Care amid chaos

‘I’ve had days where I hit my pillow and cried and said ‘why me?’ But for every bad day there’s probably been 100 wonderful days.”

The days break in chaos. Each kid on a different schedule, headed to a different place. Stacey Sprock rises at 6 and spends two hours moving children up and out. She pauses to eat before taking Nestle on a walk.

Her days fill up fast – running kids to doctors and therapists, picking up prescriptions, attending a support group for parents of children with disabilities. By 3 the kids start to arrive home, and evenings often are programmed as well: counseling sessions, Boy Scouts, a church service.

“I always feel like I should have all this time during the day, and I never do,” Sprock said.

She tracks appointments on a large wall calendar, and keeps a binder of medical history on each child. She has learned to question doctors and their diagnoses, research the medications they prescribe, look into alternative remedies.

“I was not a patient person before, and my kids have taught me patience,” she said.

Sprock grew up on a Missouri farm and was married at 22 in a little outdoor wedding the day after a downpour. Kendall was ring bearer; he was 1.

A new job for her husband Jeff brought them to North Idaho in the summer of 2008. But the couple separated and he made his way to the North Dakota oil fields, while Stacey Sprock chose to stay.

“We just kind of do our own thing. And it works for me,” she said. “Someday I’ll get divorced, but it’s just one of those expenses that I don’t feel the need to pay for.”