Prayers To All Involved In Connecticut Shooting

It is with a heavy heart and much sorrow and sadness today that I sit down to write this. My family, as are families all across this great country and the world, are praying for the victims and their families who were a part of this horrific nightmare in Connecticut. As did every Parent this weekend, Amy and I hugged our children a little tighter and told them over and over again how much we love them. As Parents, we feel for the families of the children and adults who lost their lives at that school.

But, we also feel for the family on the other side of this senseless tragedy as well. In situations like this, everyone loses. Amy and I can feel for the family of the shooter, because we too are parents of a child with Mental Health issues that are much the same as the shooter. As I watched the news this weekend and heard the details unfold about this tragedy, I couldn't help but have many thoughts and emotions about the whole thing. On one hand, I wondered why no one saw this coming with the shooter. Did no one see warning signs? Were there no Red Flags raised that this behavior might be coming? And if so, why were there no steps being taken to divert this person from doing what he did? I felt angry, sad and at the same time, grateful that my girls no longer go to a Public School and are Home Schooled. If our babies can not even be safe in a setting such as a school, where can we keep them safe? And the thing is, it could have been any school, Public or Private. I think about the other tragedies over the years. Columbine, Virginia Tech and a few others. And in all of them, the shooter had Mental Health issues such as Bipolar, Asperger's Autism, Intermitent Explosive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and so on. All of these, our Son has. He also displays the same violent behavior. He has broken windows, attacked his peers and staff at the residential care facility with either his bare hands or weapons such as metal chairs or Bleacher rails. For the moment though, my Son is in a Residential Care Facility where it keeps him safe from doing others harm outside the facility, and keeps him safe as well. I am not blind to the fact that he IS, indeed, a threat not only to himself, but others as well. He is also very intelligent and able to manipulate almost anyone he comes into contact with that is not fully aware of his behaviors and what he is capable of doing. When he is angry, he displays almost Superhuman strength. He also displays no remorse for his actions, and threatens that he will do it again, if provoked to do so. The difference between Amy and I and most other parents with children who have these problems? We realize the dangers he presents to himself and others around him. We took actions to try and stop what we could already see coming down the road.

Don't get me wrong, it is very hard to imagine that your child could be this monster that is capable of doing things like the shooter in Connecticut. But the reality of it is... this could very well be our son. We could be on the end of the family whose Son walked in to that school and did what he did. For now, our Son is in a facility where he can not do harm to himself or others around him. For now. Come February, DCS and the State of Indiana want to put him in what they call Independent Living. Which means that they will reintroduce him to Society, basically throwing him out there without a net. They will find him an apartment to live in where someone will check on him a few times a week to make sure he is doing what he is supposed to be doing. But he will no longer be under Lock Down either. He will be free to roam where ever he wants.

The reality of the situation is this... there are fewer and fewer facilities out there to care for these type of people. More and more get closed down every day. When the Federal, State and Local Governments make their spending cuts, the first things to get cut are Education and Health Care, with little regard to the consequence of what may happen once those cuts are made. Do you know that most insurance companies only provide coverage only up to 6 months for patients who have Mental Health issues? There are even some that do not provide coverage for them at all. If you are a Parent who has a child with Mental Health issues, care for your child is very expensive to get them the medications that they need, or even to put them in a facility where they can get constant care 24/7. It costs anywhere between $250 to $350 dollars a day for them to stay in these facilities. This is a HUGE player in why most Federal, State and Local agencies do not want to provide help for families who need these services. So, these facilities get closed down because there is no longer funding to keep them open. If they can no longer stay open, there is no place for these children or adults to go, but back home to their families, or in our Son's case, into Independent Living, where  they are free to roam with Society. As long as this keeps happening, you are going to see more and more of what we have seen in Connecticut, Columbine, Virginia Tech and various other places where a Mentally Ill person had gone on a senseless rampage without explanation.

