The Happy News thread

[Distracted]

My youngest child graduates from middle school tomorrow. Is that happy news?

I suppose it is, but she's my baby, so at the same time it's not.

[WarpGirl]

Awwwwwwwwww it's bittersweet Dis.

[panyasan]

My youngest child graduates from middle school tomorrow. Is that happy news?

I suppose it is, but she's my baby, so at the same time it's not.

Still.... congrats, Distracted. (Does that mean you have more time for yourself?)

[Distracted]

Temporarily... until high school marching band season starts in the fall. Her future high school band director is a firm believer in parental participation. It's fun, but grueling. And I hate football.

[WarpGirl]

Marching Band always looked so fun to me, except for the actual marching part... What instrument will Mini-Dis be playing.

[Distracted]

LOL. She plays the saxophone. And the piano, but it's sorta hard to march with that one.

[WarpGirl]

Sounds like a cool chick! I've got a cousin who played the Sax. Have fun!

[Weeble]

Hate Football????

That explains almost everything

[Distracted]

[Kotik]

And the piano, but it's sorta hard to march with that one.

Maybe that's where the parental participation part comes in

[Distracted]

*snort*

Hopefully, all I'll have to do is shell out over 400 dollars in fees, chaperone events, help pass out uniforms, pack hundreds of barbeque dinners for the main fundraiser, bake dozens of brownies and cakes for the secondary fundraiser, and go to every football game and band competition to cheer her on, but one never knows...

[Silverbullet]

Distracted. Your cup runneth over. How could you be so lucky.Get to attend all of those Football games, probably free for nothing.

Second bit of happy new. I woke up this morning. At my age when one goes to bed one never knows.

SB

[panyasan]

This isn't a happy story, but it's still happy news.

Yesterday, I saw that hubs had copied an article in the newspaper for me. To my surprise, it was about an old friend of mine that I haven't been in touch with for a long time. His daugther was born twelve years ago, a healthy little girl, but born two months too early. Because her lungs weren't fully developed she was put in an incubator. When one of the nurses in the hospital wanted to insert a tube into the nose of the baby, the baby started to scream. It turned out the nurse had pushed too far and damaged the left part of the baby's brain.

When she was a toddler, she got epilepsy attacks that lasted for two hours and were so severe she hardly developed herself. Meanwhile the parents had sued the hospital and the jugde had declared the hospital had made a crave error. By the time she was eight, the parents still were fighting the system to get indemnity. Also the situation had become so worse, my friend and then ex-wife were left with an option: or do nothing and the child would die or operate and paralyse the left brain which meant that the child would never talk again or walk. By then a miracle happened when the child woke up, some functions had been taken over by the right side of the brain and she could talk and walk. From that point on, she could develop herself and now at age 12 she has the abilities of a 7 years old, including reading.

However, the lawsuit dragged on and on, until my friend couldn't take it anymore and said to the director of the hospital "I want to end this once and for all." Now he got the biggest indemnity in the history of our country - (this kind of lawsuits are rare in my country).

I was struck how positive my friend came across in the interview. He doesn't come from a nice background and when I knew him he took lots of strenghts by his christian faith, but after all those years of struggling with his child and fighting the system, he still was so positive. He and his ex-wife take turns in taking care of their daughter (one week he, the other week she). He said money couldn't repaid what happened, but he needed it for his daughter's care now and in future, he didn't hate the nurse or doctors who were responsible, nor the hospital. He did object of fighting for twelve years against the system.

Hats off for parents like that and also for all those parents with childern that have problems and trying their best for their kids.

[Distracted]

Panyasan, amen to that. Being a parent is tough enough. Parenting a special needs child takes a special kind of toughness. Each of my brothers has a son with special needs, one with Down Syndrome and one with autism. Although they do go through rough spots from time to time, my brothers and sisters-in-law are usually very positive about their boys with special needs. I guess it's better for their mental health to stay positive. The alternative is to stay angry and bitter all the time, and nobody can function very well doing that. I admire them, though. It's got to be hard to do.

Silverbullet, that really is good news. We can all learn from that attitude. IMO, it's almost always better to enjoy the moment than to rush through life thinking that there'll be plenty of time to enjoy things later.

[Transwarp]

Hopefully, all I'll have to do is shell out over 400 dollars in fees, chaperone events, help pass out uniforms, pack hundreds of barbeque dinners for the main fundraiser, bake dozens of brownies and cakes for the secondary fundraiser, and go to every football game and band competition to cheer her on, but one never knows...

I had TWO kids in band (one trumpet and one percussion), so I've been there and done that...
and I loved every minute of it!

Speaking of fundraisers, our biggest one was the annual 'Pizza Feast.' We would sell pizza that we got (at a discount) from a local pizzeria. We also held a silent auction of donated items, and (this part is genius!) while everyone was eating, the four junior high bands in our district would play. This just about guaranteed that all the junior high band parents and immediate family would buy tickets to hear their kids perform.

We had a mediocre football team, but a VERY good band. After the half-time performance the stands would empty out, which I imagine drove the football parents nuts. You can search for 'LD Bell Band' on youtube for some idea of the joys that await.