We were on our way to the pediatrician yesterday when Sophie asked the question again. “Why do I have special needs, Mommy? Why do I have Down syndrome?” The appointment was about a rash, not even with our regular doctor, but I figured the fact that we were en route to a medical professional was […]
At the risk of tempting fate (we’ve got two more performances today) Sophie killed it yesterday at Snow Queen. The role of Wood Sprite — the littlest kids in the cast, who scamper around the autumn scene of this Phoenix Nutcracker alternative, making “sharp shapes” and pretending to cause mischief — is a good one […]
Today is Sophie’s half birthday. She really goes for that sort of thing, so I got a brightly colored cake from Fry’s and cut it in half, then raided the Hanukkah stash for nine and a half candles. Sophie was thrilled when she woke up and saw the cake, and when she blew out the […]
I did it. I’ve been talking it about (a lot — apologies to those who have listened to me go on) and today I finally did it. I sent in Sophie’s Special Olympics registration. For cheerleading. What follows is a piece I read last month at an event sponsored by a group called the Lit […]
I snapped tonight in the check-out line at Walgreens. Back story: What the fuck is up with Walgreens? I’ve been shopping at the same store for more than 15 years, and until a few weeks ago, no one said boo to me when I came and went, and I liked that just fine. Then one […]
“Do you love your sister?!” Sophie asked the other day, out of the blue. “Um, yeah, of course I love Aunt Jenny,” I replied. “Tell her!” Hmmm. That might be tough. The only time in recent memory the phrase “I love you” was used in conversation with my younger sister, it was at the end […]
Two nights ago, Sophie slept with us. Rather, with me. She leaves Ray alone, but not me. I’m her foot rest, her arm rest, her kicking post. At one point I was sleeping on my side — my back to her — and realized she was using my hip as a pillow. Typically I’d roll […]
I have a raging case of the HeyMoms. It came on two weekends ago, and no matter how much rest I get, how well I eat (I’ve even taken my Centrum for Women horse pill of a multi-vitamin religiously each morning) I can’t shake them. It started suddenly, in the car, on a Sunday afternoon. […]
“Is it okay if we tell her about the underwear?” one of the teachers muttered to the other toward the tail end of Sophie’s parent/teacher conference yesterday afternoon. Underwear? Instantly, I was on high alert. (Who wouldn’t be?) It had been a pretty good conference, as far as these things go. I dread parent/teacher conferences. […]
I am considering doing something very scary on Thursday afternoon. I am considering walking into Sophie’s parent/teacher conference and asking her teacher to let my kid ditch math, permanently. Ditch? Did I mean to use such a strong word? Well, yeah. Sort of. As I’ve written before, Sophie can’t do the math. She can’t do […]
