This is going to be a quick post since I'm sleepy and really want to go to sleep, but I didn't want to go to sleep without at least writing down the good thing that happened today.
Liam had an iffy day at school, which ended in a bad day. I got a call from his teacher a few minutes after he got onto the bus and she said that something happened and he ended up hitting another kid in the face. She said it took three teachers to get him to calm down and get to his bus.
Now, you are more than likely confused since I said something good happened today. No, I didn't hate the kid he hit -- matter of fact, I like the kid. That's not the part that I'm happy about in the slightest.
I talked to his teacher for bit to try to figure out what our game plan is from here. We are lucky with how much Liam's teachers have been willing to work with us so far. All of his teachers so far have been really helpful and really do care about him.
Anyways, I had been working on school lessons with Ethan when she called. I went back to his lessons when I got off the phone and started formulating my own game plan for what to do when Liam got home. Last night we had hours of screaming, crying, throwing things, and even had Liam smacking himself against the doors and walls during his fit. I really didn't want a repeat of that tonight. I had a meeting to go to, so I also didn't want to leave the house in the middle of a screaming fit.
When Liam got home, I let him in and asked how his day was. He told me 'yellow'. I asked if he was sure and he looked at me, sighed and said it was 'red'. I told him I had already talked to his teacher since she was worried about him and we didn't want him to keep having these kind of days. Then I dropped it. Told him to grab a snack and then bring his backpack into the room. When he came in, I asked what homework he had, and set up a TV show for Ethan and told Liam he could watch it. After about 30 mins, I called Liam upstairs. I brought his math homework and his reading homework up with me.
He was a bit crabby about going up, but went up and sat with me in bed. I showed him the mp3 player that he'll be able to use on the bus (this is a technique to get him to ignore the bully who keeps picking on him, so the bully can get in trouble instead of Liam getting so upset that he attacks the bully and then he gets kicked off the bus), then I asked him if he could talk about what happened at school. He did whine and start a bit of a fit, but I just told him that I needed to know what happened so we could all work together so he didn't have days like this.
Surprisingly, it didn't take much more than that. I won't go into detail about exactly what he told me, but he said was playing around with boy #1 and then tried to continue with boy #2, but I'm guessing he had gotten himself too riled up and excited and ended up either actually hitting boy #2 or coming close enough to make boy #2 think he tried to hit him and it got translated to a hit. Either way, he thought he was playing and then as far as he knew, it turned into him being told he hit someone -- which led to a melt down.
He actually talked for quite some time about the whole thing. I think I might have gotten him to at least understand why the other kid thought he got hit (I decided to compromise a bit and not push whether or not the kid actually got hit. Even a close call was enough in my opinion for what I was trying to do). I also tried to emphasize that he can't just fall to the ground and have a total melt down, requiring three teachers to calm him down. If something isn't right, he needs to talk about it and not flip. His tantrums can be pretty major. He's a tall kid and he's strong. He broke my nose when he was littler, and I'm pretty sure if he went into a full tantrum, he could easily inflict a lot of accidental damage. I don't want that to happen to anyone else, and I don't want him to have to deal with that guilt on top of all of this other shit. I've seen him feel really bad after injuring me or Ethan.
Anyways, from that, he did his math worksheet and a good chunk of his reading. When I left for my meeting, I told him what I wanted him to do of the rest of his reading since we want to do something tomorrow evening and then the Autism Awareness event on Thursday. I told him that I wanted as much done as possible so we didn't have to deal with it tomorrow/Thursday. When I came home, he had done almost everything. He only had a little bit left, which will be easy for him to finish up tomorrow night... as long as we can deal without a tantrum again...
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Random thoughts after the "homework" debacle that was tonight...
There's a lot more that I want to write out on this, but as I was thinking about the other posts that I had made tonight, along with the talk I had with Kelly about all of this stuff, and then was writing a response to a current FB thread (http://www.facebook.com/JanetGreenley/posts/10150123855695920) this simple post ended up becoming paragraphs long. I figured it was probably better to put my ramblings out in here, rather than in a little comment window ;)
Honestly, I can't deal with Liam having a good day screwed to hell by some kid who thinks it's funny to pick on him and doesn't realize that he goes from 0 to explosion when teased. I'm thankful Liam didn't do what he's done on other occasions, which is grab the kid by the throat and squeeze until someone makes him let go. (Of course, part of me thinks the kid deserves to have Liam flip on him... especially since the other kid has been warned that Liam doesn't always control himself and has "problems"... but then Liam would get permanently kicked off the bus. :P and yes, I know that's not a good thought and I DON'T want him hurting someone else, but I'm frustrated beyond belief here and I'm tired of him getting his feelings hurt.)
