Crockett has always been a curious child. He has always been a romer. You know, the kid that you can't take your eyes off of for a second because when you turn back around your house will be burnt down. Yeah, that kind of kid. Which brings a certain story to mind........
Six months after we moved into our house, Crockett was just over 2 years old and he began that phase where he wanted to put things in the toilet. Trey was in and out of the bathroom alot still getting used to going potty on his own and I didn't want to keep the bathroom door locked. Every so often, I would realize Crockett wasn't around and I would find him in the bathroom doing multiple things. Once I found the following items in the toilet.........two entire double rolls of toilet paper (not unrolled), his sipee cup, Treys toothbrush, a small shoe, and all the garbage from the small bathroom garbage can. At any other time I might find five or six hot wheels, a thomas train or maybe a sock or some coloring book papers and a few crayons. We spanked hands, we did time outs and we scolded but to no avail.
I had gone out with my girlfriends to a jewelry type party of some kind and Wendy brought her kids to my house and was gonna babysit until John got home. The kids were playing and Wendy was in the living room watching tv. Morgan was going back and forth from Treys room to the living room playing with the kids. Trey walks into the living room where Morgan and Wendy were talking and says, "Crocketts going Potty." This was around the time that Trey was still talking a little jabber and was somewhat hard to understand and it took Wendy a few seconds to realize what Trey said. All of a sudden she understood, jumped off the couch and ran into the hallway on the way to the bathroom and there was water sloshing up out of the carpet. As she peered into the bathroom, Crockett was standing over the toilet with a look of horror on his face and there was several inches of water on the floor. He had thrown a brand new roll of toilet paper in the toilet and it had stopped up the hole and then he flushed and flushed and flushed it until it overflowed.
I got the call while I was at the party and by the time I got home my mom and dad were there surveying the damage. The water had gone from the bathroom into the hallway and halfway into both Trey and Crocketts rooms and into Crocketts closet which is right beside the bathroom. I didn't have a clue what to do. John was still at work and it didn't look like he would be getting off anytime soon. My dad finally took care of the issue. He pulled the carpet up and we put some fans on the stuff underneath so it wouldn't mildew or stink and so it would go ahead and dry.
A few weeks later I was at home with the boys and I was doing laundry. I heard the toilet flushing and figured it was Trey. I glanced into the bathroom as I walked by on my way to put up clothes. Crockett was standing in the bathroom once again.......only this time he had NOTHING in his hand. I looked into the toilet and there were five cars piled up in the hole. I sighed, thankful that they were too heavy to go through the pipe, held my breath and reached my hand into the toilet to pull them out. After I got them out, I flushed the toilet and it ran extremely slow. I got the plunger and plunged for a while. That didn't work so I got the snake thing we bought and had already used five or six times in about a week. That didnt work either but atleast I knew something was stuck in the crook cause it wouldnt force whatever it was down. I called John to let him know what was going on and he said I would have to call a plumber. We called Mitch Wright and they came out that day. They tried their industrial snake thing. They tried that for about 30 minutes and still couldn't get it. So he said he would have to remove the toilet and see if he could reach up in there and pull whatever it was out. I stood by and watched as he lay on the front lawn with his arm reaching up into the crook of the potty. And then we found the culprit...........It was Clairabelle.......you know, the coach that Thomas the Tank Engine pulls.......and she was stuck and was NOT coming out without breaking the toilet.
We had to get another toilet. The guy offered to break the toilet to get Clairabelle out but I asked him not to because I could see the same thing happen again. It was $800 buck to replace that toilet!! A toilet that was barely a day over 6 months old and we had to replace it.
I could have taken the whole family on a train coach and paid to name it Clairabelle for the price of that dern toilet. Such is life of a parent!
Friday, January 29, 2010
KFC........Kids (are) Freakin Crazy!
I had left church Wednesday night and had forgotten to get some dinner for my husband, John. As I drove home, I decided to stop at KFC in Hernando to get him something. We are on a very strict budget right now and I only had $10 in cash on me. There was nothing in the house to eat either. I assumed that I could definitely get his favorite meal of Mashed Potato Bowl and Chicken Pot Pie for ten bucks! You would think, right? Well, while I am on the interstate, I am talking to John on the phone and the boys are in the back of the car going crazy. Crockett is hollering "MOM.....MOM....MOMMA.....HEY MOM....MOMMY......MOMMMMMAAAAA." and Trey is giggling and poking and bugging Crockett who, in between each mom, is squealing at the top of his lungs. As soon as I get off the phone, they stop. So I get to KFC and have to make sure I am getting the right thing for John and I pick the phone up again. IMMEDIATELY, they start in again......screaming, squealing, laughing, hollering.....anything that is LOUD. I get off the phone, only this time the boys don't stop being crazy. I start trying to place my order and can't even hear myself think. I politely ask the order taker to hold on for a second. He agrees and I turn and lose my cool and yell, "SHUT IT!!!!" My heart was racing and I was so angry because the boys made me lose my cool. You see, I am normally a very even tempered and pleasant person. I can tune out almost anything and can be nice even when in a bad mood but that night, for some reason, I couldnt. Trying to remain calm, I asked the guy taking my order how much the bowls & pot pies were individually (they only had the meals posted) and explained to him that I had ten dollars and THAT WAS ALL and I needed to make sure that I didn't go over that amount. He said they were four something and I should be fine. So I pull forward for my total and the boys start in again. Furious at the lack of respect my kids had for me and the fact that I didnt have any way, short from leaving the drive thru, to escape, I rolled the window up and tore into my kids. I took off my seat belt, turned around so I could look them in the eye and, with steam radiating from my ears, calmly but oh so firmly and with that psychotic mom look, explained to them that I was about "this close" to losing it and if they made one more peep, I was going to get out of the car, pull them each out one by one and wear them out on their bare bottom. Wanna talk about quiet....you coulda heard a pin drop in that car. However, my heart was still beating 90 to nothin and I still wasn't calm. Poor guy at the window. He opened the window and proceeded to tell me that my total was $10.96. Once again, I blew up. With extreme annoyance, I said, "I THOUGHT YOU SAID THEY WERE FOUR SOMETHING AND I WOULD BE FINE. So, because you said that and all I have is 10 bucks in cash.........HERE IS MY 10 BUCKS, I HAVE NO MORE MONEY. GIMME MY FOOD." He must have sensed that I was at my breaking point because he sweetly said, "Yes, ma'am." and took my money from me. With a smile, he returned to the window with my food, thanked me (I guess for not pulling out a pistol) and I drove away.
