Dance with me

I am so lucky to have a great partner like Suzie as we go on this journey together.  Every day we have a lot of things that need to get accomplished for Kinley’s daily living and we have developed a routine over the years that works great for us.  Each of us knows our role and we don’t have to ask the other one to do something because it just happens and we know it is going to get done.  One example is our weekday morning schedule during the school year.  On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings Suzie helps Kinley get out of bed, go to the bathroom, get dressed, fix her hair, and gets her backpack ready.  I give Kinley her morning meds, fix her breakfast and help her eat, help her get from living room to the garage and onto her scooter, brush her teeth, and help get her on the school bus.  On Tuesday and Thursday our roles are exactly reversed except for fixing her hair as apparently Kinley prefers a female stylist.  Probably a smart choice considering her father hasn't had to use a comb or brush in about 10 years.  When it comes to meals and snacks we just take turns so if Suzie does the after school snack then I help Kinley eat dinner and Suzie does the bedtime snack.  We also alternate our evenings taking care of Kinley’s bedtime routine i.e. bathroom, putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, reading with her, lights out, etc.  That way the other person can have their own free time after 8pm to watch TV, read, or whatever they want to do.  Again the amazing thing is that none of this is written down and we don’t have to verbally ask the other to help or take care of a certain task.  It just gets done.  There is a country song that says “life’s a dance, you learn as you go” and we have our dance routine down pretty well.