I was in bed last night and started to think about my new physical therapist. I have gone now two times and I really think I haven't been totally nice to her and her assistant. I haven't been rude or anything but maybe a bit defensive. I am a nice person, she is helping me, why have I acted like that? I just going on and on about what I have done, how I do the exercises. She wasn't questioning me, she didn't assume I hadn't done them. So why was I so defensive??
Relaxing in my bed I think I figured it out. In the military medical system you rarely see the same person twice. If you do they never ever remember you. Well, no one has ever remembered me ever in 22 years. No one has ever just believed me when I spoke. Women are assumed hormonal and needing attention. If you have a problem they give you Motrin and are told to come back if it doesn't get better. Probably most people don't come back. Is it because they are indeed better from the massive amounts of Motrin or do they live with the problem because no one listens?
So if you seek medical help and you see someone you have never seen before, you are made to feel like you are hormonal, complaining for little reason and maybe just a little crazy, you get defensive. I have two knees and a shoulder in pain. One knee is getting treatment, (the one that has a big visible cyst that couldn't be ignored), the other that hurts with no outward sign is ignored, the shoulder with bursitis pain is pushed off "let me know if it still hurts when you come back" (that started 4 yrs ago!).
So to my new physical therapist, Thank you! You believe me, you remembered me when I came for my second visit. You told me you were glad to see me next week. I am grateful you believe me when I tell you I have done the exercises and don't assume I am lying or hormonal or crazy.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Teen boys and waking up!
"I didn't not wake up, I woke up, turned off my alarm and went back to sleep". This is the explanation that I get at least once a week. They honestly think that some how turning off the alarm counts as getting up on time.
The high schooler has to get up insanely early. He is up at 5:00 or 5:30 depending on what he wants to do in the morning. The bus comes at ~6:25 am. When my husband was here he was his alarm clock. He would wake him up, cook him breakfast. Jon loved that, he felt so loved and cared for by Jim. Jon really misses his morning eggs and daddy love. Even at 16 you can't get too much of that. So now that Jim is gone he has to do it himself, drag his butt out of bed and make his own breakfast. He has figured out that he doesn't get up to one alarm. He has to have two, one next to the bed and another that is across the room. He has to actually get out of bed to turn it off. That does the trick most days (but not all).
The middle schooler. He has always been an early riser but heaven almighty the beginnings of puberty seem to have made him sleepy. All that growing going on or something. He is the one lately that just doesn't get up. He is so lucky because his friend comes every morning to stow his bike in the garage and wait at the bus with him. Jeff is quick getting up when his friend knocks on the door. Jeff eats his bowl of instant oatmeal, throws on some clean but wrinkled clothes, makes his own lunch and is out the door. He likes to get up early so he can watch cartoons. Being 13, right in the middle of man and boy.
I wake up in the morning and try to wake them but that measure is not well received. Something about mom waking you is bad?! So I lay in my bed and listen. I listen to hear Jon get up and take a shower. I listen to hear Jeff's music. When I don't hear it when I think I should hear it, I do pound on their bedroom door but that goes over like a lead balloon. Better to let the non human alarm clock do the dirty work. With Jeff if I tell him his friend is at the door he will then bound out of bed and get ready. So with him that is my current tactic.
They both have missed the bus before. It happens, it comes early or whatever. I understand, mostly. I drive them to school and make them do a chore when they get home. I also make them go to bed earlier. The target bedtime is 10 pm. Which is fine as long as they get up on time, they don't, I bug them until they submit to going to bed earlier. Making a teen actually do anything they refuse to do is mute. Better to make it easier for them to do it than not.
Oh, last week Jeff's bus didn't come. Just not at all. I ended up driving him to school myself. He was a bit disappointed when he found out that if the bus doesn't come you get an excused absence. So he went and he didn't need to. To me he said he was glad he did but I know ;)
So if you have younger children invest in alarm clocks and teach them to wake up to one. You might want to put it on the otherside of the room ;)
The high schooler has to get up insanely early. He is up at 5:00 or 5:30 depending on what he wants to do in the morning. The bus comes at ~6:25 am. When my husband was here he was his alarm clock. He would wake him up, cook him breakfast. Jon loved that, he felt so loved and cared for by Jim. Jon really misses his morning eggs and daddy love. Even at 16 you can't get too much of that. So now that Jim is gone he has to do it himself, drag his butt out of bed and make his own breakfast. He has figured out that he doesn't get up to one alarm. He has to have two, one next to the bed and another that is across the room. He has to actually get out of bed to turn it off. That does the trick most days (but not all).