Let's just say, I am not proud of my actions on that night but I must say that sometimes you do have an excuse. MY KIDS MADE ME DO IT!
Let's just say, I am not proud of my actions on that night but I must say that sometimes you do have an excuse. MY KIDS MADE ME DO IT!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
To train or not to train........THAT is the question
As I was driving to work the other day, I was thinking about potty training. This is a very touchy subject for a lot of parents out there and I would like to throw my two cents into the mix. If you don't like reading about potty training or poop and peepee...then don't read the following story! ;0)
Do all children learn at the same pace? Are all children alike? If you FORCE a child to do something, does it help them or hinder them? These are age old questions that can be asked about many things but I am asking today regarding potty training. The following story is MY story of potty training two different children and two different ways.
My boys were different ages when they were potty trained. Trey was 5 when he was completely potty trained. Of course his developmental delays played a huge part of his delay in training.
When Trey was 3 we began trying to get him on the potty but he would not have it. I stopped trying because it was around the time that he was diagnosed with DD and Crockett was diagnosed with Allergies and Asthma and I had too much on my plate. He finally began showing signs of readiness by staying dry for hours at a time, hiding when he was going, wanting to change his pull up immediately after going in it......you know, the basic signs of readiness. BUT I could not catch him to get him to potty before he did it in his pull up. So I have decided, PULL UPS ARE FROM THE DEVIL!! All it is is a diaper with less absorption. So you have to change it more often......they are good for night time diapers but HORRIBLE for toilet training!
So anyway, around 4 and a half, I decided one Saturday to try the "Shoot the Cheerios" game in the potty. We stayed at home all day and I rearranged my plans that day so we could focus ONLY on potty training. That day he finally got it and would shoot pee pee at the cheerios that were floating in the potty. He did this for about two weeks before he finally didn't need them anymore and hasn't worn a diaper during the day since. We still had problems getting him to poo poo on the potty. He would hold it and hold it and would cry because it hurt him to go cause he had waited so long to go. This happens to children with disabilities and special needs a lot because their diet isn't what it should be. The dietary issues are usually due to not liking certain textures or some other kind of oral issue. Trey's was because all he ever wanted or would eat was chicken nuggets. Trey would go for a week at a time sometimes without a bowel movement. He would get sick and throw up because he would not go to the bathroom. We tried adding Benefiber and other fiber supplements to his meals and that didn't work. We tried using laxatives, they didn't work. So finally we had to start using enemas when he hadn't gone for 4-5 days. We only had to use them two or three times before Trey finally made the decision to go on his own rather than get an enema. He hasn't had a problem with it since then! :0)
Crockett, Crockett, Crockett........he has been a much easier trainer. Obviously, you see from my early entry that he has always been interested in the potty. We started trying with him right after he turned 3. He would do it sporadically but never with any consistency. I would try underwear and he would wet them while he was playing (only minutes after taking him) and then he would take them off and hide them so I wouldn't know he had wet them. (still trying to figure out why he thought I wouldn't notice he was naked? hehehe) So I kinda put the whole potty training on the back burner until around the middle of summer. He did pretty good and would go when I asked him if he needed to but he really wouldn't tell me he needed too and if it meant getting up from playing, he would rather wet his pants than do that. We finally got to where I would just carry his entire wardrobe (it seemed) in his backpack and just change his pants if he wet them. Some days he would do great and not have ANY accidents and other times he would go crazy and have five or six accidents. I knew that if he wasn't potty trained that it would be embarrassing to put him in a MDO program and I NEEDED my me time. I considered him completely pee pee potty trained around July or so. However, here comes the hard part. I could not get him to poo poo on the potty for anything. We would put him on the potty before bed because his natural tendency was to go in his pull up at night time. He would sit there for 20 minutes, yelling, screaming, acting the fool until it was getting so late that we had to let him get up. We would put his pull up on, put him in bed and when I would go in to turn off his tv, I could smell his fragrant present! UGH! I didn't know what to do. I couldn't FORCE him to go. So I didn't. He very rarely had poo poo accidents ever cause he had an uncanny ability to hold it til night time. We would catch him every so often and be able to get him to go cause there was no way possible he could hold it any longer.
Finally, a few weeks ago when we were in Gatlinburg, I was with him ALL the time. 24 hours a day, the entire time we were there. I knew his signs that he had to go. The waddley walk, the scared bug eyed solemn stare that he would give cause he was concentrating to hold it in and when I would ask him if he need to go potty and he would immediately and with much force reply "NO!" gave him away EVERY time. You see, the good thing about having boys is that daddy has to take them potty when you are out somewhere so every time I would see the tell tale signs that he needed to, I would tell John and he would take him to the bathroom. EVERY TIME, John would be stern with him and sometimes threaten him to go and every time he would! It was really quite amazing. By the time we got home from our trip, Crockett would tell us when he needed to go poo poo and we haven't had any trouble since!
