The Papp Family 2011

The Papp Family 2011

Rather than be over ambitious and create Christmas cards I am doing a blog (let's face it, I'm not very good at the whole Christmas Card thing, heck, I'm lucky to remember my own birthday every year!)

2011 proved to be very challenging for our family. However, we are very grateful to have come through another year still healthy, happy, and fortunate enough to enjoy many comforts that others do not.

Troy had the opportunity to move to a new position within his organization, The Ridgehouse. He is now responsible for the outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program, primarily working with the prison population. He is continuing to go to school and we are now one more year closer to his completion of his Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services.

Dawn is beginning her 5th year with Henry Schein, Inc. as a Sales Manager. She also had the opportunity to be the Team Manager for Shane’s pee-wee football team from May until November and loved every minute of it. Life is a constant balancing act, as for most moms. This year was no exception.

Three very active children keep us both very busy. They are all within different phases of their lives, all of which come with a lot of fun and different challenges.

Tyler turned 16 in June and began his junior year at Reno High School. Tyler took on quite a heavy school load this year with 2 AP classes and he was made one of the Editors for his school paper and has maintained his B Average GPA. He also got his driving permit this year. Adulthood is quickly coming and it has been quite an interesting time to watch him begin that transition into adulthood.

Bailey turned 11 in June and began 6th grade, which is her last year of elementary school. She is barely staying ahead of Shane in height but she is at the forefront of her teenage years. She is in that interesting phase between little girl and young woman. She has been very eager to start learning to cook and bake, which is fun for me because it is something I love to do. She was also involved in cheerleading and girl scouts again this year while getting straight A’s. Busy girl!

Shane is now 7 years old and he is eating us out of house and home. He started 1st grade this year, our first experience for him at a public school. We were fortunate enough to have an angel brought down from heaven to be his teacher. He is quite a handful for most people, but very bright. He got his first report card and got all A’s and B’s. He is reading beautifully and is my little math whiz. He played football again this year and began wrestling as well. With all of his behavioral challenges this year, it is nice to see him enjoy some positive experiences while watching him overcome his own personal challenges.

With all of the challenges we have had this year, we have had many fortunate experiences as well. For this we are truly grateful and recognize that every day we have is a gift. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Love,
Troy, Dawn, Tyler, Bailey, Shane

Are you sure this is part of Motherhood???

Over the past month, Shane has caught every "bug" out there. He has never had this problem.

This means, that I have experienced some parts of motherhood that I didn't even know existed and I am now wondering where I missed that in the manual of motherhood?

Oh wait..... There isn't one!

First Shane ran a very high fever. He felt hot - not just warm, but HOT. I don't really every take temperatures because it isn't fun and usually, I can tell just by feeling them that they have one, but this fever concerned me because I had never felt anyone that hot before. Since he is 7 years old, I asked him which method he preferred. Suprisingly, he went for the rear-end method, but I'm sure he had no idea what he was in for. This was very scary for me as I really try to stay away from that end of any boy. But we braved it together and I thought "This is what I pay the doctor and my insurance company for." I will be investing in an ear thermometer.

The following week I was awakened at 2:45am one peaceful sleep to my young child informing me he had an "accident" which from age of 2 - 4, that meant he wet the bed. Not this time. He had an ACCIDENT (please refer to how I try stay away from a certain end of any boy). So, I found myself moments later hosing my child off with the highest power of the shower head I could at 3:00am. He and I both looked at each other both very unhappy about the situation we were finding ourselves in. For the next few hours he continued to wake me up every time he had to run to the bathroom, so I opted to sleep on the couch as to not wake my snoozing hubby. Needless to say, that went on most of the following day and I wondered what I had done to deserve such punishment! I wanted to burn all of his underwear rather than clean it, but I went for the other option - threw it all in the garbage and bought new ones.

Today - week 3 of sickness, greeted me with a call from the school nurse that he had come in from lunch feeling sick and as soon as he reached the nurse's office, the trash can became his best friend. What's really awesome is that today was his first official "hot lunch" day. I don't think we will be doing that again any time soon. And I will not be buying any of those pink goldfish crackers any time soon since that was what he spent the afternoon throwing up. As we left the nurses office she informed me that "by the way, he missed the trashcan the first time and got it all over his shorts." Really??

So, I am terrified of what is next to come. I have scheduled him for his flu shot, this last illness was highly motivating.

If anyone has a motherhood manual - please share!!

I Love My Son because

The past few months have been very difficult for Shane and I. It seems as if every time we turned around, there are new challenges in front of us. Our summer started with Shane's teacher getting "fired" the day of kindergarten graduation. The women is an angel. They are stupid. Within weeks, as I predicted, Shane started having behavioral problems and we were asked to find him alternate care. I have been soul searching for months trying to figure out where I went wrong as his mother.

In the last week, we spent some time apart. I didn't get to see him on his birthday and I watched his team play their football game without him. It was nice to have a break, but by the end of the week, I was ready to have him home. In that time, I have been reading, saw a children's psychologist, tried to find answers to how I can be a better parent to my child so when he gets back, I could have a fresh start.

When I saw his sweet face yesterday, all I could think is that I love him more than life and there is nothing else I can do better than that. I realized that simply. I love my son.

I love that he has wonderful curiousity and a desire to learn

I love that he will eat anything I put in front of him - ANYTHING

I love that he enjoys a movie and BIG bowl of popcorm, just like his mom


I love that even though he gets so scared, he trusts me when I tell him it will all be okay, so he will forge ahead and conquer his fears, just because he believes me.

I love his sweet, gentle nature. He is always so sweet to animals and little children.

I love my son because no matter the mistakes I have made (and there are many) he always forgives me and loves me unconditionally.

No matter what struggles we have, we have each other.