Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

I suppose it’s possible for somebody to change her viewpoint without leaving home or meeting new people, but it’d be difficult. Maybe if she reads thousands and thousands of essays and articles with a true desire to learn and become more, she’d be able to make it happen.  But whoah, it’d be hard.   Experiences and […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Janine Huldie - Aw, Kristi I couldn’t love this post more if I tried!! Honestly, I have learned so much over the years, especially since I have been blogging over the last 8+ years of sharing with you and others. So can totally relate. What can I say? But thanks for sharing with me, too ❤️December 9, 2019 – 7:49 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Aw thanks, Janine! It’s amazing what we connect with through blogging. I’ll forever be grateful for finding you and FTSF and thank you for YOU.December 9, 2019 – 8:35 pmReplyCancel

  • clark - While there is no question that getting out, into the world and meeting people is one of the most effective ways to change, improve, modify and other enhance one’s self (relative to the world we experience each day*), I can’t say enough for the virtual world.

    Imo, reality is both the physical world and the people who populate it, whether they are friends we have known forever or the people we encounter each day, at the gas station or supermarket.

    The thing for me about the virtual world is that it puts so many people within reach.**

    Maybe a better way to say it is, many of the people here in the virtual world are, somehow, more accessible for some of us.
    And, this bloghop is, of course, the best example of the best of the internet. People of like minds.

    I would say without hesitation that my time spent, here in the blogosphere especially, has not simply enriched my view of the world. It has encouraged me to change and develop parts of myself that I might not have otherwise been likely to, in the ‘real’ world.

    (I mean, seriously, I work with some decent and intelligent enough people, but to go into the office tomorrow and say, ‘Hey lets get all the other agents in here, I want to tell them about this time when I was at the dentist and thought I had travelled in time!’)

    Maybe not.

    I remain forever grateful for your welcome way back, in the before time, when I started to participate in the FTSF.

    * almost made it through the first sentence without…. getting all clarklike lol oh well.
    ** sure, most of us can find bunches of people to talk to and get to know and al,l as we go through out daily….er days. but that doesn’t mean they’ll listen to what you might want to share.December 10, 2019 – 4:30 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - You’re so right. I can’t believe I didn’t think of including how powerful online connections are. Oh wait – I did this at the last second and my brain is cheese. I do love that our online connections last and are so deep – we truly do share so much more through our writing than we would at the office water cooler.
      I’m so so glad you and I found one another from FTSF. I kinda miss the “before time” when more people would engage and comment. Blogging has changed a lot. So many of my buddies no longer blog at all. It’s sad, but I get it.
      LOL to getting all clarklike. No worries on that ever. It’s one of my favorite things about the Original Clark! 🙂December 12, 2019 – 6:26 pmReplyCancel

  • Tamara - I started blogging – quite simply – to hold myself accountable for writing. Sheesh, that took some turns. Most unexpected!

    Oddly, I was more fine with kids before I had them. Meaning I barely blinked from loud kids on planes or in restaurants. And I still really don’t but now that I’m around kids all the time, I don’t like the rude ones!

    Also, I’ve never left North America so I think my worldview is still going to change like.. a dozen times! At least!December 10, 2019 – 6:20 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - It’s amazing how many twists and turns blogging takes us, isn’t it? I don’t like the rude kids either. Especially the ones that aren’t nice to my kid.
      Here’s to all our worldviews changing at least a dozen times more. Growing, being, becoming, learning…December 12, 2019 – 6:27 pmReplyCancel

  • Lizzi - That random thing which unites us with other people and puts us into the same space with them, is just fabulous and definitely life-changing. So glad you had your mind changed on the things which mattered, once you realised they did.
    I’m so glad I had my mind changed for the better by blogging and the people I met here. Thank you for being one of them 😊😊😊December 10, 2019 – 10:55 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I’m so glad to be one of yours – and it’s true. Blogging really does help broaden our views and I can’t believe I didn’t include that part in this post. Thanks for being one of mine <3December 12, 2019 – 6:28 pmReplyCancel

People say dogs have no sense of time. I search my memories for proof of this but right now, I think only of our current dog, Nugget. She’s at home in her crate. Today, we have human-only places to be.   “She can hold it,” I reply, in response to questions about her bladder and bowels. […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Jenny - Omg how do you do this? You nail all the feels a lot.November 22, 2019 – 9:31 pmReplyCancel

  • Lydia - Dogs are always at their best (no matter what their best may be) so they are always in the moment….no need to tick off time…November 22, 2019 – 10:44 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Dogs are just amazing and I’m so thankful to have the love of one now and to have had the love of ones before her. Life is better with dogs. Here’s to us learning to be in the moment from them! I could use that lesson!November 24, 2019 – 8:33 pmReplyCancel