My theory is that if you can not spend all day, everyday with your child then your commitment to getting them potty trained will have to wait until you can have that time available. Like my opinion or not, but we all live in a world that's GO GO GO and I am of the belief that the reason children are 4, 5 and 6 being potty trained is because parents like me and you are so busy and have so many things pulling us in so many directions that we can't or don't want to take the time to do the things that NEED to be done. Like watching our children for signs of readiness and acting on it instead of putting it off, putting it off. It's not gonna just magically happen, we have to be steadfast and ready when the first signs come up. There are the exceptions, like Trey, who might have delays that keep them from learning at a quick pace but those are few and far between.
What you should learn from this blog:
1. NO PULL UPS. They only hinder the potty training unless you use them at night only to keep them from wetting the bed.
2. Forcing your child to potty train when it's convenient for YOU isn't going to be successful. You must be willing to take time with your child and rearrange your schedule to do so.
3. If you are a woman that has girls, I am so sorry that you have to take your children to the bathroom all the time. If you are a woman with boys........LIVE IT UP and MAKE your husband do it now cause one day you might have granddaughters! LOL!
Do all children learn at the same pace? Are all children alike? If you FORCE a child to do something, does it help them or hinder them? These are age old questions that can be asked about many things but I am asking today regarding potty training. The following story is MY story of potty training two different children and two different ways.
My boys were different ages when they were potty trained. Trey was 5 when he was completely potty trained. Of course his developmental delays played a huge part of his delay in training.
When Trey was 3 we began trying to get him on the potty but he would not have it. I stopped trying because it was around the time that he was diagnosed with DD and Crockett was diagnosed with Allergies and Asthma and I had too much on my plate. He finally began showing signs of readiness by staying dry for hours at a time, hiding when he was going, wanting to change his pull up immediately after going in it......you know, the basic signs of readiness. BUT I could not catch him to get him to potty before he did it in his pull up. So I have decided, PULL UPS ARE FROM THE DEVIL!! All it is is a diaper with less absorption. So you have to change it more often......they are good for night time diapers but HORRIBLE for toilet training!
So anyway, around 4 and a half, I decided one Saturday to try the "Shoot the Cheerios" game in the potty. We stayed at home all day and I rearranged my plans that day so we could focus ONLY on potty training. That day he finally got it and would shoot pee pee at the cheerios that were floating in the potty. He did this for about two weeks before he finally didn't need them anymore and hasn't worn a diaper during the day since. We still had problems getting him to poo poo on the potty. He would hold it and hold it and would cry because it hurt him to go cause he had waited so long to go. This happens to children with disabilities and special needs a lot because their diet isn't what it should be. The dietary issues are usually due to not liking certain textures or some other kind of oral issue. Trey's was because all he ever wanted or would eat was chicken nuggets. Trey would go for a week at a time sometimes without a bowel movement. He would get sick and throw up because he would not go to the bathroom. We tried adding Benefiber and other fiber supplements to his meals and that didn't work. We tried using laxatives, they didn't work. So finally we had to start using enemas when he hadn't gone for 4-5 days. We only had to use them two or three times before Trey finally made the decision to go on his own rather than get an enema. He hasn't had a problem with it since then! :0)
Crockett, Crockett, Crockett........he has been a much easier trainer. Obviously, you see from my early entry that he has always been interested in the potty. We started trying with him right after he turned 3. He would do it sporadically but never with any consistency. I would try underwear and he would wet them while he was playing (only minutes after taking him) and then he would take them off and hide them so I wouldn't know he had wet them. (still trying to figure out why he thought I wouldn't notice he was naked? hehehe) So I kinda put the whole potty training on the back burner until around the middle of summer. He did pretty good and would go when I asked him if he needed to but he really wouldn't tell me he needed too and if it meant getting up from playing, he would rather wet his pants than do that. We finally got to where I would just carry his entire wardrobe (it seemed) in his backpack and just change his pants if he wet them. Some days he would do great and not have ANY accidents and other times he would go crazy and have five or six accidents. I knew that if he wasn't potty trained that it would be embarrassing to put him in a MDO program and I NEEDED my me time. I considered him completely pee pee potty trained around July or so. However, here comes the hard part. I could not get him to poo poo on the potty for anything. We would put him on the potty before bed because his natural tendency was to go in his pull up at night time. He would sit there for 20 minutes, yelling, screaming, acting the fool until it was getting so late that we had to let him get up. We would put his pull up on, put him in bed and when I would go in to turn off his tv, I could smell his fragrant present! UGH! I didn't know what to do. I couldn't FORCE him to go. So I didn't. He very rarely had poo poo accidents ever cause he had an uncanny ability to hold it til night time. We would catch him every so often and be able to get him to go cause there was no way possible he could hold it any longer.
Finally, a few weeks ago when we were in Gatlinburg, I was with him ALL the time. 24 hours a day, the entire time we were there. I knew his signs that he had to go. The waddley walk, the scared bug eyed solemn stare that he would give cause he was concentrating to hold it in and when I would ask him if he need to go potty and he would immediately and with much force reply "NO!" gave him away EVERY time. You see, the good thing about having boys is that daddy has to take them potty when you are out somewhere so every time I would see the tell tale signs that he needed to, I would tell John and he would take him to the bathroom. EVERY TIME, John would be stern with him and sometimes threaten him to go and every time he would! It was really quite amazing. By the time we got home from our trip, Crockett would tell us when he needed to go poo poo and we haven't had any trouble since!
My theory is that if you can not spend all day, everyday with your child then your commitment to getting them potty trained will have to wait until you can have that time available. Like my opinion or not, but we all live in a world that's GO GO GO and I am of the belief that the reason children are 4, 5 and 6 being potty trained is because parents like me and you are so busy and have so many things pulling us in so many directions that we can't or don't want to take the time to do the things that NEED to be done. Like watching our children for signs of readiness and acting on it instead of putting it off, putting it off. It's not gonna just magically happen, we have to be steadfast and ready when the first signs come up. There are the exceptions, like Trey, who might have delays that keep them from learning at a quick pace but those are few and far between.
