Why does everything have to be so difficult?

Lately it seems to me that everything I try to do for Jackson is difficult.  Get him a bed – difficult.  Get him diapers – difficult.  Get him an appointment at Seattle Children’s Hospital (been working on this for 3 weeks now and still no appointment) – difficult.  Some days I just want to scream at the top of my lungs.  It seems to me that those of us who have a few more struggles with our kiddos should get some kind of “cut in line for free” card that makes things a little easier.  Yeah, right.  I suppose this is why we are “special” parents.  We learn to accept that everything is going to be difficult and that it will just be a way of life for us.  Like last week, I was on hold for 47 minutes to talk to a Medicaid employee.  When someone answered I was just so happy to be talking to a real person that I didn’t even get upset when she told me she couldn’t help me and that I would have to call another department.  Which of course entailed another long wait on hold.  Despite all this, I am reminded every day how lucky I have it.

Just turn on the news and you see the stories of our fellow Americans who have lost their jobs, homes, and ultimately their hope.  There are parents who have nowhere to go with their children.  Kids who don’t know where they will sleep every night.  Now that is difficult.  I can’t imagine what those families are going through.  Times are really tough in our country right now and I think for most of us who are doing okay we forget that.  It’s a little overwhelming to think of all the people that need help that live right by us.  And what about the military families?  Now they are heroes.  They leave behind their wives, husbands, children, parents, to serve for our country.  Whether or not you agree with the reason we are over in other countries is beyond the point.  The point is that we are over there and families are left behind.  I have no idea how some of these military wives do it.  They are alone, raising the children by themselves, going to bed every night wondering if their husband is going to come home alive or in a casket.  That kind of constant worry is beyond my comprehension.  Even though I may have to deal with a lot of phone calls, being on hold for long periods of time, fighting medical companies, and exploding buildings, it really is nothing compared to what others are going through. So tonight when you go to bed do what I do, rejoice in the fact that you have a bed, a warm house to sleep in, food in your cupboards, and that your family is safe.  That is all that really matters in the scheme of life. 

All I can do is Laugh!

When the Department of Developmental Disabilities caseworker came to do an assessment for respite care for Jackson she mentioned that because Jackson was 3 years old the State of Washington would buy his diapers.  So it took me a couple of weeks but I found a place (Norco) that would supply the diapers that Jackson has worn since he was 3 months old (Huggies).  However, they charged the State over 4 times what I would pay for the diapers in the store.  So when I called them to get our second supply of diapers they informed me that they would not provide Huggies because the State would not reimburse them due to how expensive they were.  My response to them was that if they didn’t charge ludicrously high prices the State would pay for my son’s diapers.  The guy on the phone said that they didn’t charge high prices, they charge what they pay for them.  Yeah right.  So I told Norco I would take my business elsewhere.  Again I was on the hunt for a company that would supply diapers.  I must have called 10 companies only to be told they either weren’t taking new clients, didn’t supply diapers, or were unable to deliver to the Spokane area.  But after a couple of weeks of calling I did find a pharmacy in the Valley that would supply diapers but not Huggies.  I looked up the name of the diapers they would supply and they seemed okay.  I decided we will try the diapers and if they give Jackson a rash or are super cheap then we at least tried.  Thursday I went to the pediatrician’s office to get the required prescription.  Friday I headed out to the Valley with two toddlers (Jackson and the little girl I babysit) to the pharmacy.  I filled out the paperwork (fun times with two kids to manage) and left the pharmacy because it would take a couple of days to get the approval from our much beloved insurance company Molina. Finally, after a couple of weeks of calls, paperwork gathering, and a trip to the pharmacy we are finally lined up for diapers.  At this point, you are probably wondering what the point of this post is and would I please hurry up and get to it.  Here it comes.  This morning (Monday) I go into my bedroom to get dressed.  My husband is in bed watching the local morning news.  As I get dressed I am listening to the news.  The breaking news this morning was that an office building exploded and caught fire.  (Can you see where I am going with this?)  As I look up at the TV, there it is, the building that exploded and is on fire.  The same exact building that housed the pharmacy we went to on Friday!  You may be thinking “What are the odds of that happening?”  That was exactly what I was thinking!  I’m going to say the odds are 1 in 18 million.  But I could be off.  After a few minutes of oh my gods and thinking of all the time it took me to get the diapers ordered, I finally just threw my hands up in the air and laughed.  I mean it really is kind of a funny story.  It has given me quite a few laughs today.  Of course the evening news covered it as well so I had a flat out laugh fest this evening around 6 p.m.  So what’s next?  Who knows!  My guess is that my paperwork is ashes and unless they backed up their computers off-site the pharmacy will not have any records of us.  But the good news is that we just got coupons from Costco and there is one for $6.00 off Huggies.  So if you see me in Costco buying Huggies diapers come over and laugh with me. 

