One Mom’s Lifesong

I got to borrow my niece Grace for the weekend. She’s in town staying w/ my parents while my brother and his wife are on vacation. Partly because they had Sat plans and partly because I wanted some Auntie time, I took Grace for the weekend. She’s 6 weeks younger than Natalie and the girls had a blast. I wish I had a video camera. They were so cute jumping on the bed and just giggling up a storm. I had flashes of life at 12 and 13. Hopefully they’ll remain close even though Grace lives in Colorado.

Taking care of 3 is definitely different than 2. Now granted, unless I had twins, the spacing would have been different but it’s a lot more tiring trying to keep track of 3! By the time you get the third one rounded up, the first one is off again. We had lots of fun but 2 kids is definitely enough for me.

OK, my friend Stacey pointed out to me that someone probably took the toddler and at some point left him (or he escaped) at the mall. I hadn’t even thought of this. Appears she was right.

Woman on tape linked to tot’s disappearance
GLENDALE – Police said Monday that they are looking for a woman they have linked to a 2-year-old boy who was found Sunday at a west Phoenix mall a day after disappearing from his Glendale home.

A security videotape at Desert Sky Mall shows the boy, Ali Alamansuri, being accompanied into a store by a woman with long, black hair and wearing a blue shirt and Capri pants. Police released grainy photos of the woman but said they have yet to determine if she is an acquaintance of the boy’s family.

I am completely flabbergasted. For those in Phoenix, you may have seen this on the news. This astounds me on two levels.

First a 2 year old little boy was left in the care of his 15 year old Uncle who decided it would be okay to wrap the kids in blankets and put him in a bedroom while he walked to Circle K and was gone for 45 minutes. (Um, hello!!!!!) When the uncle came home and saw the boy missing he assumed the mother had returned and retrieved him (I’m hoping she would have been waiting there to read him the riot act). But no, when the mother returned about 30 minutes later the kid got a clue. (This was mid Sat afternoon.)

So a two year old little boy is wandering the streets of Glendale dressed in a diaper and a t-shirt. The child, over the course of 15 hours or so, makes it 7 miles to a mall before he is discovered by someone who sees him crying and running from a dept store. 7 miles!!!!!!! And while I can’t know his exact path I count no less than 5 MAJOR intersections (4-6 lanes) that this child would have crossed.

How many people saw this kid walking along the street by himself? Anybody? Are we that wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t notice a half naked toddler alone on a busy street? I really have a hard time understanding this one.

If you want to read more, here’s the newspaper article:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/westvalley/articles/0821found-ON.html

ok, done ranting…i think.

I got an email yesterday from Noah’s teacher saying that he had a rough day and could I please call her at home that evening. Let’s see, we’re on our 12th day of school. Yikes!

Actually it wasn’t that unexpected. I had given her a brief note about Noah’s Sensory Integration Disorder and asked that we talk sometime after things settled a bit. Obviously she was seeing the signs

We actually had a great talk and I was very encouraged by her response. The books I’ve been reading on SI talk about reluctance and misunderstanding on the part of teachers and the school system. While she didn’t know a lot about SI she had obviously picked up on some of Noah’s behaviors.

She said he likes to stand while he does his work and that’s fine with her. She said she put him at a table with quieter kids and in the least “busy” part of the room to avoid as much stimuli as possible. So she’s already learning to adapt.

She told me that he tends to make a lot of noise at the table, usually quiet noises with his tongue, but they bother the other kids. So I have to try and figure out a stimuli to replace that. Of course they can’t chew gum in class. But he does tend to chew on clothes sometimes so I’m wondering if he had like a washcloth or something to chew on if that would help him concentrate. It’s all such a mystery.

I need to get him formally evaulated for OT and get some guidance at least. His case is not severe but it does interfere with his school just enough to worry me. He’s so smart though. And he has a really good heart.

She said that she sat down with him during recess and asked him why he was having so much trouble and he said, “Every day I come to school and I really try to be good.” How cute is he!?

Someone sent me a link for this site – Stuff on My Cat – basically people taking pictures of their cat with stuff on them. Anyhoo, it’s funny (could be because it’s midnight and I’m getting punchy). You have to scroll down on the page to see the pics. Definitely read the headlines cuz they make the picture.

Just got back from church tonight. We’re doing a really cool series called “iGod”. (See more) Tonight’s message was “i am not, but i know I AM’ – talking about how basically we are nothing but God is everything. In the message Greg used the passage of Moses and the burning bush…

Exodus 3:3-4
Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up. “Amazing!” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go over to see this.”When the LORD saw that he had caught Moses’ attention, God called to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

So a burning bush caught Moses’ attention, but what would it take God, today, to catch my attention? I’m so busy rushing about my life, dropping off kids, cleaning house, working, serving. Do I ever really slow down long enough to let God get my attention? I’d hate to think that he’d have to do something severe in my life to get me to stop and listen to him.

So I’m slowing down and listening.

I heard this great radio broadcast the other day from Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Lysa Terkeurst. Found it online so I could copy it here. I know that I feel unbalanced a lot of times. There’s so much to do – some stuff I have to (like laundry), some stuff I want to (scrapbook) and some stuff I need to do more of (like spend time with God). Guess it’s time to rebalance my life

“One day I was putting clothes away when I heard an awful noise downstairs. I ran to see what had happened and discovered my washing machine banging against the wall in the laundry room. My son had loaded it with several pairs of jeans and sweatshirts that moved to one side, knocking it off balance. You know, sometimes my life is like that. I overload my schedule with too many items and knock myself out of balance. And then I find myself wanting to bang my head against the wall. That’s when I have to sort through the load to see what can be removed from my calendar completely and what needs to be redistributed by placing it a little lower on my to-do list.”

It’s official – my little boy is all grown up. Today was his first day of kindergarten. Last night we attended an open house where he got to meet his teacher – Mrs. Wolcott. She seems nice. There are 2 kids from his preschool that will be in his class which is a huge answer to prayer. He’s got built in friends.

He was pretty nervous this morning – real quiet (which for him is abnormal). But he seemed to be doing okay. I embarassed him with a couple of pictures (gotta scrapbook this). Anxious to see how his day went when I pick him up at 3:30.

I don’t know what it is about this store that I love, but I do. IKEA used to be a regular stop every time we went to San Diego. I was over the moon when they opened one in Tempe. Ever since we decided to move I’ve been making my list, pouring over the catalog, etc.

Well today I finally got to the store and made my purchases. Two new bookcases, new coffee table, tv cart for the playroom, bedding for the kids and lots of decorative stuff and organizational things. (I LOVE to organize!)

It’s mostly still in bags because there’s no where to put it yet. Soon!