May seems an awful long ways away right now, as I look out at this winter wonderland, layer upon layer of snow and ice covering every visible surface. But May is the next time we’re scheduled to go to the hospital. Three months away! Everything yesterday was fine. His chest CT was clear and the […]
Well, it’s been two months since Austin’s had labwork and nearly three since he’s had an ultrasound or CT scan, and that’s about as long a break as we can hope to get around here. We are due at the hospital tomorrow, following Austin’s morning at school (assuming he has a morning at school — […]
I’ve been asked to chime in with my thoughts on the whole Tiger Mother debate. Of course, the entire thing has been commented on by thousands and thousands, but you know I have an opinion, so here goes. First of all, we simply must accept the fact that everyone has the right to parent in their […]
A rousing goodbye from the Gallagher family to 2010. It has had its high points, that much is true. But, boy, has it had its lows. Last New Year’s Eve, Austin was in the hospital for chemo and radiation. It was, remarkably, our very first holiday to spend in-patient (but not our last). Braedan went […]
A few more juicy tidbits from yesterday. Before we had our walking plan in place, we had indeed called Mark from the hospital to see if he could “swing by” and pick us up on his way home from downtown. Now that I’ve seen the news reports and heard the stories of twenty minute commutes […]
This was the day last year when … oh no, don’t worry, I’m not going to replay every miserable moment of last winter. I actually have a somewhat lighter story to tell, still replete with drama and suspense. Braedan had an appointment with the psychologist this afternoon and Austin was scheduled to have labs drawn. […]
What a difference a year makes. I find myself struck day after day after day by the power of the memories of last year. Right before Thanksgiving (last Thanksgiving), Austin had an ultrasound that revealed a new spot. New, as in not the same spot we’d been watching and worrying about all fall. So we […]
I was ordering photos from Snapfish tonight and finally uploaded some off of Mark’s phone that he took last December. I was quietly scrolling through picture after picture of Austin in the hospital — sad pathetic faces as he was recovering from surgery in the PICU, goofy silly smiles as he played with Braedan on […]
Thanks for all the responses to yesterday’s post. First and foremost, I am no saint of a mother. Not at all. I’m impatient with my kids and short-tempered and have learned (the hard way) that screaming, “BE NICE!” is not the most effective parenting technique. But I am quite pleased at the number of people […]
My boys have a bad case of the gimmes. And the early arrival of the holiday season is only making it worse. Braedan has already circled every single toy in the Target and Toys R Us catalogs, with the exception of princess and Barbie gear. He then stapled together seven sheets of paper to create […]