The ADD Apple Tree - Part 2

“Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”  Luke 3:5

 
*Continued from The ADD Apple Tree - Part 1

And so it was that in November we started chiropractic treatment for toe walking, postural issues, asymmetry in the chest area, and skeptically, ADD.  At our first appointment, the nurse took several x-rays to assess my son’s spinal alignment from head to pelvis.  Here is what we found.

First, his head was on crooked.  His neck jutted to one side and his head had compensated for it in order to keep the eyes level. 

 

Second, his spine looked more like a meandering path than the straight column it was meant to be.  I’m no radiologist and even I could see something wasn’t right! 

And third, one leg was almost an inch longer than the other due to his hips being out of alignment as well. 

 

He was a chiropractic cash cow!  I say that, but our chiropractor uses a sliding scale based on the age of the child and for my son it was $12 per visit. 

First he wanted to see him three times a week, but I told him that wouldn’t fit with our schedule.  We only had two free evenings as it was.  So we went twice a week for a few weeks.  Then down to once a week for a few more weeks and we are currently sitting at once every two weeks.  It all depended on how well his adjustment “holds”, i.e., how much bone cracking he had to do the next time we came in. 

On the first day, we noticed that his chest looked more symmetrical.  After the first couple of weeks, I noticed he seemed more relaxed when walking and his toe walking had improved.  And after about 10 treatments, my son said, “I think this chiropractor is affecting my brain.  I think it is making me smarter.”  The chiropractor said proper spinal alignment would cut down on the amount of “static” in his brain, therefore making it easier for him to function.

And in this time period, his schoolwork has included learning all the states and their capitals of the Northeast, Southeast, and now the Midwest, along with landforms and other state facts.  He has started long division and is doing 3x3 multiplication, all without extra effort or struggles. 

He still forgets things at school, like his lunchbox, or maybe a homework page once or twice a week, but he usually remembers them the next day.  More importantly, he knows what he forgot the moment I pick him up off the bus, instead of getting home and relying on me to figure it out for him. 

I check on him with his teacher through email and she agrees that he’s come a long way this year.  She said he’s doing a good job staying on task, doing what needs to be done, and keeping track of his papers.  I’m ecstatic that I don’t constantly have to remind him anymore to get his stuff together or do better or stop playing with his pencil in class, and I haven’t had him bring home any papers that he has bombed just because he wasn’t listening when the lesson was covered. 

All in all, if you know anyone who is struggling with the decision to medicate their child due to poor school performance or ADD, I would recommend at least giving the chiropractor a try.  It is certainly worth $12 or $24 a week.  Who knew my kid was so crooked?  He HAS to be feeling better! 

Plus, I probably never would have gotten him married off if we’d have left him with that crooked spine.  :) 

 

We see Dr. Warren.  Here is their website - http://standridgechiropractic.com.

 

*This ain't no paid advertisement. 

 

Life Compliments

“You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Matthew 5:14

 

Have you ever received a compliment that you think might stick with you the rest of your life?  I got one from my friend Jill once.  It was one of those terrible chain mail-like emails where you had to list three people and then give them each a compliment, and then they had to list three people, and so on and so on.  I don’t remember who I listed, but I remember what Jill said about me:  “She always does the right thing.”

That was one of the nicest things anybody has ever said about me.  Oh, I’m sure somebody’s told me I had nice hair and meant it, or that I’m a good cook or whatever, but those compliments don’t have staying power for me because they are minute to minute.  One minute with the window down and my hair wraps itself around my head like a turban.  One minute too long on Facebook and I’ve burned the macaroni.

That compliment said something about my character and my character is something I think I can keep.  It said that I was fair and that I had others’ intentions at heart.  It said that even though sometimes the road might be rough, that I would choose the right path.  I loved it and I love Jill, who coincidentally always does the right thing too.  We also share the same gift of “telling it like it is”, so if you ever need an intervention, you know who to call! 