Liam always loved doing "schoolwork". He thinks that workbooks, worksheets, etc are the greatest things in the world. He LOVES learning. He could spend hours in a museum or looking through anatomy books. He'll beg for "educational" type things. He's always done that. On our plane flight to Oregon, he asked for math worksheets and reading worksheets from school, rather than video games to play. We go into Costco and he looks for new school workbooks.
That's why this sudden hatred of everything school is really frustrating. He's so afraid to be wrong. He's so afraid of being teased for saying or doing something wrong. He doesn't WANT to do stuff at school, because kids might see he did it wrong. BUT he'll still do the "curriculum" workbooks for his grade level at home.
He gets 'stuck' on stuff from school because he can't process the way they teach it. Several times this year, I've had to tell him "No, forget how they taught you. Try this" and re-teach him the way he needs to hear it and BOOM he gets it. (Then I email the teacher and tell her "Hey, I told him to do it different and he understands it. This is what I did" if it's something really different)
That's why I'm wondering if switching him to PACyber, where Ethan is in K4 (pre-k), might work better for him. I've gotten a feel for how the curriculum is with Ethan, and how the day goes. I've also been able to get Ethan to actually sit down daily and do the work without any trouble at all. He loves the "work". I realize Liam would be doing harder work than Ethan, but other people do it without issue... and we could slow down and work through the things he needs to take more time on and go quicker through the things he has already got down pat. If he's forced to work more on things he already understands, he freaks. He begins to get antsy and then is certain he's messed up and can't do it. I'd like to be able to spend more time with some of his spelling. They move through a list of 15 words in a week. He MIGHT remember them for the test, and then he's completely forgotten them weeks later. Leading to frustrations and arguments when he asks how to spell them and we remind him that was the one he had on last week's spelling test and ask him to try first.
I've spent years with anxiety issues (and depression). I've only been diagnosed for maybe 10ish years, but looking back I had them from around his age. I know how terrifying it is to KNOW the right answer and KNOW what to say, but have that fear that everyone will laugh because you'll trip, sneeze, make your number look weird on the chalk board, say the wrong thing... I spent many times not answering in class or being afraid to write on a paper because someone might see I'm taking too long, or that I'm going too quickly.
I missed out on my chance at finishing college with my friends because of it. I had awesome classes at Pitt that I wanted to be in... that I wanted to do. I had biology labs my first semester where we dissected pigs! It was SO COOL! But I couldn't go to class because I was afraid of walking in late, or too early, or messing up something as we learned. I would panic so much I couldn't enter the building. Then I would panic because I couldn't tell anyone. Then I would panic because I was failing because I couldn't contact anyone to tell them I had a problem. Just watch the snowball get bigger and roll down the hill faster.....
I don't leave the house many days because of it even now. I don't call the doctor, even if I'm having bad pains, because they might think I'm wrong. I forget things pretty easily, and they might think I'm lying when I forget something. I occasionally can't figure out how to speak certain words, which is not only annoying, but rather embarrassing, as I'm standing talking to someone and I can't remember the word "water" as I'm trying to ask for a glass of water.
It just kills me to have the same thing happen to Liam. To see him so anxious and freaked out makes me angry, upset, and.. well.. anxious and freaked out. There isn't a fucking thing I can do either. Dr Faber doesn't want to raise his meds since higher doses can LEAD to anxiety and stress... and we don't want to make him more anxious. I'm doing my best to keep him GFCFSF, but I haven't figured out how to afford the food for him for lunch, and the school says they can't provide it (even tho I have found sites that say the school is legally required to provide it... I just can't go in and argue about it with my anxiety issues).
ARGH! It's just so frustrating.... Think it's time for some melatonin and my pillow... maybe when I wake up in the morning, it will have all gone back to "normal".
Honestly, I can't deal with Liam having a good day screwed to hell by some kid who thinks it's funny to pick on him and doesn't realize that he goes from 0 to explosion when teased. I'm thankful Liam didn't do what he's done on other occasions, which is grab the kid by the throat and squeeze until someone makes him let go. (Of course, part of me thinks the kid deserves to have Liam flip on him... especially since the other kid has been warned that Liam doesn't always control himself and has "problems"... but then Liam would get permanently kicked off the bus. :P and yes, I know that's not a good thought and I DON'T want him hurting someone else, but I'm frustrated beyond belief here and I'm tired of him getting his feelings hurt.)
