A ‘super’ mom saves the days


BY LIZA BERGER
KENOSHA NEWS

PLEASANT PRAIRIE – It is noon on a Tuesday at the Colford Household. As if a clock has just chimed noon, Dawn Colford has just laid strips of bacon on a pan on the stove. Hash browns are sizzling on another burner.

Dawn’s father, Bernard Rosen, 61, sits down at the table for his midday meal. Dawn proceeds to spread out a placemat, plate and utensils for him. Her 15-year-old son, Bernard, is working quietly on the assembly of his miniature car at the table in the center of the kitchen.

Like the methodically time lunch, Dawn’s life ticks around the needs of her family: her father’s meals, her son.

When some people think of a stay-at-home mom, they might imagine a woman who doesn’t have to work and lives a more pampered life than those who do earn a paycheck.

Dawn Colford’s life defies this stereotype.

“She does everything, really,” said her husband, Kelly. “It wasn’t until I retired that I realized so much stuff was going on.”

Kelly, who works in electronics for Sanmina Corp. in Pleasant Prairie, retired from the Navy three years ago. Before then he wasn’t around much. Even today, he said Mom’s the boss. When he tries to break up a fight between the three boys it’s like stepping into a “battle zone,” he said.

When Dawn steps in, the kids stop fighting. Besides Bernard, there is Andrew, 13, and Colten, 10.

Dawn said she “wouldn’t trade ‘em for the world,” though she would like to “give ‘em away some days.”

A few years ago, she said she had to make a choice between staying home and working. She chose her family.

One of the reasons was her mother, who suffered a stroke after experiencing complications from a brain tumor surgery. She became “too much for Dad to take care of,” Dawn said.

So Dawn and he family moved from Hawaii where her husband was stationed, to Minnesota. Then they all packed up and moved to Pleasant Prairie. Kelly worked at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois.

Living with her parents meant changing her routine to accommodate them.

“The whole dynamics of going on your own to … having to deal with what Grandma and Grandpa want,” Dawn said.

Besides the occasional lack of privacy, welcoming her parents in the home was a good experience for her three children, she said.

“They thrive on having the attention of two other adults in the home,” she said.

Dawn also has had to make do with another situation, that of her son, Bernard. About eight years ago, Dawn and Kelly learned Bernard was bipolar and schizophrenic. They recently removed Bernard from Hillcrest School because of an incident when he became violent. Dawn and her husband are home-schooling him.

His situation, she said, has gotten progressively worse over the last few years and someone has to supervise him at home at all times, Dawn said. She is currently fighting the state, which wants to place him in the custody of the state.

The last year has been tough for Dawn and her family. Dawn’s mother died in January.

To relax, Dawn heads to Prairie Lane Elementary School where her youngest son, Colten, is a pupil. There she runs the school store during after-school hours two days a week and is president of the site council.

Other parents ask her why she is there so much. Dawn said volunteering at school is her therapy, the place where she gets time to her herself.

“It balances me out and gives me a sense of myself instead of mom always dealing with things,” she said.

The principal of the school calls her “one super neat person.”

“There isn’t a thing she wouldn’t do for this school at the drop of a hat,” Sharon F. Thomas said.

Dawn said she feels a lot of appreciation from the school. Little things, like a signed thank-you note she recently received from students at Prairie Lane, make her feel good. She said she would not change her life for anything, except perhaps helping he son, Bernard.

She bristles at the idea is a superwoman.

“I look at myself as doing what she has to do to get what is done, done,” she said.