A friend of mine on Facebook had stated that there needs to be more people schooled and trained to recognize situations like this in people. To recognize the Red Flags before situations like this happen. I totally agree with that statement, I do. But what good is it to train people to do these things when they will not have places to work to be able to do their jobs because Federal, State and Local Governments cut the funding? If there are no places for these people to go, what good is it going to do? So instead of there being facilities for the Mentally Ill to go for the help and services they need, they are left to fend for themselves where they will ultimately end up in the Judicial System, in our prisons or dead themselves. I am by no means defending their actions. I do believe that they need to be held accountable for what they have done. But I am a firm believer that these situation can be derailed when you are dealing with the Mentally Ill or Unstable as long as there are places that can identify these situations before they happen. Because I can speak from experience. When you are dealing with a child or person with a Mental Illness that causes them to become violent and disruptive, these things will happen unless they have constant supervision. We need to have facilities where these people can be monitored 24/7 not only to keep them safe, but others around them as well.

As we approach the Christmas Holiday season, I urge you to keep all of these families in your prayers. The families from this last weekend's tragedy, as well as past tragedies of this kind. Keep the families of Mental Health patients in your prayers as well, in hopes that they find the help that they so desperately need and deserve, and that they are able to one day find peace. My family will do the same. They are all in our hearts and minds this holiday season. As are the rest of you. We pray that you all stay safe and have a wonderful Christmas. I am sorry this isn't my usual happy update, but I felt that I had to get this said. Not because I wanted to. But because I needed to. I am deeply saddened by this tragedy and I pray for all of the victims and their families. 

Putting It All Out There...

Everyday I get questions about the kids. All four of them. People want to know how Zack is doing, and people ask me about how the girls are doing in school. Most are surprised by the answers that I give them, if they don't know what's going on with any of the kids. Those people are the ones who are not around enough to really know. So I'm going to put it all out there! Damn the torpedoes, the criticism and what ever else there may be that comes my way!

First of all, the girls: In case you didn't know, they are not going to school per say, but they are being schooled. Months ago, Amy and I made a huge decision to home school the girls and quite frankly, we feel it was the best decision we ever made. Now as you can imagine, this was not the most popular decision that we have ever made, but it was ultimately ours to make.  Why did we make this decision? Well for those of you who didn't know, Hope has been diagnosed with Asperger's Autism, ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder. She was diagnosed with these disorders while going to Kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary. We had battled the school all year long to get Hope the help that she needed so that she would not fall behind in school. They, of coarse, fought us tooth and nail over this. They brought in their own team of Specialists who basically had the nerve to tell us that Hope's doctor was wrong, and that she was doing fine in school. So the many hours that our doctor had put in diagnosing Hope were all for nothing because the school said so. Well, you'd have to be blind not to know that Hope was falling behind due to all of this. And it doesn't take an idiot to figure out that she is a little different than your average kid. Bottom line though, Hope had gotten to a point where she was being picked on by the normal kids and she wouldn't want to go to school. She had a very long bout with Constipation because of all of this as well. Not to mention other issues once she had come home from school.

Hope was not the only one being affected by school life either. Faith was even having problems. Not with her learning, but with Bullying. Faith is awesome academically. She is very intelligent and she has no problem showing you that she is. But this wasn't the reason she was being Bullied though. It seems that these days, even in Kindergarten, where you shop for your clothing makes a big difference in who will be your friend. In freakin' Kindergarten!!!! The other girls would tell her to quit shopping at Wal-mart and that she was not pretty enough to wear half of the clothes she did wear to school. In freakin' Kindergarten!!! As if this wasn't enough, she was being beat up almost every other day by another boy in her class, who also has problems himself. She would come home with bruises on her from this boy! Charity even was victimized by this boy! He cut almost two inches off of her hair! And she too would come home with bruises from this boy! We had filed a complaint to the Principal about this boy, but they did nothing. All told, there were almost 20 incidents with this same boy and our girls alone! So much for the "Zero Tolerance" policy!! There was never anything done about any of these incidents! And other parents were having the same issues with this same boy, and still nothing was being done about it! It had become apparent to us that Public School was no longer a safe place for our girls, if the rules set into place to protect them, and the other kids as well, were never followed and consequences never given out. All of this, plus the constant fight to get Hope the help that she needed were the final nails in the coffin for sending our girls back to the Public School system. It clearly was not working. Yes, there were other options, but way to expensive to even consider. So, Home Schooling won out at every corner. How's it going? I am happy to report that things are good at all ends! There is a lot less stress for Amy and the girls and I come home to four very happy women for a change! Oh, and in answer to those of you who are worried that my girls aren't being well socialized this way... I beg to differ! They go to a church group twice a month, they go to a Tumbling class once a week, they are involved with Cheer leading, Soccer and soon to be Basketball! With all of this, they have many, many friends that constantly are calling for "Play Dates" with our girls! Socializing is definitely not a problem for them!

