Monday, November 08, 2004

The Little Things

Here's what matters to me, what's important (well, here's a start, at least):
1) My kids. Honestly. The Boy, who's 5, is my darling boy, but he's going through a tough time. He's been "provisionally" diagnosed ADHD, which means "We think he has this problem but he could just be screwed up because his little world has been through emotional hell over the past 2 years". For me, it means learning that being a mom means being your child's advocate in the world. Teaching them that life throws things at you, and sometimes they're hardballs, but you get to choose what you do with them once they're launched at you. Life's a good thing, and you don't have to be perfect for that to be true.
The Girl, who's 2 (TODAY!) is my little monkey, and I worry that she ends up on the short-end of the attention stick because of the time and effort we're putting into her brother. I hope not.
Mama guilt blows.

2 comments:

Sarahlynn said...

You are so right about being an advocate for your children; I have been learning a lot about that over the past year. Happy Birthday to your daughter! Thank you for the link; I've linked to you right back.

Psycho Kitty said...

Thank you! I think having a child really makes you aware of how important it is to question authority. I remember the first time I let a doctor "talk me out of" strep throat. I knew it was strep, dammit, but hey, I'm no doctor, right? Three days later, other kids in his daycare report strep, and I drag him back and make them test him. Sure enough: strep. You really learn to listen to your gut and quit caring if other people give you guff over it.
I've been back-reading posts on the blogs I've fallen in love with, and I read your letter re: No Child Left Behind. I'm so glad and impressed that you did that. I realize the one good thing I can see coming out of this election is that I don't have the option to feel complacent about the problems I see around me. This administration sure as heck isn't going to do anything about them other than make some of them worse. If I want things to be any better, I'm going to have to get out there and do something; that won't take my focus away from my kids, it's what I need to do for my kids.