grumbling, assorted

*   My friend lives! I hadn't exactly planned to update the blog but I know y'all worry. She's feeling rather sluggish and "blah" but her gums aren't pale, her heartrate is within normal limits, and she isn't short of breath so while her H&H probably took a hit based on what she's seen, there's no reason to think she's in any great danger. Best of all, she's having less pain with swallowing than yesterday, so things appear to be healing in there. She's hoping she's dodged the bullet and that this will heal up nicely and not need any sort of intervention at all, but just getting through the weekend without an emergency is a wonderful thing in and of itself and she's grateful for that.

*   The poultry drama continues as Hotter and I make some tough calls on who stays and who goes. We're going to be limited to twelve birds, total, which means that Hotter's and my differences in how we view livestock (namely that they're more pets and individuals to him and more mouths to feed/utility critters to me) have gone from "amusing" to "causing some friction." The ducks in particular have become a bone of contention, in that I think keeping the pair that's bonded and sending the two extra girlducks (who seem to have more a relationship of necessity than a true pair bond, like prison-spouses) to The Wrath is reasonable and Hotter wants to keep them all. I wouldn't have a problem with that if it weren't for the twelve-bird limit, but we really don't use that many duck eggs, so...yeah. We're already keeping a lot of non-laying birds because of the turkeys and Hotter's beloved silver-laced Wyandottes (who don't yet lay). Ugh!

*   I read something on a blog the other day that really rankled me. I'm not going to say whose or give a link because I refuse to propagate blog-drama, but the general gist of it was that someone was blagging (using their blog to brag about their life) and, along with a lot of uber-materialistic hokum that didn't bother me a bit (I'm not a particularly covetous person when it comes to Things Material, although I do envy those of you who have Kitchen Aid mixers) they blagged at length about their children. The way they're able to afford to give their kids lots of things I can't give mine did smart a tiny bit, but the line that really stuck in my craw (ha! Like that pill! Oh haha!) was something to the effect of "my kids don't have special needs!" I'm kind of conflicted about getting my hackles up there, because if none of my children had any special needs I guess I might privately include that in the things about my life I was grateful for, but...well, I don't know that I'd blag about it openly. If your children don't have any special needs then hey, that's great for them and for you, but...it's not like that's a measure of your success in life. With the exception of things like FAS and prenatal drug exposure, a child's having special needs isn't usually indicative of their parents' mistakes or misdeeds. It just...is what it is. I'm not sure exactly why it bothered me so much to read that line in a blog that's in the "trainwrecks" section of my reader anyway (oh don't act like you don't have blogs you read solely because they make you feel better about your own life...I at least own my schadenfreude), and I certainly don't wish any special needs upon the blaggart-in-question's children or anything mean like that. But that line has stayed with me. I guess maybe I ought to take that one out of my reader...

*   This certainly has turned into a mishmash of pissing and moaning, hasn't it? To make up for that, at least in part, here is a picture that I am extremely proud of:

Figure One: Gobble gobble, motherfucker! At last I captured Loud and Crazy the turkey in action! Isn't he impressive?

Comments

[Wacky Lisa]

*sigh* it always rankled when it seemed like other families were grateful not to have kids like me. But, I get it. Oddly, I don't mind when people are glad their families are healthy. That may be because I think one can have a disability and still be healthy.

[ChaosRu]

I envy those with Kitchen Aid mixers, too (and a place to store one)!

Good for whomever has the perfect, healthy child. I am proud of my special-needs children who have overcome so much and thrive despite everything. When you have less to give and more challenges to overcome, it makes you resilient and grateful for what you have. Giving the kids everything does not make them better off in the long run, it makes them weak and unable to distinguish priorities from shallow distractions.

[Ina]

i think you hit it on the nose when you said that if it were in a list of "gratefuls" that would be one thing - but this isn't about "thank goodness things are going so well." it's like people who inherent their fortunes from their wealthy families going on about how those of us who have to work for a living just to stay fed need to "work harder, because that's the reason you're not rich." trying to put myself in your shoes (or non shoes if you're like me and hate wearing shoes except when some kind of animal guano is involved), what would get me would be the idea that having a neurotypical kid is on a moral par with being able to your kid designer toys or whatever. it's not the same, and whatever that person might think, their life will not always be like this. things happen - simply because we're biological beings and things happen to us. sometimes really really bad things. while i'm not the type to gloat about how she'll get hers, i do feel sorry for her kids. how unjust is the universe going to feel to them when Something Goes Wrong?

[Attorney At Large]

The materialism and bragging on Facebook means that I log into it, make sure I don't have any messages, then quickly close the window. Seriously, WTF is wrong with people? I'll brag about my kid from time to time on my blog, but it's because I usually am blogging about how annoying she is!

Glad your friend is feeling better!

[Mary Dell]

I've got nothing against NSN kids, as we call them in adoption land, but they're nothing to brag about. They just kind of do what everyone expects. *yawn*

My kid's milestones are things like "hasn't aspirated any vomit in 3 months, WOO!" or "thanks to speech therapy, has learned to lie! WOO!"

Our kids are cooler.

[Christine]

I might have been worried about the third point, but hahahahahaha! NOT ANYTHING I'VE WRITTEN LATELY.

I do have a Kitchen Aid, though. But I wish I had more counter space.

[marguerite]

My kid is 10 yo, can't read, can't count. Is more beautiful than any other child in the world, really, she is. Her social skills are phenomenal, truly, your kids want to be her friends. She doesn't make sense when she speaks, people can't understand what she's saying, but because she is so certain in her understanding of what is going on, people adore her. Your kid is neurotypical? Really, you have no idea what you're missing.

[K]

That special needs comment is really kind of cloying, but I really can't get past (and excuse me for late commenting...been a bit behind on the Reader), "Gobble, gobble, motherfucker."

HAAAAAA!