What you should learn from this blog:
1. NO PULL UPS. They only hinder the potty training unless you use them at night only to keep them from wetting the bed.
2. Forcing your child to potty train when it's convenient for YOU isn't going to be successful. You must be willing to take time with your child and rearrange your schedule to do so.
3. If you are a woman that has girls, I am so sorry that you have to take your children to the bathroom all the time. If you are a woman with boys........LIVE IT UP and MAKE your husband do it now cause one day you might have granddaughters! LOL!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Learning our Letters
Learning letters, their sounds and beginning to learn how to spell words has always been a big thing in our house. If you are around either of my boys for any amount of time, they will FORCE you to spell a word that they have heard. Sometimes they even ask you to spell an entire sentence. Trey constantly points out memorization words like UP, ON, EXIT, OPEN and so forth. Crockett enjoys sounding out words and figuring out what they start with. He also likes to look around as we drive and ask if me to spell random things he sees......"MOMMA, SPELL TREE.....MOMMA, SPELL ROAD........MOMMA, SPELL DVD (LOL).......you get the picture.
When I would have to lock the boys in the bathroom with me while I took a shower, when they were little, I would entertain them by writing words in the steam of the shower door or drawing pictures. This played a vital role in them learning their alphabet. Now that the boys enjoy taking a shower instead of a bath, they quiz each other by drawing letters in the steam of the shower door. They LOVE doing this and it gives them a daily refresher course that I don't have to be involved in. It also gives Trey the social interaction and teaches him how to ask questions correctly (as I jump in and correct him if he has trouble) and how to answer questions appropriately.
MOMS and DADS......when you have to take a shower with your kids in the room, make it into a learning experience! It can't hurt and sometimes it even helps. Let's all do our part and make learning fun! :0)
When I would have to lock the boys in the bathroom with me while I took a shower, when they were little, I would entertain them by writing words in the steam of the shower door or drawing pictures. This played a vital role in them learning their alphabet. Now that the boys enjoy taking a shower instead of a bath, they quiz each other by drawing letters in the steam of the shower door. They LOVE doing this and it gives them a daily refresher course that I don't have to be involved in. It also gives Trey the social interaction and teaches him how to ask questions correctly (as I jump in and correct him if he has trouble) and how to answer questions appropriately.
MOMS and DADS......when you have to take a shower with your kids in the room, make it into a learning experience! It can't hurt and sometimes it even helps. Let's all do our part and make learning fun! :0)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
My life behind bars (a look into a criminals past)
This blog will blow your mind. A bunch of you have already heard this and if you have, bear with me because I think those that have not heard this story will find it quite intriguing!
In November 2002 I got a speeding ticket, in my neighborhood as I was leaving for work. I was going 15 over the speedlimit (45 in a 30). I totally deserved the ticket. This was during the time that John had lost his job and was making significantly less and then you had Christmas right around the corner and we didnt have much extra money. We decided to go to court and find out if I could postpone payment until January or February, just to get past the holidays. I went to my court date in mid-December and when I asked the judge about postponing it, he said as long as I paid $50 bucks of it, I could pay the rest the next month. I agreed and wasn't really thinking about the fact that that would mean that only $22.50 remained. Had I been thinking about that, I would have just paid it all then and forgot about it.
Anyway, December went by and January comes around. I completely forget about the $22.50 that I owe for the ticket and I go out of town on our annual Gatlinburg trip. My court date happens to be the Friday that we are gone to Gatlinburg. Well, as soon as I get back and realize that I have forgotten to pay this, I immediately write a check and put it in the mail. That Monday was a holiday and so the mail wasn't picked up until Tuesday. I never thought another thing about it.
Thursday night around 1130pm we get a knock on our front door. I'm sitting on the couch with my pj's on and covered in a blanket. John is lounging too. John opens the door and in walk two police men, one of which I road this bus with and who lived behind me as a child. We knew each other by name. He says...and I quote...."We are looking for Jeanine Burnside." I said, 'that's me." and they come over and say we have a warrant for your arrest for contempt of court. I was confused and asked why and they said they didnt know, they were just told to come get me. So I was like, I already paid the rest of my ticket, if that is what this is about, and I explained that it was sent through the mail. I asked if I could atleast put my bra and shoes and a jacket on before they they took me and the guy walked me back to our bedroom and made me leave the door cracked so he could see me the entire time I was changing.....the perv.....just kidding.
So I get dressed and come out and the guy I knew from school proceeds to get his handcuffs out. I was floored by this time. Come to my house at 1130 at night, watch me change clothes and then handcuff a big ole girl like me that you've known since gradeschool.....seeing as I am sure that I could outrun these young guys that are in better shape than they were in high school, it totally makes sense to handcuff me and also knowing that I am a known felon....I mean, come on.
So back to the story. I beg them not to handcuff me. I tell them that I promise I am not gonna run and then try to joke that they would catch me anyway. They don't find that too amusing and he pulls my hands behind my back and handcuffs me. He leads me out to the cruiser, doesn't even attempt to help me into the car (they guide even the hardest criminal's heads into the car so they don't knock their noggin) and to make matters worse he listens to heavy metal music all the way back to the jail! I was scrunched down in the back crying my eyes out and praying. It felt like I was in a bad dream, no.....a nightmare!
