No Police Raid Today

Dear Gary,

This morning my door opened at 4 and this most pitiful of voices said "Mommy....I scared!"  Carson climbed into bed with me and we both fell fast asleep.  When the alarm went off at 5:40, I thought for sure he would wake up but he didn't.  I guess it was my turn to be the parent and make sure the kids didn't miss their ride, see them off and lock the door.  That's only fair, I suppose, since he has done it the last few days.  When the 6:30 alarm went off, I was even more surprised that he slept in!  He must have been worn out from his busy day yesterday. 

As he was drinking his chocolate milk, I went and picked out some clothes for him.  He has gone through most of his favorite shorts (basketball) this week so the only things left were the shorts that he isn't really fond of wearing.  I picked out two and let him choose his favorite.  Oh my goodness!!  I have found the secret to successful negotiations with an 11 year old boy with Down Syndrome!!  If I had just chosen the gray pair for him, he would have thrown himself on the floor in despair.  If I had just chosen the denim pair for him, there would have been weeping and wailing.  Holding up two pairs and saying "which one would you like to wear, the gray or the denim"?  Well, he chose the gray and I said that was a great choice and he said "Yay!!" and got dressed!!  It was a magical moment and I was able to avoid the awkward choice of the basketball shorts with the hole in the backside.  I should probably just get rid of those, huh?

Carson chose for me to say family prayer this morning.  As I was praying, Heavenly Father allowed for me to see, for a very brief moment, all of my blessings.  I saw the blessing of having a little boy with Down Syndrome that wakes up cheerful and forgives easily.  I saw the blessing of having teenagers that willingly get up early to go to church every morning.  I saw the blessing of having two kids at college that are doing so well.  I saw the blessing of having a husband that works hard to provide for us so that I can stay home with these kids.  I saw the blessings of having an eternal family.  I was so overwhelmed with my blessings that I couldn't say the words to the prayer.  Luckily, it was just Carson and me....otherwise, the teenagers would have said "Geez Mom....you're getting to be as bad as Dad!!"  I was grateful to feel that love from my Heavenly Father. 

As I was driving to our house after taking the kids to school, I passed two Oviedo Round Rock police officers.  I'll just pause from this riveting story to say...isn't it funny that in my head I still think I am living in Oviedo even though I haven't lived there in over 9 years?  Talk about living in the past!!  Anyway...back to the police.  As I passed them, I couldn't help but wonder why they were just sitting there on our street.  I started to think about what would happen if they were doing a police raid on all the houses in the neighborhood.  Then I thought about how our house looked right that minute.  We would probably be one of those news story where they would say something like "the 3 children were living in filthy conditions so we had to take them into protective custody until we can get the Hoarders team out to remedy the situation."  So...I ran in quickly and started cleaning the kitchen that hadn't been cleaned the day before.  The good news....there wasn't a police raid and the kitchen is clean.  I even cleaned out the microwave (I now have a firm testimony of covering the food before turning on the microwave) and the grease stains off the stovetop.  The bad news....your wife is crazy.  A loon.  You really should have been more thoughtful when you chose an eternal companion!

I went to Carson's ARD meeting today.  Usually it's you and me against the ARD committee but as you know I had to go solo since you abandoned me are in training in Houston.  I really hate those meetings and usually sit there thinking "What was God thinking when he sent this special boy to 2 of the most unorganized, non-combative people with no training in education...special or otherwise on this planet?"  I feel woefully unqualified for the job and never know what questions I should be asking.  They tell me his goals and I don't know what they are talking about and just hope that they know what they are doing.  I am supposed to be an advocate for this child?  Luckily, it went well and they all love Carson and think he's cutest.  They have good goals for him and some ideas for us to work on at home.  Phew!!  All that worry for nothing!  Then they started talking about preparing him for the transition to middle school next year.  Time to start worrying again!!

They sent Carson off on the bus while I was still in the meeting.  They were teasing me and said that I had checked the box that said it was okay to leave Carson at home alone so the bus driver would just drop him off.  Just so you know...I did not check that box!  Then they called the bus and had them bring Carson back to the school.  He seemed pretty excited to go on an adventure but was excited when he walked in the room and found me.  "Hi Mom-mom!"  I love when he calls me "Mom-mom"!

Emily and her friends went to the freshman football game tonight and Jared is at band practice so Carson and I are hanging out at home enjoying these:

 

Carson's best friend, Penny, brought these over.  You are just missing out on all of the goodies this week!  Emily came home from school and said "Whoa, Mom....You cleaned the kitchen!!"  As your dad would say "she sure is a cheeky little devil, isn't she?!"

 

Well, I think that's about all.  I am hoping for a quiet night where we all go to bed by 8:00.  I'm sure it will happen.  We love you and are excited to see you tomorrow.

 

Love,

Shanon