Bye-Bye Mealyworm's Tonsils

Tonsils were out by 8:15am. After she woke up from surgery she looked at me a little surprised and said in hoarse whisper, "Mom, it hurts. Put my tonsils back in." Awwww, poor little cutie. But she's hanging in there. She loves orange Popsicles.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! From the Isaacs Family

A reason to cringe

Seriously, someone posted this on Facebook and it has actually been "shared" 5,500+ times...gag me with a spoon.
I can think of a thousand ways to finish this statement better than the one in the picture.
Here's the first 10 in no particular order:

If we don't teach our children to follow Christ....
#1 they can make the choice that is right for them when they are ready.
#2 they may choose to act kindly for no better reason than because it makes them feel good.
#3 our children may grow up to decide for themselves what fills them spiritually.
#4 they may choose to follow Buddha, or become Muslim, or practice Wicca, or "practice" no formal religion whatsoever and still lead healthy spiritual lives.
#5 when they lay down to sleep at night, instead of reciting a rote memory bible verse, they may actually reflect upon the day and share hopes for tomorrow.
#6 our children may thank us later.
#7 they might discover it themselves when they are actually interested.
#8 we open up their opportunities to discover new religions.
#9 we give them the respect to define their own path.
#10 we avoid feeding them a lot of bullshit.

The Orange Rhino

panda. sweet panda is learning how to react.  how to anticipate.  how to predict the outcome.  but she is often surprised by my response.  and her tears come and her strong little person voice comes out and says..."i didn't know that would make you mad".  "please don't yell mommy, i did not know that".  whether it is playing with my makeup in the bathroom, spilling water all over the floor in the kitchen and just walking away, throwing "the family owls" down the front steps and leaving them, etc.  her innocence is pure.  yes, she should know better in some of these cases but what strikes me most right now...is her honesty in sharing "i didn't know that would make you mad, mommy".  she is trying to figure it all out.  figure out how to "do the right thing" and every once and a while she totally nails it....but most of the time, she still experimenting with how her actions result in reactions from the people around her...her brother, sister, her mom, her dad, the cats, etc. 

for my part, i wish i didn't yell.  i hate the rush of anger that engulfs me and ruins me.  ruins the mom i wish i could be, ruins the reasonable me, the mom who uses each transgression as a lesson in life.  an explanation of how the choices we make result in consequences.  some to our liking, some to others liking.  but most of them to no one's liking. 

The Orange Rhino. can i do what this mom did?  can i commit to not yelling for 365 days?  what kind of person would i be on the other end of that?  would i find more peace within myself? or would i just spontaneously combust or implode?  can i be that strong, and strict with myself (o' little me with my weak discipline and loyalty)?

i'm going to do it.  when the red hot anger comes to envelope me and i want to blow my top like a mad hatter's tea pot.  i will resist.  i will be stronger than that.  why? because yelling sucks.  yelling hurts.  yelling fills my kids, my husband and me with shame and saddness.  they don't deserve that and it doesn't teach them what ultimately i'm wanting them to know.  to know that life is hard, bad things happen, but we can persevere with our dignity in tact, with kindness in our hearts and our actions truly can all come from a place of love.

So here begins DAY 1 of No Yelling.

Cuddly When Sick

Panda is pukey sick. Why are they so cute when they are sick?

Just keep swimming

Mealyworm is Not herself

August 23, 2013
Amelia is stumbling a lot and not very coordinated.  She has trouble writing her name and sentences.  I made an appointment to see a Pediatrician.  He did several "tests" in the office....stand on one foot and touch your nose, walk in a line, answer these questions "how is milk different from water?" and "what is the difference between a cat and a dog?".  Amelia had some trouble with those, not easily giving the answers as if it was a really tricky question.  So the Dr. said she has "ataxia" and we should wait and see if it gets worse. We have an another appt. for 2 wks from today.She and I attended the Welcome Back Students event at the College of Education, and Amelia fell down twice just walking on the sidewalk.  She is clearly not herself.  She is kind of spacey and not really focusing on what she's doing. For dinner, the whole family went to Denny's and just getting in and out of the car is a challenge.  I asked Matthew to help her walk and hold her hand so she didn't fall.  Then in the restaurant, Amelia ordered Spaghetti.  And watching her try to eat spaghetti with limited coordination was like a flashback to when she was 3 year old! 

August 24, 2013
So all day I have been watching Amelia and worried.  The Dr. said it will take some time to get over but he also said if it gets worse to call.  So I called the "on-call" pediatrician and they said, "Is it getting worse?"...well, that's hard to say.  She is definitely NOT getting better. How long do I watch my healthy, smart, coordinated 7-year-old deteriorate before I say, "ENOUGH!".  Eventually, the on-call doc recommended we go to Carle Hospital Emergency Care because they have an MRI and a neurologist on-call.  So headed off to the ER.

August 25, 2013
Whew, what a night. Amelia was a trooper when they installed the IV, now we are waiting for the MRI and a neurology consult. Very strange, she's been stumbling and slurring her words...and for the record, she hasn't been to any college parties.

August 26, 2013 from Todd -

Rough weekend with my 7 year old daughter in the hospital, suffering from ataxia (stumbling/falling when walking, slurred speech, fine motor skill difficulties, slow mental processing). CT and MRI scans were clear, but no real answers to her condition. Hoping Monday, a pediatric neuro consult, and more tests will bring some answers and a start down the road to recovery. I will say she has been a trooper, as has Sarah Isaacs, who has been with her every moment since being admitted Saturday evening (and who went a little medieval on the poor nurse and doctor when she felt they weren't providing info fast enough)!

 

August 26, 2013 10:13 am

Amelia is improving! The doctor and neurologist are saying it is a post-strep infection in her brain. We have had a scary few days but happy to see she is more alert and walking with less trouble. Maybe even going home this evening.

 

August 26, 2013 4:33pm

We are home. Amelia will continue to be out of school for awhile so she can get more steady on her feet. Her speech & cognition issues aren't improving much yet but they hopefully will soon.

Columbia House

I honestly don't remember how or why or when...but when I was in middle school, I started subscribing to Rolling Stone magazine. The REAL Rolling Stone magazine...you know, when it was big and awkward and floppy. I received an education from that subscription. I learned about music, the world and life in those pages. And I joined Columbia House. Of course we are talking about cassette tapes back then. I have such fond memories of received that first shipment of 15 cassettes. To my recollection I join and re-joined several times in order to received the "free 15" or whatever. Some of the cassettes on my very first order were:
Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
R.E.M.
New Order
Tori Amos -
Hothouse Flowers-
U2
Depeche Mode
Erasure
Neil Young
The Sundays
E.L.O.