Book Worm

We have a reader, folks!

Wow.

When I was told about Brady P's potential diagnosis of Down syndrome, I consciously did the world a favor. I did not focus on the things I didn't think he would ever do. That was an awful feeling.

Instead, I focused on what he liked to do and nurtured it. Now I just let him surprise me.

He surprises us all!

Also, soon after he was born, I found camaraderie in a couple other moms and their children who have been here before me.

"Read to him everyday," one of them said.

So I tried my darndest to do that since he was a wee nut. I truly remembered her words, and tried my best.

Right now, I can tell you that it is paying off.

This little boy, who will be seven years old on Friday (Seven!!!) can sit by himself and read books out loud.

Pardon my French, but...

Holy crap in a basket!!!

I am floored by this each time I witness it, which is nightly at this point.

That little etch in my brain about reading to him everyday has become one of our most treasured pass times. We loooooove reading together!

We crawl in the big red chair with a book that either one of us picked out. Then I read the title, but I pick a different word to say for the last word, so he has to correct me.

"NO! It's not (the wrong word I said). It's (the whole title correctly spoken)."

He reads the title of each book for me before we begin.

I'm so cunning.

Then we read and laugh together. It is so fun! I get so many hugs from him while we read. It is such a wonderful bonding time.

We just got a few new batches of books for birthday week. When he opens them up, he reads the titles... of new books! He is reading words that he does not have memorized!

And lately, after we are done reading our three nightly books, he stays in the big red chair and reads them over.

A typical evening for the man of leisure

This is the part I'm in disbelief about. He goes back and reads the books again. Out loud. Correctly. With emotion and laughter.

I just shake my head in victory and disbelief. 

This is amazing.

And it warms my heart.

Wow.

I truly believe that if we keep nurturing his passions and talents, he will continue to amaze us. I am grateful for this journey.

And here is a link to a video I found yesterday. It's called "What It's like to Have Down Syndrome" by SmileSquad (in case you can't access the link for some reason.) I love its meaning and purpose. Enjoy!

Bag of Tricks

Hi!

Wow.  Okay.  This week kind of flew by.

I am the deputy clerk of Grant Township, and we recently held an election.  Not sure if you've heard of one of those, but I have been keeping track of absentee ballots for months and helping people vote on November 3rd.   Maybe you voted in your own precinct.  Good for you!

Anyway, for my excuse, I had some post-partum exhaustion after that.  Whew!  Glad that's over on my end!  

I hope...

Other than that, nobody has sent me their story yet, so I will share a super happy one of mine.

Did I tell you that Brady P. found an amazingly wonderful young lady to be his aide/mentor/magician (whatever you want to call her) at the school???

Yes!  He did!

After I was going to ship us to Calumet, she magically appeared. And she is perfect.

Here is why.

She gets to his level, sees what he is doing and what he wants to do, and steers him to do what she needs him to do from there.  Joyfully.

BINGO!

Did I not just talk about that?

I have already seen great improvements in his penmanship, acquiescence to do math, potty training, overall studiousness and ability to stay on task.

Those are all great, right?  I mean, that's the point of school.

But here's where I see magic.

He is not exhausted when he comes home.  He is not resistant.  He is still full of joy.

Even though his is working harder at his desk and getting more done, he is not so tired.

What does that show me?  He is enjoying himself.  He is flowing freely throughout the day and learning and accomplishing as he goes.

I also saw this improve when my own methods changed with him.  We both have more energy!

Do you see what I'm saying?

Stress and resistance, whether it be a person at work or a student at school, drain a person.  It doesn't even mean it's anybody's fault.  Sometimes the issue is not always noticed, and therefore it is never addressed.

Even if you try to work on a home project and find yourself constantly troubleshooting, you will be more tired than if your project went smoothly.  Your productivity (the end product) is the same, but the amount of energy it took to get there is different.

See the parallels?  

Now, Braeden's job at school is a bit different than the other kids because he doesn't fall in line as easily.  He needs a helper for pretty much everything.  But when that helper comes with a bag of tools and tricks to meet him at his level and get him to escalate to the realm of the other kids, that is magic.

He does not resist, and he is not stressed out.  He is praised and respected.  He is assisted and adored.  Plus, his productivity goes up, so he has more to be proud of.

His new aide has lofty goals for him, and she knows how to help him reach them.  It is so beautiful, it makes my heart burst out of my chest and tears well in my eyes.

I am so grateful it worked out this way.  I just see so much expansion and so many possibilities for him.  Not that I didn't think he was on a good path before, but this certainly gives him a turbo boost!

And we get to stay home in our little town.

For that, also, I am grateful.

B's school picture 2020

In retrospect, I should have given him a haircut before picture day!

Crusading Through the Unknown

Hi!

I suppose by now you are curious about what the heck is going on.

You are not alone -- I am too!  Ha!

Have you ever tried transfering schools for your child with special needs during a pandemic, and the school you are trying to transfer to stops in-person learning?  

I don't recommend it.

There are so many variables and unknowns at this point, that I still don't know what we are going to move forward with.  However, there are some things I have learned that I am darn sure of.

1) I will do whatever I have to do, talk to whoever I have to talk to, move wherever I have to move, etc, to make sure that little Brady P. gets the best therapies, helpers and resources, so he can thrive.  This is about thriving.  His potential is vast, and I want him to shine.