  • Lizzi - Totally disagree about dogs not being selfish! Ours is ridiculous. And clingy. And needy. And obstinate in the extreme! She definitely knows when we’re gone though, and is thrilled when we’re back.November 23, 2019 – 4:20 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Hm. I guess you’re right about them being selfish with wanting more belly rubs and snuggles and and and. Yes. to the obstinate. But, I think when it comes to life and death and giving of love that they are very unselfish. I mean, they don’t even get mad at us for going to work although I do think they miss us when we’re gone. I’m so glad you and Zoe got your Bonnie girl!November 24, 2019 – 8:35 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - Wait…cringy is now an “out” word? Ugh, you’re right, time does move too quick sometimes. As for dogs, I wonder the same thing about them — does 5 minutes and 5 hours feel the same for them?? No matter what, dogs are seriously the best “people” ever.:) P.S. And that lights photo is beautiful!November 23, 2019 – 9:36 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Cringy is out according to Tucker. And well, it’s been around a few years so I tend to believe him. Sigh. I still use it though – maybe even more since he thinks it’s cringy <---- HA! I always wonder that about dogs too - like, is a good nights sleep the same when you nap half the day? Totally agree that dogs are the best people. As Clark says "the perfect life form." Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!November 24, 2019 – 8:40 pmReplyCancel

  • Rebecca - I love that you say that the precious memories of the important moments to us are truly when time stands still. They are like tangible imprints on our brains when we were completely immersed in that particular moment, absorbing all the ‘feels.’
    I so agree, dear friend.November 24, 2019 – 1:59 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - It’s so funny about time and the moments. I don’t know if it’s exactly like time standing still or if our memory of the moment is so precise and detailed that it’s as if time stands still. I do know those precious times are different from the moments that drag though… And thanks, you!November 24, 2019 – 8:42 pmReplyCancel

  • Christine Carter - Ah, time controls so much of my days too, Kristi. It’s inevitable, I suppose. But I love how you described those moments that are truly timeless- those profound experiences where we have no clock ticking within us, but rather we are set free if only for a short while, to capture what overcomes us and transforms something inside of us. Time truly does stand still when this happens and I’m so grateful for that!November 25, 2019 – 9:04 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I do cherish those moments when I’m completely unaware of time ticking by. That it keeps passing anyway is something I am reminded of by looking in the mirror. Gah. xoxooNovember 25, 2019 – 10:39 amReplyCancel

  • Tamara - I remember when my childhood dog, Chelsea, was still pretty young and we were going away for two weeks without her. She was being boarded and we were in Myrtle Beach. I was crying and my babysitter said, “Don’t worry! For them, time doesn’t feel the way it does for us.”
    Such wise words. Time is human-created so really, what does it feel like for dogs? A blink and an eternity?November 27, 2019 – 7:20 amReplyCancel

As a kid, Thanksgiving meant driving from Denver to Colorado Springs to gather with my mom’s family or my dad’s brother’s family. I can’t remember whether we ever saw them both on the same day, but suppose we must have.  Although I can’t tell you the year, I remember the day I didn’t eat turkey. […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Lizzi - I definitely think that no matter what the special occasion, the point is the relationships, not the stuff. It’s the people around us and the atmosphere that turns into lasting memories. Have a good Thanksgiving.November 14, 2019 – 11:04 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Definitely agree. With the right people, the everyday is a celebration, and with the wrong people, the celebrations are a chore, right? xoNovember 16, 2019 – 10:37 amReplyCancel

  • Emily - Have a great Thanksgiving Kristi! I know mine will be good because I’m not cooking – haha!November 15, 2019 – 8:18 amReplyCancel

  • clark - surely it, (Thanksgiving), is one of the Big Two (and) 1/2 and 1/2 mandatory holidays left in our culture*

    The strongest, most persistent memory of T-Giving (avoid visuals of Milla Jovovich) for me would be childhood Thanksgivingseses when the cut crystal bowl of nuts and the really cool tools was set out in the living room. That, and Planters Cocktail peanuts.

    “…figured out we were allowed to skip it.”

    Say what you will about rites of passage and life’s milestones, that first time you get to stay home on Thanksgiving is totally up there in the top three.

    Fun FTSF

    A good holiday to you and Tucker and Nugget and Robert this year.