Then there is Zack. Zack, as everyone knows, is not without his problems. Zack has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Schizophrenia, ADHD  and Asperger's Autism. And before you ask, it is not uncommon for all of these or just a few, to run together in one person. And depending on which way they swing, they can all be very dangerous together, treated or not. Out of all that Zack has, Bipolar and Schizophrenia are the two most dangerous to have together. Bipolar because it causes erratic mood swings, which very often can turn violent, especially in Males, and the Schizophrenia because the subject hears voices in his/her head that tell them to do things, which also can be violent. Lucky for us, Zack has both. You are all probably familiar with the newspaper article Amy and I had been a part of. If you have not, then you may want to read it. It tells the story of us, and other families like us who struggle day to day to get our children the help they need, and what we've had to do to get it. If you have not read the article, then it's high time that you did. Here's the link for it:

http://www.nwitimes.com/article_d8073da8-2609-5bf8-ba2f-1157dce11b66.html

Now, I do know what your thinking. Those of you whom have met my son before, your thinking that this poor kid could never hurt anyone. That he has always been a great kid. True, he is a great kid, when he is under control and can keep himself that way for a period of time. But it's the periods when he can't that put not only himself in danger, but others around him as well. When Zack was still at home, he would exhibit violent behavior at  school. It had gotten worse when he reached the age of 15. He was stealing, picking fights, and yes, even at home he had gone after Amy a few times where I had to step in. If I had not been there, there's no telling what he might have done to her, or his sisters had one of them made him mad. The problem with Zack's anger is that it goes from zero to 100 very quickly and back down again just as fast. Does he realize what's happening when it happens. Yes. Is he capable of stopping himself? No. Zack has continually rejected anything they have taught him to keep himself under control. Since he has been in residential care, he has continually refused to take his medication, does not want to try new ones and has been continually violent and verbally abusive to all around him. Since his stay at his current facility, Zack has broken two windows, broken a door, ripped a rail off of a set of Bleachers and tossed it back into the Bleachers where people were sitting and physically attacked staff members there and fellow peers. Zack's most recent attack, which took place last week, was with a fellow peer, whom he claims would not keep his mouth shut. So Zack picked up a metal chair and hit the kid in the head with it. He could have killed this kid. After speaking to Zack about the incident, it was clear that he had no remorse for what he had done. In his mind, it was clearly justified because he felt this other kid had no right to speak. Now you can judge me all you want about doing what I did with Zack, but bottom line is this: I don't want him here when he has these episodes! If he had still been living here, and he had attacked Amy and/or his sisters in this way and seriously injured or killed any of them because they were just annoying him in some way, I will guarantee you that once I had arrived home from work and discovered what he had done, they would be taking me to jail and everyone would be visiting me there for the rest of my life because of what I would do to him, myself. This is a promise. He is my son, and I love him. That is why he is were he is. He is dangerous to himself and others. One of the Supervisors there at his facility put it best. If Zack was on the outside by himself at a Baseball game, he would hate to be the people around Zack not cheering for Zack's team. Zack does not have the capability to cope with it. And sadly, at this point, I don't feel that he ever will. He doesn't want to. And he will tell you that, himself.

