NieNie the American hero

[lilwriter85]

NieNie's daughter Claire had to do a school project on American heroes and she selected NieNie. I don't like snarking on kids, but I kind of think NieNie should have told her daughter to pick someone else. NieNie has an ego. I wouldn't consider her a hero. Yes, she survived a horrible incident and has done speaking engagements, but she still really isn't doing anything heroic.

nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2013/03/american-hero.html

nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2013/03/wax-museum.html

Claire was given an assignment to find an American Hero and

present him/her at the 5th grade Wax Museum.

Wonderful Americans like Betsy Ross, Emilia Earhart,

Abraham Lincoln, Shirley Temple, and so on and so forth.

Claire chose me.

I was so honored. I really truly was.

It was so cute.

We have been preparing for weeks now talking about who I am,

where I was born, what I have done.

She compiled it all in a short 1 1/2 minutes speech.

She is preforming it today at school.

Then we began looking for props and things to use to display.

I took her to the "chokie" where I have {proudly and happily}

packed away all my burn gear.

We took some of the gear out so she could display it at her table.

As I pulled things out, she wanted to try it all on.

I put everything on her just the way that

Mr. Nielson put everything on me EVERY SINGLE DAY.

And then I put on her my night time gear,

that Mr. Nielson put on me EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

Then I cried, and then together we cried a little bit.

Both so glad that chapter is over.

It's done. I did it- we did it.

All those contraptions, braces, compression garments, masks,

and pads which made me sick to look at, also made me so proud.

It made me realize that hard times do come to an end at some point.

Sometimes and especially when we are in the middle of our trials

it seems they will never end.

But they will- eventually.

But it also depends on attitude. I made sure she understood that.

I know I still have work to do.

More surgeries and I do experience some pain everyday.

But no where near the way it was those first years after my accident.

I am so excited to see Claire at school share my journey-

she is proud of me, I am proud of me and proud of her for enduring

it right along with me.

{I'll blog more about it tomorrow!}

[AtroposHeart]

Seriously, how big of an ego do you have to be to let your kid possibly fail an assignment.

Parenting FAIL

[ILoveJellybeans]

I think its cute that a child sees her mom as a hero, but I think that NieNie should have explained to her that they meant people like inventors, presidents, celebrities, stuff like that. I dont think that was what the school wanted.

[Soulhuntress]

Her husband = Mr. Nielson? Just seems kind of odd on the blog.

[Emme]

even that post is about her, NOT her kid.

[Mama Mia]

If I remember correctly , it isn't all that unusual for kids to pick their parents as their hero for that sort of school project - and that includes just regular parents who haven't been through any sort of horrific ordeal.

[CrankyCatLady]

even that post is about her, NOT her kid.

Everything's always about NieNie. She bugs me.

[Muriel]

If I remember correctly , it isn't all that unusual for kids to pick their parents as their hero for that sort of school project - and that includes just regular parents who haven't been through any sort of horrific ordeal.

Yes, but this school project was about choosing an "American Hero" not the child personal hero, it's a bit different and I don't think Nienie could qualify...

As I'm not American, the first names I think of are: Georges Washington, Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong, FD Roosevelt...

[KatIII]

I don't really follow NieNie, but wouldn't the hero in her situation be the rescuers who stabilized her and got her the expert care that saved her life?

[Cheetah]

Yes, but this school project was about choosing an "American Hero" not the child personal hero, it's a bit different and I don't think Nienie could qualify...

As I'm not American, the first names I think of are: Georges Washington, Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong, FD Roosevelt...

I agree... if the assignment is 'pick your hero'... then by all means, choose a parent.

If the assignment is "pick an American hero"... I think we need someone who has not just overcome their own personal tragic event, but someone who has made some sort of larger contribution. Which wouldn't have to be someone famous.. I think you could choose your uncle who went to Afghanistan or something... (depending on how the teacher defined it), but I don't think NieNie has contributed at that level, despite the ordeal she went through.

[lilwriter85]

I agree... if the assignment is 'pick your hero'... then by all means, choose a parent.

If the assignment is "pick an American hero"... I think we need someone who has not just overcome their own personal tragic event, but someone who has made some sort of larger contribution. Which wouldn't have to be someone famous.. I think you could choose your uncle who went to Afghanistan or something... (depending on how the teacher defined it), but I don't think NieNie has contributed at that level, despite the ordeal she went through.

I agree with and Muriel. The real purpose was clearly to research and present a person who made a large contribution to American society. It wouldn't have to be someone extremely famous either, but NieNie isn't someone who has made a large contribution. She has visited burn centers, but she isn't doing that on a large scale. She wrote a book, so far I don't think she is donating any profits. It is likely that she hasn't made much in royalties yet.

[Free2BeMe]

If I had to pick an American hero I would write about my late grandfather and how he served in Korea during the Korean war then returned home to raise a family and serve as a circuit court judge in So.Illinois for over 40 years.

He was the son of a farmer and owned land that was farmed all around the little town where he lived for his entire life.

:D He was my hero. :D

[lilwriter85]

If I had to pick an American hero I would write about my late grandfather and how he served in Korea during the Korean war then returned home to raise a family and serve as a circuit court judge in So.Illinois for over 40 years.

He was the son of a farmer and owned land that was farmed all around the little town where he lived for his entire life.

:D He was my hero. :D

I can see doing something like this. I can see honoring war veterans and people who worked in courts or civil servants. With NieNie, I don't see her qualifying.

[lilwriter85]

Her husband = Mr. Nielson? Just seems kind of odd on the blog.

