My life these days.

I sat down to write this morning. But, the floor under the desk was dirty under my bare feet. So naturally I grabbed the broom and started to sweep.

Of course, one can't just sweep a little area. One must get into each corner, push the dining chairs aside, toss the stray toys into a basket and such. Once the dust and dog hair was swept up, and since I already had the broom out, I swept the back patio as well, so the kids could play outside.

Of course, I had to pull a few weeds and set up the umbrella that had been blown over by the ever present Kansas wind. As I grabbed a puppy by the collar to stuff the rambunctious thing into his kennel so the children could come out, I noticed that some naughty child had locked me out of the house. Ha! My life.

Today is the last day of ESY, extended school year for Theo and Max. This is the last of my relatively quiet mornings for the next month and a half. How I have not been able to sit down and write much for the past five weeks disappoints me. Someone or something always needs my attention, and when it doesn't, I don't care to lift a finger to even type.

Jordan broke his arm at camp a few weeks ago. I have finally come to accept that I was not cut out to be a doctor. As much medical knowledge as a person can accumulate and access, there is nothing that can prepare for the vision of a caved in arm. You are either born with the capability to handle that or not, it seems to me.

Ralph is getting a full and independent educational psych eval. We met with the doctor earlier this week. Ralph was a rock star as usual. She was baffled that our school district is recommending a special ed classroom for him at all. But they are. And that's where he'll be this year barring some miracle. So I keep fighting for him.

The hard thing about having children with special needs is not the children with special needs. The hard thing is dealing with a world that is fearful and not accepting. Everyone who has dared to get close to my kids, dared to love them, dared to step into our world will tell you that they are better people because of it.

Theo saw a really sweet (and capable!) eye doctor recently. She said that she loves to see kids with special needs because they force her to think outside the box and get creative. I guess not everyone wants to work that hard.

Theo and Max do not start school until the end of August, almost a full two weeks after everyone else in our school district. Why? Simple. Theo and Max are being shipped to another neighboring school district this year. Their program was moved to our district last year...and moved out again for the next. What is the logic in that? In addition, the two district calendars do not coincide. There are 50+ days over the course of the school year where one district is in session and the other is not. If I were working outside the home, I would have to take months of vacation time, just to care for my school aged children. Gotta keep fighting for them to go to school with their neighborhood friends...and brothers and sisters.

Well, the dog got out...and someone needs to potty...