The middle schooler. He has always been an early riser but heaven almighty the beginnings of puberty seem to have made him sleepy. All that growing going on or something. He is the one lately that just doesn't get up. He is so lucky because his friend comes every morning to stow his bike in the garage and wait at the bus with him. Jeff is quick getting up when his friend knocks on the door. Jeff eats his bowl of instant oatmeal, throws on some clean but wrinkled clothes, makes his own lunch and is out the door. He likes to get up early so he can watch cartoons. Being 13, right in the middle of man and boy.
I wake up in the morning and try to wake them but that measure is not well received. Something about mom waking you is bad?! So I lay in my bed and listen. I listen to hear Jon get up and take a shower. I listen to hear Jeff's music. When I don't hear it when I think I should hear it, I do pound on their bedroom door but that goes over like a lead balloon. Better to let the non human alarm clock do the dirty work. With Jeff if I tell him his friend is at the door he will then bound out of bed and get ready. So with him that is my current tactic.
They both have missed the bus before. It happens, it comes early or whatever. I understand, mostly. I drive them to school and make them do a chore when they get home. I also make them go to bed earlier. The target bedtime is 10 pm. Which is fine as long as they get up on time, they don't, I bug them until they submit to going to bed earlier. Making a teen actually do anything they refuse to do is mute. Better to make it easier for them to do it than not.
Oh, last week Jeff's bus didn't come. Just not at all. I ended up driving him to school myself. He was a bit disappointed when he found out that if the bus doesn't come you get an excused absence. So he went and he didn't need to. To me he said he was glad he did but I know ;)
So if you have younger children invest in alarm clocks and teach them to wake up to one. You might want to put it on the otherside of the room ;)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Introductions
I sat here for quite some time trying to think about what I should write about. I hate introductions. I hate that first meeting no matter who it is. The first appointment with a Dr., meeting a new neighbor, even the girl at the cash register. I always get a little nervous the first time. Ok, sometimes a lot like at the Dr's office. So I will just jump in here and start.
My name is Dawn and I have spent my entire adult life as an Armywife. Yes, there is more to me than that but the Army has a way of taking over most things. I have three children. My daughter is in college, and I have two sons. One is in high school and the other in middle school. My Army husband is on the verge of a deployment to Afghanistan. He is finishing his training this week and preparing for the big flight.
We currently live in Northern Virginia but have lived in lots of other places. Germany, Georgia, California, Louisiana, Washington state and my home state is Wisconsin. I am a midwestern girl at heart. I drink from a bubbler and a water fountain is a pretty thing to look at in the landscaping.
The title of my blog, comes from the movie The Princess Bride . It is my favorite movie of all times. I often feel like the eels are coming to get me, but I (at least so far) have escaped them.
What else about me??? Well, if anyone reads this you will figure out my brain tends to flit around often. From one thing to the next with no warning.
We have pets! We have a guinea pig named Pumba. We adopted him when one of my daughter's friends went to college. We have a turtle named Fred Frank Yoda (or something like that I never can keep it straight). We have a tank of fish that never seem to die. They have been around for 4 years and counting. The top of the pet ladder is Spot the orange and white cat. He is often found sitting on my lap while I am on the computer.
More later.......
My name is Dawn and I have spent my entire adult life as an Armywife. Yes, there is more to me than that but the Army has a way of taking over most things. I have three children. My daughter is in college, and I have two sons. One is in high school and the other in middle school. My Army husband is on the verge of a deployment to Afghanistan. He is finishing his training this week and preparing for the big flight.
We currently live in Northern Virginia but have lived in lots of other places. Germany, Georgia, California, Louisiana, Washington state and my home state is Wisconsin. I am a midwestern girl at heart. I drink from a bubbler and a water fountain is a pretty thing to look at in the landscaping.
The title of my blog, comes from the movie The Princess Bride . It is my favorite movie of all times. I often feel like the eels are coming to get me, but I (at least so far) have escaped them.
What else about me??? Well, if anyone reads this you will figure out my brain tends to flit around often. From one thing to the next with no warning.
We have pets! We have a guinea pig named Pumba. We adopted him when one of my daughter's friends went to college. We have a turtle named Fred Frank Yoda (or something like that I never can keep it straight). We have a tank of fish that never seem to die. They have been around for 4 years and counting. The top of the pet ladder is Spot the orange and white cat. He is often found sitting on my lap while I am on the computer.
More later.......
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