    * the other full holiday being Christmas. The remaining 1/2 and 1/2 holidays being New Year’s Eve** and Fourth of July

    ** New Years Eve once had rounded out the original Big Three of our parents, but, suffered the fate, much like the former planet ‘Pluto’ of being found to be too inconsequential and demoted to ‘planetoid’ or, in this case, holidaette)November 15, 2019 – 1:27 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Your comments are the best. A good holiday to you and yours, as well, although I must ask where Halloween comes into play here. I mean, Fourth of July is extra special here (T’s bday) and I agree that New Years is less than at least for us. We usually stay in or go to the mountains and snow tube on the first day of the year… but Halloween? We may have more decorations for it than we do for Christmas. Just a thought.
      Also, poor Pluto.
      I miss the holidays when nuts were set out and getting them at the grandparent’s etc.November 16, 2019 – 11:26 pmReplyCancel

  • Rebecca - Laughter and lots of games! Yes that’s what makes it so fun to be around family even if there are some prickly ones in the group. Tucker is so lucky to be around your extended family this Thanksgiving- truly that’s what matters even if the turkey doesn’t turn out super perfect!November 16, 2019 – 6:08 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Definitely, the very best, and thank you. Hopefully, it’ll go well. The turkey will be great, I know. Down in Tennessee, they deep fry them, and they are super-juicy. It’s the other stuff that’s stressful.November 16, 2019 – 11:28 pmReplyCancel

  • Tamara - Ah, isn’t that the way? You remember the moments but not the years. They all blur together.
    And oh my, that turkey/pheasant story. Yeah, that would make me temporarily vegetarian for sure.
    It’s an off year for us. My parents are hosting a big one in NJ and they’ll have tons of people and at least three of my siblings. My in-laws are hosting in Florida and it will be warm.
    We’re hosting here with my other in-laws and two cousins. Eight people, great food, laughter and love.November 21, 2019 – 8:46 pmReplyCancel

  • Christine Carter - Aw!! I loved going down memory lane with your history of Thanksgiving experiences, Kristi. I just cooked my FIRST turkey last year- at age 51. LOL.

    I hope this year’s Thanksgiving is just as perfect as you wish it to be…November 25, 2019 – 7:47 amReplyCancel

I can only think of one girl with a slight disability from when I was in high school. She had a few fingers missing from one hand. I didn’t know any kids with Down Syndrom, autism, or who used a wheelchair. I wonder where they were. Today, I know a lot of people with differing […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Rebecca - I’m practically speechless!! What an incredible event! The message of acceptance and being your beautiful self comes across as boldly as possible and must give everyone who attends such an inspirational lift. Henry Winkler is a gorgeous man -inside and out- I love how he wrote his own children’s book about his dyslexia.
    Thank you SO much for the signed copy of Marco’s wonderful book! Can’t wait to get it and read it to all my kids, especially Brady.November 9, 2019 – 7:12 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - It really was an amazing event. Life-changing, and inspiring, and just beautiful all around. I feel so lucky to have been able to attend. And yes, Henry Winkler is just incredible. So kind and wonderful. xoxo I’ll send your book once I get them from Mardra 🙂
      I know all the kids will love it. It’s Tucker’s favorite.November 11, 2019 – 11:11 amReplyCancel

  • Tamara Bowman - Omg so much here. First of all… the Fonz! And attending that beautiful event again!
    And yes, a boy in my fourth grade class had (has) CP and we’d help him with carrying books and such.
    These days our school follows and inclusive classroom model. I’ve seen it backfire in other schools and flourish in ours.November 12, 2019 – 8:39 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Attending the event again was just wow. I’m glad your elementary school was already inclusive when you were a kid! And our school is mostly inclusive here although there’s a class for kids with higher needs too.November 14, 2019 – 6:17 pmReplyCancel

Fearing Heights This photo makes my stomach drop. I’m terrified of heights and am pretty sure my fear has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. “How in the world did you jump out of an airplane?” my husband has asked. More than once. At 13,000 feet, height doesn’t feel scary any longer. Up there, it’s […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Adelaide Dupont - Headiness and pheromones?October 24, 2019 – 11:17 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - I have that right before I fall asleep falling thing too! It must be a mom-worry type of dream maybe? Anyway, I’m not afraid of heights, BUT I would never jump out of an airplane, now or way back when either. My husband is very afraid of heights so we stay on the ground as much as possible. 🙂October 25, 2019 – 10:43 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - YOU DO??? Wow. I wonder what it is – maybe a mom worry thing for sure. I don’t think I used to have it before becoming a mom… but now I wonder. Huh. I’m glad it’s not just me – but how seriously weird. LOL to “we stay on the ground as much as possible.” Same here, these days. Except mountains because well, mountains. I have to close my eyes a lot though.October 26, 2019 – 9:49 pmReplyCancel