That said, DCS is now telling us that his frustrations are caused from him being in Residential Care. That he is angry because he can not do things for himself, can't play video games when ever he wants or eat when ever he wants. They are now trying to get him into Independent Living, with someone coming in and checking on him now and then. He is uneducated, they have not succeeded in getting him his GED and it's looking more and more like they wont ever. If he does not have it  by the time he ages out of the program there, then I can promise you that he will never get it. I know him. He will tell you all day long that he will do his best to do whatever, but the long and the short of it is that's all it is, just talk. Zack is only happy when he is doing what he wants to do or what he feels like doing at a given moment. And after all of the incidents I've described above, and that certainly isn't everything, we do not feel that he is ready for Independent Living. And at the risk of sounding negative, we do not feel that he ever will be. He has no desire to help himself. He constantly wants people to do things for him so that he doesn't have to. If things do not go his way, look out! Zero to 100 in seconds flat. And what really makes me laugh here is that DCS is telling us that THEY feel that his frustrations are caused from Residential Care. Oh, okay, so all of the documentation that we have collected over the years about his aggression is just crap, the people at DCS and his CASA  are qualified Therapists and Psychologists and Amy and I have just imagined the last few years living with a child that was basically a ticking Time Bomb from the word go. Gee, that's good to know! So now that you have all told us that there are no Adult Facilities for him to go to, without thoroughly checking around and are all big on the idea of tossing him right into Independent Living with out an adequate education or life training skills, what happens from here. I'll tell you what happens from here. Zack will at one point or another, end up in the Judicial system, where he really doesn't need to be, and will spend time in jail. IF he doesn't end up dead first! I realize these are worst case scenarios for most people reading this, but we know our Son. We can already see what's going to happen before it happens. Zack has yet to prove us wrong. If I was not married with three other children in the house, I would probably take him back in myself. But since that is not the case, there is no way we can bring him back into our home with his aggression levels as high as they are along with his violent tendencies.

To be honest, every night I go to bed praying that they invent some sort of "Magic Pill" to help cure both  Zack and Hope so that they don't have to go through what they have to go through because of their disorders. As frustrating as it is for us, the parents to sit here and watch our children go through these terrible disorders, it has to be twice as frustrating for them. I wrote this blog not because I wanted sympathy for our family, but to give everyone a glimpse into the other side of our daily life. To let other families like ours know that they are not alone, and should not feel alone because they have children with Mental Health issues. If you are reading this blog, please, please feel free to share this with people you may know that are going through this. And by all means, comment here to share your stories. Sharing your story, believe it or not, helps immensely. Just knowing that there are other families out there like you should make you feel a little better. You are not alone. There are more of us out there than you realize. There are more of us out there than the world realizes. And the only way they are going to take notice of us is if we use our voices and speak out, scream that we are here and that the world needs to do right by families who have children with Mental Health issues. Stop sweeping them under the rug like they do not exist. Create organizations out there especially for families like ours were they can go  for help, or services if they need them. On average, for a child to stay in a Residential Care facility, it costs $200 to $300 a day. That's over $90,000 a year! Most insurances wont cover it, and those that do, only cover it for a limited amount of time. These families can not do this on their own because of the cost alone. More than likely, they have more children in their families than just the one with Mental Health issues. You have to be able to support your family, and still seek help for your child with Mental Health issues. But the cost is not affordable. For a child to get into a Residential Care facility, they have to be recommended by a judge. Which means that the child would have to already be in trouble with the law. Or, a hospital that has observed your child for a 72 hour evaluation period, more than a few times. In my opinion, it should only take once. Tonight, I will go to bed and pray that they find that "Magic Pill" for all of our children with Mental Health issues and disorders so that they all will be able to find peace within themselves. God Bless to all of those going through these problems. Thank you for reading.

Terror At Subway... Sort Of! lol

The fun never stops in the Felton household. Everyday seems to be one endless adventure after another. And going out to eat seems to add to that adventure!

Aahh... the day begins with the Felton clan getting up in the morning, having breakfast together, relaxing for a few brief moments before we all have to get out of our pajamas, into some clothes and start the rest of the day. By noon, Amy and I are dropping the kids off at Nana and Dzia-Dzia's house and off we go to "Big Top" Flea Market to replenish our stock for our booth there. We spend a couple of hours there setting things up, tagging and re-tagging, straightening and restraightening and restraightening again. Some brief conversation with the Manager there (she's really sweet) and we are out the door and down the road to get back home to pick up the Trips and relieve the grandparents! Sometimes this proves to be a task. Usually, one or all three don't want to leave because they are in the middle of some activity with each other or Nana and Dzia-Dzia. And you can always tell what kind of day it has been with all of them just by the way the Grandparents look and act, lol! If they are lookin' pretty frazzled, then you know that the Felton Triple Threat have either been at each other's throats for a good part of the visit,or they have been running the Grandparents ragged or both! Either way, the Grandparents are totally glad to see us so they can get themselves into "Recovery Mode" to recharge their batteries for the next go around, whenever that may be. At any rate, it is these times that we most appreciate Nana and Dzia-Dzia, whether they know it or not, because it allows Amy and I to get things done that normally we could not get done with the girls around. So, we pick up the girls and down the road we go!

