McElf GlassWorks

A Full Service Glass Art Studio

Captain’s Log: New Year’s Eve Tattletale!

Leave a Comment

December 31, 2016 

Mom’s eating mushy food under her own steam!!! Not quite 3 meals a day… Not enough to remove the feeding tube… But it’s still major progress!!

The speech therapist and speech pathologist actually determine when Mom is strong enough to eat on her own power… And they’ve been coming in every day since the Friday before Christmas. Our biggest barrier to my meeting has been staying awake long enough to get through a few bites let alone a full meal. Stessy brought Mom a bag of bite-size Snickers on Christmas. The therapist keep asking what she wants and she’ll say “Snickers.” But she hasn’t had the strength to chew!

So we’ve tried to make sure she was getting plenty of rest leading up to these meetings with a therapist on the off chance that we could get her through them and closer to that Snickers bar…

A few days ago I was so frustrated for her I wanted to cry. She still couldn’t keep her eyes open for more than a moment and just in the few minutes it took for the therapist to work with her she was so tired that she would start snoring mid test. So I was trying to bribe mom in an effort to get her through the morning, I wanted to do something that would help pick up her spirits and energize her…

So I opened a bite-size Snickers and pulverized it. I picked out anything that wouldn’t melt in her mouth, anything

she could choke on accidentally trying to chew… and I snuck her a little bit of that Snickers bar.

And you know what she did?

She threw me under the bus. One hundred percent.

The therapist came in and said, “Colleen! Are you ready to earn that Snickers bar today?”

And mom in all her exhaustion managed to reply “Oh, I’ve already had one!”

bite size snickers
The offender.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her with shock and excitement. Was that a complete sentence we just heard? With a hint of emotion in it? And then the meaning of that sentence started to sink in and shock slowly drained from the therapists face and turned to horror…

“Where did you get a Snickers bar, Miss Colleen?”

With no hesitation: “Megan.”

Spluttering, I explained what I had done and begged forgiveness. The therapist tried to be upset with me, but grudgingly admitted that she probably would do the same if she were in my shoes. And she was still really excited that mom had tried to show excitement. And that she had used a full sentence.

Mom didn’t pass the eating test that day… But it was worth it.

Lest you think I’ve given up on sneaking treats to my mom… Since then I’ve snuck her more Snickers bars… And I found a Wendy’s and have brought her kids size chocolate frosties. All very much still on the list of banned Foods… but her delight at eating them makes it worth the risk!

Now, as I’m feeding her these treats, sneaking them in while the nurses aren’t looking, I simply repeat over and over and over again “don’t tell anyone don’t tell anyone don’t tell anyone don’t tell anyone….” And she says “I would never” and I reply “but you did!” and I’m talking really fast and really quiet because I don’t want anyone to hear and come find out what we’re doing as I sneak another spoonful of chocolate ice cream into her mouth…

… she’s totally going to tattle on me again. Who cares. Chocolate fixes everything!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Life's too short for decaf coffee or annoying emails.

What I can't promise is regular, weekly emails. What I can promise is sporadic, humorous updates with a serious amount of gorgeous glassy adventures inside. Occasionally, there might even be a chance to join me for a cup o' coffee. (The really caffeinated kind!)

(function(global) {
function serialize(form){if(!form||form.nodeName!=="FORM"){return }var i,j,q=[];for(i=form.elements.length-1;i>=0;i=i-1){if(form.elements[i].name===""){continue}switch(form.elements[i].nodeName){case"INPUT":switch(form.elements[i].type){case"text":case"hidden":case"password":case"button":case"reset":case"submit":q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case"checkbox":case"radio":if(form.elements[i].checked){q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value))}break;case"file":break}break;case"TEXTAREA":q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case"SELECT":switch(form.elements[i].type){case"select-one":q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case"select-multiple":for(j=form.elements[i].options.length-1;j>=0;j=j-1){if(form.elements[i].options[j].selected){q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].options[j].value))}}break}break;case"BUTTON":switch(form.elements[i].type){case"reset":case"submit":case"button":q.push(form.elements[i].name+"="+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break}break}}return q.join("&")};

function extend(destination, source) {
for (var prop in source) {
destination[prop] = source[prop];
}
}

if (!Mimi) var Mimi = {};
if (!Mimi.Signups) Mimi.Signups = {};

Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation = function() {
this.initialize();

var _this = this;
if (document.addEventListener) {
this.form.addEventListener('submit', function(e){
_this.onFormSubmit(e);
});
} else {
this.form.attachEvent('onsubmit', function(e){
_this.onFormSubmit(e);
});
}
};

extend(Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation.prototype, {
initialize: function() {
this.form = document.getElementById('ema_signup_form');
this.submit = document.getElementById('webform_submit_button');
this.callbackName = 'jsonp_callback_' + Math.round(100000 * Math.random());
this.validEmail = /.+@.+..+/
},

onFormSubmit: function(e) {
e.preventDefault();

this.validate();
if (this.isValid) {
this.submitForm();
} else {
this.revalidateOnChange();
}
},

validate: function() {
this.isValid = true;
this.emailValidation();
this.fieldAndListValidation();
this.updateFormAfterValidation();
},

emailValidation: function() {
var email = document.getElementById('signup_email');

if (this.validEmail.test(email.value)) {
this.removeTextFieldError(email);
} else {
this.textFieldError(email);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

