Friday, September 07, 2007

Road Trip 2007 - Days Six and Seven

This post has been preempted.

I think I got screwed up on what day it was. We left on a Sunday. We came back the next Saturday. So, my "Day Five" was actually on "Day Six" ... ah heck ... like you guys are even paying attention.

Anywho, we drove from Limon, Colorado to Northern Oklahoma on Saturday. No mountains. No bison butts. Just a lot of road. Oh yeah ... and Kansas! Lots and LOTS of Kansas.

I didn't talk much about how Tourettes played a role on this trip. Nowadays, the little things are just a part of life. Twitchy Girl had a few meltdowns - minor. She had some times when we had to stop and let her take a break or rest. We don't think much about it now, because it's just what we do, and it really isn't that big of a deal when you're used to it.

However, there are occasional bad moments. For me, the "bad" moments are when she is really struggling emotionally, just with being different. Her anxiety, mixed with reflux, meant that she felt queasy before and after eating. I thought it just happened once or twice along the way. One night, she was feeling yucky right as we were sitting down to eat. I walked away from the food with her (cause, really, who wants to stare at spaghetti when your stomach is doing flips?).

She began to cry. I was encouraging, "You're doing so great on this trip! There really hasn't been much!" She corrected me. She doesn't tell me everything. She has started to accept some issues as "normal," too, but on a night like this, with the excitement of the trip causing her to feel gross before and after every single time that she eats ... she just had to cry ... she had to say the words, "I wish I wasn't like this!" through her tears.

Those are the worst moments for me. I'm living with it, but I'm not living it. To know that so much goes on in her heart and her head and her body that she doesn't share, because "that's just who she is" ... it's a killer for a mother. So, we had a big, fat reminder, sitting on the edge of a piece of wood in West Yellowstone. Tourettes and its little friends were actually more present on vacation ... because it was so fun ... and so exciting.

And Mom hugged and loved and talked and talked, and finally walked her back over and she was ready to eat.

Then Mom waited until she could go to the bathroom by herself and cry for her child.

Don't want to end the whole trip as Debbie Downer! SORRY! So, here are two fun bits. First, on this trip I solved a Rubik's Cube for the first time in my LIFE.

Oh, and then there's this, that and the other:

2800 MILES - EIGHT STATES IN SEVEN DAYS! Hope you all had a good time. Next time, you're driving!


Summer said...


James said...

It's about time!

Shannon said...

You are a "Dedra Delight" not a "Debbie Downer" whether you are just now solving the Rubic's cube or not. ;)

Lost and Found said...

Wow! I'm glad I came over Christine. What a fabulous post about moms and kids.

amie said...

I'm reading the back posts that I've never seen and the part about your daughter really struck me. My son is a bright child but is quirky (hasn't fit in any diagnosis but we'd had suspicions he was a touch asperger's with a pinch of ocd) and it's hard for him sometimes because he acts different than a lot of other kids. Even though we have tons to be thankful for and he has many blessings in his life, I am left feeling sad for him sometimes. Reading your post helps out with those feelings which in turn help me to be a better parent (I am a worrier). He's the same age as your daughter and I plan to let him read her blog. I think it might be good for him. Anyway, thanks for your honest posts!!!