Project Enlightenment

Last Wednesday, our parent therapist who had been helping my son this past year at Project Enlightenment was let go along with all of the other parent therapists.

Marcus thankfully was almost through with his therapy at PE and they had given me other recommendations to continue helping him. What I am so sad about is how many children will never get the help he did because that service is no longer available.

My son Marcus has always had a hard time with separating from me. We brought him home right before he turned a year and I was his third mother within his first year of life. I truly believed if I loved this precious boy enough, everything would be alright.

Between 4 and 5 the separation anxiety multiplied for some reason and he started reverting to some 2 year old behaviors. After doing tons of research I was pretty sure he had some sensory issues as well. He wouldn't go to sleep at night, he couldn't stand loud noises or crowds. Instead of just playing during the day he was constantly worried about where I was, even going so far as checking the garage to make sure my car was home. I knew I had to get help when one afternoon, I was outside talking to a neighbor for about 45 minutes and he stood at the front door watching me the whole time until I came in. My husband was in the house with him along with all of his siblings.

A friend told me about Project Enlightenment. When we met our parent therapist, she new exactly how to work with him and bring him around. Within 6 weeks I almost didn't recognize my son. They helped him help himself. Our new motto with him was no matter what was happening "you can handle it" and it changed him. They had a children's book for everything we had been going through. He loved reading about the things that he was feeling or doing and learning better ways to handle them. It used to be exhausting being his mother. And now it is gratifying everyday to see him grow and come into his own. His confidence has grown so much over the past couple of months. Project Enlightenment also taught me how to better parent him and my other children and my confidence has grown along with his. We still have some more work to do but I know we are on the right road, thanks to PE.

Project Enlightenment changed our families life tremendously and it is heart breaking to me that this service is no longer available.

Real Mom 1

I have been worrying about what I was going to write in my first blog. I was trying to think of a good topic for mom's when I had a moment that shook everything up this week. We had our first encounter with head lice in my 9 year old daughter. This past week, I have done more laundry than I ever thought possible, scrubbed, vacuumed and picked through my daughters hair trying to get rid of this.

In the beginning, I was so overwhelmed, not having any idea how to treat head lice. I called my doctor who sent me to the pharmacist to help us get started. As word got out, friends called and emailed with home remedies and things that had worked for them. The most surprising thing about this whole experience is how many of my friends have gone through this and I never knew until now. It seems, nobody openly talks about their child having had head lice.

I started only telling people I had to and everyone I told had dealt with this or knew someone who had went through it. This door seemed to open that gave me the courage to openly discuss what we were going through. Everyone I talked to helped me find peace and showed me that this is not a reflection of me as a mom.

Know matter what challenges we face, something good can come out of them. This is what I am keeping from this experience;

No matter what we go through, our friends are our best support system

To laugh even when you want to cry (and I did cry over this)

Not being afraid to share our experiences with other women, I learned so much from so many mom's this week and am so grateful that I had them all in my corner

How strong my daughter is. She was so happy to stay home from school that head lice was worth it for her

Last but not least, being careful what you wish for. I was hoping for some inspiration to start my blog about "Real Mom's" and I definitely got it.