Wednesday, May 09, 2007

You Missed Me, You Missed Me! Now You Gotta Kiss Me!

Well hello there! How the heck have you been? It seems like ages since I've posted anything!

(Many thanks to Super Hubby for pinch hitting for me on Sunday - even though he didn't post until that evening, when I was home, safe and sound).

Actually, Hubby got a couple comments on his guest post over at Maya's Mom (where my blog posts feed into their site. I wish any comments I got there would automatically turn up in my own site's comment area. Oh well... I digress...). They basically thought he was so sweet to have such a special day with Sweetie and to take such attentive care of her. What a great dad!

I'm too am glad they were able to get outside and run around a bit. That's not something Sweetie and I can do together. Go outside? Yes. Play tag? No. Even Hide & Seek can be tricky for me, if I have to get to my hiding place quickly.

Outside, Sweetie and I can take short walks, blow bubbles, play Stop/Go (with me as the traffic light), or sit on our porch swing while singing, reading, or just restin'. I can also watch her ride her bike or hop on her bouncy ball in the driveway from my spot on the front stairs or swing.

We have a basketball hoop too. Sweetie has occasionally asked if we can bring out the basketball. But we can't do that unless Daddy's with us, lest it bounce out of our yard and down the street. I can't go chasing after it. And I'm certainly not sending Sweetie after it! So cross that one off the Mommy approved outdoor activity list too.

Since my surgery in January, Hubby has taken some of the responsibilty for Sweetie's baths, giving her her Tuesday night tubby every week. Sweetie loves her Daddy bath nights! One - because he lets her play a bit more than I do in the tub, and, two - because he always carries her from the tub to our warm fire in the living room (yes, she's still insisting on going to the phantom warm fire even now in May when it's 80 degrees outside).

Bathtimes with me have her dressing in the bathoom where it, admittedly, can be pretty dang cold. But what can I do?

If I've ever had to run errands after work, I either send Hubby, or I make my stops before picking Sweetie up. It just makes things easier all around. But she's a little older now. So last week when I needed to go to Target for a few quick things, I thought maybe it wouldn't be too bad to take her with me.

And? Well, I guess I was right - it wasn't too bad. But it wasn't too good either.

I had to make sure, as we parked the car, that she understood the rules - hold my hand the whole time, and no crazy-walking - I can't deal with crazy-walking!

She held my hand - mostly. And, for the most part, walked properly. But she did try to pull me in the direction she wanted to go, not the direction I needed to go. Except for that and the couple times I allowed her to walk on her own right beside me and she wasn't watching where she was going, so she almost careened into a few different sets of shoppers - everything was hunky dory.

Still - I'm not sure my little experiment was successful enough to make me want to repeat it anytime soon.

This afternoon, as I pulled into our driveway, I turned back to see Sweetie soundly sleeping in her car booster seat. So I took my things in the house first, then went back to unclick her and guide her into the house.

What a zonked Sweetie! She must have had an active day at Nana's house, 'cuz she was out! When I finally called to her loudly enough to make her stir, I noticed her automatic response was to lift her arms in the air, as if she were to be picked up and carried into the house.

But in the next split second, she woke enough to remember that it was me she was with. So she sleepily, wordlessly, slouched herself down from the car and plodded her way through our kitchen door.

Hmmmm.... I've really thought that as Sweetie has gotten older, this whole being-a-disabled-mom-to-a-healthy-child thing had become more and more of a non-issue. But - it's still there.

She's affected by it. I'm affected by it. Hubby's affected by it. Mostly little things that don't necessarily seem to have a big influence on our daily thoughts and actions. But little things build up, helping to shape one's being - for good and bad.

Sweetie just knows what I can and cannot do. And she knows what she can and cannot do with me. But that's cool with her - or so it seems. I sure hope so, anyway.

I certainly am glad she has such a fun, active Daddy to clown around with, though. And I'm thankful that she gets her needed exercise and socialization both at school and with our extended families.

It does take a village to raise a child. Everyone has something to offer. Someone can always fill in where another person falls off a little. And in the end, if you've all done it right - you get a real sweet, smart, determined, caring and beautiful Sweetie.

I definitely think we're all on the right path.

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