We get to the jail and again, he doesn't help me get out of the car. I have to struggle out, on my own. He pushes me into the holding room and takes the handcuff off one arm. I breathed a sigh of relief until I realized that he was just taking it off so he could handcuff me to the bench! REALLY!? He then tells me that I should call someone to come bail me out. I looked at him like he was crazy and reminded him that I had never been in that situation before and that I didn't have a clue what that meant. He told me to call any of the bail bondsmen to come to the station to post bail. I picked up the phone, still crying like a baby and called the first person I saw. After I hung up with the bail bondsmen, the officer uncuffed me long enough to take my mugg shot and then promptly recuffed me, leaving me alone for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, John had left immediately after I had and he went to my mom and dads and informed them of what was going on. They originally thought he was joking with them and it took him a few minutes to get them to believe him. They got dressed and the three of them came to the jail to rescue me! I was lucky they got there when they did cause when he came to let me know someone was there to post bond, he also informed me that if they had been even two minutes later, I would be on my way to the Hernando Prison.......can you imagine, ME in a REAL jail!! When I came into the room with my parents and John, my mom was scwalling like a baby (I think worse than I was) and my dad was smirking at me and making random jokes about his criminal daughter!
My bail was set at $2500, so we had to pay the bail bondsmen 10% of that in order to get out. We finally were out of there and home by around 230am. I had trouble sleeping that night but I was determined to be at the courthouse when they opened so I could see what was going on with my payment I sent four days prior. When I got there and spoke to the cashier, she looked in the computer and said that there was no payment posted to my name. She then went and pulled my folder and opened it and low and behold, there was my check, in the folder, just as pretty as you please, paperclipped to the envelope I sent it in. She pulled it out and said, and I quote again, "Hmm.....I don't know how that ended up in there. It's stamped received on Wednesday but it's not posted to your name on the computer."
All that I had been through and the money was sitting in the cashiers hands when the warrant was issued on Thursday afternoon!!!! She had made the mistake that led to the series of events that cost me 250 bucks!! I had another court date for February and I was determined not let them get away with this.
Wendy was working at Austin Law Firm at the time and we were able to get one of her friends to represent me so I wouldn't be found guilty and have to pay all the fines and penalties and such. She was great and I was able to leave court that day only oweing 25 dollars in court costs!
There are several morals to this story..........
1.) Don't miss a court date.
2.) Don't speed in Horn Lake (well, don't do it anywhere, really...but if you have to, do it in Memphis, you get away with alot more!)
3.) Don't forget to pay tickets.
4.) Don't think that just because you have known someone seemingly your entire life that they will treat you any differently than a common criminal.
5.) Don't open your door at 11:30 at night unless you KNOW you don't have a warrant out for your arrest! LOL
In November 2002 I got a speeding ticket, in my neighborhood as I was leaving for work. I was going 15 over the speedlimit (45 in a 30). I totally deserved the ticket. This was during the time that John had lost his job and was making significantly less and then you had Christmas right around the corner and we didnt have much extra money. We decided to go to court and find out if I could postpone payment until January or February, just to get past the holidays. I went to my court date in mid-December and when I asked the judge about postponing it, he said as long as I paid $50 bucks of it, I could pay the rest the next month. I agreed and wasn't really thinking about the fact that that would mean that only $22.50 remained. Had I been thinking about that, I would have just paid it all then and forgot about it.
Anyway, December went by and January comes around. I completely forget about the $22.50 that I owe for the ticket and I go out of town on our annual Gatlinburg trip. My court date happens to be the Friday that we are gone to Gatlinburg. Well, as soon as I get back and realize that I have forgotten to pay this, I immediately write a check and put it in the mail. That Monday was a holiday and so the mail wasn't picked up until Tuesday. I never thought another thing about it.
Thursday night around 1130pm we get a knock on our front door. I'm sitting on the couch with my pj's on and covered in a blanket. John is lounging too. John opens the door and in walk two police men, one of which I road this bus with and who lived behind me as a child. We knew each other by name. He says...and I quote...."We are looking for Jeanine Burnside." I said, 'that's me." and they come over and say we have a warrant for your arrest for contempt of court. I was confused and asked why and they said they didnt know, they were just told to come get me. So I was like, I already paid the rest of my ticket, if that is what this is about, and I explained that it was sent through the mail. I asked if I could atleast put my bra and shoes and a jacket on before they they took me and the guy walked me back to our bedroom and made me leave the door cracked so he could see me the entire time I was changing.....the perv.....just kidding.
So I get dressed and come out and the guy I knew from school proceeds to get his handcuffs out. I was floored by this time. Come to my house at 1130 at night, watch me change clothes and then handcuff a big ole girl like me that you've known since gradeschool.....seeing as I am sure that I could outrun these young guys that are in better shape than they were in high school, it totally makes sense to handcuff me and also knowing that I am a known felon....I mean, come on.
So back to the story. I beg them not to handcuff me. I tell them that I promise I am not gonna run and then try to joke that they would catch me anyway. They don't find that too amusing and he pulls my hands behind my back and handcuffs me. He leads me out to the cruiser, doesn't even attempt to help me into the car (they guide even the hardest criminal's heads into the car so they don't knock their noggin) and to make matters worse he listens to heavy metal music all the way back to the jail! I was scrunched down in the back crying my eyes out and praying. It felt like I was in a bad dream, no.....a nightmare!
We get to the jail and again, he doesn't help me get out of the car. I have to struggle out, on my own. He pushes me into the holding room and takes the handcuff off one arm. I breathed a sigh of relief until I realized that he was just taking it off so he could handcuff me to the bench! REALLY!? He then tells me that I should call someone to come bail me out. I looked at him like he was crazy and reminded him that I had never been in that situation before and that I didn't have a clue what that meant. He told me to call any of the bail bondsmen to come to the station to post bail. I picked up the phone, still crying like a baby and called the first person I saw. After I hung up with the bail bondsmen, the officer uncuffed me long enough to take my mugg shot and then promptly recuffed me, leaving me alone for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, John had left immediately after I had and he went to my mom and dads and informed them of what was going on. They originally thought he was joking with them and it took him a few minutes to get them to believe him. They got dressed and the three of them came to the jail to rescue me! I was lucky they got there when they did cause when he came to let me know someone was there to post bond, he also informed me that if they had been even two minutes later, I would be on my way to the Hernando Prison.......can you imagine, ME in a REAL jail!! When I came into the room with my parents and John, my mom was scwalling like a baby (I think worse than I was) and my dad was smirking at me and making random jokes about his criminal daughter!
