Molly Monday

I have mentioned, more than once, that we follow a pretty strict diet because of Molly. I have had many people request details, which I have avoided giving publicly because I get angsty about sharing too much of my kids' lives. After, all, their privacy belongs to them and I have to respect that I am raising adults, and hopefully not narcissistic ones. But time and time again I run up against this need from other people to know where to start. So, on Mondays that I post, I will dedicate space for Molly's special needs, since diet isn't all that private and embarrassing.

A little background...
Molly was a very hard baby, though I didn't really feel put-upon by her because I had a very good routine. She did not take a bottle for 7 months, was difficult to feed solids and had a "cold" since she was 3 weeks old. When she started solids she got eczema, mostly behind her knees, on her feet and on her hands where she sucked her thumb. She would not keep socks on because they bothered her feet so badly. At one point I sat down with the doctor and pretty much ranted about the fact that, no, my baby hasn't had a cold since birth, and you need to tell me why she is so snotty all the time. The answer she gave was reflux, and the zantac did work, so I went on my merry way.

But the eczema was so bad that I again asked the doctor for help. Her response was cortizone cream. I am not opposed to medication. I am grateful for modern medicine. It saves many lives every day. However, I, in my limited understanding of medicine, knew that steroid cream for a baby might not be a good idea as the first line of defense, especially when said baby has a chronic condition. But I tried the cream, and she broke out with hives. So she was diagnosed with "contact dermatitis".

From Wikipedia: Contact dermatitis is a term for a skin reaction (dermatitis) resulting from exposure to allergens (allergic contact dermatitis) or irritants (irritant contact dermatitis). Phototoxic dermatitis occurs when the allergen or irritant is activated by sunlight.

This was the tipping point. I have not gone into great detail about my discussions with the pediatrician, but believe me when I tell you that I felt utterly disgusted with the doctor by the time Molly was one. We did our best, but it was a lot of trial and a whole lot of error. I knew, in that sixth sense sort-of way, that Molly's problem was dietary. She hated all formula, and when she abruptly stopped nursing at 8 months, we had to give her goat's milk. To this day I cannot stand the smell or taste of any goat or sheep food product because of the smell of Molly's spit up and diapers.

We did elimination diets, vegetarian diets, organic diets. Sometime during that second year Paul was born and Scott lost his job. Molly's issues were put on the back burner, but we did do the best we could with the little we understood. It was a chiropractor that I was seeing for my shoulder who finally pointed us in the right direction. He wasn't 100% correct, but he did say that she had an low functioning adrenal glad and to put her on a low Omega 6 diet while upping her Omega 3s. Through that advice we cut out all grains including corn. We began to care about where our food comes from. We learned to decode labels and find out what the animals we ate were eating themselves. Corn, as it turns out, was the biggest offender. Corn is in seemingly every thing. Chickens and cows are fed corn, and that mattered to Molly.

Oh, and we tried to be "balanced", which is code for not diligent. We'd tell family members not to worry about what Molly needed. She could have an "off" day as long as she at mostly good foods. We would go out to eat and feed Molly the best we could, and sometimes we'd let her have a cookie or "unsafe" ice cream. And Molly would whine about being achy or that her tummy hurt or she was tired. We'd roll our eyes because Molly's always been a bit whiny and lazy.

But then something rather miraculous happened. My sister called me. (No, that isn't a miracle!) She complained about her daughter's skin irritations and belly aches and she just needed to know what to do, not a big long list of "NO". M began to change the way they ate, and she discovered her daughter didn't have belly aches or as many episodes of asthma. She also discovered E was far more friendly and outgoing than before and a lot more compliant. Once E didn't feel like crap every day, her lovely personality shone so brightly almost everyone remarked on it. But the miracle for Molly was something M discovered through E. One day they were running and E complained about feeling tired and slow. M, stupidly, but not really because it worked out okay, Googled E's symptoms. She found a vitamin B deficiency accounted for all of E's complaints and started her one one immediately. The description E gave sounded like Molly's whole personality, so I started Molly on a supplement. Wouldn't you know it, Molly blossomed. She is far more active than ever, far more compliant than ever, and she is learning so well at school. We've really been blessed with finding more people who are experiencing all sorts of wonderful results with changing the family diet. They are all a huge resources for us.

