It's rEcess Time

Once again, rEcess, a special night once a month to give parents who have special needs children time to themselves.

Last night i was paired with Emmy.  She will be 5 years old this month, but is the size of an 18-month-old.  She has a feeding tube, global developmental delays, and genetic abnormalities that are known to exist in only 9 children world wide.

She is also as cute as she can be, and loves to run.  Because she is so prone to putting her hands in her mouth, she has to wear small braces on her arms to keep from being able to bend them that far, and we keep her pacifier handy, because she wants something in her mouth most of the time..

Emmy is vocal but non-verbal, and no one knows what developmental milestones to expect from her.  Even without words, though, she lets you know what she wants.  Mostly she wants toy musical instruments and room to just run like a whirlwind.

She's also, for her diminutive size, almost as strong as a 5-year-old

Most of the night, we ran.  Except when we went outside to the playground.  Emmy completely ignored the playground equipment and instead played with the mulch in the monkey grass.  She apparently loves grass, and loves textures, as she was fascinated with running the mulch through her hands.

Emmy climbs, and moves very fast.  She can get up stairs with help, but has no fear of trying to charge down them headlong and has to be coaxed to sit on her bottom and scoot down them.  We spend a good ten minutes with her climbing a couch over and over, and running her hands on the wall to feel the texture of it.

Shoelaces fascinate her, she tugged at her own until she was allowed to run barefoot the whole night, and untied every shoelace she could get her hands on throughout the evening.

Teddy is her one-year-old brother, and he tries to follow and keep up with her.  She does not seem to even realize he exists, and i'm not sure at all how much she understands.

She did understand enough to snuggle into my arms and relax when she finally got tired.

Her mother is one of the sweetest people i've ever met.  It took two of us to get Emmy's diaper changed and get her into her pajamas, so i don't know how her mother does it alone.  Practice, probably.

Besides going to a HeadStart center for school, Emmy is with one of her parents all of the time, mostly her mother.  This is only the second time Emmy's parents have ever been able to leave her and her younger brother with anyone else while they went out alone.

That, and Emmy's smile, made the whole evening worthwhile.


Today is:
 

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a three day meeting of the clans and welcoming newcomers and children into the community; date approximate)

Betcha Festival -- Onomichi, Japan (men in costume "beat" children with bamboo whisks to prevent them getting ill in the coming year)

Bunka no hi -- Japan (Culture Day)

Cliche Day -- get them all out of your system today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors

Fall Country Jamboree -- Barberville, FL, US (celebration of pioneer life, with music, crafts, historic displays, Native and Cracker camps, and more; through tomorrow)

Guy Fawkes Carnival -- Bridgwater, Somerset, UK

Housewives' Day -- birthday of Roseanne Barr

Independence Day -- Dominica(1978); Federated States of Micronesia(1986); Panama (also called Separation Day, separating from Colombia in 1903)

Let Someone Have the Last Word Day -- internet generated, probably so you will quit with the cliches

Lovington Fall Arts and Crafts Festival -- Lovington, NM, US (over 100 local and regional crafters; through tomorrow)

National Sandwich Day -- make it a good one, in honor of the birthday of John Montague, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, its inventor

Ohara Festival -- Kagoshima, Japan (one of Japan's largest autumn festivals, with 22,000+ dancers in the parade; through tomorrow)

Parsley Scattering Season ends -- Fairy Calendar

Peddler's Village Apple Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (fun for all, through tomorrow)

Sadie Hawkins Day -- US (on the Saturday nearest Nov. 9, and based on Li'l Abner comic, a day for any woman to ask out the man of her choice; also widely observed on Feb. 29 because of a law passed by Parliament of Scotland in 1288)

Sandwich Day -- birth anniversary of John Montague, Fourth Earl of Sandwich and reputed inventor of the food item which bears his name

SOS Day -- on this date in 1906 the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference at Berlin, Germany, proposed it as the new wireless distress signal to replace CQD (Come Quick, Danger)

Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens -- Pine Mountain, GA, US (a six-race steeplechase)

St. Hubert's Day (Patron of archers, dogs, forest workers, furriers, hunters and hunting, machinists, mathematicians, metal workers, opticians, precision instrument makers, smelters, trappers; Liege, Belgium; Saint-Hubert, Belgium; against dog bites, hydrophobia/rabies)

St. Martin de Porres' Day (Patron of African-Americans, bargers/hair stylists, inter-racial justice, hotel-keepers/innkeepers, paupers, persons of mixed race, poor people, public education, public health, public schools, race relations/racial harmony, social justice, state schools, television; Biloxi, MI, US; Peru)

St. Pirminius' Day (Patron of Monsheim, Germany; against poisoning, snake bite)

St. Winifred's Day (Patron of incest victims, martyrs; Gwytherin, Wales; Holywell, Wales; Shrewsbury, England)

Tunnel Day -- NY, NY, US (anniversary of the start of the first subway tunnel in 1900)

Verboort Sausage and Kraut Dinner -- Forest Grove, OR, US (beer and their famous sausage, as well as home-baked goods and fun)

Victory Day -- Maldives


Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987
Dolph Lundgren, 1959
Adam Ant, 1954
Kate Capshaw, 1953
Dennis Miller, 1953
Roseanne, 1952
Ken Berry, 1933
Michael Dukakis, 1933
Charles Bronson, 1921
Thomas Kyd, 1558


Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644
Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, 1493
The English parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII to be the leader of the Church of England, 1534
Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony, 1620
A great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet, 1679
Spain acquires Louisiana, 1762
The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec, 1817
The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, 1838
"Black Bart the Poet", stagecoach robber, commits his last robbery, leaving behind a clue that leads to his capture, 1883
J.H. Hunter patents a portable weighing scale, 1896
Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market, 1911
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika, 1957
NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury; it would later become the first probe to reach that planet, 1973
Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan, suspending the Constitution, 2007