"She's very nice," damns with faint praise. As though you can't think of anything else to say about her. People have to be clever or cool or fabulous it seems. Nice doesn't cut it any more. I don't know why, because people who are nice are the people who brighten up our lives. And this week I'd like to thank the following...
...I was late as usual on Wednesday getting to the #Oct12Tweetup for a rare night out but Jazzygal and Nan-P waited patiently outside the pub for me to arrive. The tweet up was a chance to put faces to the names and pseudonyms of some of the people I follow on twitter - a really interesting evening! And two people said unexpectedly lovely things about my blog.
...Smiley's social worker who arranged an impromptu meeting with the head of respite to discuss my concerns - which caused me to cancel her monthly breaks back in May. (I was at the school for her IEP). After looking at the records, it seems that she was so happy - and smiley - that the staff thought that she wasn't ready for bed and were allowing her to stay up very late. It's never easy to sleep through in the respite dorms, as during the night there are peg feeds to be sorted, children to be changed and medicines to be given. But it seems that Smiley was only getting about 4 hours sleep - no wonder she was cranky for days afterwards! In future she will be put to bed with her pals at 8.30 or so. And respite will start again in November.
...One of my best friends who still comes every week to help with Smiley's physiotherapy programme.
...My Dad who forgot about his own problems to do the fatherly thing and tell me to go and get myself sorted even though I had a week full of appointments for the kids. And my friend who fitted in therapy appointments for me even though she is the busiest person I know.
Looking back, it's wonderful to realise how many people were nice to me this week and what a different it made. What about you?
This post was written for Wendy's specialsaturday initiative to help raise awareness of autism and other special needs. On facebook at specialsaturday or #specialsaturday on twitter.
What a lovely positive and, dare I say it, NICE post! I feel honoured to be on your list of 'niceness'....thank you. You do know that people are nice to you 'cos you yourself are also nice, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you got Smiley's respite sorted...amazing what we can find out when we sit down and talk:-)
xx Jazzy
Agree with jazzygal. Your dad & friend sound wonderful (they say if you want to get something done ask a busy person!). You sound wonderful too. Looking forward to reading more posts x
ReplyDeleteJazzy has said exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for the mention, and "look who's talking"... One of the nicest and gentlest person I know ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs for respite, that this good!
Great news that the respite is sorted. Gald there's been a lot of nice people doing nice things for you this week. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's because you are such a nice person yourself. I still use the word nice but if I wanted to describe you I would say you are lovely x
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments here, you are a lovely & a gentle lady. And I admire you hugely.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled you had a week that made a difference to you :)
@everyone - Thanks for all the lovely comments. I'm really no nicer than anyone else, perhaps I'm a bit more careful to show my best side on here? But I certainly take no pleasure in upsetting other people, and I don't understand why other people do either :-/
ReplyDeleteJust the post I needed to read. A few (minor) incidents last week left me thinking that niceness is disappearing quickly in these hard times. Maybe I am paying too much attention to the negative and should look at the positives in my daily life instead!
ReplyDelete@Truf - it's so easy to dwell on bad stuff, that's why I make an effort to write posts like this.
ReplyDeleteYour post is such a relief to read. It feels like I'm drowning in negativity from all angles. We know life sucks sometimes (OK, maybe a LOT of the time)but it's great to acknowledge the niceness/kindness/love/integrity that thankfully many people still have in shed-loads XXX
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