Day 15: 31 for 21 Blog Challenge for Down Syndrome Awareness
Month
We moved into our new house in May of this year. It’s a bit of a fixer upper, and I’m not
going to lie, we were a bit surprised by all the little things that will lead
to big things that have to be taken care of in this house slowly but
surely. For the time being, our girls
are in one room. We bought a three
bedroom, because most four bedrooms were either completely out of our price
range or were two stories. Why not a two
story, so much more room! I know. Sadly, I have this knee that has no Meniscus
in it, a lot of arthritis and the unhappy reality that the bones in the leg
itself actually don’t line up right. So
even if I went for a partial replacement, unless the surgeon works some magic
to straighten things out, I would tear that partial up pretty quickly too. Considering I am not really as old as my
daughter thinks I am…I am not excited about jumping into the replacement
aspects of my knee. As a result, we
chose a one story house with three bedrooms.
Because sometimes God smiles down on you and sends Angels
into your path who for some reason love you, or your son, or a little of both –
not sure; some very special people came to help put up a wall in what was a
Formal Dining room that we wouldn’t use, and made it a fourth bedroom and soon
to be Sydney’s own room. She has been
helping us paint it Tahitian Breeze, and tomorrow the last two walls will get a
shade lighter…and then after some vertical blinds go up, we’ll be moving her in
to her room. After what will be (I’m
quite sure a small break) we will start on Madison’s room. Hers will require some walls to be sanded
down some…her walls are a pretty dark shade of grey. When we are done, they will be a soft shade
of pink.
Why so much effort?
Yes, I love these girls and yes I think young girls reach a point where
they not only need a break from each other and from their family, but I also
think they need the ability to have privacy and need to learn to spend some
time on their own. Mostly, I really
think they deserve it. They have been
through so much on this journey with their brother, so I do think that as their
parents, we need to find all the ways we can to remind them how important they
are to us, how much we love being their parents and how much we just love
them.
Somewhere in there we will also start working on the
backyard. It isn’t safe for Bradley, so
we have to work on getting it that way.
Why are we worrying about it now?
Come Spring we hope to be able to put in a small standing pool for the
girls and Bradley to enjoy. Bradley
loves to swim but he gets sick when we transport through big changes in
temperature, especially when there are a lot of people and there germs around
while he is compromised. We think that
this added piece to our backyard will help all three of the kids. And
help the girls start to really feel like they can call this place home.
Do I need a redo of my kitchen? Oh my goodness, like you wouldn’t
believe. But here’s the sad
reality. Madison is fourteen and Sydney
is twelve. Do the math and you see that
our time with them guaranteed to be with us is moving by so fast, it’s like it
accelerates every time I blink. Somehow
we want to make them as happy as we can during these really tough school
years. They are working so hard and
putting so much pressure on themselves they aren’t giving me much chance to
apply my own pressure. Where some
parents are getting on their kids for grades, I am pushing them to learn to use
their time wisely so that they each can manage to get their chores done AND get
that homework done. These are the most
ridiculous fights and battles of will that happen in our house. My girls arguing and complaining that they
cannot do their chores because they have to do their homework. So then I sound like a crazy person, even to
myself, as I tell them “Get in here and get it done then you can do your
homework.” Did I just say that? I ask that of myself all the time. And the thing is, I know that they are each
manipulating their excellent grades to try to maneuver out of their chores, and
deep down I’m thrilled that they use their brains as much as they do, even when
they are arguing with me.
I send up a prayer every day for these incredibly smart and
loving girls, I am grateful that our fights are not about sex, drugs, and
alcohol. I am grateful that I am arguing
over the need to manage time to do homework, chores, and in a month or two
playing volleyball. Don’t think for one
minute that I am not grateful and completely aware that I am extremely
Blessed.
So yeah, we are trying to adjust this house to give them
each their own room and decorated as they want, not as we demand. And yes; if we can do it, we want to make
sure they have something fun to do in the backyard when it gets so blazing hot
again. So anyone want to help tear down
a termite infested patio cover, come on over… payment in pizza and beverage of
choice! ;-)
Happy Saturday all! One
Paint Tired Momma ready to get Bradley in jammies and start the bedtime
snuggles with the hopes that he falls asleep before I do!
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