“But what is the big deal”, you may ask? “Why would she care so much?” Well first of all, my hubby loves electronics so anything that makes them faster and more accessible has his two thumbs up, but for me it comes down to reliability and convenience. As a mom I need to know that when I turn on my computer to find out if my children need to wear a rain coat today, that connection will be made quickly, because I don’t have a lot of time in the mornings.
But even more so I need to keep in touch with all of Matthew’s therapists. We are often in contact over email to follow his progress, to make scheduling changes and to discuss any issues that may arrive. During some of the storms we had this past winter, FiOS helped keep me well informed so we could make decisions about ours, and our therapists’, safety. And speaking of storms, since our FiOS cables are buried, we see little interference from weather. Lately, this has become a big deal to us because although our area historically does not have tornadoes, the last few years have shown a drastic change in that pattern. Just this past month we had five counties under tornado warnings, the highest ever in our state, and since my hubby was out of town, I needed to have up to the minute information in case I needed to round up the boys and head to the basement. FiOS Internet and television allowed me to do just that, even when the weather conditions were extreme.
And while my husband was out of town we used both the FiOS Internet and telephone services to keep in contact. The boys loved talking to their daddy over Skype, which Larry installed on my machine before he left. And I felt better knowing he was only a phone call away.
The Internet is truly a lifeline for us as a biomedical family. I order almost all of Matthew’s supplements on-line and I use it to research doctors, protocols and autism news. Because we are so concerned with toxins in our food supply we order organic produce through a local CSA and that is done exclusively from their website. We even keep in touch with his DAN! Doctor through email, making adjustments to his supplements as needed. And as a Rescue Angel with Generation Rescue, other ASD families rely on my email to get in touch with me and start down the path to recovery.
Since we have three small children it isn’t always easy or practical to go out, so we often have “date night” at home. We use the video on demand option to catch up on TV shows we may have missed, or to watch a movie. But one of my favorite features is the YouTube Widget, where we have watched many spoof videos, which always leads to more silly videos. Another awesome feature is the local WeatherBug Widget, so I can keep track of those pesky tornadoes I told you about. (Really, I’m not that weather obsessed, it is just a cool option.)
Now you can see why I was excited to have a FiOS-ready home.
Stay Well.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Verizon FiOS blogging program for a gift card and/or payment. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