The next question on every one's mind is what to do for dinner. Amy and I throw some ideas around like, we could just fix something for the girls at home, wait until they go to bed and order a bucket of Hot Wings from one of our favorite joints up the road, or we could go somewhere else with everyone and we all get a take-out treat. We opted for the latter this time. We usually only revert to the other option when it's already late in the evening and the kids really need to get to bed. But today, we opted to take everyone out to Subway! Usually, this is just a 5 to 10 minute trip. We go in, place our orders for the kids and ourselves to go, and we are out the door and back home enjoying our bounty! but not today. Today would be a different story... thanks to our smallest of the Triplets, Charity.

God love this child, but she can really get herself into a pickle without really meaning to do so sometimes! This time, we place our orders for everyone, pay and just when we are heading for the door, Charity exclaims that she really has to go to the bathroom and it really can't wait! Oh, wait, this gets better! Amy takes her down the hall to the Ladies Room, leads her in where Charity closes the door behind her. But before she does, Amy tells her not to lock the door behind her. Once the door closes, Charity then, of coarse, locks the door! The rest of us are sitting within view of the washroom waiting for her to finish up so we can get home and eat. Within a few minutes, Amy walks back to the door to make sure Charity is okay. Suddenly, I hear a lot of shouting from behind the door and a scream like you would not believe! You would have sworn that the Boogie Man had gotten a hold of this kid! Next thing I hear is Amy telling here, "Just hang on Charity, I'm gonna find someone to get you outta there!". Hearing this, I put my head in my hands and walk over to the scene. For sure, Charity had locked the door and could not get it to open back up. Amy comes back with the manager, who then admits that they have been having trouble with that lock on the door, and that they did not have a proper tool to open the door! No key, no nothing! What!!?? How does this happen???

At any rate, we try everything we can to get this darn door open: Screwdrivers, Credit Cards, you name it! The Manager then tells us that she has even had the Cops out there to get the door open and they couldn't do it either!! Now this is getting scary for not only Charity, but Amy and I as well! We are both starting to wonder if we are going to get Charity out of there without doing some real damage to the door there! Finally, a gentlemen walks up with a small screwdriver and wedges it in the doorjam and pops the door open like it's nothing! Crisis averted and we all shower the gentlemen with many thanks and much appreciation and a very scared Charity is released back out into civilization and holding on to Mom & Dad for dear life! Once back home, Amy explains to Charity that this episode is exactly why Amy had told her not to lock the door behind her in the first place, then giggles and asks her again if she is okay. Charity nods yes and says to us that she is never using another public bathroom again! We all have a little laugh out of that and the rest of our evening kicks in, finishing dinner, the girls get into their pajamas, we watch a movie together and it's time for the girls to get to bed. Alas, another Felton adventure is in the Felton history book, and probably will even end up in the Felton Hall of Fame. It will definetly go down as a day we will never, ever forget. Now on to the next adventure!

Zack Update, Part 1

It's no secret now that our son, Zack, has been in a Residential Care facility for quite some time for behavioral issues. Some pretty common for kids with his disorders, some way out of the norm. At any rate, they became so out of control that they were no longer able to be managed here at home and Zack had to be moved into Residential Care. How did this all start? Hard to say. One minute you think you have things under control and things seem to be going well. The next, all control is lost and you don't really know who to turn to for help. The people you think can help you wont. They run you in a big circle that never seems to end. The bottom line is that for kids like Zack, no one wants to do anything until he hurts himself, someone in the family or someone on the outside. And usually by the time that happens, their only solution is to put him behind bars instead of a place where he can get the help that he really needs to get his head straight. I wasn't about to let that happen.....

