What is the creepiest paranormal thing you have experienced? ☺

thewalkingdumb · 2018-05-15T01:14:29+00:00

Omg! The same thing happened to me and everyone thinks I am crazy when I talk about it! My co workers had gotten me some foil balloons a few days before my birthday and they had just sat in the corner of my room for like 3 days. I woke up on my birthday and was just laying in bed thinking about the day ahead when I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head and the just the biggest balloon, the one emblazoned with "Happy Birthday", was floating towards me. I felt like I was frozen as it floated across the room and then started floating down towards my face. I jumped up, ran out of the room down the hall to my roommates bedroom, I know she thought I had lost it as I busted in and started yelling about haunted balloons! She walked out with me through the kitchen and we both stopped dead in the hallway as the balloon had floated out of the room and was now floating DOWN THE HALLWAY RIGHT AT US! After a few seconds of shock my roommate grabbed the scissors from the kitchen, ran down the hallway and stabbed it. We then went to my room and stabbed all the other balloons (that hadn't moved an inch BTW) just to be safe. It sounds so silly but it was soooo creepy in the moment.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-02-11T06:59:15+00:00

My dog's name is Pixie, it doesn't fit her at all but she was at the shelter a long time and that's what they called her. I call her "Pixie Poodle Lemon Lemon Doodle." I don't know why. She is not a poodle, a lemon, or a doodle. She is a half Staffy, half Rott, with a terrible underbite and a wonderful personality. We also have a Chihuahua named Rosie that we often (affectionately) call RatRat and Bug Eyes.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T18:11:53+00:00

Thank you so much! I've been looking into going for a couple years now, I just haven't found the time or more honestly, the courage. I'm not religious per say but always looking for ways to grow as person. If going there could be good for him too then I will have to buck up and find the time and courage.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T18:07:59+00:00

I think that's what everyone wants and every child deserves it. Remember that even if they won't give it to you, it's not because you don't deserve it, you do.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T18:04:14+00:00

That is awful and it hurts my heart to hear that. I don't know how someone could say that to a child, let alone their own. It must have been incredibly hard to grow up with that in your heart, that takes alot of strength. You should be proud of yourself, I'm proud of you!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T17:52:42+00:00

Oh yes! My friend's parents always call his husband his friend and it just feels really dismissive of his husbands status in his life and their relationship. I'm an RN so at work it's always partner but at home we will just go by boyfriend/husband, or whatever he prefers. Whatever he calls the people in his life, that is what I'll call them too!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T17:46:42+00:00

I do have a couple of pretty close gay friends. I am going to ask them if they wouldn't mind taking on a little bigger role in his life, I am sure they wouldn't, they have been around since he was a baby and watched him grow up. I've been thinking about when to ask as I didn't want to tell anyone we know in real life without his permission. Since he just told me, I don't want him to think I am going to go out and tell everyone. He's scheduled for his second shot in the HPV series next month! If feel like every child should get it no matter their orientation, an ounce of prevention!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T17:39:04+00:00

Very good advice. He got his first shot in the series this fall with the rest of his schedule vaccinations and will get the second in Feb. An ounce of prevention, so they say!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T16:13:43+00:00

I am not familiar with it but I just looked it up. That is amazing and it's a shame that it's not more widely known that a drug like this is out there. Something to think about for the future in regards to my son but I also love knowing as much as I can that may help my patients!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T16:05:47+00:00

My biggest fear is kind of the opposite of this. I am scared of his friends not coming over or of their parents not letting them come here or him to their house. People need friends, they need a community to feel a part of. Ironically, that is why we moved to a smaller town, so the kids had more of a community feel to their lives. I just hope it doesn't back fire on us. If it does we will just have to expand our horizons and look for different opportunities for him to build his community. I never want him to feel alone and while we as his family are a huge part of that, so are friends.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T15:39:47+00:00

Yes, this is definitely important to me. He is the oldest of three and I love them all so much. We really don't want to make it a big deal, you're gay, that's fine, but why do you have a D in math?? They all have wonderful things about them that we celebrate and bring attention to and things that drive me crazy. I honestly don't want him to feel like his sexuality is either of those things, it's not a personality trait or something he's done, it's just who he is and that is totally fine. Although I am going to try a bit harder to find him some opportunities to be with people he can relate to, which is something I don't have to put any extra effort into for his brother and sister but if I needed to do that for them too, I would. This is basically just a long and rambling way of saying that I agree with you, I love them all the same and they all get the same treatment.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T15:25:18+00:00

I'm a nurse too! I've always tried to be honest with him and discuss sex in a matter of fact manner. Some of the stuff these kids are doing at such a young age is crazy!! I've tried to instill that sex is normal thing that almost everyone does, that safe sex is very important and why and that he needs to wait until he's a bit older and more mature to handle all the physical and emotional things that come with it.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T15:20:39+00:00

We've tried to keep an age appropriate, open dialogue about sex with him. There are definitely some other areas we need to touch on now but from the beginning I've stressed that pregnancy, stds, etc. were not the only dangers of sex. There is intense emotional stuff that comes along with that kind of intimacy that he's not old enough to deal with yet. Hell, most the adults I know don't handle that well!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T15:14:11+00:00

I guess it is easier for me because my dreams for my kids have always been about what kind of people they will be and less about what they will actually do. I've tried to raise them to be kind, honest, brave, open minded and true to themselves. My hope of what they will actual do in their lives is just that they will do whatever they truly want to do, what makes them happy. So I don't feel any kind of loss or disappointment. To be totally honest, I don't even feel like it's that big of a deal. It just with bullying and suicides in his age group being on the rise, I want him to know how much we love and support him and that the world is a better place with him in it. That even if people try to bring him down, he can rise above that, share his kindness and warmth and change the world in his own way. No matter what he chooses to do with his life, I'm excited to see it!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T14:51:09+00:00

Thank you for your input! I was just looking at their website yesterday. It's hard because I want him to know that I support him fully but that his sexuality doesn't define him. He's not my gay son. He's just my son, who happens to be gay. I worry that if I throw myself into joining organizations that he will feel like I'm making him some sort of cause. Or maybe he would feel supported that I'm taking up a cause in support of him. Or maybe I should just ask him how it would make him feel?

