Science Night
Thursday the elementary school hosted its annual Science Night. This is something that the kids look forward to every year. All of the science fair projects are lined up in the hall. [You can ask Bleu about humidity in the air vs. underground!] The library is set up with lots of hands on stations where the kids can learn about different concepts, make things or do puzzles. It is a good time all around, but the highlight of the evening is what happens in the back of the school.

Kids line up in the cafeteria and craft rockets out of paper. Outside, they line up to get their rockets blasted with an air compressor and run to catch them. Seriously, an hour and a half just isn’t long enough! Click here to see a video of Echo with his rocket.

Track
Last night, Mayfield hosted the track meet here in town at the Field of Dreams. Mia ran three races: 3200m, 800m and 1600m. We watched the first on together and then went home. I came back to the track for the other two. She was having a bad day yesterday and her times were off by 10-20 seconds. After the last race she dropped down and stayed down for a long, long time. I couldn’t help crying but didn’t rush onto the field this time. She doesn’t want the attention. Even though I know she’ll be all right eventually, it hurts to watch her crying twenty feet away and not be able to go to her. She came in 3rd in the 3200m, 8th in the 800m and 4th in the 1600m.

She is worried about not being able to compete at state if she has a bad day. She doesn’t want to come in last or disappointing her coach/team. What can I say? There isn’t a whole lot we can do to control it so I hope she can relax and just enjoy the experience without putting too much pressure on herself. Click here to see a video of Mia in the 1600m.

Good, Bad and Ugly
Mica has had a hard semester. She hates math and hasn’t been doing well in her honor’s math class. She trys to avoid studying when she needs to do more of it. Lately it feels like every time we talk to her it is something negative. I hate that. Yesterday we got a letter in the mail from the principal letting us know that Mica will be getting an award next week at the underclassmen awards assembly. It was a wonderful surprise. I have no idea what it is for and neither does she. Suspense!

She called her mom to invite her and Julie agreed to go. She told the girls she would come by the house so they waited in the yard all night. She never showed up and when they called she didn’t answer the phone. It’s just a little thing but all these little things add up and I worry about their ability to trust. You can only be disappointed so many times before you begin to get jaded. It’s hard because I love them so much. I really wish she would be more involved because they need her.

after a race from kristyk on Vimeo.

Saturday we traveled to El Paso to watch the girls compete in their track meet. Mica made the JV squad and threw the discus 66 feet, her personal best. Mia ran two relays: the 4×1600 and the distance medley. In both events she ran a mile, or four laps around the track. Supporting her decision to keep running has been difficult for me. Mike thinks I baby her too much [but technically he thinks I baby all the kids too much]. He thinks we need to help her push through the pain because this is a condition that is chronic. She will be dealing with it for the rest of her life. The last thing I want is for her to give up, but it is SO HARD to watch her suffer.

Right now, her pain is constant but manageable. Some days are better than others, but it hasn’t been debilitating EXCEPT when she runs. During/after each race, her back starts to spasm and she experiences extreme pain. Also, the tenderness to touch that she deals with every day worsens. Even the lightest pressure on her skin hurts. Mia was always the kid that would finish the race with a smile and bop around like she hadn’t done a thing. Everyone would comment on how easy it seemed for her. Now, the last leg of the race is just an excuse to cross the finish line and collapse.

One problem she has is that what she needs is the exact opposite of what is normally done for the runners. If an athlete crosses the line and falls to the ground, they are pulled to their feet and walked around. The trainers rub their backs and shoulders and apply ice to sore muscles. When Mia falls down, it is because her back is spasming and most of the time she can’t talk. She shakes her head when something hurts too bad. We know this, but the people on the field don’t always get it.

After taking this video, Mike and I rushed down to the field. We told them to let her lay down. After about five minutes of deep breathing and stretching out her back she felt much, much better. Her coaches know about her condition, but trainers from other teams at other schools don’t. We have to work with Mia to help her find a way to communicate what she needs. She doesn’t like to draw attention to herself; she doesn’t want to be different. I have a feeling this is going to be a long hard journey for her, but I’m proud of how hard she tries not to let it change her life.

“If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.” Lance Armstrong

cameraphone pictures from the track meet 

For the next few months, every weekend will be spent at a track meet. Mia is running and Mica is throwing, so we will be busier than ever. Please bear with the ‘proud momma’ pictures and posts to come…

Track and Field 2008 on flickr: set | slideshow 

Note: the picture on the right makes me cringe. This girl tripped and fell right on her head. When she got up, she walked around in circles, completely disoriented, before finishing the race. How do you spell hurdles? D A N G E R!

This weekend was difficult. It was hot, hot, HOT and I got a terrible sunburn the first day. Everything hurt. None of the kids qualified for Nationals. The only one that had a real chance was Mia. If she would have run her average time [not even a good time, just a normal one] she would have qualified in all three. But….

Last week I took the kids to the skate park and Mia refused to put on tennis shoes. She normally does anything I say without question, so I let it go. If she didn’t want to ride what difference would it make which shoes she wore? When she got on Bleu’s board, I asked her again [TWICE] to change out of her flip flops. I even took a picture so that I could have it as evidence if she got hurt. Sure enough, she fell and banged up her big toe pretty good. It was a bloody pulp with all the skin gone and a chunk of meat showing. Gross.

As soon as she started to run, I could tell it was bad. Her first race was the 3000m, almost two miles. With each lap she got further behind. I thought she might pick up the pace on her last lap, but she slowed to a jog. As soon as she crossed the finish line she fell down and I had to go and help her to the side. Even though I knew it was her own fault, it hurt to watch her hurting. It was a hard lesson learned. I told her not to run the other races. “I want to do well,” she said. “There is no way you are going to do well with that toe,” Mike replied. “Then I just want to do my best.”

I am a little bit relieved that track is over for the year. We have a few weeks off before cross country starts. Mica is in volleyball camp and Jon has a tball party, but other than that things are quiet. We spent more than we wanted to at the track meet so now I can’t go to Chicago. Bummer. Oh well, there is always next year.