Sunshine on a Poopy Day

nominated by litadoolan

Yesterday we got hit with a snow storm here in Connecticut and our 4 day long weekend was extended to 5 days. So we got a jump-start on our Poopy Valentines Day plan: potty training my 7 year-old non-verbal autistic, special needs son (see my post Help! My Valentine Smells like Poop! ). It was a rough day – to say the least. We didn’t make it even 5 minutes between wet underwear, but Stephen did manage to pee on the potty 3 times in one day (a record number of times in a row.) It’s a start and I keep reminding myself A long journey begins with the first step. After 8 hours of potty training my son was so exhausted he got into bed (my bed of course) an hour before bedtime.

I was too exhausted to send him to his own bed. Some days I just need to choose my battles. Yesterday was one of those days. I washed dried and folded 3 loads of laundry, pre-washed poop out of his underwear by hand, and basically got nothing else done during the 5 minutes between “dry checks.” I had a battle of the wills with a 7 year-old, my patience was wearing thin, and I said, “There’s no way I’m going to change your diapers until you’re 35 – so you may as well learn now!” Not one of my best parenting moments – nothing like making a stressful situation worse.

Stephen pooped in his underwear while I ate my breakfast at 2:00 pm, so there was no way I was going to make dinner. My wonderful hubby not only shoveled almost all day, he also helped out with the “positive practice” routine – back and forth to the potty going through the motions 5 times in a row for each wet accident. He may have done it reluctantly (and not without complaining) but he was still a big help. At 8 pm we hadn’t had dinner (my son had a sandwich on gluten-free bread but as always mommy and daddy come last.) So (big – a.k.a – tall) Steve, my hubby went out in the cold to pick up some carry-out.

At 3:30 am the carry-out wasn’t agreeing with me and my mind was racing. I opted to make a to-do-list and an ideas list to help me relax and put it out of my mind until morning. By 4;30 am my son was up and out of his own bed again, so I sent him back in to my bed. I woke up this morning with a stiff neck (not entirely unusual for me – at 36 I already have arthritis in my neck that shows up on x-rays.)

So today I resolved to have a better day, knowing I had an unexpected jump-start on potty training and we’re still ahead of schedule (at least in my world we are.) I promise myself I will remain calm as I tell my son that when he has that “need to go potty feeling” to “STOP what you’re doing and GO to the potty.”

So today of all days, I am grateful for the Sunshine Award nomination from my fellow blogger, Lita.

Sunshine, as the name suggests,
is an award for bloggers whose blogs are bright and full of life.

 

The rules for accepting the Sunshine Award are:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog (which I’ve already done)
• List 11 facts about YOU! (see below)
• Nominate 10 other blogs to receive the award
• Announce the nominations to the nominee

11 Facts About Me:

1. I’m an optimist (who struggles with disappointment – Don’t we all?)
2. I love photography and scrapbooking (though I rarely have time for either these days)
3. My autistic special needs son is better at baseball than I was at his age
(I could barely hit the ball off the tee – still not sure if I’m truly right-handed)
4. I love ASL (and all foreign or not so foreign languages)
5. I love to read (two books I can’t live without are my Bible and my dictionary)
6. I’m open-minded (especially when it comes to philosophy and religion)
7. I love ethnic foods (Italian, Puerto Rican, Chinese, West Indian, etc…)
8. I’d rather do the dishes (by hand) than cook but I’m an aspiring gluten-free chef
9. I’m a jack of all trades (and dare I say it master of none)
10. I love diversity
(cultural, ethnic, racial, philosophical, disabled/uniquely able, etc. etc. etc. diversity in all things)
11. I love family and have had more than one neighbor become extended family (RIP Maggie I love and miss you!)

Nominations for the Sunshine Award

1. Learning To Advocate | Cheering on Charlie
2. I had “THE” Talk with My Teenage Daughter | Raising 5 Kids With Disabilities and Remaining Sane Blog
3. A FREE printable for the friend of a special-needs mom | Beautiful In His Time
4. Beading Saves the Day on the Eve of Valentine’s Day | Running Brook Reflections
5.Yeah, I totally hate Valentine’s Day like everyone else, whinge whinge whinge… | Living Like Larry
6. The Clouds have Lifted | The Diary of a Happy Mom: 40 and Beyond
7. Cleaning Up On Valentines | The Chatter Blog
8. 15 Minute Chocolate Lava Cakes for 2 | The Savory Confection
9. I resolve to: LOVE more [2014] | Fighting On in Faith.
10. The Amazing Lives of Hummingbirds | Laughter is the best medicine

And a Special Thanks to Lita for the warm welcome into the blogosphere!

I offer this hoping  you will enjoy the recognition of the award
and understand that you may or may not wish to participate in the above!

I’ve read so many awesome blogs this week. I wish I had time to list them all. It’s 4:00 pm now and I started this post at 9:00 am, so for those of you I missed – don’t worry – I’m not likely to forget you! Your stories were amazing and they sparked the creativity in my life this week. Keep the fire burning for me. I’ll be busy for now…

So far we’ve had 3 “dry checks” today that were in fact dry 🙂 I’ve got to get back to my laundry for now (1 load of wet pants so far today.)
If no one’s told you they love you today, I love you!

Love,
Liana