2) I cannot control everything.  Sometimes I just have to put all my desires out there and then sit back and wait to see what is going to happen.  It's so hard to make a decision when circumstances are rocky.  I have to let go.  I HAVE TO!  Or I don't sleep at night, and the day feels heavy,

3) Once I set my intentions for the big picture, things fall into place.  At least they are starting to!  It seems like if you can pave the way for your dreams with your mind, then the universe knows what you want, and you start to notice the opportunities that pop up.  You are already paying attention to the things that will serve you, so you can grab opportunities easier.  It's so wonderful.

4) My family is amazing.  It seems like once we started this idea of getting Braeden into a school with more resources for his needs, my friends and family were very supportive.  Not just supportive, but helpful.  We have suddenly built this "team" and seem to be in a group effort with the same end goal.  We are all on the same page and are willing to do whatever we have to in order to make sure that little Swizzley boy can thrive.  It's very powerful, and I am grateful.

5) Honesty, openness and communication are so key in moving any process forward.

6) We are all connected.  Do I really need to say more about that?  We are all connected.  Every person on this planet.

Brady P. is doing great.  They other day, he sat down with his homework sheets on the floor and started answering the questions all by himself.  ALL BY HIMSELF!!!  

Usually this is a massive effort by me and Homework Panda, but not yesterday!  My parents applauded (my mom is helping out as his school aid for the week) and I gave him a big hug.

What a man!

We are so proud.

It's those little things like that that are big in my heart, and it makes moving forward with the best of intentions through the unknown all worth it.

Even the biggest hearts get tuckered out

What to Choose...

Hello!

I might just be able to get here every other week for a bit, and that will be okay.  Sorry for any inconvenience it might cause.  I know you look forward to Wednesdays just for this post.  

Ha!

How are you doing?

Really!  How ARE you feeling?  Overall?  In everyday life?

I just want to remind you that, no matter how you are feeling right now, you are worthy.  You are worthy of love.  If you can freely give love to others, you deserve love freely from others.  

Unconditionally.

We all do.

That's why Brady P. is here.  To remind us of that.

Please don't let fear consume your life.  There is too much beauty and love out there to focus on something to be afraid of.  

There are two ways to act: out of love or out of fear.  Seriously. Those are the only two ways to make a decision!

Either you are hoping for the best and being your best in order to create the best outcome for all those involved, or you are holding back something due to fear.

Once I learned this (from a Gary Zukav book, I believe) I test it daily.

It has held true.  You can only act out of either love or fear.  Even if you say you are acting out of "rationale," your decision has to be either for the good of others or purely self-serving -- the latter is fear-based.

I don't know if I talked about this before, but it sure seems like a good time in our lives to bring it up again.

You don't even have to agree with me.  But you can test it as you go about your day!  If you find that you disagree, please tell me!  And if you find that it's true, and it has changed how you view life and make decisions on a daily basis, please tell me!

I don't know if you can tell, but I really want to help make a difference in this world.

I want you to be your best self, so I strive to be my best self.  I am trying to lead by example.  Remember, I am not perfect, and that's why I like to share my imperfections with you.  So you know I'm human too!

We all are!  

We're allowed to make mistakes! 

We're allowed to have hard days!  

We can only act according to the best of our ability in any given moment.  It is when we consciously make a decision to do the wrong thing even when we know what's right, that we feel negative repercussions.

It's true.  I test that out often too.  Instant karma, man.

But the consequences of doing the right things are amazing.  And the more you do the right thing, the better your life gets.  The more opportunities come your way.  The more your prayers are answered.

At least from what I've noticed.  That's why I'm telling you!

So test your choices for a bit: love or fear.  Ask yourself, "What am I choosing right now?  Am I being my best self?  I am I doing the right thing?  What if somebody was watching me do this right now?"

I'm not going to lie.  Often times, the right thing is the harder thing.  It takes more energy.  But what do you want to do with your life?  Move forward with the momentum of positivity or get stuck by doing the easy/convenient things that don't always get you anywhere?

The choice is yours, my friend.

Have a wonderful day!

"The Talk"

Hey!  I got to give my talk about Down syndrome at the Copper Harbor school this week.  It felt great!

I held the students' interest for the most part.  And the teachers learned some new things too!

But the most surprising part to me was this: After I asked all the students what they were born with that makes them different from most people, I asked if they knew what makes Braeden different.

None of them knew.

None of them knew!

Either they were being shy, their parents never told them, they forgot or they just really didn't notice.  For some reason, I thought that at least one of the students already knew.  But they didn't notice my little boy was different than them.

Then we got a little sciency and talked about chromosomes.  We got a little serious as I talked about his heart surgery.  We got a little giggly when I told them that sometimes his body feels like a wet noodle.

I think a few things clicked for them.  Like when I told him why he still drools and why he doesn't talk yet.  And how they already know he is a cool kid and loves to have friends like they do.

The students have always been nice to him, but I think that now they have a little more understanding about some of the differences they subconsciously noticed.

Like I said before, I am not just trying to promote acceptance for my son.  I want to promote it for every decent human being on this planet.  Because we are here for a reason, and the more we are understood, accepted and loved, the more we can thrive in that direction.

I look forward to doing these talks more and more.  I'll be looking for venues in the future.  If you have an idea for me, please let me know!

And in the meantime, spread a little love today. XOXO

Here is a smile from Mr. Inspirational himself.

"Smile!"