You are loved

 

I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father.

I can be happy, because I deserve it and am loved.

 

We all have dark times and feel down and need to be lifted up and this quote is a reminder to me and others to know we are loved. It just made me heart happy!

Cameron

Cameron found an old cell phone and opened it up to figure out how it works.

Today was my son Cameron's IEP. I always prepare and get nervous, every time I end up crying. Not because I am sad, but it can be emotional. Like most parents, I want my child to succeed. I don't like to watch him struggle. I don't like them to tell me he fell under the average on his testing. Cameron works really hard and he has come a long way. He does excellent in math, but struggles with words, reading and writing. Sometimes we see more progress at home than what they tell us.

Can't resist that smile

I was talking to them about a concern we had. Cameron comes home from school and tells us about other kids and things they did and he doesn't talk a lot about himself. I told the 2 teachers and the principle about I was worried about certain kids being distractions and as caring and loving as Cameron is, that it could be getting in the way of his learning. One of the teachers told me that Cameron is so sweet, caring, and loving. (which we already knew). She said one day, one of the kids we were concerned about being a distraction, who is autistic, was upset and crying. He didn't want to go to the resource class for his time. He wouldn't talk to anyone. Cameron went up to him and hugged him and said, "Do you want me to go with you? Would that make you happy?" He looked at the teachers and said, "Is that ok?" they said yes, and Cameron walked with him to the other class. The boy was fine after that. They told us, Cameron makes a difference in other kids' lives, makes them feel accepted and loved. It made me feel really good to hear that.

He loves his daddy!

Cameron may always struggle, but he is special, important, loving and can make a difference. If being what some see as "normal" would change the way my boy is then, I don't want him to change. I love him so much and I am proud of who he is.

Legos and smiling are his favorite!

 I love this song by Mindy Gledhill, Anchor. She talks about being different and how some times people may thing you are strange, but you have someone who can anchor you down and believe in you. We all need to love others for their differences. 

See the music video HERE

Cameron- Sensory Processing Disorder- 1

I've been thinking a lot lately about my son Cameron. He just started 1st grade and it's been a little difficult for him being gone all day. He loves school, has a lot of friends, listens to his teacher, but he says that he misses us. Cameron has some delays and he gets some help at school in speech, reading and if needed- behavior. 

Yesterday he came home from school wearing a necklace that had letters on it. It spelled MOM. It was so cute and I asked him what the other kids spelled on their necklaces. He told me they spelled their names, but he wanted Mom, because he missed me so much. It's made me look back at our journey to get him where he is now.

I remember after my oldest, Brooklynn, was about four, I thought I had parenting down. She was a really hard baby and toddler, but we had it down. When she turned five, my little boy Cameron was two and I had a brand new baby girl McKenna. I had three kids five and under and I had it under control. Life was perfect. Both Cameron and McKenna were really easy babies and toddlers. However, as Cameron got older he was becoming more and more difficult. Everyone brushed it off that he was just being “a boy”. Don’t worry it’s just his personality. He was hard, I was with him 24/7 and no one really understood.

 

Time went on and McKenna was the one who was the toddler and Cameron was four. When I asked the kids to clean up my toddler listened, but Cameron just made a bigger mess. He didn’t seem to get out of the “toddler” phase.  Still people continued to try to make me feel better, and reassure me that everything was fine.

When we would go to the store, Cameron would have to touch everything. He didn’t like certain smells and he would sometimes react in such a dramatic way. There were times that he screamed because the lights were too bright, or his clothes felt weird. When someone was too close to him he HATED it, but he always wanted big tight hugs. It was confusing and I mentally took notes of his quirks.

 

I remember one day he came to tell me he wanted to go outside. He said, “I’m going outside, mom, outside, I’m going outside.” I remember just staring at him. It seemed really odd. I realized that I had heard him repeat words and sentences before, but for some reason that time just stood out to me. I googled, “My son is repeating sentences.” As usual several sites popped up. One caught my eye. Sensory Processing Disorder.  I clicked on the link and knew immediately that is what my son had.

