Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

I love vacation. I have never, since beginning work, taken a week off. I'm excited to say that I want to do it again! God willing! We took the children to Chicago's Six Flags for one day and then up to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to stay at the Osthoff Resort. Much fun was had by all. Honestly, they were thrilled and we had a great week of smiles and fun. They even slept through the night, which is unheard of in these parts.

Wisconsin is gorgeous and the 75 degree average was certainly something that was a change from the 100 plus degree weather at home. I have always loved Wisconsin, begrudingly, perhaps, especially given the time spent there for work, but it is a great state and has beautiful lakes and scenery. I am getting some other pictures printed and framed. I'd add more details, but it was really relaxing. We went to the beach in the morning, generally got a boat for the afternoon, had long naps, good dinners out. And that's all she wrote. The kids ran around and loved being in the open spaces. The resort was mostly off-limits to vehicles, so they were able to run free. Great spas as well! On Wisconsin....

Trichotillomania

http://www.trich.org/treatment/article-toddler-golomb.html

Caroline has trichotillomania, which is the chronic pulling out of one's hair. We have been to the pediatrician, run blood tests and the good news is, she is very healthy. She does, however, soothe herself by pulling clumps of hair out of her head, which is upsetting to us all. She has always had this habit, when she was very young (under a year) she did pull her hair out, by pulling out her bows. We stopped with the bows, she stopped pulling for awhile. Then I went back to work and it started out in earnest. It is the worst it has looked right now, but I have cut a lot of the strands off so that it looks more even. It has, in very recent times, begun coming back in, so there's hope here, and it may have helped to cut her hair very short because she does not have much to twirl and pull out at this point.

It is not the vanity that drives this upset, rather that she is exhibiting signs of anxiety, which is a longtime Keener problem. My mother manifests a significant problem with anxiety, though she has always called it being "nervous," and I have been through 10 years of cognitive behavior therapy to be able to manage mine. While it is great to see some traits of mine in my children, I really am disappointed that Caroline has so obviously inherited my anxiety issues. The upside is that I can help her manage them, something that my mother never tried to do, other than to suggest that I was just "too sensitive," but it's such an irritating burden. And while anxiety prone people can be very high achievers, I just hope that I can help her manage this a bit better.

So, today I am going to get a treat bag and work on an incentive plan for her, as suggested by the Trichotillomania Association, as recommended by their website. I am also going to seek out some baby gloves. Where would one find those this time of year? I'll see what we can come up with.....

Did we fall off the face of the earth?

Ummm.....no. What can I say, it is hard to be a mommy, it is hard to be a wife, it is hard to be a full-time lobbyist to an energy start up that has huge issues with the U.S. EPA in an era of anti-coal sentiment and still blog. But, I realize that I am the one and only family historian, so with that, I will attempt to post from time-to-time.

Jack is one month from being 5, the twins are 2 and 1/2. Everyone is doing very well. I last posted in December and having re-read it today, really was having a tough time at that particular period. As we all know, I have had and still do have a conflict with being a lobbyist as it requires travel and thinking that the grass is always greener on the lawyer side of the working world. It isn't. The billing of hours and perserverence required is hard for someone who's life is not about work anymore, but is about buidling a family, which is what mine is. Unfortunately, building of a family takes funding, and so, here we are. I think that we as a society spend a lot of time thinking that certain women are selfish, not self-sacrificing enough if we work, those of us who work hate the ones that stay at home. (I certainly fall victim to this, even though I did spend two years at home and KNOW how hard it is.) I would still be at home, though, if it were financially possible. But, one thing that I have learned the hard way as an adult is that money, while it does not buy happiness, does buy security, and that is what I want for my children. I want them to have their educations paid for and have some trust funding left over to get started in life. And, so........lobbying is where I am. Again.

As skeptical as I am about it, I continually succeed in this line of work, so I am moving toward embracing my career choice, even though I still sometimes think of it as a second choice. It is, but maybe it is not as secondary as I once thought. Anyway, following the nearly constant sickness of all three kiddos, it became clear that if I am to work, I need to earn enough to pay for a nanny because we simply do not have the type of jobs that allow for time off intermittenly nor do we have the family structure to be able to assist when we need it. I harbor some resentment about this, but, it is what it is, and instead of being bitter, we move toward solution. And so, I took the director of public relations and government affairs job with Prairie State Energy Campus, which I am loving. And I make enough to have the babies stay at home and Jack to stay at school, but we have back up. Kimberly truly does make our lives easier. She is a godsend and we are able to keep things going with her on staff.