained a lot of things and made connections to the 15q11.2 microdeletion.  Cognitively they think he is on track, as does school.  Both MRIs where negative for brain injury, CK numbers look great, so they don't think that muscular dystrophy is an issue.  His issues are the tremors, severe hypotonia, and gait abnormality. Which are not neurological in nature.  I asked again about Elhors-Danlos syndrome and they think not.  I still think maybe....He has many symptoms of ED except dislocations.  Because he has zero strength he hasn't done anything yet that would cause a dislocation; I feel that as he gains strength and muscle, becomes more confident and physically independent, dislocations could start.  (I got my MD certificate at Google.com, so I know these things.)

 Later this month he will be having an in depth Echocardiogram on his heart.  Seeing as the heart is a muscle and he has muscle issues.  Because of the 15q diagnosis they are confident that OT and PT will be covered by insurance!! Huge answer to pray here.  We need to keep an eye out for seizures.  If we think he has another one than video record it so they can see what we saw.  

Come back in 6 months and if everything is still statuesque, we can cross neurological visits off the calendar. 

The boys are so different as to how this 15q has affected them.  We talked in length about this too.  Where ever the deletion happened and the amount of missing information plays a huge role in the affects on the person.  Grayson can climb a tree like a monkey, Landon struggles to walk up steps, to Benjamin having ASD.  Landon's deletion has manifested itself in the muscles.  Benjamin through ASD and various learning disabilities, and Grayson through learning disabilities and his temperamental nature.  They also said that the boys could have gotten it from either or both of us.  So much for me being perfect!  

Mary Free Bed has him wearing his orthotics differently.  They feel that because he walks with his knees bent that his legs and knees are suffering.  Of course these are $1,500 orthotics that are less than a month old; so a follow up in 3 weeks to see if this fix helps.  If so we will bide our time till he outgrows this pair, then the next ones will be way higher on his legs forcing him to walk the correct way. 

 Time will tell.