"Mommy, can we drive to Halloween?"

“A beautiful little *almost 3 yr old* girl asked me to put candy in her plastic Halloween pumpkin. I told her that she could get some candy on Halloween. She asked if we could drive to Halloween.

The same beautiful little girl was sitting on the back of my desk chair as I was working on the computer. She stopped brushing my hair, put her tiny little hands on my shoulders and leaned toward my hear. "You are beautiful!" she said.

Aaaaaw! I'm the luckiest mom in the whole world!”

“Good stuff!

I was group camping three weeks ago with my youngest daughter (Debi, 14, who has Down Syndrome). She woke me up in the middle of the night. Smiling, said, "Hi, Daddy!" Then she kissed my cheek and crawled back into her bag and went to sleep.

Also, my older three kids think I am bald. Debi just thinks I have my bangs cut way back!”

“That`s sweet Sunshine and phil. Aren`t little girls the best? I have two boys and a girl and I love them all, but a little girl is love. I had to give her a spanking when she was little and it broke my heart. She cried so hard and it scared us both. She came running back to me with her arms wide open and fell into my arms and said "please daddy, don`t be mad at me." I thought I`d die, how could anyone be mad at a kid like that?”

“Here's a good one...

Today my six year old was talking to her grandmother on the phone and giving Grandma her Christmas wish list. She said she wanted a baby doll that eats, poops and then you change it's diaper. "So, when you smell something bad and it's not your mom's cooking, then you..."


REALLY! My cooking isn't *that* bad. LOL”

“Sunshine - LOL!”

“I just walked in from a great(yet exhausting) weekend hike...my 4 year old daughter jumps into my arms and greets me with a big hug and a "Papa, you stink!"

It's good to be home.”

“My 2 year old cousin puked in my lap once.”

“Phil, thanks for sharing the pix of your beautiful daughter, Debi. You must be very proud of her! My son Chris, who also is 14, shares a similar challenge (Fragile X Syndrome). His efforts to succeed in a world that can be so confusing to him, make me very proud and sometimes break my heart at the same time. It doesn't stop him from being a super camper and backpacker though! No one can saw firewood better than Chris!”

“OmaHiker - Thanks! I am proud of Debi. We both love to go to Disneyland. Since we only live about 15 minutes away we have annual passes and go one or two evenings a month during school and more in the summer.

I am not familiar with Fragile X Syndrome. I assume it is a genetic thing. Is it rare? Thanks for sharing about Chris. Down's is the most common genetic defect. Fortunately, Debi is in good health and high functioning. She reads at the first grade level. Speech is her worst area.”

“Fragile X is the second most common genetic cause of mental retardation. Chris also reads at about a first grade level, and has difficulty speaking clearly enough for people (who don't know him well) to understand him. He also can be very hyper when he isn't taking his meds, and is very anxious when meeting new people or dealing with a new environment.”

“OmaHiker - Thanks again. My wife was familiar with Fragile X, but I wasn't. We have been lucky socially. Down's kids are generally friendly anyway (or at least we seem to condition them that way). We have three older kids (23, 21, & 18) who have helped a lot.”

“Kids, what a gift. Sunshine, I can remember my son sitting behind me on the couch (me on the floor) and him rubbing my shoulders saying "Mom, just forlax". That was when he was little, then as he grew older he was still saying, "Mom, just relax". His words were better pronounced, but the message was the same. The gift of my two boys is the greatest blessing I have. Time is so short and those moments we spend with them are priceless. I try to remember to just forlax.”

“Great thread, sunshine. I have an 18-year old son, an almost 5-year old daughter, and a one-year son... they're all special... but I think I get the best stories from my daughter....

She likes to suck her thumb. A lot. One night (about a year ago) in a restaurant she insisted on taking the lemon from my iced tea and sucking on it. (She liked it, actually.) But then she put her somewhat chapped thumb back in her mouth and we nearly had an emergency because it started stinging from the lemon. While the waitress went off to find a bandaid, I suggested she suck the OTHER thumb. She tried it, then got a big lower lip and blubbered, "It's upside down."”