We also did a modified GAPS elimination with her. Because she didn't exhibit any autistic or ADHD symptoms, I was concerned about jumping full into a fasting type of program. What we have found is "cheating" cheats Molly. So we are now totally corn and gluten free. The other kids eat rice, but we don't go crazy with it. Our food comes from reputable sources and our animal products are from pastured animals who get exercise. Healthy animals = healthy food. We also do meatless Fridays, and I've noticed I feel a lot better after starting that.

So I will try to build on this post with recipes and experiences and I will also be open to answering any questions about dietary needs. I'm not an expert, but I do have a lot of experience. If you wonder where to start, I'd go with Real Food Freaks and GAPS and Wellness Mama. I'd also go with your observations and be merciful with yourself. It'll go a long way in keeping you sane!

It's Friday!

--- 1 ---

I made a New Year resolution, though it's not a tough one, I have a feeling I'll find a lot of stumbling blocks to accomplishing it. Also, I'm not telly you what it is. Not for any fear of failure, but because it's a spiritual goal and I don't want to accomplish it only because I posted it all over the interwebs, you know? 

--- 2 ---

Report cards came home this week. It was a little anti-climatic for Kate because the school posts the grades for 3rd grade and up. Obviously that is a good thing, especially if you need to give your child incentive to pull a grade up. Charlotte did well. Not much to say about the big kids. School is old hat to them,  and they both do well.

The littles, Paul and Molly, don't even register what a report card is. Molly failed knowing her address, which is fair because we just moved. Paul failed hopping on one foot, so I asked him to show me how he hops on one foot. The results were hilarious. Oh my, I wish I could have had video!
(No, they don't give little kids "F" grades, but each school has a different system of number or letter grades for littles, so "failed" is a good way to tell you they got the lowest score possible.)

--- 3 ---

I'm  living in a crazy person's house. Unfortunately, I am that crazy person. I have been painting like mad, only the painting is of sample colors. Our kitchen and living room is one great space with walls that are under different lighting. So, I have to paint my samples on each wall to be sure I like the color. I have had one massive fail and one success and one that I like, but I'm going to use in the two front rooms. I also chose a back splash, but not a color for the t.v. room, or the bathrooms upstairs. I also think I know what tile I want for the wall around my bathtub, which means I'll lose sleep over it until I buy all the supplies. 1st world problems, yo.

--- 4 ---

Here's the update you all come here for. Mariana is doing better. I can tell her comprehension of my words and her ability to respond is getting better. Her gears move a lot slower than other babies, so giving her time to process what is expected is key. I've noticed when strangers stop and talk to her she gives them this really dumb look for about fifteen seconds, but if they stick around long enough she will light up with a smile and do her two-armed flappy wave. Now Mrs. J came back Wednesday and showed me how to teach Mae the crawling motions of left/right coordinating movements. She warned me that it's a sweaty workout for mom, only Mariana tolerates it for about two feet, and then just lies down. It's how she deals with stress. The sum total is that I am seeing progress, but I have to give Mariana time to show me. A difficult thing for a busy person, but I've had a lot of things pointing to the need for me to slow down the pace of life, this just adds to the evidence.

--- 5 ---

I'm running again. You know this picture?



Well, I feel like the lower picture. My sister, Kate, is virtual-training me by sending me spreadsheets of my plan, while I text her the results of my runs and walks. It keeps me accountable, which is good because there are a lot of reasons not to leave the house. On Friday's I have to run with the jogger, which is not my favorite thing to do. That said, I'm enjoying myself 60% of the time, so that's nice. 

--- 6 ---

I am getting very excited for Mariana's first birthday, which is a mere two months away. Can you believe that? I'm rolling a post around about that wonderful day. I still look back and feel so glad that I never had that grief for something lost. It's a true grace to hear news like that and feel comfortable with it. I spent a lot of time during my pregnancy feeling uneasy and as soon as I heard she may have Down syndrome I felt relief. Not the usual response to such a diagnosis and I still praise God for it.

--- 7 ---

Has anyone heard of Ryan Freel? He was a close friend of our next door neighbor, B. I was chatting with him when he told me Ryan committed suicide leaving 3 daughters and his wife. I could tell that B is messed up by the whole thing, who wouldn't be? It's a terrible thing to lose someone like that and I know B wants so badly to make sense of it all, which won't happen in this life. Ryan had a lot of problems, and his brain is going to be studied because he had so many concussions and suffered from mood disorders.  The point is, of course, to ask for prayers for B and Ryan's family. It's hard to see a grown man feel so lost like B did when talking about Ryan. I know it's going to take a long time for him to get used to carrying this pain.

