eSpecially Ben

For two years, we have steered clear of jolly Old St. Nick. After  the incident at the Shriner's Christmas Party  in 2012, we did not want to risk our standing with the big guy at the North Pole. It seems, however, that Santa has let bygones be bygones. We visited Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens and Santa was there visiting. I knew Sean, our six year old would agree to a visit, that Logan would say no, but was completely surprised when Ben went nuts with excitement when he saw Santa. With trepidation, we approached Santa with Ben. Ben savored every moment with this gentle and kind Santa. It was not crowded, and there was no pressure to rush the experience. When we were not sure if Ben was going to cuddle with Santa or pull off his hat, we said our goodbyes. (Well, not until I sat on Santa's lap and took a photo. How many other chances will I have to do that?)

Logan awoke this morning with investing on the brain. He wanted to buy Apple stock, or perhaps Microsoft. He was unsure. This conversation, of course, was at 7:30am, in the midst of getting three kids ready for school. Not wanting to discourage a potential investor, I sent him to research investing for kids on  About.com . Logan looked up investing vocabulary and found this site,  Investopedia . He started a notebook and wrote down important things he learned. He also saw his first "con": a site was asking for personal information and said that everyone was doing it. The counter on the site increased quickly, making Logan think he was missing out on something. A lesson or two later, and he was wiser about how giving information on the wrong sites could be used. Logan's list for Santa this year may include stocks and mutual funds. Not the way I thought Christmas would go this year, but I can roll with whatever the market bears. *If you get the Alex P. Keaton refer

North Carolina’s  Partners in Policymaking©  Leadership &  Advocacy Training Initiative funded by  the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities  is pleased to announce the opportunity to apply for the 2015 Class of  Partners in Policymaking© (“Partners”) .   Partners is a nationally-replicated leadership and advocacy training program.  This program is designed ONLY FOR self-advocates with  developmental disABILITIES  and for parents (and caretaker siblings) of school-aged children with  developmental disABILITIES  residing in the State of North Carolina. The program teaches how to garner the skills and employ the tools to become, “ effective disability policy change agents ” for better, more successful outcomes in their own lives and in the lives of others. The program is for anyone living in North Carolina who has a developmental disABILITY,  or is a parent or care-taker sibling of a school-aged child with a developmental disABILITY who wants to expe

When I pick Ben up from school, usually one of the staff bring him to the office. Today, they were short-handed and asked if I would walk down to the classroom to get him. As I turned the corner, I saw his classmates lined up on the colored tile, and Ben on the opposite side turned around in his chair, not listening to directions. The teacher was congratulating the class on lining up well and sweetly admonishing Ben for trying to get the attention of one of his friends. Ben heard my voice and realized I was there, and he reluctantly tore himself from looking at his friend, a little girl he has been sweet on for a few years. He wore the biggest smile on his face. As we left, he tried to touch one friend who quickly told on him, in a big sisterly sort of way. Another long-time classmate reached for a hug to say goodbye. There was a chorus of, " Bye Ben " from the other children. All the while, Ben was smiling, very happy to be around his gang of friends. Made my day - we