Rough Morning

I always get up at 7am on Wednesdays (my day off from work) to help Beth with her hair and when my alarm went off this morning I could tell she wasn't up yet.

I went downstairs to find her still in bed, Cpap machine was off, her phone was on the bed next to her and she was snoring. This was 45 minutes after she should have been up! And usually her phone is charging on her desk on the other side of the room.

She doesn't oversleep very often but when I come down to wake her up she immediately realizes she's overslept and throws her covers off. Today she just laid there and rubbed her eyes. I encouraged her to wake up because her bus would be here soon! 

Now remember, the word 'hurry' is not in Beth's vocabulary. I've spoken to other moms and it's the same way with their daughters who have Down Syndrome. It's just very hard for Beth to move fast. She has done it, but it's not something she can do when she's being told to move. I don't know if it's her being stubborn or if there's a true disconnect in the neutrons in her brain. Anyway, it took her 15 minutes to come upstairs and then she went into the bathroom. Ten minutes later her phone rang, it was DART telling her they're on their way.

To keep this short, let's just say I wasn't very pleasant this morning. The driver is standing at the front door as Beth slowly gets her vitamin, picks up her phone, remembers (out loud) that she didn't get to brush her teeth, heads back to the bathroom to get a hairbrush... and I was trying to literally push her out the door. (The driver can leave without her after just 5 minutes...)

She finally gets out the door, no silly smile on her way to the bus, no look back as it's pulling out of the driveway... oh well. My girls are old enough that I know these days come and go and it doesn't destroy them. In our family we've never stayed mad for very long.

So it made me smile when I got this text this afternoon:

'i am so sorry about happen today this morning'

I told her I was sorry for getting mad at her and that I loved her. 💖

It will be good to talk with her when she gets home. 

Dreading This Day - Part 2

Beth came upstairs at around 12:30. Dressed in her long blue dress that she likes to wear to karaoke. And she had her tote (with all of her CD's, notebooks, pens and stuff) and her purse. She came out to the kitchen to read the note I always post for her telling her what time her bus comes, etc. Only the note wasn't there. I had written a list of chores for her to do instead.

I told her that she was not going today because her bus had already come. A long time ago. She quietly went to the fridge, got out her lunch and was taking it to her bag when I told her to put it away. "Beth, you were awake last night and you slept this morning. Your bus came this morning. You missed it. You're not going today."

She stomped her foot and said, "Nooo!" She angrily put her lunch back and went downstairs.

She is doing her chores, but certainly not with a smile on her face or a skip in her step! There have been a few slammed doors and some really loud singing, but seriously not as bad as I was expecting.

We'll have dinner, then tonight at 10:00 I'll go downstairs....