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What Following Christ has Taught Me about Being a Parent

Today I read the gospel reading for mass. It was the loaves and fishes reading out of Mark. (Mk 6:34-44) Many things struck me at once, much like a wave overcoming you and then washing over you in the ocean. "This is what I need to be doing!" It was an epiphany, perhaps in keep with Sunday's feast.

First I have to tell you a bad habit I'd gotten into. When overwhelmed I wouldn't become angry or frustrated that I had so much on my plate, I'd get frustrated that I was inadequate to handle it. I hear people say, "God never gives you more than you can handle." and this phrase makes me so angry.
1. I don't believe God causes tradgedy and thus does not "give" us heartache; and
2. Yes, sometimes life IS more than we can handle and it is God Himself who gives us the grace and the resources to work through it.
So my frustration was not so much that God allowed difficult things in my life to all hit at once, but that it seemed that God was NOT giving me the grace to work through it. I'd lose my temper at the kids and blame God, I'd get no sleep and be rude to my sick husband and blame God. Mariana wouldn't cooperate and I would feel so upset and helpless and blame God I wasn't able to be more pragmatic. 

And then I read this reading.

There are so many depth to be explored in this reading, but what struck me this morning was this; the disciples seemed really annoyed  when Jesus asked them to feed the crowd. Jesus told them to bring what they had, and from there he blessed what they did have and it was MORE THAN ENOUGH. (I also get totally distracted sometimes and wonder what they did with those 12 baskets of left overs. It's the mom in me.)

What does this have to do with me? Sometimes I realize how I'm feeling before I react. Sometimes, many times actually, I act out of frustrations even after noticing, "Uh, I'm sooo frustrated!" And it is those times, those exact times when it seems like I have 5,000 to care for, when I must stop and say, "Lord, all I have is one more minute of patience left, but here, you can have it."

What I know from experience is that 15 or 30 seconds into it I will be inspired on what to do. Sometimes I think, "I'm just going to play a bored game with these kids to get them to settle." Sometimes I think to give them each a task and a reward if they complete the task in a given time. Sometimes I realize the particularly troublesome kid woke up after breakfast and hadn't eaten yet. Yes, God just takes that last drop of patience and he extends it, inspires me on what I must focus, and gives me the grace to focus on just what is in front of me rather than the whole To Do list.

The key, of course, is to be a disciple and bring him what you do have, little and insignificant though it may be, and let Him bless it and multiply it. All you and I have to do is distribute it. I will bet we have some left over to get the rest of our tasks accomplished. 12 baskets of laundry perhaps?

What Having a Child with Down Syndrome Has Taught Me About Following Christ

Thank God the Christmas season is almost over. I nearly died. Mae, Charlotte, Paul and Scott were hit with the flu. I am not a good nurse for very long. While I don't think I should be exempt from suffering, ever, I do get rather irritated with God at not making me better at it. Near the end of this ordeal I began to come unglued and have those, "EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE, SO WHY DO I EVEN TRY?!" thoughts. And boy did I have some wonderful focal points this time around.

You see, Mariana isn't talking. What I mean is, I have been assured and reassured that she has all the tools to talk. She says, "Mama", she can sign "milk", "please" and "eat". But she gets mad when I ask her to sign, especially where food is involved. And since her weight has been a problem my resolve has also been a problem. Kid gotta eat. She also happens to be stubborn.

The other thing that was disturbing me is that even during play she didn't seem to understand how to copy me. For example, when the others were babies I would go, "Ah!" and they would go, "Ah!" and we'd copy each other as a game. Mae wasn't getting the game. Even when I included the other kids. She's just smile and think we were being very funny.

The developmental specialist, Mrs. J., came on Wednesday. When I told her about what was bothering me she reminded me that I have to draw the line with Mariana. I MUST require her to make requests, so rather than put it around food, do it for play. Make her sign "more" if she wants me to repeat an action. Have her show me "please" and "all done". Force the issue. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Because her lack of doing what she must do is a combination of slow cognition and stubbornness. She needs more repetition than my other babies and she IS slower to understand. And then she handed me a bitter pill and told me to swallow it.

