Sicknessmomsense

Meredith Cornish, 31, and
Michael dont have a typical

family. Of their nine children,
five have Down syndrome and
one has spastic quadriplegic
cerebral palsy. Four are adopt-
ed from Ukraine.
The mom starts her day
greeting 13-month-old Delaina
and grabbing clothing. She
helps those who cant dress
themselves and gets everyone
to the breakfast table. That
includes Lynae, 4; Brianna,
James and Micah, all 7; Kris-
topher, 9; Emma and Aleksa,
both 10.
Then she goes to one bed-
room and steps over the feed-
ing pump to lift 8-year-old
Wesley out of bed and change
him.
Most weekdays are a combi-
nation of homeschooling and
play time, doctors appoint-
ments and specialists, house-
work and meal times, comput-
ers and iPads.
When the kids go to bed
and her husband heads out for
a 30-mile bicycle ride, her day
ends with Facebook, Blogger, a
Christian fiction novel or ho-
meschool planner.
QUESTION: Howdo you
manage so many kids, most
with special needs?
ANSWER: It takes a lot of
creativity, a lot of chocolate
and a desire to see success in
every one of our kids. ... It also
takes a very strong faith in
God and commitment to my
husband (and him to me) and
to our children. We have some
involved family that is local
and one well-trained baby
sitter.
Q: What motivated you to
adopt?
A: We are a second-genera-
tion adoptive family. We chose
special-needs adoption after
the birth of our second biolog-
ical child, who was diagnosed
with Down syndrome when
she was 8 weeks old.
Q: Any specific challenges
as a momof an adoptive
family?
A: For most of our adopted
children, they didnt have any
knowledge or experience of
what a family was before join-
ing ours. How each child needs
to be taught, disciplined or
loved differs just as every child
differs from one to the next,
but we have the extra chal-
lenge of taking into consider-
ation their previous life expe-
riences.
Q: What have you learned?
A: Societally, being inconve-
nienced is something people
try to avoid, however the
amount of inconvenience that
we experience when expand-
ing our family through adop-
tion is nothing compared to
the inconvenience of not
having a family.
LOOK WHOS TALKING
Meredith Cornish and husband Michael have nine
children at their home in Titusville. Front row:
Lynae, 4; Micah, 7; James, 7; and Wesley, 8. Back:
Kristopher, 9; Brianna, 7; Delaina, 1; Emma, 10; and
Aleksa, 10. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY
MEREDITH
CORNISH
By Lee Nessel
FLORIDA TODAY
ONLINE
Read the full interview at
floridatoday.com/turbomom.
FLORIDA TODAY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 7E
W
hen my son was 3, I
sawhimdo some-
thing utterly horrify-
ing.
Id taken himto the gro-
cery store and plopped himin
the kids seat in the shopping
cart. As we meandered
through the aisles, it hap-
pened.
He licked the handlebar.
It was like watching a
slow-motion, action-movie
sequence. I tried to stop him.
I sawthe mouth open, the
tongue unfurl and the face
close in. I screamed out. But
it was too late. And, of course,
he chose to violate a shopping
cart at the one store that
doesnt supply sanitizing
wipes at the door and I
didnt have any on me. Who
knows what science experi-
ment was brewing on that
thing.
A day or so later, my poor
baby was stricken with sal-
monella or E. coli. I cant
remember which because I
slept in shifts at that time of
my life. My memorys a bit
fuzzy.
Fromthat day on, that
kids been the Master of Gas-
trointestinal Disaster. My
own nonclinical diagnosis
(besides its just a side effect
of slobbering on a grocery
cart): He's a reticent hand-
washer.
It's common sense, really.
And just check out the Cen-
ters for Disease Control or
Mayo Clinic's websites: The
best defense against the
stomach bug is frequent and
thorough handwashing.
That's 20 seconds of a good
scrubdown, whether it's be-
fore eating, post-potty or
after playing in a pile of dead
cockroaches. But try getting
a 6-year-old, iron-willed wild-
man to followsuit. Some-
times I spot-check his hand-
washing and bust himfor not
using soap.
God only knows what
germs he's touched. Or
licked.
So, inevitably, a stomach
funk seems to smack us on an
annual basis.
Three generations of the
Paulson clan were wiped out
during a Disney family get-
together last year. My family
had been staying at a three-
bedroomvilla with my par-
ents and my sister and her
brood when my boy suddenly
tossed his cookies in the car-
peted walkway between two