This story begins during the 2010 - 2011 school year. Technically, it started a few years before that, but the main part of this occurs at the stated date. During the 2010 - 2011 school year, Zack's behavior at school and at home really began to escalate out of control. He started becoming more defiant at both places. He was yelling and screaming at most of his teachers at school. Threatening his peers with violence and even raised his fists to both Amy and I at home. We seriously didn't know what else to do with him. I threatened him a few times and he threatened me back with DCS. Yes, this kid is no dummy. There were many times I took things away from him for his behavior and he retaliated by telling people at school that I was either beating him, Amy was beating him, or that I threatened to kill him. In all, I think DCS had been out to our house a total of 5 times within a two to three year span because of him. He didn't really care about the consequences. He didn't seem to care that I or Amy could go to jail or that him and his sisters could all end up in foster care separate from each other. All he ever really seemed to care about was that he was not getting his way or what he wanted. So, to retaliate, he would tell stories to get DCS to come out, in hopes that they would somehow buy his stories and he would get himself removed from the house. He wanted this most of all because he didn't like our rules. Now, I didn't think that our rules were any different from any other parents. You do your homework before doing anything else, you have specific chores to do according to your age and level of responsibility and you never, ever back talk your parents... ever! Not so bad right!? Well according to Zack, kids should never have to worry about any of that and they should just have the run of the house and get to do whatever they want at any given moment. And when he didn't get his way, he would find ways to retaliate to the extreme.

Very rarely would Zack ever attempt violence here at home. The most he would do was raise a fist to either Amy or I. Of coarse, the older he got, the more that happened. And the more I would get in his face about it. Typical right!? Then things would get worse at school. He threatened teachers and his peers with violence and he didn't care if they were male or female. The more people told him he had to do something or could not do what he wanted to do, the worse it got. For years I threatened to put him somewhere that would deal with him. This time, I had to do something. We were becoming afraid that one day, Zack would eventually stop talking about hurting someone and actually do it! Him hurting someone outside the house was one thing, but what would happen if one of his sisters did something to make him mad while I was at work and Amy was the only one home with him? I started looking at this place called Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy. The more I checked into it, the better is sounded. I hoped that this place would help him. I took all the necessary steps. I called his Therapist and Doctor for approval to make sure Zack could handle something as intense as this program is. The program is run by the National Guard, so you know it has to be intense. Zack would spend 5 1/2 months there in this very physically and mentally intense program. Amy and I were hoping that this would work for him. Zack, realizing that there was a problem too, was even willing to try this program. It seemed as though we were all on the same page for once and we took the steps to get him enrolled in the program......

                                                               To Be Continued.....!

Running For North Newton School Board??

I know, sounds crazy for me right? I mean, who would have thought that I would consider running for any kind of office, let alone the local School Board! But, since dealing with these people here in these schools where my children go, it has occurred to me that there are things going on around here that aren't quite right. The biggest problem is the programs they have in place for their Special Needs kids.

Being that I have two kids with special needs, one already out of school and one that is just getting into the system here, I have seen first hand the problems with the Special Needs programs at all levels, from the Elementary level all the way up to the High School level. The problem? Well the problem is that they tell you they have a wonderful Special Needs program for these kids, when in all actuality, you have to fight to get any kind of help for these kids because of the lack of any kind of program in place. And they will fight you every step of the way to getting your kids the help that many of them so desperately need.

In my daughters Kindergarten class, there are 5 other Special Needs kids, just in their classroom alone! I have witnessed first hand how these kids are treated! The teachers have absolutely no skills in how to deal with these children at all. They discipline these kids as they would the more normal kids in the classroom. In most cases, you can not treat these kids the same way you would a normal child. There are certain things that need to be set in place for each child, because each one of their needs are different. Another thing that is disturbing is that these kids have an IEP in place, that is hardly ever followed, mainly because the teachers could really care less if these kids have IEP's to begin with. If they have to treat these kids differently, they shrug it off. They've done it to our son, Zack, and they are now trying to do the same thing to our daughter, Hope. But the difference this time around with Hope is that we are much wiser to their ways than we were before. And let me tell you, we are screaming a lot louder than we ever have before too!

