Scoliosis

I don't know how to describe how it feels as a mother to find out that your child has something wrong with them. I guess you can't really understand unless you have been there. My daughter seemed completely normal. She was very active and athletic, so it was shocking to say the least to find out that she had a birth defect that was causing scoliosis. It was even harder to find out her health problems had to do with malnourishment in me during my pregnancy. In March of 2006 Mikayla had brain surgery that fixed the birth defect and stopped the progress of scoliosis. My daughter has continued to enjoy high school and sports. She is still very active. Mikayla has wanted to have Scoliosis treatment in Green Bay WI, at the CLEAR institute. Her father wants her to have spinal fusion surgery right away. The surgery would stop Mikayla from enjoying high school. She is unwilling to go to those extremes at this time. This disagreement has cause us to be in a very expensive and brutal legal battle for the last year and a half. Last November the judge in the case sat down with Mikayla in privet and came to the conclusion that Mikayla should have the treatment that she wants. She is so excited to have the option of going to the CLEAR institute. However we haven't had the money to get her there, which has prompted her father to reopen the case. In April there will be more hearings and more battles unless Mikayla can get the treatment before that. She needs $10,000 to get this done and time is running out. I don't want Mikayla to have to spend all of her high school years in court fighting with her dad. She is a trooper but all of this is taking its toll on her.

What a Good Kid!

At the beginning of school this year my daughter was feeling a little sad because her ex boyfriend had a new girlfriend. She was feeling a bit unattractive. She came to meet me at a steam show where I was popping corn. The minute she got there she had about eight boy scouts gathering around her. It took them six passes by our setup before they gathered the nerve to say "hi". Finally one of them broke the ice and they all started talking. After a while they asked my daughter to hang out with them. She asked me if she could go with them. Immediately my brain started sifting through all the information I had gathered in my thirty-five years on earth. I felt sheer panic but I also remembered what my parents did to me. They forbid me to have a boyfriend or test out my wings so I married my the first guy that came my way at eighteen years old. That was a mistake that I don't want my daughter to make so I had to come up with a different approach. I decided to let her hang out with the boy scouts. I told her to be back to the campsite at eleven pm. After she walked away the hyperventilating started. Then I remembered all the talks she and I had had about relationships. I had told her of all the things guys say to get into a girls pants. She watched and lived through all the agony a bad relationship will inflict on a family. I had to come to the conclusion that I had done my best to prepare my daughter for the real world. Even so I played the nerves mom and I went to check on her. Then much to my dismay I discovered she wasn't at the place I thought she would be. I had not told her a specific place to be, I just assumed she would be at the boy scouts campsite. When she wasn't there I freaked out and started combing the campground. I was sweating bullets for about an hour as I looked for her. Finally about eleven fifteen I decided to check in our tent. There she was in bed all alone. She popped her head up and said "a little late are we mom?" I was so relieved I grabbed her and hugged her. She said to me "I told you I would be home by eleven". I told her I was scared when I couldn't find her she said "you shouldn't worry about me mom. I had those boys following me around like puppies on a leash". They had asked her to go into the woods with them but she said "No, I going to lay right here and look at the stars". All the boys flopped down on the ground to look at the stars with her. How did I get so lucky. I love having teenagers!

Raising Teenagers: Raising Teenagers: Sweet Sixteen

Raising Teenagers: Raising Teenagers: Sweet Sixteen

Raising Teenagers: Sweet Sixteen

Raising Teenagers: Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen

My beautiful daughter was turning sixteen. Her dad went to court to request that he have her for her birthday. He got what he wanted and I assumed that he had big plans for her. When I talked to her on her birthday she told me that her dad and step mom didn't do anything for her birthday not even a cake. I was horrified. How can a father not know how important a girls sixteenth birthday is? A few days later Mikayla was to come home. Two hours before I was to go get her I decided to have a birthday party for her even though it was five days late. In two hours I had the house decorated, cake was bought and friends were invited. I went and picked up Mikayla and took her home. When we got there the house was full of guests, punch was being served and Micheal Jackson was playing. I was so happy it looked like a real party! Mikayla was so surprised and excited. I wish I could describe the look on her face. She is a very animated character. She put princes crowns on everyone including the boys. She was laughing and joking nonstop for hours. She had all of us laughing so hard our sides hurt and our cheeks cramped. Mikayla is so much fun! It is to bad her dad doesn't see it and is missing the best parts of her life. It also goes to show that you can have a successful party last minute. That party will live on in our memories for the rest of our life.