My bail was set at $2500, so we had to pay the bail bondsmen 10% of that in order to get out. We finally were out of there and home by around 230am. I had trouble sleeping that night but I was determined to be at the courthouse when they opened so I could see what was going on with my payment I sent four days prior. When I got there and spoke to the cashier, she looked in the computer and said that there was no payment posted to my name. She then went and pulled my folder and opened it and low and behold, there was my check, in the folder, just as pretty as you please, paperclipped to the envelope I sent it in. She pulled it out and said, and I quote again, "Hmm.....I don't know how that ended up in there. It's stamped received on Wednesday but it's not posted to your name on the computer."
All that I had been through and the money was sitting in the cashiers hands when the warrant was issued on Thursday afternoon!!!! She had made the mistake that led to the series of events that cost me 250 bucks!! I had another court date for February and I was determined not let them get away with this.
Wendy was working at Austin Law Firm at the time and we were able to get one of her friends to represent me so I wouldn't be found guilty and have to pay all the fines and penalties and such. She was great and I was able to leave court that day only oweing 25 dollars in court costs!
There are several morals to this story..........
1.) Don't miss a court date.
2.) Don't speed in Horn Lake (well, don't do it anywhere, really...but if you have to, do it in Memphis, you get away with alot more!)
3.) Don't forget to pay tickets.
4.) Don't think that just because you have known someone seemingly your entire life that they will treat you any differently than a common criminal.
5.) Don't open your door at 11:30 at night unless you KNOW you don't have a warrant out for your arrest! LOL
Okay! It's your brothers turn now!
"MOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!! I WANT TO HOLD THE MOVIE!!! " Those were the words of my last born son, Crockett, as his brother, Trey, held the "Monsters Inc" case just out of his reach. I knew when I brought the movie out to the car that they would fight over it but hoped that Crockett would forget Trey had it. Yeah, right! Crockett is like an elephant, he doesn't forget ANYTHING! As I drove down the road listening to the crazy fight between my boys, I realized that there was only one way to handle this situation.......the counting game!
Trey starts out with the movie and counts to 10. Then he gives it to Crockett and he counts to 10. Then Trey gets the movie back and he counts to 10. (Crockett cheated and counted to 13 several times but Trey didn't notice) So, they go back and forth doing this for about 5 minutes until they realize that it's annoying and then I change the game to find the stop sign. This game is where they hold it until we come to a stop sign or stop light. I know there are only three stop signs or lights on the way to moms house but they don't. This worked like a charm for the rest of the trip. Once we got there we went inside and they watched the movie peacefully until I left for work.
As I am sure most of you know, peacemaker is one of the many hats that parents wear and with each passing year you learn more and more about how to keep the peace between the siblings. I am not looking forward to the day when my boys don't fall for the simple games anymore. I am also not looking forward to the day when I have to look up to my boys when I am getting onto them. Just tonight Trey came out of his room after we had tucked him in cause he "forgot" to give me a hug. I was sitting in my oversize chair with my legs stretched out on the ottoman and Trey crawls into my lap.....HE WAS LOOKING ME STRAIGHT IN THE EYE AND HIS TOES WERE EVEN WITH MY TOES!! Ya'll!!! He is SIX years old!! What the WHAT?!!? Anyway, I can barely believe that my boys aren't babies anymore.
The next few posts will be flashbacks to stories that have happened to me and family over the years. Some will be personal stories (be watching for my arrest story) and some will be kid stories (LOTS of potty humor, literally)! Be watching!! Coming soon!!
Trey starts out with the movie and counts to 10. Then he gives it to Crockett and he counts to 10. Then Trey gets the movie back and he counts to 10. (Crockett cheated and counted to 13 several times but Trey didn't notice) So, they go back and forth doing this for about 5 minutes until they realize that it's annoying and then I change the game to find the stop sign. This game is where they hold it until we come to a stop sign or stop light. I know there are only three stop signs or lights on the way to moms house but they don't. This worked like a charm for the rest of the trip. Once we got there we went inside and they watched the movie peacefully until I left for work.
As I am sure most of you know, peacemaker is one of the many hats that parents wear and with each passing year you learn more and more about how to keep the peace between the siblings. I am not looking forward to the day when my boys don't fall for the simple games anymore. I am also not looking forward to the day when I have to look up to my boys when I am getting onto them. Just tonight Trey came out of his room after we had tucked him in cause he "forgot" to give me a hug. I was sitting in my oversize chair with my legs stretched out on the ottoman and Trey crawls into my lap.....HE WAS LOOKING ME STRAIGHT IN THE EYE AND HIS TOES WERE EVEN WITH MY TOES!! Ya'll!!! He is SIX years old!! What the WHAT?!!? Anyway, I can barely believe that my boys aren't babies anymore.
The next few posts will be flashbacks to stories that have happened to me and family over the years. Some will be personal stories (be watching for my arrest story) and some will be kid stories (LOTS of potty humor, literally)! Be watching!! Coming soon!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
HOLEY MOLEY! and SNAAP
Nice title, huh? I laughed when I wrote it! Yesterday I went to the dermatologist and had a mole removed from my back. They said they needed to send it in for a biopsy to make sure it wasn't malignant or whatever! I'm not really nervous in the least cause I know that moles run in our family......I know, I know, we have to be careful where we step....LOL.....I am such a cheese ball! Anyway, after she shaved my mole off, she scolded me and told me that I was too fair skinned and blue eyed and that I should avoid the sun! I don't think she realized that she was talking to the queen of tan.....well, maybe my princess.....but at any rate, I love to have a dark tan. I mean, sure, in the past few years I haven't been as tan as I usually am, but I have always said, "Fat looks better tan." and I have always held true to that. When I told her that I had laid out in Cozumel with no SPF on at all and that all I brought with me on the boat was SPF 4, she glared at me and told me that that was probably where this little dude came from. Needless to say, I shall slather SPF 50 on me each time I go out in the sun no matter what the biopsy says. Wendy, bring on the white girl comments! I'd definitely rather be alive and not have to remove these stupid moles from my body than avoid the jabs at my bootay white color from my sister!