So, what does this have to do with following Christ? Well, take a look at the world around us. We hate discipline and we love achievement. We want to have all the food we want, but we don't want to get sick or fat or feel crummy. We want to drink all the coffee we want, but we don't want to have sleepless nights.We want to have all the sex we want, but we don't want all the babies, possible diseases (from multiple partners) or emotional baggage that comes with it. As Mariana's mom, I wanted the achievement with as little work as possible. Clearly I suffer from the being a human.

But there was a bigger issue I noticed in myself as reflected by my meeting with Mrs. J. I look at the violent, sexualized, sensually driven society, and my response is to circle the wagons on my own family. I find myself turning in instead of out, of hiding my views and beliefs instead of engaging (respectfully) in philosophical arguments. I don't want the headache or judgement or frustration to be in my life, so I ignore those who make statements that fly in the face of my dearly held, well thought-out beliefs. After hearing Mrs. J. tell me, "Force the issue, Repeat, repeat, repeat. Be resourceful. If one circumstance is bad timing, then cultivate good timing. You can not stop working because one day she will get it.", I realized that this is true with my community. I have to stand up and say that it is a bad idea to be more permissive. That a permissive culture is not the same as a righteous culture. I have to stand up and say that God is my God, not wealth, political party or gender. I have to stop misconstruing permissiveness as compassion, something our society does all the time.

I'm not certain if my blog is the place I'll be forcing the issues. Maybe it will, maybe it will continue to be the place where I just talk about what it is like to have a child with Down syndrome. (There is that timing issue.) I know that I will behave differently in my public life. Mariana may not ever do certain things. I will still have to try to teach her. I may feel like banging my head against the wall, but I will still have to persevere. Just as I must continue to teach Mae with love and resolve, so I must stand for Christ. Perhaps it will be just the thing that allows me to hear those glorious words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

The Christmas Letter

Yes, I officially claim defeat on the Christmas card/letter. Tough. Here's the run-down of the Life of Fry.

Merry Christmas!
And I mean that sincerely. Because it's been a tough year, no? We had a baby, via c-section, which was terrible (the section, not the baby.) The baby, one Mariana Lynn, was born with Down syndrome and has since spent life defying odds, exhibiting stubbornness and illustrating the fact that "special needs" is a term that applies to everybody in the world.

Kate the Great received her First Holy Communion, went on a trip with Grandma and finally has lost all the "tooth fairy" teeth, which everyone knows are the non-molars. She's doing well in school with a little encouragement, sometimes a lot of encouragement, and she has quit guitar because she was "burnt out". Yep, my 8 year old claimed to be burnt out. Rather than argue with her I just welcomed her to the club of "Much Too Young to be This Damn Old". Lo and behold the child misses guitar lessons. Because I use all advantages, I'm making her earn them. Heh.

Charlotte was front-toothless for many many months and finally has one and a half front teeth. She rocked 1st grade and is really working hard in 2nd. She has had 100% 7 times in a row in spelling and I'm running out of bribes, I mean rewards. Luckily she thinks things like feeding the baby her solids are privileges. God bless the naive. Charlotte also made her First Reconcilliation, which nearly gave her an ulcer. She's been a true gem, which she admitted was because she doesn't want to have too many sins to tell the priest. She's a keeper.

Molly graduated from PreK, and I spent the summer worried that Mrs. Robinson was the only teacher that could handle her particular self. Over the summer she and I and the baby went to Houston. She is such a fun companion! Kindergarten came and Molly's teacher couldn't be better. Molly's reading very well. Her clean diet seems to help her attitude and energy and she's a little more compliant which is a lot of help. We do have bad days, but alas, we all have bad days, don't we? She and Paul are currently fighting constantly and spend a lot of time in separate corners. Scott and I spend a lot of time thanking God for separate corners.

Paul is now (FINALLY) four. This year he has grown up so much! He has some boy buddies with whom he can wrestle, fight and be a boy with. This is good for all of us in the house. He adores his baby sister and she helps ground him when he is particularly wild. He still wakes up grouchy, but he and Daddy are working on that. The good news is that he adores his teacher, the bad news is that he never wants to come home from school. The term "Mama's Boy" does not apply to him.