Well today I received my second life-sticking compliment.  It was from a near stranger.  His name is Larry and he’s stepped on my toe in Zumba before, but besides that we’ve had limited contact.  We smile and say hi, but I only just learned his name today. 

He said: “You seem like you’re always happy and really enjoy life.”   

I told him that I do, and then he proceeded to ask me what I did for a living, and I told him I’m a Lady of Leisure.  He seemed surprised by this.  Then he tried to get me to go back to school to get a degree, and I told him I already had one, and then I had to spill the rest of my work experiences.  He was impressed with my litany of qualifications and tried to convince me I needed a job (like I need anyone else to remind me I have NO money).  Okay, substituting.  I still have substituting!    

But his opening comment stuck with me. 

“I’m happy and I enjoy life.”   

Or at least I seem that way to others.  But for the most part, it’s the truth.  Even though I have days where I think I’m getting the shaft, or that the whining will never end, or that it will take an act of Congress to get something done, I’m mostly happy. 

Even when I burn dinner, or I’m cussing the sewing machine, or the dog won’t stop barking in the middle of the night and I have to go out to the barn with the broom and chase him around, I mostly enjoy the process.

So how do others see you?  Do they tell you?  Do you agree?  Sometimes it takes a stranger to make us see ourselves a little clearer.  And hopefully we’re happy with what we see.  The funny thing is, my impression of Larry is the same as his impression of me.  He seems like a fun person to be around every time I see him.  He’s never without a smile.  He dances in Zumba like no one is watching (which we’re really not because we’re all concentrating too hard on not falling down ourselves).  And he acknowledges people every time he sees them.  I learned today that he’s a retired high school teacher and I’ll bet he was a great one! 

He taught me something, didn’t he? 

My Nursing Home Plan

“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.  I am the Lord.”  Leviticus 19:32

I always say that I had children so I would have someone to put me in a nice nursing home someday.  I have no denials about getting old and needing round-the-clock convalescent care.  In fact, I intend to be a huge burden!  Most likely I will lose my mind, but no one will really be able to tell the difference.  And I intend to start drinking once I enter the nursing home.  I’m going straight for the hard liquor.  I figure if, by then, I will have held off for 80 years or so, what’s the use in holding out any longer?  Plus, maybe it will make my days go faster. 

I worked in the kitchen at a nursing home for about four years during my teenage hood, so I have no myths or false assumptions about what a nursing home entails.  And, I have every intent of using every amenity to the best of my ability.  In fact, sometimes I wish I had one of those emergency nurse buttons now.  She could bring me a drink of water when I’m already in bed… 

Anyhow, Grandma Hazel has been in a nursing home or like facility for numerous years, but due to failing condition and several episodes, she has moved several times in the past couple of years.  The kids and I have visited her at least once at each of the facilities she’s been at.  The first was an assisted living facility and had a big dog that the kids liked to pet.  The second was a “memory” facility where one lady asked my youngest if his name was Thomas at least 97 times while we were there because he was wearing a Thomas the Train shirt.  The third was more of a nursing home facility that had birds in a glass cabinet that the residents could sit and watch.  And her current facility is homey and has a giant fish aquarium in one of the sitting areas. 

Yes, some of the people are scary.  Yes, they are desperate for visitors.  Yes, you can sometimes smell pee.  Let’s just get all that out there!  I think those are the usual reasons people tend to shy away from regular visits to the nursing home. 

So on Monday night, my 7YO tells me, “Mommy, I love you.  I’ll make sure you go to a nice nursing home.” 

Have I groomed him well or what?

And then he starts talking about what my nursing home will be like.  And then he decides that he’ll build me a nursing home.  Here will be some of the amenities:

• A swimming pool and hot tub
• My own cat
• A TV in my room
• A fish aquarium in my room, with a larger aquarium in the hall to hold extras, in case my fish die
• Meatloaf on Sundays (The meatloaf cracks me up because I think I’ve made meatloaf maybe once in his life.)

Then he asks, “How do the people who work at the nursing home go to church on Sundays since the nursing home still has to be open?”

