My best of 2008

I am not a big fan of New Years. I never really have been. One year I went to a rockin party and had an absolute blast. That was my favorite New Years ever!

I was eight years old though.

Truly, I'm not a fan of going out with the crazies, getting sloshed or the oh so lovely: see how many women are sobbing in the bathroom because they have no one to kiss at midnight.

The thing I like least about New Years is the resolutions. The lists that people make of things they intend to be better about in the New Year. The reason I despise this practice is simple: People never stick to their resolutions and then about mid-February everyone feels bad about themselves and gives up. Basically making resolutions is just another excuse for us all to fell bad about ourselves. I am good enough at feeling guilty, I don't need to make a resolution to do so in a month or two.

Instead, I'm going to make my best of 2008 list. My favorite post, one (or three, whatever) for each month I've been blogging.

ISSA'S Favorites of 2008:

July: Things not to say to a pregnant woman. That's a decaf latte, right? Actually bitch it's not. I just heard this in Starbucks. Literally half an hour ago. Like it's any ones business. Today I decided that I can't do decaf anymore. I'm just not sleeping and I needs me some caffeine. So real coffee here I am, I've missed you.

August: The cracked ceiling. My babies are six and a half and four years old. One wants to be a Supreme Court Judge and the other a Transformer. Funny, yes, but dream big is what I tell them.

Last night Hillary Clinton made history; she changed history for the better and I thank her for it. I want a better world for my children, a world that is safe and free, a world where there is no limit to what they can be.

September: Happy birthday Babe. On this day, every year, for as long as we've been together, I send my mother in law a gift. I call her and thank her for giving me the greatest gift in the world, for giving me her son. Because she raised one of the best men I know and she deserves to be told what an amazing job she did.

Small Harrison update. And plus, I had to stare at my son. My son, so strange to say, but so awesome.

October: Harrison Thomas. Harrison Thomas was born at 8:08pm, September 25th, 2008. He weighed 8 pounds, 6.4 ounces, was 20 inches long.

November: Ha, November was a good month for me, so I had to pick three.

We were playing doctor, really we were. What you didn't think I'd post all sweet and sappy ones did you?

Bittersweet Victory. Today is a happy day for the US. I am happy, I truly am. But there's a bitterness there too. An angry piece of me, that has no outlet. I just want to shake the world right now and say, these two belong together, how can you not see that?

Long lost parenting tips. I did the only thing I could think of, I pulled her into the bathroom and made her open her mouth and I shoved a small stick of soap in there.

December:

For my favorite posts of this month, I'm going to pick two of mine and one of someone else's. One of mine is from this month and one from August I believe. They are both about ADHD and how it affects our family. I think more people need to see the face of ADHD. To know the realities and see the truth behind some of the behaviors.

Instamom wrote a beautiful post (and oh how I love her for it) the other day about her son, Aaron: Removing the stigma.

"Because he is exceptional. And perhaps his ADHD makes him more so. He is incredibly creative, always coming up with inventions or plans to make life easier. He will sit and read for hours at a time. His writing and vocabulary blow me out of the water. I sometimes struggle to follow his thought processes, but I know now that it's not because they are wrong, but because they are different."

I have this feeling that Aaron and Morgan would get along really well.

Reality. The reality is that the world sees my child as a pain in the ass. Not all people, not people who know her, not even people who have been around a child with ADHD and know the signs. But to the majority of people.


Medicate or not, this is the question You know that saying, when she's good she's very, very good? Well that was Morgan. On her good moments, she was a doll; sweet, caring, loving and creative. On her bad moments, the Tasmanian devil on crack. Trouble was, we never knew what we were going to get. Unpredictable to the core. You could look at her wrong and she'd melt into a puddle of tears; tell her to put her shoe on and she'd throw a two hour tantrum; she was out of control. This was the first time we considered medicating her.


This month has been a hard month for me. I lost my grandmother, which only made me realize that I've not really grieved for my grandfather. The reality of these losses is just beginning to sink in. 2008 has been a long year. There have been great things, the most notable in my family being Harrison. I can not even begin to tell you how thankful I am for this little boy. My little boy. I could say it all day, every day, but it wouldn't be enough. I adore every single piece of his rolly polly little self.

But there's been a lot of grief as well. This year we lost three people in our family, my grandparents and Logan's grandma. We also have family that is struggling to make it. One with liver cancer, one with breast cancer and one with a bum heart. We're trying to think positively, but there may be some losses next year as well.

One of the things that I am thankful for the most for this year, is all of you. You have supported me and helped me, more than you could ever know. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I hope you all have a great New Years Eve. I'll talk to you next year.