Thomas is home for the weekend right now. It’s an adjustment every time. We’re not used to giving one person the amount of attention he commands. It’s frustrating and I’m so glad our other kids are older now and don’t need the attention they needed when they were younger. Back then I felt like I was pulled in 3 different directions all at once. It was more than meeting the different needs of children at different age levels. It was at times hellish. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t like that all the time, just some of the time. I’ve always thanked God for my girls, I think they kept me sane most of the time. Especially Alyssa since she was born after Thomas. Everything she did was wonderfully typical. Every milestone she reached was as if she read an infant growth and development textbook and knew what she was supposed to do next. She’s still like that. She was a very typical teen minus the rebellion thank God, and today she’s a fantastic young adult and college student that we are very proud of. I feel very fortunate to have my girls; all of them. God gave them to me just as he gave Thomas to me. I have a mission with each child and that is to ensure that they are as independent as they can be when they reach adulthood.
We are still waiting for Thomas to be placed in the group home here where we live. No one meaning neither the agency guy from the group home or the man from the state who is in charge of placement of kids who turn 21 have been in touch with us. Frustrated is an understatement. I’m going to call the man from the state on Monday. Hopefully he’ll have an answer or two. The guy from the group home simply doesn’t answer his phone and that is just plain rude.
So Tommy or I have to make the hour long drive (longer if there is traffic on that George Washington Bridge which is always unavoidable and unpredictable) both ways just to have a weekend visit or if we want to take Thomas out for dinner; which we do at least once a month.
I must say Thomas had been very patient through all this “waiting on the group home” business. He is more than ready to go when they are ready to take him. Every time he comes home he finds more things in his room to take back to school with the intention of bringing said items to the group home. I’m proud of him for being so patient. It’s funny that all my children are so different. My girls would never have endured residential school the way Thomas has. God has ensured that each of my children are to have the tools they need to live their own individual lives. He absolutely provides, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Tomorrow Thomas will return to his school and our lives here will return to our version of normal. We’ll miss him and go back to phone calls and dinners out until the next visit. Hopefully the group home clan will have their act together and we’ll have solid information. One can hope and we can pray on it as well.
Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side... 