****I am ammending this blog to let everyone know that I found out the results of my biopsy on my mole. It was just a "harmless age spot!" YAY! Praise GOD! I wasn't really worried but cancer isn't anything to take lightly so I am so thankful to God for taking care of me! :0)
On another note, Trey starts back to SNAAP today. SNAAP (Special Needs Athletic & Aquatic Program) is held each Friday of the school year at the YMCA in Olive Branch. Basically the first semester of this program, the children go into a gym and they do Athletic type things. There are many ranges of kids that come to this. Some are wheelchair bound and are given special attention so they can get out of their wheelchair and stretch out while most of the others are special needs in other ways (autistic, Downs or Developmentally delayed in some way). They do bowling, basketball (on their level), an obstacle course is set up and they follow that a few times.....they play duck duck goose.....it's just a very fun experience for the children! Each child is paired with a volunteer (which are typically high school age volunteers or older women who are in the senior program) and these volunteers help keep the boys and girls on task! It's very fun to see the kids warm up to each other and play with their volunteers! That is the first semester. The second semester is the Aquatic portion of the program. This is Treys very most favorite part! He LOVES swimming. Each child is pared back with the same person that they had the first semester and they get to go in the pool. They are required to wear a swimming belt if they can't swim and each person floats them around and plays water basketball or just does whatever the child wants to do, within reason, of course! The smiles on the kids faces while they are enjoying this program is fantastic! And the coolest thing about it is that it is a free service! Donations are requested at the end of the year but this service is one that you would pay hundreds of dollars for and you can get it for free from the local YMCA! It is every Friday of the school year (except holidays for the schools) and it's from 330-415 or 430-515. Call the YMCA if you are interested in your child being a part of this great program or if you would like to volunteer! Volunteers are always needed!
****I am ammending this blog to let everyone know that I found out the results of my biopsy on my mole. It was just a "harmless age spot!" YAY! Praise GOD! I wasn't really worried but cancer isn't anything to take lightly so I am so thankful to God for taking care of me! :0)
On another note, Trey starts back to SNAAP today. SNAAP (Special Needs Athletic & Aquatic Program) is held each Friday of the school year at the YMCA in Olive Branch. Basically the first semester of this program, the children go into a gym and they do Athletic type things. There are many ranges of kids that come to this. Some are wheelchair bound and are given special attention so they can get out of their wheelchair and stretch out while most of the others are special needs in other ways (autistic, Downs or Developmentally delayed in some way). They do bowling, basketball (on their level), an obstacle course is set up and they follow that a few times.....they play duck duck goose.....it's just a very fun experience for the children! Each child is paired with a volunteer (which are typically high school age volunteers or older women who are in the senior program) and these volunteers help keep the boys and girls on task! It's very fun to see the kids warm up to each other and play with their volunteers! That is the first semester. The second semester is the Aquatic portion of the program. This is Treys very most favorite part! He LOVES swimming. Each child is pared back with the same person that they had the first semester and they get to go in the pool. They are required to wear a swimming belt if they can't swim and each person floats them around and plays water basketball or just does whatever the child wants to do, within reason, of course! The smiles on the kids faces while they are enjoying this program is fantastic! And the coolest thing about it is that it is a free service! Donations are requested at the end of the year but this service is one that you would pay hundreds of dollars for and you can get it for free from the local YMCA! It is every Friday of the school year (except holidays for the schools) and it's from 330-415 or 430-515. Call the YMCA if you are interested in your child being a part of this great program or if you would like to volunteer! Volunteers are always needed!
Monday, January 18, 2010
My First Blog Entry
Hello All!
This is my first official blog! I have been poked and proded from many different friends to begin a blog. I have no idea why I was so hesitant in doing this but decided to make it my new years resolution for this year and so here we are!
I am a very Happy Married mother of two beautiful boys Trey and Crockett. They are the greatest achievement in my life and I am so proud of them in every way. These two boys are so different and unique in every single way.
When my husband and I decided to get pregnant and have a baby, we had a bit of trouble. We tried to get pregnant for 2 years before we finally took a fertility drug called Clomid and we were able to conceive within a month! We had a vision of what this baby would look like. We just knew that we would have a boy (which we did) but as we both have and had blonde hair and light eyes now and as children, we assumed he would be a toe headed, fair skinned, blue eyed beauty. We had the sex and booty white complexion right but we were WAAAYYYY off on the hair and eyes. He had jet black hair and brown eyes! Who was this little man?! Born on Halloween of 2003 and weighing in at 9lbs 7oz and 21 inches in length, he was PERFECT in every way! From two weeks old, he slept through the night......he ate well, and adjusted well in all situations! He was by the book on everything, as a baby. He was a pure joy to have in our house! We were in love from the beginning.
We were under the incorrect assumption that we would have to use fertility drugs again if we ever wanted to have another baby so we did not use any form of birth control after having Trey. I think you see where this is going.........when Trey was 18 months old, we found out we were pregnant with our youngest son, Crockett. I wanted a girl desperately but God knew what we needed and sent us our baby boy that looked exactly what we figured Trey would look like. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a bit bigger than his brother, Crockett weighed in at a whopping 11lbs 15 ounces and was 22 inches long! He was not so much of a joy to have around the house though! He ate ALLL the time and was (and still is) a horrible sleeper, waking up at the slightest little sound!