Liam always loved doing "schoolwork". He thinks that workbooks, worksheets, etc are the greatest things in the world. He LOVES learning. He could spend hours in a museum or looking through anatomy books. He'll beg for "educational" type things. He's always done that. On our plane flight to Oregon, he asked for math worksheets and reading worksheets from school, rather than video games to play. We go into Costco and he looks for new school workbooks.
That's why this sudden hatred of everything school is really frustrating. He's so afraid to be wrong. He's so afraid of being teased for saying or doing something wrong. He doesn't WANT to do stuff at school, because kids might see he did it wrong. BUT he'll still do the "curriculum" workbooks for his grade level at home.
He gets 'stuck' on stuff from school because he can't process the way they teach it. Several times this year, I've had to tell him "No, forget how they taught you. Try this" and re-teach him the way he needs to hear it and BOOM he gets it. (Then I email the teacher and tell her "Hey, I told him to do it different and he understands it. This is what I did" if it's something really different)
That's why I'm wondering if switching him to PACyber, where Ethan is in K4 (pre-k), might work better for him. I've gotten a feel for how the curriculum is with Ethan, and how the day goes. I've also been able to get Ethan to actually sit down daily and do the work without any trouble at all. He loves the "work". I realize Liam would be doing harder work than Ethan, but other people do it without issue... and we could slow down and work through the things he needs to take more time on and go quicker through the things he has already got down pat. If he's forced to work more on things he already understands, he freaks. He begins to get antsy and then is certain he's messed up and can't do it. I'd like to be able to spend more time with some of his spelling. They move through a list of 15 words in a week. He MIGHT remember them for the test, and then he's completely forgotten them weeks later. Leading to frustrations and arguments when he asks how to spell them and we remind him that was the one he had on last week's spelling test and ask him to try first.
I've spent years with anxiety issues (and depression). I've only been diagnosed for maybe 10ish years, but looking back I had them from around his age. I know how terrifying it is to KNOW the right answer and KNOW what to say, but have that fear that everyone will laugh because you'll trip, sneeze, make your number look weird on the chalk board, say the wrong thing... I spent many times not answering in class or being afraid to write on a paper because someone might see I'm taking too long, or that I'm going too quickly.
I missed out on my chance at finishing college with my friends because of it. I had awesome classes at Pitt that I wanted to be in... that I wanted to do. I had biology labs my first semester where we dissected pigs! It was SO COOL! But I couldn't go to class because I was afraid of walking in late, or too early, or messing up something as we learned. I would panic so much I couldn't enter the building. Then I would panic because I couldn't tell anyone. Then I would panic because I was failing because I couldn't contact anyone to tell them I had a problem. Just watch the snowball get bigger and roll down the hill faster.....
I don't leave the house many days because of it even now. I don't call the doctor, even if I'm having bad pains, because they might think I'm wrong. I forget things pretty easily, and they might think I'm lying when I forget something. I occasionally can't figure out how to speak certain words, which is not only annoying, but rather embarrassing, as I'm standing talking to someone and I can't remember the word "water" as I'm trying to ask for a glass of water.
It just kills me to have the same thing happen to Liam. To see him so anxious and freaked out makes me angry, upset, and.. well.. anxious and freaked out. There isn't a fucking thing I can do either. Dr Faber doesn't want to raise his meds since higher doses can LEAD to anxiety and stress... and we don't want to make him more anxious. I'm doing my best to keep him GFCFSF, but I haven't figured out how to afford the food for him for lunch, and the school says they can't provide it (even tho I have found sites that say the school is legally required to provide it... I just can't go in and argue about it with my anxiety issues).
ARGH! It's just so frustrating.... Think it's time for some melatonin and my pillow... maybe when I wake up in the morning, it will have all gone back to "normal".
Monday, February 14, 2011
Getting back into the swing of things...
I've been really bad about blogging recently. I leave random comments on my Facebook page, but my initial goal in having my Blogspot journal and my Livejournal journal was to actually write out full thoughts. I did better when LJ was the only outlet, then FB came along and ate my soul. Now, while FB still has most of my soul, I'm going to try to write at least a little bit every other day (or every day) about how things went that day. Maybe I can start getting some things into a better rhythm...
Let's start with a recap of what's going on with the kiddos...
