Saturday, April 05, 2008

A Long Day Ahead!

Oh Brother! It's going to be a long day here -probably filled with a lot of crying, moaning, whining and wailing. Most of it will be coming from Maya but you might find me off, sitting in a corner someplace, pulling my hair out, one strand at a time and whimpering.

Why?

Because Mandy left for work this morning before Maya was up and moving around. That was the game plan as she thought it might work easier for me to manage her that way.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men though, don't 'cha? Well, Maya happened to be awake, upstairs, and just happened to see out the window in her room as Mandy's car pulled away from the house and started off up the street on her way to work. I was still half-asleep but I heard her upstairs and the crying had begun.

It took a good hour -close to 90 minutes actually - of her crying, screaming, some kicking was involved too here and there as well as a couple of times when she was hitting at my while I was trying to hold her, get her soothed, calmed down a bit, before she finally quieted and agreed to have some breakfast.

I let her choose her special pink princess cereal bowl, as well as what type of cereal she wanted - "Special K" was the item du jour -and she was very sweet, cooperative -got the milk out of the fridge for me -sat down at the table and chowed all the cereal I'd given her. I asked her when she finished if she'd like a banana and she happily agreed to that too. Peeled it and gave it to her and now, full belly and all ya know, well now, she full of piss and vinegar, chasing Jorge the cat around the house.

The little guy is also awake now - quiet, watching cartoons and commercials on tv for the moment -but shortly I'm sure, he'll realize there's a gnawing in his tummy and will be hollering for some food!

And I'm gonna try to work on the next "autism awareness" installment I have written but haven't done any photo selections for it as yet plus trying to get completely caught up - if I'm lucky -on reading blogs. I'm a little bit behind right now on that job.

And while doing that, I have to try to figure something out to fix for supper, do a little more work on a baby blanket I'm crocheting (have it about half finished now) and maybe, just maybe, I'll even manage to finish reading the new book I got this week - the latest one out by Jodi Picoult - "Change of Heart." Anyone else had a chance to read it yet? I'm within reach of completely it today - only have about 10-15 pages at most left to read. (Terri-Terri - have you read it yet?)

I have a check her too for another person who has agreed to walk with us next Saturday in the Penn State 3K Walk and 5K Race over in State College to benefit Autism Speaks as well as a very nice donation that was dropped off at the house yesterday from a couple who are old school days friends of mine. Our donations have been running very good -we reached our first goal of $500 to qualify us for a matching grant from Thrivent last week -so between our donations and that grant, we actually have a little over $1,900 for our team. Only need another $150 now to match what we accumulated last year and I'd really love to go over that goal between now and next Saturday -if it is at all possible.

If you'd like to help us surpass our goal, here's the link to the website where you can make a donation to our team online -or you can mail it in directly to Autism Speaks too if that works better for you. Just click on the link here below and once that page opens, scroll to the bottom of the page and on the right hand side, click on the link that says "Search for a Team." Go to page 2 on the team listing site and our team -"WE ARE for Kurt and Maya" is the second one from the bottom of that page. Simply click on the word "View" by our team name and it will take you directly to the area where you can make a donation online. Thanks to many of my blogger friends, who have donated to our team, we are as far ahead this year as we are already. It's fantastic, truly it is, to see the support so many of you have given to us! If you'd like to help us more, just spread the word by copying this paragraph and the url and post it to your blog -give us a plug that way -or e-mail it to other friends and family of yours too. Every little bit we get sure will help us now and will help provide funds for research into the cause of autism as well as helping find better ways to enable parents and educators to assist people with autism to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to lead a successful and happy life.

http://events.autismspeaks.org/site/c.jvKSL7MTIwG/b.3884743/

11 comments:

Jeff B said...

How fortunate that little girl is to have such a patient and loving grandma to help her. she may not be able to fully express that to you at her age, but know that your sacrifice will pay huge dividends in her future!

Mary said...

Jeni,

I'm sorry you had such a difficult start to your morning. If Maya is used to seeing her mother before she goes to work, I can see why she would have a meltdown and be acting out. Children on the autism spectrum dislike any change in their routine. It is better to keep things constant. All children suffer from separation anxiety and Maya has that to cope with and also a change in her routine.

I'm so glad to meet you and happy to know that you enjoyed my post on autism.

I clicked on your link to search out your team for the Autism Speaks walk, but got an error page. I'm not sure if the link is bad or if the site is just really busy. I will try again later.

Blessings for a great weekend.
Mary

Mary said...

PS. I love your blogging mentor awards. Congratulations!!

Jeni said...

I checked out that link above as well as another one directly through the Autism Speaks site and neither of them were currently working. I notified one of the directors at Autism Speaks about this problem so hopefully, they will get my message and get it corrected quickly!

Rick Rockhill said...

I think its great that there is so much awareness on Autism this month- its everywhere I look. More people need to know about the facts around it.

Smalltown RN said...

oh yes it does sound like you will have a very full day...but it sounds to me like you are up for the challenge.....

I have been meaning to comment to you about Autism....this week while I was watching the news it was brought to my attention that not only is it Autism Awareness month but it was International Autism day this past week...and with that we were provided with some startling statistics....here are some of the things I found out....

In Canada in 1943 1 in 40,000 would be diagnosed with autism by 1953 that number grew to 1 in 20,000....by 2007 the number was a shocking 1 in 250...and they predict that by 2013 the number will be 1 in 7...those numbers are alarming if you ask me....as you are well aware there are varying levels of Autism and some are higher functioning than others...if these numbers continue to grew which it appears they will...the financial implications on the families and the system will be outrageous...I look forward to reading more about Autism in your next installment.....

BTW, thank you for your very kind comments on my blog today.....cheers....and I hope you don't get to tuckered out today....

Celebration of Life said...

Jeni,
Thanks for stopping by my blog and your comment. Come back and see me again, sometime.
Jo

Linda said...

Just popped in to see how it was going and if you had any hair left or if it was all in a pile by your feet!

Travis Cody said...

Well you got off to a rough start, but it sounds like your patience paid off.

Debo Blue said...

Hi Jeni!

If anyone could have gotten everything done you're the woman to do it.

Sandi McBride said...

Oh Jeni, just reading about your day wore me out...I may have to go have a lie down. And of course Mandy knows and appreciates all you do for her!!! Just hug Jorge tight and let him know the little one will soon grow and be able to chase him all the more, lol~!
hugs
Sandi