A break for Lidie

     I wasn't able to post last night because Amaya was in pain. She was crying when I came back in from putting Lidie to bed. She was tired and her knee and foot hurt. I rubbed her foot and knee which helped her fall asleep pretty quickly but she was up about ten and cried and moaned until about midnight. I rubbed her knee, massaged her knee, and pressed down on it, but nothing seemed to help. I finally fell asleep and so did she, but I don't remember what time that was.
    This morning she was very tired. She said, "why is first grade every day?" she said she likes school, but that she was so tired. I told her we'd try for an earlier bedtime tonight to help her get more rest. She's been falling asleep a little after eight, but we'll try cutting a half hour off of that tonight. I'm sure she'll be even more tired today since she has P.E. at school and then physical therapy in the afternoon. Ugh, my sweet girl. I wish I could give her a break, or at least remove her pain. It's very difficult to watch her try to get comfortable and cry out in pain. It breaks my heart. This morning after a few minutes she was up, dressed and ready for a new day. Each day she pushes through pain, lack of sleep and faces the day with a smile.
  Since Amaya is now back in school and her therapy is cut down to three days a week Lidie and I have some free time. Lidie is enjoying her down time. She's been painting, coloring, playing, relaxing, watching TV, and hanging out with me.  It's been nice not having an agenda or having to rush off anywhere. She's asked a couple of times, "don't we have physical therapy? Don't we need to get Amaya?" It's like she's surprised by the extra time and not sure what to do with all her free time. I'm looking forward to using this extra time with her to do some of the enriching activities that we haven't had time for like story time, painting, walks around the lake, dance class and play dates. 
    Lidie has had to be flexible and put Amaya before her for the past six months (having a fixator takes sacrifice from all family members). Now that we have some free time we can reward her by giving her some one on one attention. In the past two days we've water colored, walked around the lake, joined a play group, washed the cars (she loves playing with the water) and cooked together. We're both enjoying the extra time and one on one attention that she's getting. 
    Amaya had another great day of school yesterday. It was a full day so we decided to have her take her wheelchair to use for long distances. She used it to get to her classroom, to the cafeteria, etc. In class she parks it then walks around without her walker and sits at a regular desk. Josh said that he peeked in on her during lunch and noticed that she parked the wheelchair outside and ate with her friends at the benches. He said she was smiling and having a good time. Ms.Gillespie said that Amaya did great all day; never complained of pain or discomfort. I'm so glad and thankful that her school year is off to such a good start.