Photo Friday -- Sort Of


We just went out for a family run because it was most definitely NOT a beach weather day...and the kid ends up getting an age group award and setting a record! Proud momma!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adopting the Older Child -- Part 4: Power Struggles

Image
The stairs at the right of the photo were the site of one of our early power struggles -- T wanted to jump from the platform, and I didn't want to him cracking open his skull. "I don't like you. You mean." I hear that a lot, typically in response to things like "Time to pick up your toys," or "You need to take your vitamin," or "It's time to get dressed for school," or "Time to brush your teeth." Basic, every day power struggle stuff. T wants to keep playing, doesn't want to go to school, doesn't like any of his clothes, doesn't understand why he needs to brush his teeth twice a day every day, and most definitely does not want to take those yucky vitamins. He even rebels at being called to the dinner table. I try to avoid power struggles by using the options approach: "It's time to get ready for school -- do you want to get dressed first or brush your teeth first?" Or, "It's time to get ...
Read more

The End of the Road

I am reprinting here what I wrote back in April of 2010, nearly four years ago. I was so full of hope and naivete. The truth is that I have been unable to help T move forward in any way. I wanted a happy ending. I wanted him to learn to love me as his mom. I don't think either is possible at this point. He has most definitely not accepted us as his family. There has been nothing awe-inspiring about this journey. It has just been hard and bleak. As he gets older, the problems are becoming more difficult and scary. I don't blame T at all. My empathy for him runs deep, deep, deep. I feel tremendous sadness for that scared little boy who was ripped from his mother's arms as she screamed, desperately trying to hang onto him, and then sent away without a word of explanation to live with strange people in a strange land. That he has not been able to cope is not his fault. And I am tired of people who seem to insinuate that his inability to be resilient and come out of h...
Read more

What's Working

Claudia at  My Fascinating Life  wants to know what's working in our lives. I've been pondering this for several weeks now. A lot of things are not working the way they should be. My resolve to exercise more has been thwarted first by getting my period every other week over the course of five weeks -- the HRT pills were NOT working -- and then a recalcitrant and painful case of the shingles in my hip, which means no running or biking. This of course means my resolve to lose weight is not working either -- and doesn't bode well for an early triathlon attempt. My one word for this year "declutter" is not working out at all as I'd hoped. I started with the kitchen table. I get it decluttered. Two days later....back to square one. Not being able to recycle the hundreds of papers that come home from kindergarten when a certain child is around to see what is going on doesn't help. But this is supposed to be a posting about what is working. So here goes: Tim...
Read more