Labels

This week, one of my kiddos was called a name at school. It happens. Kids call each other names and feelings get hurt. It's truly a part of life. The school handled the situation well and the child apologized and life goes on.

Yesterday, this same kiddo came to me very embarrassed because she had gotten in trouble. She told me she called another kid in class a name. The school again handled the situation well. She apologized to the student and life went on.

As I'm talking to this kiddo, she tells me that she called the child gay. She has no idea why this is hurtful because she didn't say it to be mean. She wasn't making fun of him. She saw him hugging another boy and so she said he was gay. She did apologize because it hurt his feelings. She did feel bad because it hurt his feelings. She just doesn't understand why it hurt his feelings.

Her calling him gay wasn't a bad thing in her mind, because being gay isn't a bad thing. It makes a lot of sense when you put yourself in her shoes. We recoil because we know that a lot of people think it's bad to be gay. She didn't even think it was mean because we've taught her that it's not bad to be gay.

We have explained that friends can hug friends. Boys can hug boys and girls can hug girls and it doesn't mean they are gay. Boys can hug girls, girls can hug boys and it can just mean they are friends. Especially at the age that they are.

So we talked about labels and we talked about not writing on another person's name tag. We talked about labels that are okay to call someone; friend, buddy, fun, etc...We talked about labels that aren't okay to call someone, not because being that is bad but because we don't want to put that name tag on them.

Steve commented that things are a lot more complicated now then when we were growing up. I agree. We will just keep learning love. We will just keep teaching love.

Almost Time

On the 9th, my boys leave for a week in Washington, DC. They are getting really excited. I think they will be so glad that the day is finally here because then I won't be able to "give them instruction" anymore about how they need act, what they need to do, how to stay safe, going over the rules. All the things that make me a mom.

I am getting really excited and REALLY nervous. T went when she was 14 and while I was a little nervous, it was different. She had been away from me before, not that I liked it but it wasn't as scary. She had flown before, by herself even. The boys don't seem as old at 14 as T was. Not because they aren't mature, but because they are forever in my mind as this little boys. 

My boys have never been away from me for that long before. My boys have never flown and they will be doing that for the first time without me. They will be in a huge city in a very far away place and I won't really know what they are doing or when or why. It's so unsettling. I'm always there to tell them to go to bed and brush their teeth and shower. They probably still really need me to do that for them, right?! 

I know they are going to have a blast. I know that this is going to be a great learning experience for them. I am so glad that they are able to go and experience this. I know that they will not be as clean as I want them to be. I know they won't eat the foods that I want them to. I know that they will waste some of their money on junk. I know that's all a part of this experience for them. 

I will miss them. I will worry about them. I will be in a constant state of prayer that week. I will be glad when they are back home safely. 

I am so glad they have the opportunity to go. 

No More Meds

In January I saw the dermatologist who was able to do a biopsy and determine that the awful, spreading rash was an allergic reaction to my lithium.

I had seen two doctor's prior to that. The first one was not at all concerned and barely looked at it. Told me to take benadryl. The second doctor was at Urgent Care and she, without really looking at the rash, told me I had really bad eczema. Told me it was the worst that she had seen but told me to buy expensive lotion and a list of other eczema related advice. 

Two weeks later, it was beyond any kind of itching that I could imagine. I don't think I could have itched more had I rolled my naked body in a patch of poison ivy!

The dermatologist did a biopsy and determined it was a "drug eruption." The only drug I'd taken that was new, and the rash started around the same time as the drug started, was lithium. I'd had the rash since late October. This was now January. It had only gotten worse and was spreading. 

So there went yet another drug that was managing my mental health. I had huge success with lithium in stabilizing everything. I was able to go off of my anti-depressant and I was even sleeping! 

I am now on round two of a steroid regimen. Hopefully that will kick it. If not, I'll see a doctor who specializes in allergies and somehow, someway we will survive this rash. 

For the time being, we've decided that we are going to try to manage my mental health without meds. The doc doesn't seem completely hopeful that this will work but she's willing to work with us. The withdrawal process was awful. The spiraling from meds to no meds was awful. 

Some days I can see why she's not so hopeful. Some days I think it would just be a lot easier to go back on the meds. Most days, I'm glad I'm not on them. Most days, I can see where all this is going. Most days, that's ok.

No matter what happens, it will be a journey. The one that I'm meant to be on right now in my life. I will learn something from all of it, other than new things that I'm allergic too! I'm learning. It's all a process. I am hopeful that not being medicated works. We have a plan in place if it doesn't. 

Bananas

This morning in my news feed there were two separate articles from two separate sites. The topic today was bananas.

The first article was telling us that we should eat bananas. We should eat bananas every day and it went on and on about the health benefits of eating these wonderful yellow things.

The second article was telling us that we should NOT eat bananas. Eating bananas has potentially bad side effects for our health. The article talked about how these little evil yellow things could actually be doing more harm than good.

I read an article the other day telling us how precisely to eat a banana. That you could actually eat a banana the wrong way and lose any of the good things that bananas have in them.

WHAT?!?!

My head is confused and as I tried to figure out what it all meant this morning I realized that this is exactly like everything else out there! Someone somewhere is going to tell you not to do what you think is good for you and someone else is going to tell you that very same thing is the best thing for you. How in the world are we supposed to keep it all straight?

We're not. There is no way to. We have to use common sense and gut feelings and make these some of these decisions ourselves.

As much as I wish I could say that the bananas were code word for life, or any number of other really important things, it's not. The articles really were about bananas.

So good luck out there as you figure out whether or not to eat the bananas, or not to eat the bananas, and if you are going to eat them, good luck figuring out when and where and how.

Just ERG!

Remember how excited I was about life happening right now, yesterday? Well...bah-hum-bug!!

Today I'd prefer the safety and comfort of my pajamas and bed. Although, if it gets warm at all today, I'm sure my room will start taking on the melting snow water and that will not feel like a safe place either.

Yep...total "Eeyore" going on here right now.

Today I want to say "screw it"..."what's the point"..."why am I trying so hard to stay balanced"..."get out of my FACE"...All of these thoughts, and more, have gone through my mind at more than one point today and it's not even noon.

Okay, perspective...this day CAN turn around. I have stood in the file room and prayed to handle this situation with a good Christian attitude. Maybe I should have prayed for a volcano to erupt in the middle of NE. Both ideas seem like a possibility and not bad solution to the day.

An advisor I work with says, "every day is a picnic, some days just have more ants than others."

So on that note, apparently days like this is are also life just happening, right now.

Life is Happening

Life is HAPPENING! All around me. Some of it I'm ready for and some of it I'm not but it's going to just keep happening so I better just live it!

I'm scheduling senior pictures for my first-born of me, and preparing in other ways for other things I never could have imagined. Some of it is so overwhelming and some of it just seems so natural.

Twenty years ago, I never could have imagined my life like this. I didn't do everything I was going to do but I did things I never thought I would do. I have lived things, and survived things, that I never could have imagined, or wanted to imagine.

Garth says "my life is better left to chance. I could have missed the pain but I'd have had to miss the dance." This dance that he's talking about...oh wow! It's not all great but when you're really living it, it's worth it.

It doesn't mean I'm happy with everything. It just means that I'm just going to love my people and live my life. It means I'm going to have good days and really ugly, bad days. It means I'm going to cry and laugh, sometimes all at the same time. There are days that the basement is going to flood and there will be days we get popcorn for dinner.

I have been blessed with all this...life. It's been a ride for sure. I made a lot of mistakes and made a lot of really good choices. I have done a lot and there is so much more to do!