Mariana was born, baptized and has been spending the year nursing and ignoring the experts. She loves to eat, says, "Mama" and signs "milk, please" and "eat". The goal is 10 words by a year. I'm shooting for 15 only because I have a motivated student. The crawling thing is not really working well, but I'm hopeful she'll get going by mid-January. She does not like to do anything she perceives as work, and she's stubborn. In other words, she's like her mama.

Scott and I bought a new house, moved in October 20th, and proceeded to be exhausted the rest of the year. It's been one of those years where the unexpected is a constant factor in our lives. Luckily God has never let us down, and answered many many prayers, some that we never thought to express in words. Every breath we take has been a gift, and we are so very grateful.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
The Frymans

Pink Candles

This past Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, or "Pink Candle Sunday" if you are one of my kids. Rejoice. Fat chance, right? 

This was a weekend that our children could do no wrong. Waking up in the middle of the night with Molly snuggled up against me brought no irritation. I scooped her closer to me and rested better with her body near to mine. That body, it is so beautiful. Her milky skin and freckle dappled face, her pink lips and pointy chin and merry eyes all bring such joy to us. What would I do without that body? I would still love her, wholly as always. How could I live without the heat of her back against me, the feel of her delicate fingers stroking my face as she does, the scent of her hair and breath?

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Understandably many people are outraged and angry. I suppose if I dug deep enough I could get pretty angry too. It's not so much the Sandy Hook horror that makes me angry. That just makes me sad, deeply inconsolably sad. It's more of the political opportunism of left and right, atheist and theist, etc. Can we not take a few days to just have broken hearts, to just hold one another tighter, smile at our kids' naughty antics and try our very best not to let our pain dribble over into irritation at the innocent? But I refuse to get too worked up about those things. 

I could get pretty angry about this too. Here is a man, who is well respected, openly advocating for the forcible murder of babies he deems too much of a drain on society. I could get pretty furious that there are people willing to vote for him in spite of this, since they refuse to be a "one issue voter". Or that there are many who, in the recesses of their hearts, agree with this utilitarian eugenicist. Yes, I could be very angry about that.

There are many things in daily life that frustrate me so much I could muster up some serious rage. Kids getting sick at the worst possible time, a child who I can not seem to get to nap properly, the time that slips away when I should be preparing for the upcoming school break and Christmas holiday. All of these things can build and build and build until....KABOOM! Mommy's on a rampage through the house listing all of the things that are wrong in the house, the neighborhood, the city, the country and the world. STOMP STOMP STOMP SLAM!

Instead I'd like to share my prayer these days:
Lord, give me peace and joy this season, but if I cannot have it, give me a peaceful and joyful face, voice and body. Let my heart suffer in silence while my body becomes a vehicle for the peace and joy you wish to share with the world. 

Or in the case of an emergency: God help me fake it.

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Yesterday I heard of one of the children of Sandy Hook being buried in his favorite jersey. I thought of Paul and if I had to bury him I would not put him in "button pants" (pants that are not elastic).  He hates button pants. I do not wish to live in a world where I consider, even for a moment, what my child would want to wear in his casket.

St. Therese wrote of living life "The Little Way". St Therese translated “the little way” in terms of a commitment to the tasks and to the people we meet in our everyday lives. Meaning that we, in each moment of our lives have the opportunity to act with purpose, consideration and kindness. If we see our jerky kid left his stupid socks next to the couch last night, we don't blast him either aloud or under our breath. We pick up his socks and say nothing or, if you've really perfected it, say a blessing for him.* We wake and get busy about the tasks in our lives happily rather than grudgingly, and yes, that means dealing with school traffic with patience. The "little way" has a way of becoming bigger and bigger in our lives and transforms us into saints.

I think starting small is the best way to keep the devil in check. I'm sure he is dancing victoriously over the vitriol that has spilled over from the tragedy, as I'm sure he danced with delight at the moment of the tragedy. I quit this game. I'm saying no to the anger and vitriol and petulance. I'm going to let myself be sad, let myself hurt and pray I can be a beacon of comfort and joy for those who need it. While I grieve for all the loss this past Friday, I will light a candle in my heart for the deceased. But it will be pink, if just to win one for God. Gaudete indeed.


Gaudete in Domino semper
iterum dico gaudete.

