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.