Daily Dose of Mama: Serious (monkey) Business

Friday, October 30, 2009

Serious (monkey) Business

Today all four of Little Bug's therapists (and possible his new one(s) as well) and his caseworker are meeting with us for his annual official review and reassessment. For many people this is a critical assessment because it is legally used to apply for disability if your child is more than 50% behind.

Even if they assessed him there (which would have to be at 11 months overall, and that just isn't the case), we wouldn't apply for disability, so this is much more about advocacy and collaboration for Appa and I...

...with a little bit of throw-down in there.

Little Bug's old OT will be there, as will his caseworker, who is so inept at her position that she has spent the last 3 weeks avoiding my twice-a-day phone messages instead of trying to find a new OT. Little Bug's speech therapist will also be there....and even though it is not her job, she has been trying to find a good OT. Little Bug's physical and developmental therapists will also be there, and I am sure they will continue to "give it to us straight" while still championing all the progress Little Bug has made.

I'm learning each and every day how to be a better advocate for my child. These lessons will serve us all well in the years to come. Today will be, without a doubt, another learning experience for me.

This is actually a very serious event for us, but part of me is looking forward to it simply because not matter what they say, I know how far he has come. No number on an assessment form will change that. I'm so proud of my son.

Oh, and Little Bug is attending the meeting in a monkey costume. I DARE them to try to resist that charm!

6 comments:

BekahOctober 30, 2009 at 9:29 AM
I'll be thinking about you guys today. Seriously...how can they resist the charm of S in that monkey costume...there is just no way! :)
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sueOctober 30, 2009 at 10:19 AM
thinking of you too! and the monkey costume will be perfect! (i can't wait to see him in it myself!)

ps. thought i should tell you about the last paragraph and changing "S" to little bug :)
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CoriOctober 30, 2009 at 10:20 AM
THANK YOU SUE!!!! ;)
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everythingismeowsomeOctober 30, 2009 at 12:20 PM
I know you and Appa will stand strong for Little Bug today. It is quite a system you are learning to navigate. I am learning from your experiences, as I know there is a possibility we will be swimming in a sea of therapists in a matter of weeks/months.
Good luck in your meeting and I hope that you and your little monkey have a fabulous Halloween!!!
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CindyOctober 30, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Happy Halloween!
I hope you had a great meeting with your team today and feel very empowered coming out of it. It seems you are working hard with Seth and he is so lucky to have parents who really care about him so much. He is so cute!
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kellyOctober 30, 2009 at 6:46 PM
Honestly, C, I can't imagine any mom being a better advocate than you. I hope this meeting is productive and that you learn lots of good things about your monkey. (I also can't wait for some Halloween costume photos on your blog....) Go Team Little Bug!!
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Thanks for your daily dose of you....

Everyday Mama

I'm a 32-year-old everyday mama. My husband (Appa) and I adopted our first son Little Bug (at 10 months old) from Korea in September 2008. We adopted our second son, Little Bro, from Korea in April 2011 at age 21 months. We adopted our third son,Little Moon, at age 3 in November 2013. I've wanted to be a mama for a long time, but I'm still trying to figure out the reality of it all and take time to enjoy the delicate beauty of the highs and the lows.

I worked full time as an editor, which I loved; but I made the bittersweet decision to stay home with my children after Little Bro came home. I'm now clumsily finding my footing in a new world of housekeeping, menu planning, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, and rainy-day activities, as well as navigating the world of IEPs, parent advocacy, and special needs education (spoiler: I suck at house work). My husband is hot and smart and quiet and loyal, and I think (know) my sons are the cutest, happiest little boys in the world.

I also struggle at times with mild depression, anxiety, post-adoption depression, my husband's constant absence due to his stressful and super time-consuming job, the challenges of helping my older son with his sometimes exhausting special needs, and our transition to a family of three little boys with just 19 and 14 months between them. I worry way too much about what people think of me, hate talking on the phone, and I am trying to trust myself more.

Oh yeah, I'm unable to give birth to children; love books, writing, traveling, and the color brown; hate to clean, cook, craft, or do laundry; allergic to pretty much everything but food (thank God); and think camping in anything but a tent is lame.

I needed somewhere to drop my daily mama thoughts and musings on toddler poop to avoid massive clutter and ramblings on our private family blog. Writing it down on paper is so '90s.

This is my everyday "blournal" as I navigate through my life as a first-time (or is it third-time now?) mama and long-time me. So....hi.

You can contact me at daily.dose.of.mama (at) gmail.com.

THE CONTENT OF THIS BLOG IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.

As an editor, I deal with people on a regular basis who think images or content on the internet (whether it does or does not have a copyright designation) are "fair use." Your lesson for the day is that anything someone writes or creates that is published on the internet is copyright protected, whether he or she spells it out or not. Although I doubt anyone wants to steal my riveting posts on toddler poop, it doesn't hurt to educate the world about the wonderful magic of online copyright law.