2nd week of Advent

--- 1 ---

Many many things of note have happened this week. Let us begin with Sunday, when our dear friends let us keep 5 out of 6 of their children. Two of the kids are Paul's age range, are boys and give him someone to wrestle and box. It is lovely when I am not the one being punched and the person who is thinks it's a fun game. There also is a two year old boy, and there are twins, all of whom are perfect and wonderful. Even though that is the case, I still can't remember why I thought it was a good idea to put together bookshelves that day. Needless to say, the shelves are not done.

--- 2 ---

Scott's mom came into town on Monday to celebrate Paul's 4th birthday (which was on Tuesday, but that was a busy enough day!) True story, I can't remember what we ate for dinner. Oh, wait, pot roast. Scott took the day off work because I'd been grappling with a virus, and we had a really lovely day. I made grain-free pumpkin bread with a pumpkin spice whipped cream frosting. All was delicious and well received by the kids. 

--- 3 ---

Tuesday things got crazy. Once again, I hardly remember the morning, but I do know I had quite a few things to do. That said, I was able to drop Mariana off with our friends, the ones whose children came to our house, and take Paul and some buddies to Wreck-it Ralph. Unfortunately one of his buddies got the business from his mom for some potty humor right before we left, and Wreck-it Ralph has quite a bit of that. Oops.

A lot of people gave me looks as though I was a martyr when I told them my plans to take four young boys to the movies. I really thought they were weird. While the boys were really perfect during the movie, I have to say I've never understood the term "herding cats" so well in my life. These boys just took off the minute they were out of the car. Luckily I parked near the sidewalk, so there was no parking lot safety issues. But holy cow, girls and boys are totally different.

That night was a normal night, only Paul got to snuff the Advent candles -it wasn't his turn- and he had a few gifts to open.

--- 4 ---

Wednesday may take a while. Mae had her Developmental specialist meeting and met with her new OT. Luckily it was at our house. We have had it made clear to us that keep Mae slightly quarantined is our primary obligation this winter. I will get into that later.

The basic run down of Mae's assessment is that she is doing very well. Her gross motor is on target, though she is low tone in her upper body, it is only partial. We must keep working on crawling, but her gross motor is good. Her fine motor is also on target, but we must work on her pincer grasp, and her sign language. Most of the feedback was to keep up our work with her because she is close to on target.

--- 5 ---

Mae's 9 month check up was Thursday. This is where I lose it. She is 15lbs, so she gained 11oz in a month. Yay! The pediatrician did say she wasn't too freaked out by that plateau earlier because it looks like a normal curve. Most babies plateau around 8 months because they are more active, and since our OT has upped a bit, the doc wasn't freaked out now that she's gaining again.

During her appointment I explained that on Wednesday Mae had begun to say Ma-ma. Two syllables instead of her normal, "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma..." Doc lit up and began telling me this is a 12 month skill. I also explained that she is signing for milk and starting to point. Again Doc became almost giddy. Pointing is a 12 month skill. Also, early communication skills are directly linked to IQ. This doesn't mean if your baby doesn't talk s/he will have a low IQ, because most babies communicate well before they talk. But for Mariana, for obvious reasons, this is a huge deal.

I am scared to be happy. Predicting the future is not my favorite game. I am happy she is progressing and beginning clear communication, but there are a million and one What-ifs. I do not want to put too much into this report lest I get caught up in fooling myself that Mae is "just fine". She needs our help with everything, we can't leave her to develop on her own. That said, it is lovely to have all of our hard work pay off in the form of impressing the professionals

--- 6 ---

GI update: Clear x-ray! No indication of a physiological reason for her issues, and prune juice is keeping things moving. HURRAY FOR PRUNE JUICE!

Our ped told us that the flu season is practically killing her practice with overtime. She was very firm about keeping Mariana protected, which reiterated what the GI doctor had said. We are to stay away from malls (no Santa photo!) and keep a strict hygiene routine. We cannot travel, we cannot host travelers. Boo hiss.

--- 7 ---

Now the REALLYbad news. So all three pros (Doc, Developmental specialist, OT) stated that children with Down syndrome tend to have a stubborn streak that beats all. This has been witness by me in Mariana's refusal to do OT many times, and her refusal to sign what she can. And it is clear refusal, not confusion. We are facing some bedtime issues with this one, and my tenderness toward her condition does her no favors. Pray I get through this. I know she'll be fine, but my nerves are frayed as it is. And to think, I'm the militant mama in my family!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!