It is one of Nie's blog things. Some people find it weird, while some of Nie's readers think it is cute. Her attitude about her husband is strange and annoying. She constantly makes him out to be "manly hero" who is perfect. She also has the attitude that he is very good looking. I'm not being mean but he and NieNie have never really been an attractive couple. He has always kind of looked odd.

[lilwriter85]

I just noticed that in one of pics, Nie's book was on display at the school. I bet NieNie is hoping to get book sales, but at same time many in Provo already know about her.

[emesbe]

I don't really follow NieNie, but wouldn't the hero in her situation be the rescuers who stabilized her and got her the expert care that saved her life?

Or all the people who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars so the Nielsons could buy a boat and Anthropologie?

[OkToBeTakei]

I'm a bit of a secret Nie addict. There I said it. I have read every single post both pre and post accident.

It is valuable to read some old threads here not just the snarky but those that give insight in to Mormon mommy culture and so forth. That certainly put a different light on it for me. I tried to relate just as another woman etc. Tried to imagine even for a nano-second never mind the pain but the almost unbelievable horror of facing such a different life, especially with how our society today views appearance, how as females we can define ourselves at times by this. (Right or wrong it is a fact of popular culture.)

I would not walk a foot in her shoes. For her plight and what happened I feel very compassionate. Pain is a terrible thing. Burn pain is horrific.

I would like to think though, that I would not channel all my feelings in to my children to define their lives by it. I do feel reading her blog that Nie does this. It was a really shit thing. But I think Nie rather than trying to lessen or ease the trauma that her children naturally have by having a Mum who looks different which must be very difficult for them anyway expects them to champion her at all turns. She quite honestly defines her youngest child who is a baby as the one who just needs her and does not have any judgement about her appearance because she knows no different. That child will face the same issues when older.

I think Nie will never accept what happened, certainly not to herself. That I get. But the way she projects that on to her kids, not so much. Mr Nie? I think that is a fantasy that she has. She has re-written her knight in shining armour story, many times. I hope she actually feels that way and is not just playing a 'I wish.'

Hero? We all want to be a hero to our kids. Not being American I could though just list many, many great and wonderful people from the US that would spark my imagination. I think this is a reflection on Nie's needs. If the assignment was 'A hero in your life?' Maybe. Of America? Self absorbed a wee bit.

[Morton Fan]

It is one of Nie's blog things. Some people find it weird, while some of Nie's readers think it is cute. Her attitude about her husband is strange and annoying. She constantly makes him out to be "manly hero" who is perfect. She also has the attitude that he is very good looking. I'm not being mean but he and NieNie have never really been an attractive couple. He has always kind of looked odd.

Yep.

[lilwriter85]

Or all the people who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars so the Nielsons could buy a boat and Anthropologie?

That stuff still pisses me off. I admit I didn't follow her blog during the time right after the crash, but I've read up about the donations and some of the stuff that went down when she was in a coma. Her readers and others really stepped in to help quite a bit, but her precious Mr.Nielson and members of the Clark family misused donation money quite a bit. NieNie and Christian have milked their story way too much and sadly some people have learned the Nielsons' true intentions.

[So Many Lies]

I think she does the best she can. I don't think I'd cope at all if my face melted off and I don't consider myself a superficial person. A boat would be no compensation to me whatsoever.

[already hungover]

So I think I understand her insistence on portraying "Mr. Nielson" as a knight in shining armor - didn't he save himself and leave her in the burning wreckage of the plane? I guess I get the motivation to revise history a bit if that's the case. I think many people would be inclined to do so in her situation.

[So Many Lies]

^ Whoa, really? I have to find that.

[lilwriter85]

Christian and Nie gave out different versions of the crash events. On Oprah and some other show, they claimed that Christian went back for her. I believe in some articles they flipped flopped versions and later a reporter for an Arizona newspaper called them out on the flip flopped versions. I think at some point in one version they said that the reason Christian didn't go back for Nie was because they made some kind of previous promise that if a dangerous situation arose, one of them would try to escape danger to be around for the kids. I can understand that promise, but it was annoying that Christian and Nie flip flopped the crash story. I think a lot of it has to do with Nie having an overly inflated view of Christian.

I get that women love their boyfriends and husbands, but with Nie it gets annoying. There is some speculation on the GOMI boards, that Christian is a closeted gay man. A few members there have based their opinions because of the way Christian sometimes dresses. I can kind of see why a few people think that. Not all gay men are the same and it totally possible that Christian isn't gay. But I find it odd that Nie constantly has to bring Christian's "manliness on the blog and on Instagram.

[slickcat79]

So I think I understand her insistence on portraying "Mr. Nielson" as a knight in shining armor - didn't he save himself and leave her in the burning wreckage of the plane? I guess I get the motivation to revise history a bit if that's the case. I think many people would be inclined to do so in her situation.

They were both horribly injured. And they did have young kids who would benefit from having at least one parent alive. So if he dragged his broken self out of the wreckage of a burning plane without looking back, I'm not judging him for that. I do think it's weird how their story keeps changing. IDK if they actually can't remember exactly what happened because of all the trauma, or they're just rewriting the story to make themselves sound better.

[rward]

I think she does the best she can. I don't think I'd cope at all if my face melted off and I don't consider myself a superficial person. A boat would be no compensation to me whatsoever.

SHe was a superficial, materialistic airhead before the accident, and she does not get a pass due to disability from me. I'm disabled, too. It does not free me to be greedy, selfish and self absorbed. I don't get to do or say whatever I want just because I'm in pain and I can't lift 5 lbs and I can't stand in one place for 30 seconds. Neither does she.

I am so sick of the infantilization of the disabled. We don't get to be real people, ever. We can't even be jerks without someone making excuses for us. That's not being nice.