New verses in "Holding Hope and Love"

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thanks to a donation from LJ user Book_worm5, there are three new verses in "Holding Hope and Love."  Fireheart seeks advice from Cheersquad.

Comments

[capri0mni]

Ooh, I wonder what those powers will be...

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

As mentioned in a few other poems, Aurora has Light Powers and Flight. Right now it is the latter driving daddy to the end of his rope.

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

Okay...

*Goes back to read the last verse*

I hope it wasn't Flight that manifested before birth... 'Cause that would have driven mommy to the end of her rope... ;-)

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

No, the Flight came in later. Before birth Aurora was just glowing. Mommy looked like she had a flashlight under her skin sometimes.

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

Right... I should have put a winky-emoticon in my reply.

...I mean: "I feel like a blimp!" should only be figurative, not literal. ;-)

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yeah, it's hard enough with Aurora having Flight now. Her father's first solution was to put a baby leash on her and clip it to a weightlifting disc.

She got strong enough to lift the disc.

They started clipping her to a harness on themselves.

You can see how this is going to become a real challenge very quickly. :D

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

>>You can see how this is going to become a real challenge very quickly.<<

LOL

To quote another poet:

How sweet to be a cloud
Floating in the blue!
Every little cloud
Always sings aloud.

How Sweet to be a cloud
Floating in the blue!
It makes him very proud
To be a little cloud.

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Aww! What a cute poem.

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

Well, it's not mine -- that's the song Winnie the Pooh made up, to convince the bees he was not out to steal their honey -- by floating up to the tree under a blue party balloon. Here's an color version of the book's illustration: http://www.just-pooh.com/assets/pictures/pictures/458.gif

I was just imagining Fireheart in that predicament...

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

LOL yes, that is exactly what he's thinking. Both parents are aware of the urgent need to teach Aurora the concepts of up, down, and safety because she adapts so quickly to added weight. She can lift Fireheart, just not for very long or very far.

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

"Safe," especially.

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is where you really start seeing the growth pattern, because it's been long enough to develop observations of multiple people with the same abilities. So you can look back at Groundhog, who almost died when his Flight manifested very early -- his parents love him very much, but between the initial incident and their keeping him alive by keeping him indoors, he wound up with acrophobia and agoraphobia that have taken a lot of work to ameliorate.

Knowing about examples of previous solutions and their drawbacks is what allows Fireheart and Jackie Frost to think of other things. So they're not just thinking in terms of preventing Aurora from getting lost in the sky, but trying to teach her as soon as possible about controlling her ability -- how to use it mindfully -- just like parents help babies learn to walk, and to play catch instead of throwing things to hit someone. You have to adapt the natural process of growing up and its lessons to accommodate those extra abilities in a way that helps them develop safely.

Re: Well...

[lone_cat]

Sounds like the bounce-house could be useful there, because it's someplace where she can try to figure out how to control where she goes, instead of just being "in tow".

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yes, exactly. Aurora has a lot more range of motion in there. Hopefully this will help her figure out more directions than "up." :D

Re: Well...

[capri0mni]

You have to adapt the natural process of growing up and its lessons to accommodate those extra abilities in a way that helps them develop safely

Indeed. People have often(ish) told me that I'm lucky to have C.P. but not an intellectual impairment. I counter that I was lucky I got a mother who didn't buy into the predominant assumption of the time that "mental retardation" was to be expected in kids with C.P., and fought to have me mainstreamed as early as kindergarten.

They've countered: Oh, but the therapists in those group homes give the kids lots of stimulation, and there's still not much going on in the kids' minds.

Me: *mutters under my breath.*

---

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Prostitutes give men a lot of stimulation, too, but it still isn't love.

Re: The reply of the levieahan sentences...

[capri0mni]

Well, there might or might not be love... There are sex workers out there who actually have true affection for some of their clients. But it's certainly not a requirement of the job, nor, in the cases where it's missing, is it as full, meaningful, or healthy as it would be if it were present. Also (presumably), sexual customers get three hours of the kind of stimulation they need, and then are free to go meet their buddies at a sports bar, go back to work with their professional colleagues, go home to their spouses, call their parents on the phone, etc. But for kids living in institutional homes, they don't get many (if any) chances for any other kind of bond except that of "therapist and patient."

Generally, the specifics of my muttering are things like: "It's the stimulation that's the problem, you effing ignoramus."

When occupational therapists try to engage the interest of a 12 year old girl with a toy intended for a six month old, because the girl's physical abilities vaguely match a baby's (Doesn't speak, can't feed or dress herself, can't walk), take her lack of response as proof of her "cognitive delay," and then, based on that proof, advise the other adults in her life to treat her accordingly, then, of course when the visiting health care provider comes to give her a check-up, thon is going to come away with the impression that "There's not much going on upstairs."

Stimulation isn't love. It's not respect or a challenge, either.