Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

It is odd to take a break from writing here.  In some way, it is a habit that is very hard to break.  And I know that I will be back.  Just in a while.  

Since surgery, I have been following doc orders and taking it very slow.  Yes, still tv.  British soapy drama when I cannot find sci-fi.  A friend has a new website that needs proofing, so I am helping with that.  I sent in an application for a second year of LEND yesterday, meeting the deadline.  No one acknowledged that I sent it, and there has been no word from my mentor.  It is an exercise.  Most probably futile, but it is one of the things I’ve been thinking of as a choice for a next step.  Somehow I could not just let it fall aside.  For better or worse, they must reject me before I can move on.  Working on the short statement of my interest clarified ideas for a future.  It would be very nice to do as I propose -- figure out how to be a parent partner on an interdisciplinary diagnostic and/or treatment team that serves families with neurodevelopmentally disabled children.  I am almost sure I can do it.  I would be good at it.  

The thread is out there now.  

Julia is rising to the challenged of a mother on the couch.  I’ve asked her to do everything from taking in the garbage cans to locking doors to fetching and carrying everything that I cannot hold in one hand.  She balks some, like any self respecting 11 year old, but she does more and more.  

Julia’s teacher sent home the log in information and password of the math games that Julia plays in school now.  Randall School is on some sort of pilot program with Reflex Math.  Math facts connected with catchy games.  Julia is pretty awful at it right now but she wants to play.  Who knows? This might be the summer of math facts. The last three summers have triggered big gains in her learning: 2010 reading, 2011 counting.  Summer seems to be the time to build the critical mass necessary for her to take a leap.  I meet with her teacher next week to get her advice on what to do with the summer.

We work on a family tree for class -- the usual uncomfortable situation for n adopted child.  For Julia, it is not awkward because she accepts without question that she has a China mommy and daddy, and her family which is me and Cheshire.  This is the understanding of a younger child and until she questions more, I will let that be her reality.  She asks, “Did you miss me before you knew me?” and “Was it hard for you to wait (to come and get me)?”  So, there is some understanding.  There is a volunteer assignment to bring in some ethnic food that is something of your ethnic heritage.  Julia understands that our family is Ukrainian, Jewish and Chinese.  She says that we are all those three, and to the extent that I hope that she identifies with all three backgrounds, our whole family needs to take it all on as well.  I don’t know if I will be able, but I would love to send in a plate with Jewish, Ukrainian and Chinese food on it.