today, ashlyn woke up & got out of bed without me repeatedly asking and after getting dressed started into her morning routine without me prompting. i live for mornings like this. except.......without the pain. i woke up with a pinched nerve and sciatic pain shooting down both hips to my toes. the rest of the morning was me helping spidergirl get dressed, hair, teeth, breakfast.....all with me taking 5 minute breaks to lay down between each task. miserable.
after dropping them off, i spent the next few hours piddling around the house & working on freelance work. dishes. photograph project. heating pad. laundry. finishing touches on a tutorial. email. heating pad. (obviously, still ignoring the mess that is my studio. let's just call it a creative mess, k?)
i'm real good friends with the recliner chair, the laptop and the heating pad. i swear this is the only memory my kids will have of me when they think back to their childhood.
one thing with chronic back pain that i've learned: sitting and doing nothing for too long only makes it worse. & makes it stiff. i usually push through the pain and don't use muscle relaxers or pain killers unless it's totally seized up and i literally cannot move. i'm at a point now where i know what will push me to that point, so i don't get that bad. sometimes, like today, there is no way to avoid that level of pain. i just woke up that way. hrmph.
anywho. off to work i went anyway, pushing through the pain.
5:20ish, i walk in the door and somehow it seems everything is right in the world again. i love my people. at this point, doug already has dinner started, the girls are busy watching an iCarly rerun or playing a video game. bookbags and jackets and shoes and trinkets and sippy cups litter the livingroom. spidergirl is always begging for a snack declaring that she'll starve if she does eat right.this.minute. i generally drop my things and give my husband a long hug. then ask each girl how their day was and try to listen intently. offer help during dinner prep, or start a new load of laundry. it's just wonderfully chaotic.
this day was especially so, because they knew Suzi was coming over to hang for the night. hyper.hyper.hyper. i sat and watched most of it from the recliner with my trusty friends, the laptop and the heating pad. still in pain.
the kids can sense the pain without me telling them most of the time. they take turns snuggling on my lap and just plain being silly for several minutes, then off they run to do something else.
having just one extra person in the house adds extra sensory input for ashlyn. she's been doing so well lately. but today i noticed her going from one extreme to the next. sitting on my lap busting a gut laughing one minute and then snuggling on the couch with her baby sucking her thumb the next. extra sensory issues surfaced at dinner too. the biggest offender---the sound of the knife scraping the plate/fork when doug was cutting his steak.
emma retreated to the couch after declaring her tummy hurt just minutes after sitting down for dinner. this happens way more often than not. tonight, she fell asleep though.
the evening was full of the usual. after dinner we each go our own way to unwind from the day. for doug that usually means watching some sports thing or playing a game on the Xbox. for emma it means watching cartoons snuggled in bed--she's an early to bed, early to rise girl. for ashlyn it always means making stuff either at my studio tables or on the computer. i found the "I love Aaron Kelly" (american idol contestant) on the computer from the night before. for me, it's tending to any undone project and often jumping between 5 or 6 different things. i have a hard time sitting still. ha.
a wednesday just cannot end without watching American Idol. (go Lee & Siobhan!)
pictures i'm SO glad i captured today:
- doug with the remote---just SO him.
- ashlyn loving on emma, with emma forming a fist to fight--HA. seriously. a picture is worth a thousand words.
- suzi flipping emma over. the girls take turns doing this every.single.time.she's.over.
- ashlyn in her element in the studio.
I can feel your pain!! I too am on very good terms with my recliner (I think I should give it a name?) and I am lucky enough to have one with the heat in it :) I usually try to not think about the pain and if some one ask I'll just say its OK with out thinking about it. I try to live happily in denial. I hope you feel better...at least the weekend is here.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you are in pain. I've just written a book about back and sciatic pain that can probably help you. It's called Fixing You: Back Pain. If you use it, I've found most people with sciatic issues respond best to the gluteal exercises first rather than stretching the muscles in front of the hips. Feel free to contact me with questions if you have them and best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteRick Olderman MSPT
Wow,that's a lot of fun photos! I got your RAK, thank you so much!! your new profile photo to the right is so so so cute, I can only envy your craftiness and I wish I can make such glorious flowers like you do!
ReplyDeleteI love the polished toes! I'm sorry you are having pain though. I hope relief arrives soon! :)
ReplyDeleteHi. I happened to stumble upon your blog on a link on a friend's blog. Random.
ReplyDeleteI am also participating in the Week in My Life challenge this week and I also have a daughter with Sensory Processing Disorder. She just turned 6 on Wednesday and I would love to hear about some of your trials and tribulations and what works for your family!
We are in a difficult place right now. My daughter, Lily, was diagnosed in October with SPD and a generic behavior disorder (Disruptive Behavior Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) because the neuro-psychologist couldn't pinpoint exactly what other co-morbid disorders she has going on. Currently we think she might have a mood disorder, such as BiPolar so I heading to a new Psychiatrist on Wednesday for more testing. (I guess 9 hours with the neuro-psych wasn't enought).
Lily gets OT outside of school for 2 hours a week plus OT in school twice weekly, plus Social Work and Psych visits, but it still isn't getting at the root of our issues.
Sorry for going on and on...it just feels good to find someone who can relate.
Enjoy your week!