Trey was diagnosed with Developmental Delays/High Functioning Autism at age 3 and a half and Crockett was diagnosed with Allergies & Asthma right around the same time as Trey was being diagnosed. Below I have attached a synopsis of the ups and downs in my life thus far. I know it's sorta long but you will really understand the ups and downs in our journey thus far if you read this overview.
Our oldest son, Trey, was born on October 31st, 2003. Our little punkin was two years old when we began noticing a change in him. He regressed in his language and stopped making significant strides in development. Being his primary caregiver, I was, of course the first to notice. I even asked his pediatrician if it was normal for him to have speech delays and they suggested that he was still young and to give him time. I didn't think this was the case and while trying to "deal" or "come to grips" with this possible lifechanging issue, we were also getting ready to welcome another baby boy into the world. We had our youngest son, Crockett on December 5, 2005, a little over a month after Treys second birthday. Around the time my husband came to the realization that there was truly something not right in Treys development, we placed him in a public school early intervention preschool program as a "typical" child. It didnt take that teacher, Ms. Stephanie, long to suggest to us that Trey be tested for Autism or Developmental Delays. I had only known a few people at this point who had ever had autism and that word struck fear in my heart that my son might not ever have a good quality of life. The only people I had ever seen with autism were unable to talk at all and had to have FULL care ALL the time. I put up a brave front and constantly acted as if it were no big deal and that we would work through this but deep down I was going over many scenarios in my head, all of which included my little punkin never speaking and always being dependant on me, for the rest of his life. The big question I had was, if Trey has this, what if we have more than one child with this!? It's more common among boys and we have a new baby boy! BOY was I ever further from the truth.
Trey was diagnosed as Developmentally Delayed just before his fourth birthday and was put into Ms. Selby's preschool class at Walls Elementary (after a friend highly recommended her). Ms. Selby was a beautiful beautiful teacher on the inside and outside! Her deep love for each child in her class was evident with every word she spoke and every hug she gave. Now don't get me wrong......she was sweet as pie but she was and is one of the strongest willed women I have ever met in my life.....exactly what my Trey needed! She pulled things out of him and had him doing things I NEVER thought possible! He grew leaps and bounds during the two semesters he was there. When Ms. Selby retired we had moved to Hernando and decided to put Trey in Hernando Elementary Preschool Early Intervention class with Ms. Nicole Lulow. You wanna talk about a strong lady and one that cared about her kids, you can talk to Ms. Nicole Lulow!! The things she made Trey do made him mad but he loved her all the more after each meltdown! Always giving praise, always giving of her time to ensure that they all had the best and most awesome centers, play areas and education! Trey was in her class for one year and his language and development skills came around full circle! I can not even explain the difference! Also, during this time period, we were introduced to SNAAP (Special Needs Athletic and Aquatic Program) at the YMCA in Olive Branch and the Dockery Foundation Soccer among other things. This year, Trey began his ABA which is Applied Behavioral Analysis, and his speech is so good that I can ask him a question and instead of echoing the question as an answer, he actually answers it! He has learned so many new things thanks to his Behavior Techs, ABA Techs, Occupational Techs, and teachers (Ms. Gwen---I love her!) and assitants! During these times of awesome improvement for Trey, my confidence that everything was going to be fine, came back! Trey has taught me things. He has aided in bringing a much needed awareness in our church for developmental delays and autism. We hope to host a training/information class at our church this spring for surrounding area churches and parents to come and learn about the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) and working with children with ASD.
Now about my baby boy, Crockett. My Crockett was born with Eczema. It was relatively severe from birth but got worse and worse the older he got. His arms and legs were completely covered in itchy red bumps and rashes and his cheeks were constantly red, his eyes always had dark circle around them and it was miserable for him!! I finally realized that there must be something besides eczema going on here cause the ointments they gave him never seemed to work. I finally realized just what that might be when he was about 18 months old. We went to eat at Steak Escape and Crockett was still eating baby food. He didnt like real food except specific things like fries and vegetables. He was extremely picky! Since he did like french fries we gave him some. As he was eating them, he began gagging and choking and we yanked him from his chair.....this jarred him enough to where he vomited the fry and his stomach contents all over the floor. As we put him down, we also noticed that he had an itchy red circle around his mouth. I decided to make an appointment to the allergist short there after and found out that he was having an allergic reaction to the peanut oil that they cook their food in. This appointment told us that he was allergic to: Peanuts, Pecans (we just avoid all nuts), Bananas, Eggs & CATS (this was his most severe and only environmental allergy!). This explained alot and really helped in clearing his flare ups but it didnt completely clear him up. We found out just a few months ago that he is also allergic to: Chicken & Yeast. Now he is relatively clear and has remained that way for quite a while! Now we go to the Dermatologist for Eczema control and with that and his Allergist, we are golden.....as long as we have his "make it feel better" (his lotion for his dry itchy skin).My Crockett was also born with breathing problems. Not severe breathing problems but problems, none the less. He was 11lbs. 15 ounces when he was born and was taken straight to the NICU after birth because they couldnt get his skin to pink. He was officially the biggest baby to ever be in the NICU at Methodist Germantown. He wasnt in there for very long before he got to come back and be with us but that was the beginning of his breathing problems that eventually became Asthma. We were back and forth to the doctor about every few months with deep chest colds, getting Albuterol liquid to help him breath and not cough and gag on his drainage. We did just albuterol liquid for a while and then finally he was diagnosed with Asthma and we have our Nebulizer that we put Albuterol Respules and Pulmicort in (for preventing and reducing inflamation). He has to take a steroid when these meds dont work but most of the time he is good! So Crockett has been on Singulair since he was about 2 in order to control his allergies and asthma. We are hoping that he grows out of this asthma and allergies but we know God is taking care of our family no matter what!
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