I had heard that before from an old neighbor. Her son had it and she told me about it years ago. I got on Facebook and messaged her. She gave me tips and advice and told me to talk to my pediatrician. I got on the phone and made an appointment.

In the doctor’s office I was ready with my list of things to talk about. I love our Pediatrician, because he will first listen. He has always said that mom’s know their kids best. Then he proceeds to tell you his opinion. I was ready to hear that I was just crazy. He said, so many parents, teachers and doctors are diagnosing kids with ADHD, giving them medication and moving on. Of course the medication is going to calm the kids, but it doesn’t mean that is the problem. People need to take a look at everything before medicating children. He said that he wasn’t sure what Cameron had, but he said more than likely some kind of learning delay or disability. So many kids show “Hyper” behavior because they don’t understand or they are delayed. Older kids act out, because they are too embarrassed to tell anyone they don’t understand. He said that he didn’t know a lot about Sensory Processing Disorder, but we were heading in the right direction. He referred me to an Occupational Therapist.

I felt really good about this. At my appointment she told me within minutes that although she can’t diagnose Sensory Processing Disorder, she would be the one that treats him and he qualifies. So basically she was saying, yes he has it. We started weekly therapy and Cameron also was qualified for the District Preschool to get extra help.

 

After more than six months, all my work had paid off and he was showing progress immediately. I was proud of Cameron, proud to be his mom and thankful that I listened to my gut instinct.

The occupational therapist worked with me and taught me things I could do at home to help Cameron. I read books and articles as well. I loved seeing my happy child again. He wasn’t so frustrated, mad, and hyper. He was happy. Cameron is now almost seven, he is in 1^st grade and has a lot of friends. He still struggles and gets overwhelmed, frustrated and mad, but he is doing better all the time. 

 

I will continue to write more about Cameron, Sensory Processing Disorder and his struggles and accomplishments.  I hope that Cameron will continue to succeed and always remember we do everything for him, even the hard stuff.

I love this quote and it should be Cameron's motto. Cameron has done so well over the last year, I sometimes forget to take a breath and find out what is wrong rather than just getting upset with him.

It's been quite the journey, with a lot of tears. Tears of sadness, anger and joy. It's been hard for us, but worth it. I love my little man so much!

Stars are within your Reach

As the new school year has started people think about their future, what they want to learn, and how their life will turn out. Will they accomplish their dreams? I have always told my kids that they can do anything that they want to do. If they work hard, have enough passion and never give up they can accomplish something.

My son Cameron wants to be either a Paleontologist or a Lego Builder. What do you think I say to him? Do I tell him, sorry there’s not many jobs needed there? Or Building Legos isn’t really a job. Nope, not even close. I tell him that is amazing. Being a Paleontologist would be so awesome, and if you are a Lego Builder, I would come visit you at Lego Land. Maybe he won’t do either of those things, maybe that’s just the spark he needs to find his real dreams. Maybe he will be a Scientist or write books about dinosaurs or become an Architect.  Whatever he does, or all my kids for that matter, makes them happy.

There is a quote that says “The poorest person in the world is the one that only has money.” What is the point having a good, well-paying job if you don’t like it? I have thought a lot about my own dreams and aspirations. I am a mom who dabbles in little hobbies here and there. When I was younger I wanted to be a nurse (I’m married to one—does that count?). From Junior High on I wanted to be a reporter, a teacher, a mom, a writer, and a Sign Language Interpreter.  I think about that and think I am all of those things. As a stay at home mom I am a teacher, and a nurse. I use my free time (what’s that- oh nap time) to write on my blog and different stories. And the sign language—well let’s just say that knowing some Sign Language has come in handy a few times. Also I have taught my kids some of it as well.

So I am doing all of the things that I wanted to do. I am happy at where I am in my life and I think that is all that matters. We need to be happy. We may not all accomplish everything we dreamed we would, but sometimes you shoot for the moon and find a star instead. And stars are beautiful, without darkness you can’t see the stars.  Don’t quit, stars are within reach.