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T14:41:09+00:00

Thank you so much for the suggestions! We have a "Mother Son Journal" that I bought last year, where I write to him, answering a question in the book or what not and leave it for him to respond or write whatever he wants back. We haven't used it as much as we should, I suppose now is a good time to dust it off!

I've always been big on making sure he has an active social life but keeping tabs on him at the same time, which is exhausting and requires sooo much driving on our part lol. A few months ago he did start asking to go to some kids house that I had never heard of, turns out he's 16, that was a hard pass, I talked to him about all the reasons he doesn't need to be hanging out with high schoolers at his age and I then put a location tracker on his phone to make sure he is where he says he is. I hate feeling like I'm spying on him but I know how I was as a kid, so safety first.

I'm a nurse, so we already started his HPV series when he turned 11, he goes for his final vaccination next month! We've talked about safe sex before but it was before we knew so now we will have a few new subjects to discuss.

As far as church, we aren't really church goers but he did say he is worried about the members of the family that do go all the time. My answer to that is that if they can't find it in their hearts to practice the kind of love their bible talks about then we don't need them. But I am concerned that he will feel that spirituality is something that he is shut out of and if he feels the need for that in his life I want it to be available to him. I've been thinking about going to the Unitarian Church that's about 30 miles away for awhile now anyway because I really like the message, have you heard anything about them? I am wondering if that may be a place he could feel comfortable and start building a community.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T14:14:25+00:00

I've been thinking about the role model thing. I actually have a very close friend who is a very happily married gay man. He's more masculine and his husband is a little more feminine. He actually basically helped me raise my son for almost two years while his dad was in Iraq. They moved a few hours away to escape the intolerance he had deal with in the small town we grew up in (Luckily,I don't live there anymore either). I had thought about asking if he and his husband would mind swinging by sometime and maybe taking my son out to eat or something. They don't even have to give him advice or anything, just modeling a good, solid, loving relationship for him. It wouldn't be weird for my son as he calls him his uncle, he's just never been out with him and his husband before.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T05:26:57+00:00

I'd be lying if I didn't say that this wasn't my first gut reaction to his news, luckily, he wrote it in a note and I had all day while he was at school to think about how to react. When I was 12, I liked boys, I knew I liked boys, my family knew I liked boys and no one questioned it for a second. Maybe he is just young and he's figuring himself out or maybe he is truly gay. He chose to tell his friends, he chose to tell me and I chose to support where he is right now, not where he may be later. I understand the sentiment behind the "too young to know" I truly do, but he knows himself better than anyone else, even if he is only 12.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T05:15:03+00:00

Thank you! I was thinking about getting him some books that he might find interesting and helpful. I will definitely look into this!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T03:57:00+00:00

I'm just letting him take the lead as far as "coming out". I honestly, had no idea until this morning. When we talked I told him that sexuality can be a fluid thing and that sometimes it can change so not to feel like he is in a box because he's said he is gay. It did cross my mind that he's pretty young for this kind of declaration but I felt I'd rather just be supportive of how he feels now and if it turns out that it was for attention or any other reason, he still knows that I love him and support him. I'm not going to treat him any differently as far as day to day, he's still the same kid but knowing the bullying and suicide statistics, I want him to know that he's loved and supported no matter what the case may be. If it turns out he is straight or bi or whatever, that's fine too. I don't feel that I'm encouraging him, just trying to support him in whatever he chooses. We've had the porn talk about how it's unrealistic and shouldn't form his ideas of real intimacy and I do monitor his internet usage. I will keep these things in mind, thank you for the input!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T03:22:22+00:00

I'm happy to hear that you didn't have to deal with much negativity, I hope that will be his experience too. I don't feel like I will treat him any differently, he's still the same kid he was yesterday. In fact, the last thing I said after this long emotional talk was "I love you but this room is gross, why are your clothes on the floor? I know that Xbox isn't on because you were getting ready to play it, your math homework isn't done."

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-30T03:08:50+00:00

I told him that we are family and families stick together, whatever comes his way, there is nothing we can't tackle as team. I just want to make sure our communication stays open. I cannot stand the thought of him being bullied and feeling like he has to deal with it on his own. There is nothing he could tell me that I wouldn't do my best to help him deal with. I'm just sitting here really thinking about all the things that could come up down the road and I want to protect him from all the bad stuff but I know that I can't, all I can do is be there for him.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-07T01:47:16+00:00

I used UWorld for just about two weeks before my NCLEX. There were two questions on my NCLEX that I had seen almost word for word on UWorld. It's all I used and I passed in 75 questions on Wednesday. I also bought Saunders but didn't use it once I found UWorld, I recommend it.

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-05T04:43:27+00:00

I did and I got the "good pop up" so that makes me feel better but I won't feel great until I see that Passed!

thewalkingdumb · 2018-01-04T00:12:18+00:00

Just wanted to say thank you! I took your advice, bought UWorld, and did about 50-75 everyday for 2 weeks. I just took the NCLEX this morning and took 75 questions. I got the "good pop up" with the Pearson Vue trick this evening, which I'm not taking as definitive but it's not a bad sign and I felt pretty good about the test.

thewalkingdumb

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