So today i get up, do the normal get kidlets fed, dressed etc, then we hoof it up the road to Kindy. All is going well, another day in paradise sort of thing.
I see a post on Facebook from someone asking to help donate/set up action prizes etc for a little boy who has all sorts of health issues. The money they are raising will go towards Cochlear implants. All sounds good....Then I remember that I have seen almost the same story but for a little girl, just a few weeks ago. It was very similar. Chances are that they too have thought that using Facebook to spread the word and raise awareness is a great way to get it all out there but in my mind I couldn't help thinking....Scam?!
I feel awful thinking it but with the World the way it is these day, you just never know. I'm sure it's not and I really feel for the family, it must be incredibly hard. i am very fortunate, I have 2 very healthy, happpy (somewhat insane-runs in the family ;) ) boys so cannot imagine what these families are going through.
I do wonder sometimes whether I am alone in the way i think about these things. I just find it very hard to trust people whe you can't actually SEE them. I mean anyone could have set up a page asking for donations from the generous and unsuspecting public. Cynical I know (thanks Dad, I'm sure that comes from you!)
This has reminded me of another time in recent history that I have felt a bit this way....
Picture, if you will, a small house. A small house with 4 boys in. A small house with 4 boys, 2 of whom are 3.5yrs old and rushing around like their arses are on fire! The other 2 are only tiny and are hanging out on the floor trying desperately hard not to be trampled in the stampeed. A man in pink comes to the door. The 2 older boys rush out and say "Go away you baddie" (they were playing a game about goodies & baddies at the time-bad timing on the pink man's part!) The man in pink goes on to tell me that he is working for a non-profit organisation that are trying to raise some money for families with "special needs: (I hate that term...All kids have some sort of special need) so that they could take the kids out and about on trips to give the poor parents a break. All it would cost would equate to a large bar of chocolate a week (ha! I NEED that chocolate!!). The man in pink looked at me. The man in pink looked at the 2 older boys scraming their way round the house. The man in pink looked down at the 2 babies who were now also screaming. The man in pink looked back at me and said " So, do you think it's something you would consider, giving a break to these poor parents?". I looked at the man in pink..... Sounds great I thought but when will someone turn up & give me a break?! Selfish i know & totally my choice to move a very long way away from our entire family but I just couldn't help thinking it. I would say that my eldest has "special needs". He is highly intelligent, a wee bit manic, can get a bit aggressive when he is frustrated & is generally a lot more full on than many people realise. My midwife once said to me that looking after a child like mine is harder than looking after a child with Downs Syndrome. I wasn't entirely sure how to take that but i think what she meant was that having to be 3 steps ahead all the time really takes it out of you. many kids would be happy if their question was answered with a simple "it's a dinosaur" type answer. Mine is not. We have to go into what it's "proper" name is, where it lived, what it ate, how fast it could run etc etc. I am not a paleontologist...I do not know these things!!! I kinda see now what she was getting at!
Anyway, back to the man in pink.....He looked at me again, lowered his head, whispered "thanks for your time" then walked off. Now I do feel bad for the families with these kids. It really must be so hard just doing the everyday things but I sometimes feel that it's ultimately not my fault these children are this way and that these families have to deal with it. It is just the way of the world, unfortunate or not, depending on how you feel about it. If medicine had not advanced and people did not think they have the right to rule over nature then as heartbreaking as it is, many of these kids would not be alive today. Still not sure how I feel about that side of things but nevertheless it is true.
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