Blog Posts
Bakery Blitz
Teenagers are not always breakfast-loving creatures. Weekday mornings are often chaotic, so a sit-down, well-balanced, post-sleep meal featuring foods from every level of the nutrition pyramid isn’t likely to happen. From about age 15 on, getting Zach to eat breakfast before school became a challenge. Weekends were a different story. He would devour pancakes with lots of syrup and practically inhale [...]
Heading Into Understanding
His eyes fixated on Zach like a lion’s on an antelope. So much so that he didn’t – at first – see my glaring eyes turn toward him. I stepped slowly behind Zach as he slowly circled the table topped with little ceramic planters and fake plants. Zach ran his thin fingers over the plastic leaves. He was oblivious to [...]
Nobody Nose the Trouble I’ve Seen
A close inspection of Zach’s nostril, something we don’t habitually do, revealed a reddened area of concern. After a month-long wait to see an ENT, in we went. I had tried to schedule a time when Zach’s home program aide could go along. Doctor visits have gone decently well in the past, but a crying baby in the waiting room [...]
The Point of the Portrait
When 800 numbers show up in caller ID, I ignore them. But one day recently, as a message was recording, I heard a voice say my son’s name, so I picked up. It was a portrait studio asking about scheduling a session. For a senior portrait. My heart skipped a beat. I knew the day would come that Zach would [...]
Why I Must Live Forever
This happens all the time. Every setting, different people, but mostly at school. And I don’t blame anybody; how could those not around him all the time know?? […]
Brown, Down, and (not) Out
Sitting in my kitchen several years ago, I wrote a list of things I did not want to forget to pack. Moving is definitely a major task, fraught with stress and chaos. I’ve moved several times in my life, and it seems there is always something left behind, something that goes missing in the process. I didn’t want to increase [...]
Rise and Fall (Not in That Order)
I was searching for a luggage cart in a quiet hotel corridor at 11:00 on a Saturday night. It was a long, hot drive, and the last task of the day was to transport the bags from the car to the room. I slung my purse over my shoulder, walked inside, and was greeted by cool air that was a [...]
Wouldn’t Give a Penny for Those Thoughts
Nothing boils my blood faster than hearing derogatory comments uttered by people about other people with special needs. I once heard two store employees talking as one described someone else as a retard. I yelled out, “Hey! That is rude and unacceptable!” The young men cast their eyeballs in my direction and grimaced. I stood my ground and glared. [...]
Staring (From my Sacramento4Kids.com blog)
Staring HOW TO DEAL WITH STARING May 21, 2018 Staring. We all seem to do it at some point, for some reason. We’ve all been stared at by someone else too. Staring at people is a social behavior, albeit one that generates discomfort for the one receiving the stare. Most often, people’s stares are directed toward those with some type [...]
The Plane Truth
That’s it. I’m done. No more. Not good at it? Not true. I’ve spent a long time telling myself and other people that I’m not a good flyer. Am I scared of putting myself in a giant metal tube with wings and speeding through the clouds at 37,000 feet above earth? Yeah. I’m scared alright. I don’t sleep well the [...]
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