Yesterday, it was revealed that John Edwards would indeed keep on track in his bidfor the Democratic Presidential race. What he also revealed was that his wife has been diagnosed with a type of bone cancer. She had successfully beat breast cancer that had been found towards the end of the last election. It has been reported that this type of cancer is treatable but almost always does not get the best results. So, I’m thinking that here they are, having dealt with one cancer scare, lost a son in an unfortunate accident and now this. Mr. Edwards is not someone that I will probably vote for but that doesn’t mean that he is not an OK guy. In fact, he seems rather likable and has a good family. I feel bad for them. How many tragedies does one family have to endure. It is said that God only gives you what He knows you can handle. If this is true, then the Edwards family must have a very strong faith. Whether you like him or not; will vote for him or not; he and his wife deserve our prayers for a healthy recovery.
The Greatest Babysitter Of All Times
I was watching The View on Wednesday. It was Rosie’s birthday and at the end of the show, Elisabeth said that Rosie’s favorite baker had made her a cake. Stage left and here comes Marjorie Johnson rolling out her birthday cake. Rosie had no idea she was coming and that made it all the sweeter. For anyone who watched Rosie’s first show, you know who Marjorie is. The little old lady who was kooky and funny and just lovable. She would do these cooking segments on the show and it was a delight. That evening, I was thinking about Marjorie and how she made me smile every time I thought of her and all of a sudden it dawned on me. Marjorie reminded me of another little old lady that had been in my life a long time ago.
Mabel Hayden was the absolute best little old lady. I think she and Marjorie could almost be twins. Mabel stood at a around 4′11″ and was probably 75 pounds soaking wet. What she did not have in size she made up for in her laughter and tremendous amount of energy. She was married but they did not have any children. Mabel was the baked good queen in the area. She made orange cookies, cinnamon rolls, angle food cakes, noodles and so many other delectable down-home food and sold it out of her house on Saturday mornings. You considered yourself lucky to be able to get a baked good from Mabel – she was the best. At Halloween, she would make her own popcorn balls and give those away for trick-or-treat. She lived in a tiny town, so we had to drive to her house to see her. Our Dad always volunteered to take us trick-or-treating because he knew that when we got to her house that she would give him a popcorn ball, too!
Mabel also was the best babysitter. She was in her 60’s when she babysat for my sister and I. Our parents belonged to a card club and they met on a Saturday night once a month. It was always a fight to the finish to see which parent could secure Mabel to watch their children each month. Us kids triple loved having her as a babysitter because this sprout of a woman knew how to do it. When the morning would come, we would be anxiously awaiting for it to be time to go pick her up and then shoo our parents out the door so the fun and games could begin. We always had a TV dinner(another big thing to look forward to-a special treat) that night and watched Hee Haw as Mabel would entertain us. We played Name that Tune, Fruit Basket, Hide and Seek and Duck,Duck Goose. Fruit Basket was a particular fave of mine. You would take turns saying that you were going to the market to pick up some fruit, A is for apple and B is for banana and each time it was your turn you had to remember what the previous letters were and then say the next letter with your fruit choice. Great fun. When it was time for bed, we never whimpered or begged for more. We knew that if we wanted her to come back we had to behave and mind her. So, my sister and I would go to our beds and she would tuck us in. After that she would get out her little notepad that she always brought with her and would write letters to her family members.
Sadly, Mabel has passed away. Her name just triggers so many fond memories of my childhood. She was truly a special lady and I’m sure that when she got to heaven, God set her up with a kitchen so she could start baking up a storm. I have a list of people I can’t wait to see when I get to heaven and Mabel is most definitely on my list. Consider yourself blessed if you have had the fortunate opportunity to have a Mabel Hayden in your life. She was one of a kind!
Kindergarten Screening
This week, Bryce went to Kindergarten screening. I hardly slept the night before. I was on pins and needles and my head would not stop thinking about all of the possible or impossible situations he could face the next morning. We had to be at the elementary by 8am. Bryce’s pre-school teacher was waiting for us there. She would be his shadow at each station. The elementary had requested an aid for him in case of any speech problems or having trouble following the directions. I wanted her there to help him retain his composure and to put my mind at ease. We did not have to go to the screening since he will be on an IEP but, I wanted him to go through this process. The reasons for my decision were three-fold. First, this would give Bryce another opportunity to visit the school and see some of the teachers and administrators. Second it was going to help him with learning to sit in a controlled environment and follow directions. Third, I want him to lead as close to a normal life as possible. I don’t want him to ever use this diagnosis as a “crutch” in life.
Once we arrived, I was shuffled into the “holding area”. We learned about the rules of the school, important dates, busing, health issues, etc. Finally, we were told the testing criteria that they were using that day. It is a state issued test-KRAL:Kindergarten Readiness Awareness Literacy. The test has a possible 29 points and last years screeners averaged a 21. It consisted of sentence repetition, rhyming, phonics, alphabet knowledge and simple social questions. I knew that the rhyming sections were not going to go well but, I thought he might be able to hold his own elsewhere. There were also other sections on Math, Fine Motor(hold a pencil correctly, copy shapes from simple forms to complex groupings), hearing, vision, language and speech. After each child had finished their testing, one by one we were called to speak with someone and go over the results. At the end of that the official(teacher, guidance counselor, principal)stated their opinion on what areas of difficulty the child was having, what to work on and whether or not the parents should consider holding the student back another year. In Bryce’s case, he has to go this year. By law, his age requires that he attend Kindergarten this fall, so no matter how bad he did, they were going to see him in a seat come August. First, we went over the KRAL results. He got a 16 out of 29. I was right about the rhyming but, he also had problems with the social questions and phonic awareness(meaning that he could not identify what letter words started with, such as “zipper” starts with “z”-actually that is the one he knew). His math score was great and hearing was fine. He was very “excited” during the language portion and speech – well that was a given-he will be attending speech therapy. His fine motor was awesome. He drew all of the pictures and even did an excellent job on the complex ones. I was told that he did the best in that section than any of the other students during his session. I know, I am bragging but, it felt good that he had excelled in an area. His vision showed a possible problem in his left eye. He has had regular check-ups since he was three years old and is due for one this year so we will see if there is actually a problem.
Overall, Bryce had a great time and enjoyed being at the school. His teacher said that under the circumstances he did well. He met Allison’s Kindergarten teacher and as we leaving, she and a few other women told me how cute he is(I know another bragging, but hey, I think he’s cute, too). When we got home I sat down and absorbed everything from the past two hours. I can’t explain my emotions about this. I was happy that he like being there and did not have a horrible crisis with anything. I was happy that he had areas that he excelled in. I was confident in knowing that I had pinpointed his weaknesses before we went. But, there was a hint of sadness and remorse. As I fought the tears, I told my Mom that you know that he is not perfect and you know that he has a disability. You know that he will have a hard time of it and there will be many struggles ahead, but to hear a professional actually verbalize these things to you is very overwhelming. It’s like, as long as it is not said out loud it may not actually be real but, as soon as that first word is spoken, you realize that, in fact, it is true. Bryce is autistic. Bryce is going to Kindergarten. Bryce will have roadblocks to face. There I said it. It is real.
