This weekend started out great. Saturday morning we went to a restaurant called Doppio Zero for breakfast. Crazy Little Man and Lovely Little Girl had the sniffles earlier in the week, but both seemed to be doing ok. They both ate two pancakes and some fruit, and seemed to be doing fine. We decided to go and see about buy LLG more clothes, since she's already started to grow out of the ones we bought less than a month ago.
About 20 minutes after eating, CLM started saying his tummy hurt. He got in one of the shopping carts we had, and sat down. He would occasionally mention again about his stomach, but seemed ok. Then, as we were paying, the sickness came all at once. Lovely English Lass kept him from getting it all over the place, but he wasn't feeling well. As we cleaned up (thank goodness for wet wipes, right?) the woman paying next to us, but not DIRECTLY next to us, looked at CLM and family as if we'd done it on purpose. Believe me, if he could have been weaponized for sick, I would have done it right there with that woman.
We finally got him home, after a delay at the register. (Not sick related, Hello Kitty related. They couldn't find the price tag on a pair of slipper socks.) When we got home, CLM asked if he could go take a nap. At 10 am. He definitely wasn't feeling it. Right before he got into bed, he got sick again.
This was the pattern for all of Saturday. We counted 10 times in all for little man to be ill. Each time he'd rebound afterwards and feel much better, only to later get sick again.
Now, there is nothing worse than when your child is ill. And CLM is one of the saddest little people when he gets sick. He looks and acts like it's the end of the world and begs to be cuddled. (And if you can say no to the little voice with the pathetic look on his face, you're a more stoic person than I.)
Hopefully he'll be ok. Yesterday he was fine, but this morning he's gotten clingy again. Hopefully this bug runs its course quickly because I hate seeing him like this. I want him happy and crazy. At least until he does something like hit his sister with a golf club or something. But that's a whole different sort of story.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
"How can you blend in when you were meant to stand out?"
The above title for this blog post is a tag line for a book my wife is reading. It's called, Wonder and it's about a boy that has a disfigured face. Lovely English Lass loved the tag line, and said it definitely fit with our little girl. In fact we're thinking of having it made into a piece of art as it fits our family well.
It's been a tough one for Lovely Little Girl these past few weeks. Well, not for her, but for her Mummy and I about her. Her peanut allergy has gotten VERY bad, and so we're trying to make sure she realizes she can't eat them. We've also included regular nuts as well, as she's allergic to them too. (Not as bad as the peanut one though.) When we go to the store and pass the rack with the peanuts, we always ask: "Can you eat peanuts?" Crazy Little Man always answers, "NO!" LLG will answer no probably 80% of the time. However, that 20% worries LEL.
Then LLG went to the doctor for more blood work, and the doctor took her measurements, and said we needed to test her for abnormal growth hormone level in her blood. We knew she was tall, but thought maybe she was about the size of a 7 year old. Nope. Turns out, she's still off the charts for an 8 year old, and taller than average for a 9 year old. May I remind you that she's 5. Turns out she doesn't have anything wrong with her pituitary, which is a relief.
Lastly, we found out that yet another remedial school here decided that they couldn't take my lovely daughter. But not before charging us about $500 to test her to make sure they couldn't. She was sick for one of those days, and the tester said they couldn't use the results to form an opinion on her. So, basically we paid them to say no to us, and my wife wasted two mornings with this. I'm sure they could have done this over the phone. As we were leaving, the tester asked us to keep them informed on how we were doing with LLG and her schooling. When I reached the parking lot, out of earshot, with LEL I said: "Not Bloody Likely."
What I don't understand is why they want my daughter, who is not only special needs, but special in a way all her own, to blend in? Is it like the old Japanese proverb: Deru Kui Ga - The Stake that Sticks Up Gets Hammered Down. Come on now! As I've said before, my daughter is incredibly smart (and I might be biased, but not much). Just because she needs a little help doesn't mean that she can't do it. She has to be kept focused, and the way to do that is with more help, not turning her down. Give her a chance! The fact is, Lovely Little Girl can't blend in at all. She's almost 4 1/2 feet tall. She is on the Autism Spectrum, and she is her own crazy little self. She was meant to stand out, not blend in. What we need is someone to recognize the uniqueness in my daughter and nurture it.
Hopefully it'll happen. Last week, right before this school turned us down, the American School here in Johannesburg said they'd take LLG on a trial period to see if she can indeed handle the rigours of mainstream school. They want to ease her into the school, and also give her an aide ot help her with school work. We're still going to look for back-up schools in case it doesn't work. However, when speaking with the woman from AISJ, she said she hoped it worked, because "LLG is such a lovely little girl that has so much to offer."
Sometimes you just can't help but stand out. Maybe LLG is so tall because God wanted to make sure everyone noticed her early on so we can keep an eye out for what she's going to do in the future.
It's been a tough one for Lovely Little Girl these past few weeks. Well, not for her, but for her Mummy and I about her. Her peanut allergy has gotten VERY bad, and so we're trying to make sure she realizes she can't eat them. We've also included regular nuts as well, as she's allergic to them too. (Not as bad as the peanut one though.) When we go to the store and pass the rack with the peanuts, we always ask: "Can you eat peanuts?" Crazy Little Man always answers, "NO!" LLG will answer no probably 80% of the time. However, that 20% worries LEL.
Then LLG went to the doctor for more blood work, and the doctor took her measurements, and said we needed to test her for abnormal growth hormone level in her blood. We knew she was tall, but thought maybe she was about the size of a 7 year old. Nope. Turns out, she's still off the charts for an 8 year old, and taller than average for a 9 year old. May I remind you that she's 5. Turns out she doesn't have anything wrong with her pituitary, which is a relief.
Lastly, we found out that yet another remedial school here decided that they couldn't take my lovely daughter. But not before charging us about $500 to test her to make sure they couldn't. She was sick for one of those days, and the tester said they couldn't use the results to form an opinion on her. So, basically we paid them to say no to us, and my wife wasted two mornings with this. I'm sure they could have done this over the phone. As we were leaving, the tester asked us to keep them informed on how we were doing with LLG and her schooling. When I reached the parking lot, out of earshot, with LEL I said: "Not Bloody Likely."
What I don't understand is why they want my daughter, who is not only special needs, but special in a way all her own, to blend in? Is it like the old Japanese proverb: Deru Kui Ga - The Stake that Sticks Up Gets Hammered Down. Come on now! As I've said before, my daughter is incredibly smart (and I might be biased, but not much). Just because she needs a little help doesn't mean that she can't do it. She has to be kept focused, and the way to do that is with more help, not turning her down. Give her a chance! The fact is, Lovely Little Girl can't blend in at all. She's almost 4 1/2 feet tall. She is on the Autism Spectrum, and she is her own crazy little self. She was meant to stand out, not blend in. What we need is someone to recognize the uniqueness in my daughter and nurture it.
Hopefully it'll happen. Last week, right before this school turned us down, the American School here in Johannesburg said they'd take LLG on a trial period to see if she can indeed handle the rigours of mainstream school. They want to ease her into the school, and also give her an aide ot help her with school work. We're still going to look for back-up schools in case it doesn't work. However, when speaking with the woman from AISJ, she said she hoped it worked, because "LLG is such a lovely little girl that has so much to offer."
Sometimes you just can't help but stand out. Maybe LLG is so tall because God wanted to make sure everyone noticed her early on so we can keep an eye out for what she's going to do in the future.
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