In her right hand, her children!
See her coordinate Joy's school district therapists, intensive autism therapists, daycare, medical visits, and church Sunday-school/nursery volunteers, in between lots of hugs and play!
See her coordinate Rose's homework and piano practice, hear her secrets, patch up her boo-boos, teach her to hula-hoop, read with her nightly, get her to school, coordinate other parents to bring her home, volunteer in classroom & school library, and maintain the PTA website!
See her clothe, feed, medicate, bathe, diaper, brush teeth, organize playdates, chauffeur, and toss the spinning plate back and forth to JoyDad for his share of the fun!
In her left hand...
See her clean house, take on the leaky faucet, schedule plumbers and exterminators and heating specialists, and split laundry and cooking and dishes and shopping and bunny-litterbox duty with JoyDad!
See her garden and harvest and process and freeze and pickle and can, and toss this plate back and forth to JoyDad as well!
See her rehearse and perform with a top-caliber community handbell troupe, and maintain their website too, while JoyDad takes full kid-care duty during those hours to make it happen!
See her at church, getting there almost every Sunday, occasionally even leading Sunday school or preaching!
Then on her chin...
See her in her professional life, working half-time as an academic librarian!
Then on her forehead...
See her with her extended family and friends, in person and online, e-mailing and visiting and phoning and blogging!
And all of this while riding the Unity Unicycle of Marriage, two shall become one and it's quite the magnificent ride, but marriage too takes ongoing attention and balance -- like the super-secret presents and the homemade cheesecake for JoyDad's birthday yesterday!
Lately, all the plates have been spinning well.
Unusually well. Ta-DAHHH!
But my goodness, whatever would happen if she...
oo shoot...
'scuse me...
tickle in my nose...
dangit...
ah, ahhhh, ahhhh....A-CHOOOOOOOO!
* * * * * *
This post, except for the sneeze, inspired by a performance of the Peking Acrobats that Rose and I saw last winter (wobbly YouTube footage is not mine, but you'll get the idea).
Every conscientious parent with small children does his or her own version of this. Every special needs parent has extra plates in the air. A big pat on the back to every plate-spinner who reads this!
12 comments:
You make me dizzy with all you do.
And folks, Joymama's cheesecake is rich yet delicate, the sweetness of the buttery graham crust perfectly offset by a topping sour cherries that she grew in her own backyard.
Talk about making your head spin!
it's a dizzy spin, isn't it . and such a precarious on at that . such a lovely and apt metaphor!
The good news: Lots of people understand your life and are willing to cheer you on - as well take one plate off you once in a while.
The bad news: Your skills will need to continue thusly long beyond when Joy and Rose are 'young' children.
Thanks for a GREAT post, JoyMama.
PS
Look for link to ElvisSightings in a post I'm working on for next Monday. Have a great, non-plate-breaking weekend!
It sure does feel that way somedays, huh? Okay, EVERY day. And yet, somehow, we manage to keep our senses of humor intact.
THAT is the amazing feat, to me!
And JoyMama didn't even mention the spinning plates of making both pumpkin and pecan pies and cookies and salads to bring to the family holiday gatherings (that includes a several hour drive), all of which are also wonderfully tasty!!!
When you put all of these plate-spinning activities together, it is amazing that you do it all. Very amazing. I do worry about both of you and how you are able to do everything that you do, how you handle the stress of keeping all of those plates spinning! Maybe it is better if you only think about one plate at a time rather than trying to think of doing all of these things at once!! When you list it all like this, it sounds totally impossible, and yet you are doing it all! The only thing I can say is that some of these plates will get easier to spin with time, some will be able to be dropped without shattering, and Rose will take over some of the spinning as she gets older too.
Lots of love, AuntieS.
wowsers, joymama.
and you preach, too?
kazuntite! just kidding. =)
I smiled through this entire post!
Yes, it does make your head spin to realize everything you/we do in one given week/day/moment. But how rewarding that we CAN manage it all. The IEP and specialists days are pretty much over for me personally. But those same challenges our children present as little ones, show their heads in slightly different ways when they are "adults." (Is 19 really an adult with many kids these days?? Not for mine me thinks.) So yes, the spinning continues for a while. But as long as we take time for ourselves and allow others to help us spin those plates every once in a while, we're going to do fine! And yeah, sometimes a plate falls. But that's OK. It can be repaired and sometimes even replaced, and sometimes it's a blessing is disguise that it broke.
Lynda
I found you through Jen's Blog Gems. What a interesting way to explain who you are! I can relate to all the spinning as you juggle your many hats.
Aloha,
D. S. Walker
dswalkerauthor.com
you are AMAZINg joymama
Clever post! It really does feel like that doesn't it? I thought it would calm down as my kids hit their teens but no - it is just as hectic. i admire your stamina!(Came over via Blog gems)
Based on Rose's latest art poem (red pepper, blue guitar) talent, I envision her creating an animated short of this someday!
-ringer friend
Excellent post, I spin most of those things too, often badly!! Thanks for joining in Blog Gems. Jen
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