P Is for Performances, Painting and Passions

Our last week or two could be characterized by P words. We have gone to performances, followed our passions, and done tons of painting.

Performances ~ We were fortunate to be able to attend two school matinee performances at our city's largest theater. We saw the Yamato Drummers of Japan and Mummenshanz. Both shows were great and a unique experience for my kids.





Painting ~ We finished painting (all but the ceiling) of the guest room/office. Our daughter Goldilocks had this room when she lived at home. Changing the color of this room's walls helped solidify in our minds that Goldilocks probably will not be coming home. She is not healing significantly in her mental health placement and is not likely to ever be ready to live in a typical family setting during the rest of her childhood. She is 15 now and we are considering group home settings that may be able to help her work toward living independently in the future. It eventually may be determined that she needs to stay in long-term care even in adulthood. Out of the blue this past week, she informed me that her favorite place to live during the past two years since she ran away had been the psychiatric hospital! As she said, she hadn't had to make any choices in that setting and there were very few people that she had to deal with. This is not an option, of course. Can you imagine preferring to live in a mental health hospital? None of this is as easy as the words I have written. There are monthly boarding fees costing almost as much as our monthly mortgage (and that is for the inexpensive places), caseworkers' and doctor's opinions to consider, and the never-ending battle with insurance (currently, our caseworker is handling this). Consequently, painting this particular room was different from painting other rooms in our home. It was a healing experience for our family. There was a finality in it and a chance to move forward.

Learning how to install new baseboards

Honey Milk is the paint color we chose. It is calm and neutral.

Passions ~ We have been very busy following our passions this week. Anne and Dean are working very hard on their dances for the showcase next weekend. Anne has a solo. They have both received compliments from the director this week. I love watching them bloom! I know people complain all the time about the tween/teen years, but for the most part I am loving them. My kids are great and it is so exciting to see what they love and want to do with their lives.

Speaking of passions, I am very passionate about education and I am enjoying my job on the TOS review crew. I love receiving new curriculum to explore and then telling you all about it. Check out my latest review here.

Blessings, Dawn