Re-Energized Again

I think that Wednesday’s post about admitting the limited choices my kids have for their future may have given people the wrong impression, so I thought I’d clarify. But first, thanks to every who reached out with well wishes or prayers (and to you who did so silently). People contacted me in all kinds of ways – and that’s without even promoting it, so I’m very touched. I want to say, I’m OK.

I’m really OK.

You might not believe this, but the time I spent crafting that post was cathartic. It released a whole lot of pent-up fears and frustration. And maybe, I’d felt like I was lying to you by not admitting it. No one ever said parenting would be easy, and while it certainly shouldn’t be this hard, I’m still optimistic. It is true (but sad) that a growing population of disabled kids means that innovation and inspiration will open up more doors and opportunities – as parents like me fight to give our kids solid footing.

Maybe I’d lost faith.

One of the things that has frustrated me lately is I’m not sure where God is leading me. While I have to be prepared for the worst AND still hope for the best, I need to know my footing is solid, and my path is correct.

While the last 6 months have been fairly hellish, I thought I’d share some of the good:

1. All those photos in Wednesday’s post were taken by Amelia. The girl has a gift, I’m telling you!
2. Zoe is communicating more clearly. It’s partly the iPad and maybe it’s the fish meds, but she’s getting the hang of it.
3. She’s progressing on the potty. OK, NOT at home but she can do it out. We just have to understand what her in-home hangup is.
4. She’s actually had ONE day where she zippered her jacket coming off the bus. Yay! We’re totally not there yet, but slowly.
5. There are regressions with both kids too, but I have to wonder if that’s adjusting to the new supplements.
6. I’ve come up with an awesome graphic and fantastic new motivation for moving forward with healing and sharing it with you. You’ll just have to wait and see….  🙂

 

This morning, I was on Facebook about 5 minutes, when I saw a post called, “Autism RECOVERY: I’ll Say It Loud, He’s Recovered and I’m Proud” by my FAVORITE amazing group of mamas at Thinking Moms’ Revolution. My favorite line:

“I wish we had a way to keep track of every kid who improves — even if it’s just he sleeps better since you took him off milk, or he stopped biting himself when you added magnesium, or her stimming evaporated with an anti-fungal.”

I still have community.

So maybe I’ve been overreacting and undercommitting. I do feel that’s true. After all, Zoe had dairy and glutens last night, and for some stupid reason, I still haven’t stocked up on activated charcoal to handle it. I did help Zoe with natural remedy when she had that fever some weeks back, and helped Amelia kick a mouth virus with olive leaf extract. So I’m learning and doing. I saw what soy and increasing glutens did to Amelia. I get it, I just need to be less lazy. And we are still using our homeotoxicologist, although that is progressing slowly.

I need a plan.

I think my next move is to get organized. I know that’s a STRETCH for me, but it’ll help me – and you, because I will share my plans. For now, I’m thinking of listing each child’s issues, in priority of most critical, then cross reference the most critical with all possible therapies, and then just bang out whatever I could be doing that I’m not (mostly food). Of course, I need to run this by my practitioner, so we have to see how that goes!

I need to take care of me.

The original direction of this blog, for the last 2 years, has been moving to moms like us taking care of ourselves. Now, I think I REALLY get the core of my issues: I need way more energy to get this done, so I need to work on my own natural healing, nutrition, supplements, and while we’re at it, thyroid, allergies and clotting disorder. The reason I haven’t been able to help like I want to is not just my Type B personality, it’s also because I’m plum exhausted ALL THE TIME. And, yes, I get a full night’s sleep every single night. It just doesn’t help enough.

So here’s the plan:

1. I help me.
2. I help my kids.
3. I help you help yourself and your kids.

Are we good?