OK, I need to discuss with you guys a serious problem I am having. Could someone please tell me WHEN the second X chromosome that Kendrie has is going to kick in? Puberty? College? EVER???? I’m still waiting for the adorable little girl who wants to play dress up in fairy princess costumes, wear her mommy’s make up and jewelry, and play house with her Barbies for hours. Instead, we’ve got an adorable little girl who hates to wear anything pink, prefers denim to tu-tu-s, and chooses soccer and baseball over dolls any day.
Now, I know you must be thinking, “And just why is that a problem?” Yeah, ok, I have no problems with tomboys, I’ll admit that. But, I’ll tell you why! Because our first child was a girly-girl, so all of Kendrie’s hand-me-downs are girl-ish. Or at least relatively girl-ish. She owns exactly three long-sleeve t-shirts/sweatshirts that she claims are recognizable as “boy clothes”. And she wears them over and over. And over. I’m just waiting for the day this shirt, her favorite red one with the characters on it, becomes too tattered to wear …. It’s going to hit the fan then, let me tell you.
I'm so tired of seeing this shirt I could scream. I’m expecting to open the mail any day now and find an anonymous donor has given us a gift card to Goodwill, because people must assume we are poor as dirt since the girl wears the same three shirts and blue jeans over and over. Never mind the closet FULL of cute clothes with matching tights and hats and jumpers, just waiting to be worn. Also, take note of the Power-Ranger watch that never leaves her wrist. And don’t even get me started on the boots!
If it’s not these boots, it’s her hiking boots. Every single day. The closest she will get to “girl-y” is wearing Brayden’s hand-me-down PINK cowboy boots …. but only when all three of her favorite sweatshirts are dirty and she has to --Heaven forbid!-- wear her long sleeve thermal tee with the pink flowers on it that her Aunt Kelly gave her for Christmas. (Aunt Kelly, what were you thinking??? Pink flowers???)
Then tonight, I saw her and Kellen playing with the action hero (don’t you dare call it a doll!) that she picked from the treasure chest at the cancer clinic the last time she had a spinal tap. Every time she gets to pick a toy, she either picks an action figure, or Matchbox car …. Once, it was a really cool 3-ft Hulk puzzle. So I asked her to pose for the following pictures … and as you can see, the thumbs up and thumbs down pretty much sums up her feelings.
So there you go --- she’s a Barbie girl…… NOT!
OK, maybe it's not a serious problem, but hopefully those of you with tomboys out there can feel a little of my pain. For the rest of you, if you want a journal entry that’s a little more profound this week, I recommend Julianna Banana’s site. Her update today rings true for those of us who work hard to put a positive spin on this leukemia journey. Most days it’s not so bad, but she’s right, some days it is W.O.R.K.
On the cancer front for us, Kendrie had her labs done on Tuesday to see if increasing her 6MP to 125 percent would bring her counts down. They are still not as low as they would like, with an ANC of 2001. But that’s progress and her doctor thinks they will continue to fall in the next few weeks as the chemo accumulates in her system. ANC Goal is between 1000-1500. Other chemo news was the announcement this evening by her 7 year old sister, Brayden; “Hey, you guys can go to bed, I gave Kendrie her chemo tonight.”
WHAAAAAATTTTTTTT?????????
Wish us luck,
Kristie
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KENDRIE’S PERSPECTIVE:
WORST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY:
Having a mom and dad who are such anal control freaks that they wigged out when Brayden gave me the chemo tonight. I mean, duh, it’s not like I’ve been doing it every night for months and months and months. Do they think we can’t figure it out???? Geez. I’m 5. Brayden is 7. Add that together and we’re practically a teen-ager. We’re responsible enough for JOBS, and Drivers Licenses, for Pete’s sake, and they simply aren’t giving us enough credit. We do not NEED adult supervision for something as simple and mundane as home-chemotherapy!
BEST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY:
Hey, guess what! I was “nominated” to be an Honored Hero for one of the teams taking part in a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society endurance event … the Grand Canyon Hike in May of 2005. (Wow, mom's exhausted just **thinking** about it!) My mom made a new friend this weekend named Ms. Shelley who has taken part in these LLS fundraisers each year. When Ms. Shelley found out that I have leukemia, she asked my mom for permission to give my name as an honored hero for her team …. How cool is that?
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