fieldAndListValidation: function() {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll('.mimi_field.required');

for (var i = 0; i = 0) {
return 'checkboxes';
} else {
return 'text_field';
}
},

checkboxAndRadioValidation: function(field) {
var inputs = field.getElementsByTagName('input'),
selected = false;

for (var i = 0; i < inputs.length; ++i) {
var input = inputs[i];
if((input.type === 'checkbox' || input.type === 'radio') && input.checked) {
selected = true;
}
}

if (selected) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) {
field.className += ' invalid';
}

this.isValid = false;
}
},

textAndDropdownValidation: function(field, type) {
var inputs = field.getElementsByTagName('input');

for (var i = 0; i = 0) {
if (type === 'text_field') {
this.textValidation(input);
} else {
this.dropdownValidation(field, input);
}
}
}
this.htmlEmbedDropdownValidation(field);
},

textValidation: function(input) {
if (input.id === 'signup_email') return;

if (input.value) {
this.removeTextFieldError(input);
} else {
this.textFieldError(input);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

dropdownValidation: function(field, input) {
if (input.value) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) field.className += ' invalid';
this.onSelectCallback(input);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

htmlEmbedDropdownValidation: function(field) {
var dropdowns = field.querySelectorAll('.mimi_html_dropdown');
var _this = this;

for (var i = 0; i < dropdowns.length; ++i) {
var dropdown = dropdowns[i];

if (dropdown.value) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) field.className += ' invalid';
this.isValid = false;
dropdown.onchange = (function(){ _this.validate(); });
}
}
},

textFieldError: function(input) {
input.className = 'required invalid';
input.placeholder = input.getAttribute('data-required-field');
},

removeTextFieldError: function(input) {
input.className = 'required';
input.placeholder = '';
},

onSelectCallback: function(input) {
if (typeof Widget === 'undefined' || !Widget.BasicDropdown) return;

var dropdownEl = input.parentNode,
instances = Widget.BasicDropdown.instances,
_this = this;

for (var i = 0; i < instances.length; ++i) {
var instance = instances[i];
if (instance.wrapperEl === dropdownEl) {
instance.onSelect = function(){ _this.validate() };
}
}
},

updateFormAfterValidation: function() {
this.form.className = this.setFormClassName();
this.submit.value = this.submitButtonText();
this.submit.disabled = !this.isValid;
this.submit.className = this.isValid ? 'submit' : 'disabled';
},

setFormClassName: function() {
var name = this.form.className;

if (this.isValid) {
return name.replace(/s?mimi_invalid/, '');
} else {
if (name.indexOf('mimi_invalid') === -1) {
return name += ' mimi_invalid';
} else {
return name;
}
}
},

submitButtonText: function() {
var invalidFields = document.querySelectorAll('.invalid'),
text;

if (this.isValid || !invalidFields) {
text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-default-text');
} else {
if (invalidFields.length || invalidFields[0].className.indexOf('checkgroup') === -1) {
text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-invalid-text');
} else {
text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-choose-list');
}
}
return text;
},

submitForm: function() {
this.formSubmitting();

var _this = this;
window[this.callbackName] = function(response) {
delete window[this.callbackName];
document.body.removeChild(script);
_this.onSubmitCallback(response);
};

var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = this.formUrl('json');
document.body.appendChild(script);
},

formUrl: function(format) {
var action = this.form.action;
if (format === 'json') action += '.json';
return action + '?callback=' + this.callbackName + '&' + serialize(this.form);
},

formSubmitting: function() {
this.form.className += ' mimi_submitting';
this.submit.value = this.submit.getAttribute('data-submitting-text');
this.submit.disabled = true;
this.submit.className = 'disabled';
},

onSubmitCallback: function(response) {
if (response.success) {
this.onSubmitSuccess(response.result);
} else {
top.location.href = this.formUrl('html');
}
},

onSubmitSuccess: function(result) {
if (result.has_redirect) {
top.location.href = result.redirect;
} else if(result.single_opt_in || !result.confirmation_html) {
this.disableForm();
this.updateSubmitButtonText(this.submit.getAttribute('data-thanks'));
} else {
this.showConfirmationText(result.confirmation_html);
}
},

showConfirmationText: function(html) {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll('.mimi_field');

for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i) {
fields[i].style['display'] = 'none';
}

(this.form.querySelectorAll('fieldset')[0] || this.form).innerHTML = html;
},

disableForm: function() {
var elements = this.form.elements;
for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; ++i) {
elements[i].disabled = true;
}
},

updateSubmitButtonText: function(text) {
this.submit.value = text;
},

revalidateOnChange: function() {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll(".mimi_field.required"),
_this = this;

for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i) {
var inputs = fields[i].getElementsByTagName('input');
for (var j = 0; j < inputs.length; ++j) {
if (this.fieldType(fields[i]) === 'text_field') {
inputs[j].onkeyup = function() {
var input = this;
if (input.getAttribute('name') === 'signup[email]') {
if (_this.validEmail.test(input.value)) _this.validate();
} else {
if (input.value.length === 1) _this.validate();
}
}
} else {
inputs[j].onchange = function(){ _this.validate() };
}
}
}
}
});

if (document.addEventListener) {
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();
});
}
else {
window.attachEvent('onload', function() {
new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();
});
}
})(this);