  • Rebecca - Oh yes! I get that panicky ‘lizard brained’ love. It’s kind of funny how it sometimes plays out but we do it so we are less anxious about the what ifs.
    Jumping into opportunities even if we don’t know what the ups and downs may ultimately be – so important, especially for our kids. It allows us to grow and them to become more confident in their own skin, more independent. I’m so glad you take those risks for Tucker and for you!!October 25, 2019 – 7:50 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Lizard brain love is kind of funny in itself I suppose and I agree that it’s funny how it plays out. Here’s to opportunities we jump into for ourselves and for our kids – I’m so glad I said yes to PAC. Just think – I might not otherwise know you and that’d be awful. Well, I’d probably know you since we were room moms together, but still, I get to know you better and for longer because of PAC.October 26, 2019 – 9:51 pmReplyCancel

  • Christine Carter - I cannot BELIEVE you jumped out of an airplane and did it multiple times! Girl, you are courageous!

    I love how you related this to parenting your sweet boy and all the jumps you have had to take for him.

    Parenting our kids is one scary jump after another really. I’m terrified of heights and would never ever even climb a ladder- but for my kids?

    I’d scale the Rockies for them.October 26, 2019 – 1:58 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Well, ladders are totally terrifying. And yeah, the things we do for our kids, right? Also, regarding sky diving, it’s funny but it’s almost fake heights that high up – like unreal enough to not be scary or something. No way I’d do it now, but hey… out pasts are what they are. xoOctober 26, 2019 – 9:52 pmReplyCancel

  • Tamara - You really do live on top of the world! I gotta get there one day.
    Also, Scarlet doesn’t smell yet but I know it’s coming and I’m scared!

    So interesting that you literally “fall” asleep. I know that feeling you’re describing! And also, I have a tendency to catastrophize.. Oh, big time. I have worksheets about it.October 28, 2019 – 7:24 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - You have worksheets?? Inquiring minds want to know. And yeah, so weird that I literally “fall” asleep. I wonder what it’s about. And OMG please come out this way – you all can stay with us! We have so much more room here than in DC. It does feel like the top of the world standing on Pikes Peak, and others… but then you go higher and realize there’s always higher. Well, maybe not always because Everest and stuff, but still. I’m ok with saying I’ll probably never experience that one.November 1, 2019 – 11:23 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Oh and Tucker mostly doesn’t smell, but if it’s been two days since a shower (yup it happens), then sometimes, I get the pre-smell whiff of smell, if that makes sense. Like, tonight.November 1, 2019 – 11:24 pmReplyCancel

I was going through old Halloween posts because Finish the Sentence Friday goes live in mere minutes, and I haven’t started. Haven’t even thought about it honestly. Also? I’m so in love with old Halloween photos. Robert’s wearing a fake belly, in case you were wondering. Yes, he’s a weird weirdo. This still cracks me […]

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by Kristi Campbell

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  • Tamara - “You don’t know my name because I come from another planet. It’s called Ninja Planet!” SO. CUTE!
    I love the fake belly (and you explaining it.. hahaha) and his faces in those photos!
    THE. BEST.
    Would always love to win a book to read!October 18, 2019 – 8:41 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I’ll enter you and I love Ninja Planet, too. I’d forgotten about it. I (of course) adore every age but gah, do I miss babier him!October 20, 2019 – 8:59 pmReplyCancel

  • Jen Kupper - You are the special needs legend I think I saw your video and thank you. I sent you a friend request I hope you will accept.October 18, 2019 – 11:57 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Hardly legend! I’ll definitely accept your friend request. Unless, you’re like a bot or whatever 😉October 20, 2019 – 9:00 pmReplyCancel

  • Rebecca Vaughn - YAY!!! You get to go experience the whole event again! I’m so excited for you. Hooray that Tucker will get the needed speech therapy so he can blossom even more. He’s come SO FAR and I know that with the twice a week therapy, he’ll master those difficult R sounds. I think it’s so cool that Tucker doesn’t feel so embarrassed anymore this. We all have our difficulties, Tucker. You are a superhero in my book because you keep on showing up and trying each and every day!October 21, 2019 – 10:24 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I’m so grateful to be experiencing the event again. I need to find out if my dad’s up for having Tucker for like eight hours again this year… or maybe his cousins. And yeah, he’s come SO FAR but it was sad to see the % for kids his age. I mean, I expected it, but still. Here’s to trying and showing up for all of us – the boys and their mamas!!October 21, 2019 – 8:22 pmReplyCancel

  • Christine Carter - Oh, friend, I know that disappointment well- that startle of reality in learning your child needs more help than you thought- but OH am I glad he will get it!

    Those old Halloween pics and videos are PRECIOUS.October 27, 2019 – 9:50 amReplyCancel

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