I was the younger of two boys, and I was the "hell raiser".  My mom, who
can't stand being idle in retirement, took a "parenting" class last year at
the local community college (at 69!).  The focus of the class was sibling
birth order.  She was amazed that the generalizations made in the texts
studied were spot one for my brother and me (youngest sibs tend to be
risk-takers, more gregarious, tend to be "class-clowns").  Says a lot, I
think, for nature over nurture in family dynamics.

As far as the "mildness" of your CP, Kat, wouldn't that be simply a
reflection of the location of the lesion(s)?  As for me, I attribute the
fact that my speech is unaffected to my being a "left hemi".  If I remember
correctly, left lobe injury (affecting the right side) results in speech
issues far more often than right lobe injury.

To Mag:  Being 40 when my son was born, I can empathize a bit with your
parents.  It's much more demanding, physically and emotionally, than when my
eldest was born.  I was 26 and had the slightest of issues resulting from my
CP.  As far as your crying, my Dad tells me that he was very exasperated by
my continual crying as an infant, but that was a dim memory by the time I'd
reached adolecense.  Could be that I'm just lucky to have had parents that
were incredibly patient and long-suffering.  I certainly would rather have
had my parents and still have had CP than be fit in body and have had
different parents.  Very special people!

Kyle

-----Original Message-----
From: Kat [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 1:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sterilization (was Re: My Job)


My mother was the same way.  She smoked, too, and I was premature - 3 months
early - and weighed only 2 lbs at birth.  It's amazing my CP is as mild as
it is and that I wasn't mentally affected.

My two sisters and I gave our parents our share of hassles and worries
whilst we were growing up.  I remember once, when I was home from college,
extolling the benefits of pot, when my dad told me that if I ever got
arrested for possession of marijuana, he'd not lift a finger to help me.  It
certainly made me a lot more careful, I can tell you.  I never smoked pot
again after graduating.

My youngest sister was the biggest hell-raiser of us three, and I remember
it wearing my parents down rather fast.  I don't think they were prepared to
handle a teenager and her problems at their age, and she ran wild.  She's
settled down a lot, though.

Kat

-------Original Message-------
From: Magenta Raine <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 06/02/03 12:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sterilization (was Re: My Job)

>
>  My Mom was even older when she had me, she was 39, and dad was 40.   So,
it's no wonder she didn't want to help raise any kids I might have had.
I'm
surprised I got by with just CP, she smoked 2 - 3 packs a day and could
have been
premature, or had downs syndrome.  As it was I was very sick for 9 months
after
birth and cried constantly, wore her out to the point that my tears in
adolescence she had no patience for my crying spells.

Mag
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I am available to do writing, editing, reporting, designing jobs,
including
business cards, etc. I am also a disability rights activist.
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>