Friday, October 12, 2012

Working with the MTHFR Family


My sister asked about my job, and how I like it, so here's the answer to her question.  If you have a question for me, please leave me a comment! I'll write a blog post and answer your question!

Note: Names have been changed to protect the innocent.  :)  Their last name is not actually MTHFR, but there's five of them, and five letters, so hey, it works, right?

It all started one day when I was hanging out with Mom MTHFR, who we'll call "T", about the time we found out about Daniel's MTHFR defect. She mentioned something about "R", her youngest, wanting to learn how to crochet, and how to play piano, recorder, and flute.  Funny. I crochet, and I play piano, recorder and flute, and we were also in need of some supplements for Daniel. So, an idea was hatched.

"T" ran our idea past her husband, "M", who thought it sounded fine, and Daniel was in agreement, too, so it was decided that I would spend two days a week helping the MTHFR family out with various household tasks, as well as teaching "R" some crochet and piano.

I've been going over there for about a month now, and it seems to be working out really well.  On an average day, I get there about 9:30am, and most of the time "R" and "H" are still working on school work. So I help a little bit with that, and then do some piano with "R". Right now we're working through Faber's Piano Adventures Primer Level, and "R" is doing great! I think she enjoys playing piano, and she's pretty good! We're also working on independent practice skills so that she can practice without supervision. We did attempt a few crochet lessons, but it was difficult for student as well as teacher, so her parents and I decided to put that aside. In the mean time, "H" has taken a liking to crochet though, so I've given him two lessons!

Somewhere around noon we usually break for lunch. By this time, "H" is usually all done his school work, "R" might have a little bit to finish after school, and "F" is home from special ed. After lunch, we work on finishing up school work. Depending on what day it is, the kids are typically free to play on their own in the afternoon while "T" and I talk and take care of household things (wiping down bins, doing dishes, making sweet potato french fries, or various other tasks), or we get ready to head out the door for "R"'s dance class. Tuesdays work out that I leave straight from their house to Bible Study, and on Wednesdays, they drop me off at home after taking "R" to dance.

I'm enjoying working with this family, and I'm learning a LOT about working with kids with special needs, as well as ways to work with the MTHFR issue in our own family. I'm always amazed when "R", who is 7, spouts off some random fact about a particular supplement or food that I didn't know!

So, that's my job, and what I do! What does a typical day at work (including HOME, for my SAHW/M readers) look like for you?

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! It's fun to hear what a day in your life is like. As for mine? Well this morning I got up at 5:30, crammed for an exam until class at 8:30, wrote my exam after that class (didn't go too well), and then had another class right after that. Then I had my office hours at the school where we actually just carved a pumpkin this week (hard work, I know!). I started to prep material for the "Human Anatomy & Physiology" session I'm teaching tomorrow, until I went to work at 5. Came home at 10, and I've been working on finishing that material for tomorrow since then. Just the answer key left to do. Bedtime goal: 1am. Don't you miss school? :P

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    1. I hope you didn't have to get up extremely early despite going to bed really late! And to answer your question... no, I don't really miss school. :P

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