Erik Quinn: The Heart of a Family: I'm Alive

Friday, May 18, 2007

I'm Alive

Life has me in a headlock lately, and I'm exhausted. Although Erik finds himself in a sour humor by mid morning, he still refuses to nap. There is always a silver lining to everything, however. I am no longer trapped in the house until 1 p.m. when my work day begins. I am allowed to pick up work from the medical center anytime after 11 a.m. and often take him with me so that is out of the way for the day, sometimes hitting the grocery store on the way home.

Work has not been going well, to say the least. We are buried, and one doctor in particular is apparently very unhappy with us. My partner is at her breaking point, and the stress is palpable this week. We have been working as much as humanly possible. It is halfway through the month and I have done almost as much as I usually do in a month. I worked like a fiend yesterday afternoon and was able to enjoy the evening, which was wonderful. There is much more to do this weekend, but I hope to escape downtown for a bit this evening to have a margarita and some peace.

Last night Brian's friend Ben spent the night. He is some sort of automobile broker and was in town to deliver a truck. I barbecued teriyaki steak/vegetable kabobs and shrimp. Thankfully, I added the shrimp because Ben gave up beef months ago, being from Fiji and wanting to respect his Indian customs and beliefs. In my defense, the last I knew, he occasionally enjoyed a juicy hamburger. I had no time to bake yesterday with pool therapy, work, and errands and was forced to purchase a bag of sourdough rolls, which Erik thought were the nastiest things ever, and some sort of fluffy, swollen chocolate confection for dessert. I was quite surprised when Ben told me he did not eat chocolate, as it reminded him of a horribly traumatic childhood memory in Fiji. After hearing this story, I gave up chocolate as well. We really need to have our friends over more often so I get a feel for what to fix! Despite my culinary setbacks, we had a lovely dinner in the dining room by the light of the setting sun, and I eventually left the two old friends to chat into the night. As I am fighting a nasty cold, I took a shot of NyQuil and dreamed I was behind my counter at the drugstore again, advising a woman to consult the mall directory for a store that might carry an item she needed. Too real.

This morning Brian left for work and Ben began searching on the Internet and phone for another vehicle to purchase to take him back over the mountain. While he did that, I decided to work out. I have adopted a new fitness plan that has been going quite well for me lately without two days of headaches following each workout. In the middle of my workout I glanced into the kitchen and saw Erik dry retching with his hands covered in a mysterious orange substance. I pressed pause and ran to find Gracie-cat was ill and her bottom had overflowed on the rug in front of our house guest, who was obliviously professional on the phone but politely covered the mouthpiece and asked if he had spilled his coffee (Side Note: Do men smell anything at all?). This is a perfect illustration of how my life has been lately. I washed Erik off in the bathroom and returned to scrub the rug with Pine-Sol as Ben continued to wheel and deal. Sigh. I finished my workout and here I sit.

Speaking of housebreaking, I have gone through the stack of literature regarding toilet training. According to these handouts, our son is not remotely ready. However, I was quite amused to read information on toilet training pertaining specifically to Williams syndrome. Did you know that kids with WS often need to urinate more frequently than other children? Also of note was this:

...other methods may be needed. One such method is a pants alarm. This consists of a sensor which is attached to a pad that is inserted into the child's pants.

Uh...

That's just what Erik needs. A shrieking alarm emanating from his own crotch. I have enough trouble keeping up with the failing batteries in the toys and electronic devices already in this house, let alone in my own son's britches. The handout goes on to assure the reader many noise-sensitive Williams children are successfully trained this way. I can't help but wonder what kind of issues one would develop regarding bodily functions as an adult after that kind of childhood memory. On further thought, maybe it would create the opposite effect. Perhaps one would proudly and loudly announce from their office cubicle each time they wanted to use the restroom, much to the delight of their coworkers.

For the record, I am not going to find out.

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11 Comments:

Blogger Teresa and Shawn said...

Gosh, I am so sorry about your day and work and the cat vomit, but I am laughing out loud about the crotch sensor.....

10:47 AM  
Blogger Noel said...

