Laughter is the Best Medicine

One thing that I have found as I travel through this life, is that a positive attitude will get you a lot further than a negative one. Are you happier if you surround yourself with positive people? or with negative people? I don't know about you, but I try and keep positive people around me!! While it's good to know the proper time and place to be serious, I think it's also good to be able to laugh at yourself. A perfect example - this past Saturday night, Lauren and I were on our way back from a school event that was more than an hour and a half away from home. It was way past dinnertime and she and I were pretty hungry. If we would have waited until we got home, it would have been almost 10 p.m. We had many options and decided to hop off the highway and go to a Burger King. We both ordered and then got back in the car and continued home. I don't know what I was thinking, but I got a Whopper. That is one big hamburger! It was dark, I was driving and I was trying to eat - all at the same time :) Since I was keeping my eyes on the road and not really looking down at my burger, I was taking big bites because the Whopper was so huge and I didn't realize that the mayo and tomato were dripping on to my jeans and sweatshirt! Yikes :) Lauren thought it was the funniest thing ever and she and I were laughing hard. It must have looked pretty hilarious from where she was sitting in the passenger's seat!! Yesterday, I had to go to the hospital and get my test done that starts with a "c" and ends with the "y" that is recommended that men and women get when they turn 50. As my hubby and I were walking in, we were joking around and we started laughing together in the parking lot. It kind of took the edge off of the apprehension I was feeling. The doctor did find something when he did the test, but it was minor. When I found that out, I told my husband, "well, I'll just add another thing to my list!" I could have chosen to be negative and have the "why me?" attitude, but why should I? I have always tried my hardest to maintain a positive attitude and keep a smile on my face (even when I was a toddler)!

Everyone struggles at one time or another with tough things in their lives. I don't know of too many people that haven't had at least one hard challenge to deal with. According to the WebMd website, laughing is really good for you. When you laugh, you change physiologically. Muscles are stretched throughout your entire body, your pulse and blood pressure go up and you breathe faster, which sends more oxygen to all different parts of our bodies. One day last week when the kids had off because of all the snow, Dominic and I went outside to play. We have a couple round sleds and at first I pushed him down our icy driveway and then I thought to myself, I want to sled too! I grabbed the other sled and hopped on and he and I went down the driveway together a bunch of times. I was laughing all the way down. I didn't care if my neighbors saw me or if the cars going by saw me. Dominic and I were having way too much fun!!!

Those "Steps" to Independence Can Be Hard

We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...

Why We Pursued Guardianship of our Son with Autism

Last Thursday morning, my husband, Dominic and I went to our county's Probate Court and had Dominic's Guardianship Hearing. My husband and I are Co-Guardians, and we were granted "Partial Guardianship," which means Dominic can make some of his own decisions (future educational and vocational placement options, what to wear and how he wants to spend his free time), but my husband and I will make his medical, health care, legal, contractual and major financial decisions. The subject of Guardianship in the disability "world" has been and continues to be a controversial and divisive topic. I was a panelist for an Autism Conference this past summer and presented on what it's like to have a child with Autism. Towards the end of my presentation, I mentioned that Dominic had just turned 18 and that we were going through the Guardianship process. When the attendees could ask questions, the first person that went up to the microphone started telling me that I was...

Presume Competence

Since we have traveled outside of the United States since Dominic was very small, we have had to get him a Children's Passport every five years. Since his current one expires in February of 2024 and he is now 19, we had to apply for an Adult Passport. I don't know why my husband and I picked Dominic's first day of school and Michigan State University moving in their students, but the appointment was yesterady at 3 p.m. We had gathered all of the documents needed and then went into a special room in the East Lansing Post Office just for Passports. The three of us sat down and the clerk asked Dominic his age. He said, "19." Since we were also getting his picture taken for the Passport, he went into a separate room, where she took a picture of him and then let him look at it to make sure he liked it (it will be his picture for the next 10 years)! He said he did, so he sat back down with us. The clerk filled out a bit more of the paperwork and then she let Dominic s...

bountifulplate

Search This Blog