Well, something was bound to happen, wasn’t it? What, but with me poking my nose into all kind of things, and talking about this, that, the other, until something happens.
And when one keeps pushing and shoving and being a general nuisance, one might get a phone call asking one to become “IT”. This happened to me a few weeks ago when I received a call from Down Syndrome
My initial reaction was to allow the Iamonly Syndrome’s voice fill my head. It went something like this: “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod... Oh – My - God! National TV! Prime Time Morning Show! Live! Me? Surely someone else would be better! I mean, I am only a grandmother...” But then, that’s the point, isn’t it? So I told the inner voice to shut up and get back into its box, and simply said: “OK. Let’s do this”.
In the end, it happened today, and it was not only me on the set, but also Cathal and his Mammy. A nice little family unit, in keeping with the theme.
The whole thing was very easy, we were made very welcomed. In the waiting area, Cathal was having lots of fun looking around, and playing with his mammy, and with me. Different story went we went on the set: he got a big fright from all the lights, became quite upset, and just managed to hold it, kind of, during the interview. And once outside again, he got back to his cheerful self! You know what they say about working with children and animals...?
And how did we do? Well, you can see for yourself below, but I must say I am quite proud of Cathal’s Mammy!
This little prince of mine is challenging me no end. This is another first that would not have happened without his extra little chromosome 21.
And if it helped just one person, it was worth it.
11 comments:
I love that! It was so lovely to see you all 'in the flesh'- almost anyway. And good on Cathal for exploding another myth for us- that kids with DS are always happy ;) LOL
Congrats Nan:) What a wonderful representation for grandparents!! You are such a rockstar:) And Mr. Cathal's television debut.......PERFECT!!!!
Wow....this is just so cool!! All of you did such a great job!!! You articulated your feelings and your journey of processing Cathal's diagnosis just fabulously! What a lucky woman your daughter is to have such a strong advocate for her son... but also to have you as such a great support for her. Nan......you are just so beautiful inside and out!
Hey....didn't you blog once about those fun, kicky, blue boots??!! ;)
This will help many, many people...and I couldn't think of a better person to promote Down Syndrome Ireland on behalf of grandparents! ....Just so cool!
What a great interview and such a special moment for you all to be involved in. I am Granny to Noah one of Cathal's little pals and could relate so much to what you said Pascal. Noah is our first Grandchild too and I felt quite emotional listening to you and being reminded of my feelings at the time. But I found you very up lifting, to again be reminded of how great being a Grandmother is. It was great to see you 'live' and very well done to you all although Cathal was a little camera shy!! I do keep up with his progress via the blog and it's great to see him developing so well. This is my first post and probably is a bit too long but I felt I must write you a response and congratulate you.
Jo Thompson
You looked HAWT!http://nanp-journey.blogspot.com/
Well Done! Wonderful to see the three of you.
même si je n'ai pas tout compris, c'était très intéressant. Sylvaine et toi passiez bien à l'image et les deux présentateurs ont bien mis vos propos en valeur. bel interview et beau sourire de Sylvaine! gaétan a aimé aussi vous voir et entendre Cathal! dom and CO
Well done Hot Nan P! You looked fab and you did a fantastic job.
It was great to see you for real....and now I know your real name too! Makes everything more real.
You did a great job on behalf of DSI for Grandparents....very important. Great plug for the oul' blog too!! Well done.
Would you allow me to share this blog post on facebook?? No problem if it's not something you'd like to do :)) xx Jazzy
Thank you all for your comments. In particular:
Jo – Thank you for dropping in. No comment is ever too long. The whole point of the interview is that no one should feel isolated. Discovering that your grandchild has DS is traumatic, but there is help out there, for the whole family, if one knows where to go. As for Noah, he is such a little darling! I hope that he and Cathal get down to plenty of mischief together in the years to come, just to keep their respective parents on their toes. ;-)
Mel – a child is a child, DS or no DS, happy, sad, cranky... It’s true some people don’t see that. And a child does what a child needs to do, even cry when appearing on live TV!
Kelly – Thank you. There is no stopping Cathal now!
Cheri – good on you to notice my funky crinkly blue boots! There was nothing better to go with my funky crinkly jeans! One must keep with one’s image, mustn’t one?
Lisa – I have already been called a “hot blooded mama” following a previous post (thank you, Elbog, I laughed so much at that!) but to be called “HAWT” by my virtual grand-daughter who is not bad looking herself, now THAT is a compliment.
Dom (p’tite soeur) - je t’expliquerai tout dans 15 jours quand on se vera. Bisous.
Jazzy – thank you, but they got my surname wrong – misspelled and mispronounced. Goes to show that, despite the emails and phone calls before hand to prepare, they can still get it wrong. As for Facebook, the video is already on the TV3 website and You Tube, so it’s ok with me… Haven’t gone and signed up there yet myself, I should really, shouldn’t I?
Yes....yes you should!! Then we could all be friends over there too! It's great fun, you'd enjoy it!
I will share your post so..thanks! xx Jazzy
Hi Pascale,
Great interview...Well done!
You are looking wonderful and sounding even better..... The little peek we got of Cathal was great .. he looks lovely...
Take care Kathryn
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