Back to Crazy

Where does the time go?  Seems like I just put a post up and then I realize it’s been 2 weeks!  We’ve been busy enjoying the last of our summer.  Trips to the park, a long 3 day weekend of camping, painting the inside of the house, and working in the yard has consumed our days.  But life headed back to our normal routine today when Jackson started back to school.  Of course, the start of school was not without some drama provided by the extremely unorganized, unprepared and downright ridiculous Spokane Public Schools administration.

Last year Jackson attended Roosevelt Elementary.  It is not our home school, but that is the only school that had room for Jackson.  They offered to bus him to the school but I refused that since Jackson was still so young and not used to going to school.  But I told them last year that this school year I would like him bused.  No problem they told me.  I also told the social worker, the woman in charge of transportation and the special education department that I would drive him to summer school since he was going to a different school for the summer that was on the other side of town.  What do you think happened this summer?  Yep, the bus kept showing up at our house every morning.  Finally after me telling them a couple of times, and my neighbor telling them a couple of times, the bus finally stopped showing up.  So as school approached this year I called the transportation department to find out what time they would pick up and drop off Jackson.  They said they had no record of Jackson and had no idea what I was talking about.  So I called the special education department, talked to the secretary there and put the request in.  A couple of weeks went by and I still hadn’t heard anything so I called again but couldn’t get a hold of anyone.  Then Jackson’s teacher at Roosevelt called to invite us to an open house and mentioned that the school district had me down as driving Jackson myself.  I told her no, I wanted him to take the bus this year.  She said she would look into it.  Meanwhile, someone from the school district administration calls me looking for “Stacey Jackson”.  I explained my first name was Stacey and my son was Jackson.  She was very confused.  At this point, I am getting pretty annoyed and on the verge of saying some not so nice stuff. Then she asks me if I have ever heard of a child named Jackson Klim.  Seriously?  Um yeah, I gave birth to a kid by that name.  She then proceeds to tell me that Jackson will now be going to Sheridan Elementary because they have room for him there.  Say what?  I explained that I just talked to his new teacher at Roosevelt and we are all set to go there.  She tells me that if I want Jackson bused then he has to go to Sheridan.  After a few minutes of back and forth I finally say something to the effect of “Look lady, you people at the district office seem to have no clue what is going on.  Jackson’s only been in your school district like 2 months and I can’t even count the mistakes you all have made.  I am so pissed off right now by your incompetence that I am hanging up on you.”  And I did.  Then I called Kevin to talk me down.  Which he did.  Then I made a few calls to some people at Roosevelt to see what we could do.  Basically it came down to this – I drive, Jackson goes to Roosevelt; I want Jackson bused, he goes to Sheridan.  So last Thursday (2 school days before school starts) Kevin, Jackson and I go to both Sheridan and Roosevelt to meet the teachers.  As we walk into Sheridan we are greeted by the teacher.  I know her, she was Jackson’s summer school teacher.  I don’t remember if I ever blogged about his summer school teacher.  So here’s the gist – I can’t stand her.  She isn’t warm, friendly, courteous, or kind.  I nearly pulled Jackson out of summer school because I couldn’t stand her.  Almost every day I picked him up she would say “He was grouchy this afternoon” and I would say “It is too long of a day for the little ones” (Spokane Public Schools saves money by condensing summer school classes into two days a week, 5 hours a day, without regard to the fact that that is too long of a day for special needs kiddos) and then she would say “Well it’s a long day for me too”.  Yeah, she’s a gem.  So right away Sheridan and bussing is out.  We then went up to Roosevelt to meet Jackson’s new teacher Liz.  She was great.  She was warm, friendly, courteous and kind and had all sorts of ideas on how to best teach Jackson and make his learning experience beneficial.  So I’m driving Jackson to school this year.  I am fine with that.  Having a sense of mind that your child is in the best situation to help him learn is worth the 2 hours of driving per week.  And picking him up and seeing the smile on his face because he was happy at school just makes my cup runneth over.  He had a great first day and was in the best mood ever when I picked him up.  The kid loves school, just like his mama. 

So summer is over, school is back in session, a new therapy schedule is in place, and the craziness will take over our life again.  Despite all that, I am back to having a couple of hours of me time in the morning.  I can hear the Rockwood Bakery calling my name.  Reading, writing, eating scones and drinking hot chocolate in the neighborhood bakery is this mom’s delight.  Oh I just love the school year!