I'm glad to see your post and know that you are still around.I have been watching and waiting for your words of wisdom.
The pant alarm thoughts made me laugh out loud! The funniest part about that is the little boy who has WS in Abi's preschool came to school the other day with that very alarm. I thought the same way you do, but to each his own...and it really did seem to work for them. Abi on the other hand has been bribed with Princess hand stamps if she even tells me and sits on the toliet, she gets extra stamps if she actually goes. I hate the bribery route...never did it with my other kids but it seems to work with Abi and a sticker chart worked for awhile too.
Thank you for making me smile!
Noel

10:48 AM  
Blogger Ava's Grandma Kim said...

The day my britches start talking back is the day I give up. Oy, I cannot imagine doing that to a child, WS or not. However, you did give me a laugh-out-loud moment at work! Sorry about your yucky day, Nancy.

12:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OH MY GOD that sounds horrific! LOL Terribly funny...and horrific.

I know you must be exhausted! The moment it hit me how truly exhausted I am, was when I filled the coffee pot with water, put in a liner and turned it on. The pot was completely done before I realized I had just brewed myself a nice cup of hot water! I had forgotten to add the coffee. HAHA!

I hope you get over cold soon and get some rest! Rest for you and Erik both.

1:41 PM  
Blogger Nicole said...

Well, in typical Nancy-fashion you had me gagging thinking about your cat and then laughing out loud about the crotch sensor. Your days sound wild and crazy. Hope the margarita tonight helps wind you down for the weekend. Happy Friday!!

1:53 PM  
Blogger kathi said...

I've had too much of my fill of animal accidents, so sorry about that.

Please don't share the chocolate story, I don't want ever lose my love for chocolate!

The thing I've found about potty training is to make it as fun as possible for them so it's something they'll want to do, over and over.

Hugs.

6:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I cant help but laugh ( better to laugh than cry)
Sorry, What an awful day!

Hope the cat is feeling better (gag)Maybe you need a 'pants alarm' for her instead???

7:35 PM  
Blogger Kerry said...

Ahhh, Nancy... is your life ever boring? Fortunately for us, it's not :) Unfortunately for you. :)
Love you!

9:36 PM  
Blogger Lizard Eater said...

Oh, I can totally think of some people (mostly ex-boyfriends) whom I would love to have outfitted with a crotch alarm. With a remote.

"Ladies, are you bothered by the wandering eye of your significant other? ..."

9:14 PM  
Blogger THE PASLAY'S OF IDAHO said...

OKAY... THIS WILL BE SOOOO EASY FOR ME TO SAY BECAUSE I AM NOT YOU BUT I DO SAY THIS WITH LOOOTS OF LOVE!

QUIT YOUR JOB AND BE "POOR" FOR A SHORT WHILE TIL YOUR BOOK HITS THE SHELVES AND THEN WATCH THE MONEY ROOOOOOLL ON IN! THEN SEND A COPY OF YOUR BOOK TO THE GRUMPY DOC!

SEE... IT WAS EASY, BUT I KNOW!!!!

AND PLEASE... NO GADGETS IN MY NEPHEWS... HOW DID YOU SAY IT... BRITCHES, THAT WAS IT! I HAVE HEARD OF BUZZERS THAT YOU ATTACH TO YOUR CHILD AT NIGHT SO WHEN THEY ARE "WETTING" IT WILL WAKE THEM UP AND LET THEM KNOW TO GET TO THE POTTY! GOOD GRIEF!! IF I WAS ATTACHED TO ONE OF THEM CRAZY GADGETS I WOULD PEE AAAAAALL OF OVER IT, ON PURPOSE OF COURSE! :)

LOVE YOU GIRL AND GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE ALIVE!!!!

MISS YOU!
DAWNITA

4:00 PM  
Blogger Believer said...

It's great to be back and reading once again your well told stories. I posted on my mommy blog about potty and poop today. I think you'll like it! ;)

I cannot imagine having to think about an alarm with all the other aspects in the potty training season. Good grief!

12:57 AM  

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