So why am I wanting to run? I want to do more to help them. I want to do more to help all of these kids that are dealing with this on a day to day basis in our School District. I want the North Newton school system to kick ass when it comes to teaching and dealing with their children that have Special Needs, starting from the Elementary level on up to the High School level. I realize that there are other problems also in our district, but my primary focus has to be these kids. Amy and myself have seen things here that most parents either ignore, or just aren't aware of. It needs to be brought to their attention. It needs to be brought to the entire community's attention. Knowledge is power, and once the parents around here are informed that they have a voice and they can be doing more, to be both informed and their part to help, we can be unstoppable. We can make a difference in our schools here in North Newton County. Watching the way these kids are being treated, and hearing the horror stories of other parents who have Special Needs children like we do, I have been inspired to stand up for them, to be their voice. Because I can tell you that most of them, if not all of them feel like they do not have one. I want to show them and prove to them that they do and that what they say and what their concerns are matter. They deserve to be heard. WE deserve to be heard.

That is why I want to run for the School Board here in my district. This is how I feel I can help make a difference and stand up and give these families and their children that voice that they feel they don't have. I want to be their voice. I want to be their eyes and ears to what's going on inside their schools. I want to show them and tell them that they DO matter.

Time For That Update... Finally!!

Yeah, yeah, I know! It's been too long since the last update! Sorry about that. Things around here never stop though. As soon as we think our schedule is about to lighten up, something else gets added to it! At any rate, we heard from Zack a few weeks ago. He seems to be doing a little better. Even his Counselor says he's doing a little better. But, being that he's a Teen, he's going through some of that typical teen stuff, like not letting go of things like he should, which ultimately, gets him into a little bit of trouble. But it is encouraging to hear that he is trying to get it and himself under control. For that, we are grateful and hopeful. More updates on Zack when we see him next, which will hopefully be this coming weekend!

Amy is having a great time volunteering at the girls school. This is probably the first time I've seen her come home from doing something with a smile on her face in quite some time. She really loves working with the kids, and the kids really like her too! I've gone with her to drop off the girls for school and it's amazing to see 47 out 50 Kindergartners rushing up to Amy and hugging her and saying: "Hello, Mrs. Felton!! Are you staying today?" The smile on the kids faces says it all and the smile on Amy's face as they all approach her is priceless.  As for myself, work has been a roller coaster. Busy, not busy, busy, not busy and finally, it's looking like we're going to get busy here within the next week. That's a good sign! We've managed to pick up a few good sized accounts that should keep us busy for a long time to come! Job security baby!!! And in case you didn't know it, the Spring Soccer season is going to be in full swing here pretty soon. The season starts April 7th, and yes, I am Coaching again this year! I promised the girls that I would keep coaching as long as they want to keep playing. I know all three girls probably will not stick with the game for long, but I do hope that Faith will. She has turned out to be a pretty gifted player. We just need to get her to concentrate on controlling the ball better and she will be unstoppable out there on that field! She really seems to have a genuine love for the game. And because of these girls, I've grown to love it myself. Something I never thought would happen.

As for school, all three girls are doing well. They all seem to like it and they get good reports from the teacher and the aids! They sometimes have a bit of a problem with doing homework, but hey, what kid doesn't!? Yes, they have homework in Kindergarten now. Unbelievable, but they do. Mostly Math too! Talk about a pain in the hind quarters! Whatever happened to letting kids be kids for awhile!? At any rate, the girls really don't complain all that much about the homework, so I guess that's good. I hear most parents complain more than the kids do. And being that Amy and I are members of the PTA, I hear them complain a lot! I do hope that with all that they are pushing on these kids at this age, that they don't get burned out too early. By the time I got to High School, I was already burned out. School just failed to catch my interest by then. I don't want that to happen to our girls. So, to help keep them going, I've been leaving them notes on their Dry Erase Board on their Art Center that they had received for Christmas. This is something that happened quite by accident really. One day, I decided that I was going to be a very cool Dad and write a sweet little note to my girls! Well guess what! Now that I did that, I have to do it every day now because they expect it!! But you know what, it's a small price to pay for the happiness of my girls! And it seems to help them get off to school a little easier too. And anything I can do to help make that easy for them, then I'll do it every day for the rest of their school days till they graduate!

Well, that's it for now everyone! I'm going to try to not let so much time pass between updates, but I can't make any promises. Besides, if I update all the time, there will  be hardly anything left to talk about! Till next time...