Dirt, Rocks and Tractors

What more can a little boy ask for?

     I am not much of a day trip mom.  For entertainment, we generally go to the local park, the library, and sometimes, if the children are really good, we go to Wal Mart!  We visit cousins, play in the yard, and have late night movies with friends.  But day trips are rare for us. 

      This week, one of my sisters called to tell me that there was free admission to the Kenecott Copper mines.  FYI, the normal cost is only $5 per car, or in our case huge van.  That amount certainly would not break the bank, but it was just the spark that we needed to pile in the van and head north. 

     I was not sure I would enjoy the mine.  I was, after all, the one who walked 6 blocks out of the way in the sweltering heat of D.C. to see the air and space museum only to get there and think "this is it?"  I figured it was worth the risk as 4 out of my 6 boys are obsessed with dirt, rocks and tractors. 

Apparently, this is what happens if you start with a mountain and dig for 100 years.  Keep in mind, we are not talking beach shovel digging.  We are talking about BIG diggers.

This was a picture they had in the museum to show us the size of the dump trucks being used.  From where we stood looking down into the mine, they looked like matchbox cars!

Matthew must have thought he had died and gone to heaven.  He has now decided that instead of being a farmer, he will work in the mine and "dwive a big twacto"

Once I explained that this implement of destruction was a drill bit, the boys wasted no time testing it's real time applications.  There was a lot of giggling and yelling for help as they pretended to have their arms gound to bits.

After our visit to the mine, we visited the tiny town of Copperton.  I never did see a grocery store or a gas staion, but I will give them kudos for having the most original park ever!

      This day, visiting the mines turned out so well, I am already wondering where I should take them next!

Very unexpected diagnosis

     Today we made our trek to the A.D.H.D. Doctor.  Thank heavens, we only have to do this once every three months.  We go over health, weight gain for the boys (Robby and Justin), questions, behaviors and anything else that might be a concern.

     For 7 years, I fought with Robby.  Begged, pleaded and cajoled.  Punished, promised and rewarded.  And nothing worked.  In the 9th grade he was getting by with a few d's, interspersed with some c's and f's.  Definitely not every parent's dream.

     I worried endlessly about what kind of a future he could have.  Where he would end up in life with such an educational mountain to scale.  I talked to everyone I knew, trying to get more advice about how I could interest him in his school work.  How I could track his progress, stay on top of his assignments, did I need to home school him (and could I do it without loosing my mind).

    Finally a good friend mentioned that I might want to have him tested for ADHD.  Did I mention that I have a degree in elementary ed?  And that I thought ADHD was a made up disease that really equated to too much sugar, video games and television and not enough parental involvement?  Add to this that Robby has never shown any signs of hyperactivity. 

     Maybe someone had mentioned it to me before.  If so, I had not been willing to listen.  Diagnosis?  ADHD - no hyperactivity involved.  A week on the wonder drug and my life was changed.  Homework was being done AND turned in.  Teachers were praising concentration in school.  Grades flew through the roof.
The child who I had complained so much about had suddenly become a model child.  Fast forward 2 1/2 years - I am soooooo grateful for that diagnosis.  So thankful that there was a way to pull his wandering thoughts down into reality.  Happy beyond belief to see him building computers, running an entire auditorium of lights and sound, wiring together thingamabobs that I can never hope to understand.

     Having learned the lesson with Robby - when Justin began exhibiting the same behaviors in 2nd grade - an inability to focus in our out of the classroom, avoidance behaviors to distract me from the fact that he could NOT do the work, and  poor school work  I knew just what to do.

     I wonder how many years of frustration we could have saved with Robby, had we just known sooner.  I look forward to seeing how great Justin will become without having all the hurdles that his brother had.
     And just when you think you have reached the end of my diatribe.   I told the doctor today that sometimes, as I hopped from one activity to another like a brainless bird, I sometimes wondered if I had ADHD.
     He handed me a piece of paper and as I read it, tears pooled in my eyes.  I remembered the little girl who cried with frustration all through her elementary school years.  The teen that got mostly c's with a few b's interspersed despite spending hours trying to get it right.  The young adult that felt as if she was hanging on to a ledge by her fingernails as she worked to get through college.

     And I wondered.  Could this be right?   Pretty compelling thought when you score on the ADHD side of the line 6 out of 6 times.  This labels ME as an adult with ADHD.    Maybe the test is not conclusive enough.

     But perhaps the overwhelming frustrations I felt at Robby's inability

were only memories of my own

Beach Heaven

  It is hard not to wish that every week could be like the one we just spent at the beach. In one word, I would have to describe the week as heavenly.

      Six of my parent’s 10 children rented a house on the beach in North Carolina for the week. 14 adults and 24 children in a 10 bedroom duplex. Our loose schedule included playing on the beach, swimming in the water, building masterpieces in the sand, and riding huge green alligators, interrupted only by meal times and nap times.

     The evenings were spent playing games with the children, and finally, putting them – exhausted from the sand and sun – into bed. At this point, the adults seemed to reverse roles, becoming the children, the siblings of yesteryear. Visiting, playing cards, eating fun treats, and enjoying the bonds that siblings share. Can you see why it seemed so heavenly?

     Heaven, for me, besides the sun, sand and waves, is the extended family feeling. Children going from one side of the beach house to the other, parents helping to keep tabs on all of the children, not just their own. Cousins and cousins and more cousins. Running, playing, taking only minutes to remember each other as best friends from last year. It was so very reminiscent of my own childhood, of our trips to the grandparent’s farm for a week each summer.

And suddenly, the cost of travel, the stress of airplanes and rental cars, the one bedroom living – all becomes immaterial.

 It is all worth it when you get to spend a week with your family in heaven.

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