Strike a Pose

I made an enormous amount of chili today.  About 6 gallons.  I'm a regular old Mama Dugger, I am.  Minus 15 kids.  Tomorrow we have another swim meet about an hour and a half away.  Warm ups start at 7am.  I still have to pack us up, clean up the kitchen, stash the chili in the freezer (which will require a bit of a game of Jinga), shower, and go to bed.  

My time is short.

So I asked on FaceBook for ideas and questions to write about tonight.  I thought I would get some easy questions that I could answer in a few words.  Well, the questions weren't easy and when have I ever used just a few words?  

I'll start with the question about my plans for Kelly's photography career.  

Yes, it's true.  I have big plans for Kelly to be a photographer.  Now, before you start in on the whole "children should be allowed to chose their own interests" line of bullshit, allow me to point out that Tiger Woods' old man decided when Tiger was just a mere cub that he would be a golfer.  He sat Tiger-cub in a high chair and forced him to watch hours of the old man teeing off in their garage.  

It's worked out pretty well for old Tiger.

So my plan is to do the same with Kelly.  I've started his training already.  I pull up portrait studio photos on his iPad and go through them.  Just faces of happy families posing for Christmas or birthdays, engagements and graduations.  When he's a little older, I will get him a two handled digital camera.  By the time he's 10, he'll have the real deal.  My reasoning is simple:  I want my son to have a career.  I want him to do something he enjoys and I want him to do something he does well.

I don't want to perpetuate stereotypes here.  Before I proceed, I want to make absolutely clear that people with Down syndrome are PEOPLE, first and foremost.  When I say that people with DS are this or that, it is a GENERALIZATION.  Like saying women are more maternal than men.  Or that men are more aggressive.  Or that the Irish like to drink.  Or the Ukis like sour cream on all their food.  There are definitely women who are about as maternal as Chuck Norris (who, by the way, would lose his ass to Walter Sobchak), men who'd rather pick flowers than fights, sober Irishmen (although, I've never met one) and Mike hates sour cream.  So bear that in mind, please.

I have read a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of people with Down syndrome.  Math is not a strong suit.  Logic and reason are also not strong areas.  Abstracts are difficult concepts and hard to grasp.  But people with DS do excel at sympathy, empathy, and social understanding.  More so than their typical peers.  This could be because many times they are nonverbal longer than their typical peers.  They rely on body language and facial expression not only to get their own points across, but to understand the communications of others even if they cannot understand the words themselves.  This social understanding strength continues to adulthood.  

I cannot think of a greater strength to have as a photographer.

Also, people with Down syndrome really are happy... happiER than the rest of us, anyway.  That's not to say that they, like all of us, don't have their moments.  But surveys over the years have revealed that they're generally happier.  I think a happy photographer takes a happy portrait.  Better than the sour pusses they employ over at Sears or Walmart.  How can you get a baby to smile when the teenager pressing the button isn't in a good mood?  And I think that many adults with Down syndrome relate well to children.  A happy, in tune photographer who knows what makes a kid smile?  Yeah, I'm feeling it, too!

He, too, can run his own business, not having to overcome the prejudices of a boss who may not hire him based on his appearance and perceived disabilities.  Will he need help running such a business?  Perhaps.  I assume the bookkeeping will be too difficult for him... and for me, too.  We'll hire out or kick one of the other kids off the couch to get a business degree.  

He can set his own hours and prices.  This is important because many people with Down syndrome require government assistance such as Medicaid and to qualify they must keep their income level very low.  He can work as little or as much as he wants based on what he needs.  

And, he can have a career.

Let me be clear: if all Kelly ever does is push carts at the grocery store or volunteer at the library, I'll be proud of him.  No offense to those of you in high powered, self important careers, but cart collecting is a damn vital job.  It doesn't make one way or another if the HR guy from Mike's work doesn't show for a day or five.  But if the cart collector guy at Target goes to Arruba unannounced, all hell's breaking loose at the store.  Same goes for the volunteer shelving books at the library.  Or the dude cleaning the tables at McDonalds.  

Whatever he wants to do, I'll be happy.  

So long as it's photography.  

I mean, I've got the name picked out and everything:  Lucky Shot Photography - Portraits by Kelly

After all, he looks pretty lucky, doesn't he?

If you have any other ideas or questions to ask, please feel free to leave it in the comments section.  I will answer them all before the month is out.