Tuesday, August 28, 2007

the needs are great

Q went for his 5 year check up and the doctor looked at me and said, "You've got him in speech therapy, right?"

I paused, pulled my eyelids back down into position and asked nonchalantly, "for what?"

Now there are certain questions you expect....
Does he sit in a booster?
Does he snore? (Q answered, "No I don't snore I just make noises when I sleep.")
Does he eat a variety of foods?

speech therapy? mild panic.....what have I been doing?

And then I realized when the nurse asked him if he could count to 100, that maybe I forgot to teach him that.

counting? mild panic....what have I been doing?

Then there is the baby that doesn't talk.
baby talking? mild panic....what have I been doing?

Then there is the eldest boy...a real smart cookie. I haven't been really supplying the endless books he needs to feed his never ending reading list.
I realized this last night when I looked at some of the books other kids have been reading.
Harry Potter? mild panic....what have I been doing?

I spoke at length today with a friend about the constant chaos into our lives...not just chaos but searching for and inviting chaos in for dinner and to become members of the family. Kind of like me, the three kids, dog, cat, stripping wallpaper and redoing the bathroom. I really don't need to be taking on any more projects around here, I can BARELY complete my own basic hygiene.

But we did decide that the mind does tend to wander while we complete the mundane tasks of the day to bigger and better and more, and so we start a new project and are never able to do it quite the way we should because we've got all the other things that have to be done before it.

And then we realize that our kids can't count or aren't reading and smack ourselves on the head and say...what have we been doing?

1 comment:

theflyingmum said...

I really do not respond well to people (even medical professionals) who make me feel like I'm not doing a good job, or actulaly as good a job as I SHOULD be doing as a parent.
How about: do your kids have a roof over their heads?
Do your kids know how you feel about them?
You write about your kids here and show everyone who reads this how much you love them. You are doing... just fine. In fact better than fine.
We pulled Ben out of public school this year, because I abhor the way all the students are expected to keep up with someone's (whose?!) idea of what a 5 year old, or 12 or even 18 year old SHOULD be doing.
What have you been doing? Everything.