I told him that the workers who were working didn’t go to church because they had to be there, but that sometimes a pastor would come to the nursing home to have a church service for the people there.

“That’s what we’ll do, then,” he said.  “We’ll have all the people lined up and they can just raise their hands if they need help.”

He’s got it all figured out.

Hopefully, we’ll only have grape juice at communion.    

He also said we would only have girl nurses because girl nurses are nice.  I told him boy nurses could be nice too.  He said, “Okay, we’ll have boy nurses too,” and decided that his brother would do the hiring.

“I hope you don’t have to have a wheelchair,” he told me. 

“Me too,” I said.  I’ve spent enough time sitting on my butt as it is. 

“I’ll say a prayer that you don’t have to have a wheelchair,” he told me right before bed.

“Say one too that it will be a LONG time before Mommy has to go to the nursing home,” I told him.

“Okay!”

Now everyone else pray that his plans pan out!

Can't Put a Price on Innocence

“How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.”  Psalm 119:9

*Okay, so Anakin Skywalker has nothing to do with this post, but I was really proud of my Halloween pumpkin.  We won first place at church.  Think of it as me waving the mighty sword of motherhood.

I try to keep my kids safe from the pitfalls of the world.  They’ve only seen a handful of PG-13 movies that I have previewed myself.  Mythbusters is probably the most risqué show we watch on TV.  And my husband and I don’t generally go around having inappropriate PDA moments. 

But…  I am lazy.  I have not installed a firewall on the computer for fear that it will complicate my life.  I used to manage the firewall at a bank that I worked at and we were all-exclusive when it came to the internet.  I had to open up sites one-by-one that were necessary for our employees.  The reason behind this was a few bad apples who spent nine hours a day on MySpace and completed or attempted very little actual work.  So I am well-versed in the pains of the firewall. 

However, my children like to play games on the internet. 

Introducing:  MommyWall.

I have given them “the talk” on how there are inappropriate things on the internet.  Things that will make their eyes fall out.  Things that will rot their brains.  Things that will make them go blind. 

“Like what?” they wanted to know.

Like sex, and violence, and people using drugs, and other stuff that is not age-appropriate.  (I use “not appropriate” as a catchall for all things bad around here.)

They have been instructed NEVER to click on an advertisement because it might take them straight to all these bad things.  They have been instructed to NEVER answer any questions or sign up for any memberships because bad people might be behind it.  They have MOST IMPORTANTLY been instructed to come and get me if anything looks weird on the computer.

So, the other day my 9YO comes out of the computer room with a wide-eyed look on his face.

“I’m sorry, Mommy…   I won’t ever do it again…  I clicked on something…  I think it was sex…” he said.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.  (Isn’t that what the psychologists say to ask?!?!)

“Because it said I had to pay!”

He has no idea!

Hand to Hold

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, you steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.” Proverbs 4:11-12

There we were, out in the barn again, having a late night run around. Then it was time to head to the house, it was after dark, after all.

My 7YO, caught in mid-run when my husband flipped off the light, unfortunately found himself sprawled out on a chicken cage in a matter of seconds in the dark.

His injuries were announced with screaming and husband flipped the light back on. Bruised and scraped shin, scratched arm with giant bruise, and several other areas where skin had once been, but was no more. A horrendous crash!

Of course, I tried to comfort him as best I could, but was really empty-handed until we got back into the house. He asked, “Will you carry me?” My 7YO weighs more than 60 lbs. now. I have found with chicken and horse feed that my weight limit is approximately 40 lbs. from house to barn.

“No, honey, I can’t carry you,” I say.

“Well, just hold my hand then,” he says.

So I did.

And that made him feel better. Good enough that he was able to walk to the house and wipe his tears away. He almost rejected my SpongeBob band-aids I have for such an occasion.

Sometimes all it takes to get us through a painful spell is a hand to hold to lead us.

Proper lighting doesn’t hurt either.

“Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of the light.’ When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.” John 12:35-36