of the bedrooms. One by one,
we each fell ill. Even my
sister, whod for months been
anticipating her vacation
away fromChicago, her hub-
by and her two girls, ages 1
and 3. She couldnt wait to
wrap up her vacation after
that welcome wagon.
Last weekend, history
repeated itself.
Thursday morning, it was
apparent my little guys stom-
ach was giving himproblems,
so I decided to keep him
home fromschool. I utilized a
fewsick hours and went into
work late. I could tell he
wasn't himself. The kid who's
known to catapult himself
over the top of a loveseat was
just lying there, watching a
morning news showwith me.
In a heart-before-brains
moment, I moved to his couch
and held him, planting kisses
on his forehead every so
often.
The next day, I'd hoped we
were in the clear. But it be-
came apparent we weren't
while I was out with some
friends for dinner that night.
When it comes to eating, I
can pack it in like a teenage
boy. But when I sat at the
table looking down at my
half-eaten empanada dinner, I
knewI was in trouble. I cut
my night short, hurried home
and began praying. To the
porcelain god.
My daughter, 10, got bit by
the bug, too. She was buried
beneath three blankets, burn-
ing up as her teeth chattered.
Luckily, that was the worst of
it for her. I spent the next 36
hours shifting between lying
in bed and cooling my over-
heated face on the bathroom
floor. I felt wretched.
But it didnt end with me.
The hubby got hit. So did my
dad.
As Imwriting this, its
eight days since that morning
my son stayed home from
school. My stomach still isnt
right. For now, I retain the
palate of a toddler. Maybe its
best. My clothes were getting
a bit tight, anyway.
Still, I plan to pump up my
efforts to encourage exces-
sive hygiene in our house-
hold. My sister and creware
coming to visit next month.
And while my dad, the
final soul stricken by this last
round, is on the mend, my
momreturning to Florida
seems a little worried
about beginning her snow-
bird season on the heels of a
sickness outbreak.
She was tempted to spray
down my dads car and him
with disinfectant spray
when he picked her up at the
airport.
I just hope she didnt lick
the airplane seatbelt buckle.
Season of sickness is upon us
No matter how many times youve had it, the stomach flu is tough
to endure. FLORIDA TODAY FILE ILLUSTRATION
Hygiene takes a
front seat as germs
attack loved ones
SARA
PAULSON
CAMODECA
MOMSENSE
Contact Camodeca at 321-242-3783 or
scamodeca@floridatoday.com.
WE ASKED,
YOU ANSWERED...
What's your favorite
breakfast to enjoy
with your family on
the weekends?
One that I don't
have to cook and I can
actually enjoy the
company of my
family.
CINDY GIACINTO-TORREALBA
We love pancakes,
cheese hash browns
and fresh O.J. from
Harvey's Groves!
LYNN MCCARVILLE
Join the conversation
at facebook.com/
TurboMomatFloridaToday.
BRAND X PICTURES/THINKSTOCK
PHOTODISC/THINKSTOCK
Dinner time ideas
In honor of Family Day: A Day to Eat
Dinner with Your Children, which is
Monday, were giving you some
ideas on how to make dinner time a
little more creative. Informed Fam-
ilies will lead a statewide effort for
Family Day, according to a news
release. For more information, visit
flfamilyday.com.
No electronic devices such as
laptops, smartphones, e-readers,
etc., at the table. This applies to
parents as well.
Breakfast for dinner. Switch up
things and try French toast and
sausage at night or bacon and eggs.
Have your family dress in pajamas.
Ask open-ended questions.
Instead of, How was school to-
day? try What was the best thing
that happened to you in school
today? Ask, then listen. Avoid
questions where your child can
answer, yes, no or fine.
Dinnertime should be positive.
Try not to talk about rules, discipline
or argue at the table. Provide posi-
tive feedback and compliment each
other.
Dont get distracted by the
fancy, hi-def flatscreen TV with
surround sound. Save that for an-
other time. Engage in conversation
with your family at the dinner table.
Try theme nights like sundaes
on Sundays or Throwback Thurs-
day dinners, where you make a
meal that you ate as a child.
Jennifer Sangalang, FLORIDA TODAY
FAMILY TIME
floridatoday.com/turbomom
TURBO MOMEDITOR Sharon Kindred | skindred@floridatoday.com
Contact Lee Nessel at lnessel@florida
today.com or 321-242-3640 or follow her
on Twitter @leenessel.

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Meredith Cornish, 31, and

Michael dont have a typical

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