Liam is doing really good in school. He had some small issues today, but I expected that with him having the Valentines' Day party. Parties always mess up the routine and make it hard for him to concentrate during the day. He also seems to be coming down with the cold that I have. With his immune system issues, he doesn't get sick "normally"... which is good and bad all at the same time. We've been working on the GFCFSF diet. He's pretty much entirely soy free. That's been pretty simple since I can't have soy either. He's also probably 98% Casein free at home. I still need to figure out how to do daily lunches for him for school without going broke. The school says they can't provide food for his diet, tho the information I'm finding online says that they are legally bound to fulfill his diet's special needs. We had to send in a doctor's note to allow him to have apple juice instead of milk (the only choices are 2% or skim milk) for lunch. If we could find these for less than $4 a box, and if the school had a microwave/oven, I'd buy those and send them in for him for lunch.
Ethan just started school at PACyber in the K4 program. We got his books and materials on Saturday, and now we're just waiting for his laptop, scanner, printer, etc. He's pretty excited about everything. In going through the first workbooks, I've noticed that a lot of the initial stuff to do is already stuff he's already done with the TSS or with me in other workbooks. I think that he'll be able to go pretty quickly through this initial stuff. I'm anxious to see how he does when he gets into the more challenging stuff.
He's also going to be going back to speech this week. Ms H got it through the insurance, so he'll be doing a group speech session on Wednesdays now. When I told him last week that he'd be seeing Ms H again, he was all excited. :)
Health wise, he's doing good. We finally had the post-op appt for Urology last Friday. The doctor said that his incision looked really good, and there is no sign of the Hernia or either of the Hydroceles reappearing. He did tell me that sometimes they do come back, and sometimes they come back on the opposite side, so I will be keeping an eye on things, as usual. We are still waiting to get an appointment with the special neurologist to talk about Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorder. I should be getting a call sometime in March to schedule apparently. I need to call the doctor back we saw in December and see if she sent out the report from his appointment. She had said it would be a bit longer since it was over the holidays, but I think we should have received it by now.
As for me... well, I'm trying to get things back into a routine. At the end of last summer, I found out there was a major mess up with my student aid, so I'm no longer working on my Bachelors. I'm pretty annoyed about it. I would have been graduating this August if this mess up wouldn't have happened. SO close to getting that finished, yet so far away. I did pick up a certificate course through the same place I did my Pharmacy Tech training, in Medical Billing & Coding. I decided to do this mostly to have the knowledge on billing and coding for when I become an IBCLC... and also it will help me navigate the stuff with the boys' medical stuff.
Right now I am trying to get myself to call my doctor to see what is going on with me. I've been having issues that is more than likely Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and every few weeks I've been having issues with either my heart or lungs (can't tell exactly what is going on). The main reason I haven't called is because I'm afraid that the doctor will say that there isn't anything wrong. Yeah, it's stupid I know. It seems when the issues happen, I don't have anyone to watch the kids or a way of getting into the doctor/clinic/etc. I know I really need to get over it and just make the call or go into the walk in clinic and deal. I am hoping with the new routine that I'm trying to set up that I'll feel more comfortable doing that.
I'm also working on re-doing my office. My goal is to get things moved around, add more shelving to get things along the walls and out of the middle of the floor. Then the next plan will be to get a couch. Yes, a piece of real furniture! I realized that I spend more time sitting at the computer because that's the only chair that I have that isn't a folding chair. I don't sit with the kids to play video games because I don't like the folding chairs in the livingroom. Recently, Ethan has been wanting to sit and cuddle with me to watch shows after he is done with the TSS, but it's not comfortable to sit at the computer chair with him on my lap. He does like to be "squished" behind me, but again, that's not really the same. I remember sitting with Mom in her chair and watching Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. I loved that! I really think adding that in, and having a full routine where Ethan has TSS in the morning, then we sit and watch some shows, and then we do his school work before Liam gets home will really help his routine.
Not to mention that I hate inviting people over since our only seating arrangement is folding chairs. I'd love to have Mom, Dad, and Papa come down sometime but they can't be expected to sit on metal folding chairs. We did have a futon, but honestly I don't like that thing. It's too low to the ground. I can't easily get up and down on that thing. It's also not very soft, and you have to keep pulling the mat back up on it. Just really not convenient in my opinion. It would be fine for a spare room, but I want something for every day.
I'd really like to get this place feeling more like a "home". I think it would help with a lot my other issues.
I'm also hoping to save up to buy myself a treadmill. I can't get myself motivated to go out and walk, and can't afford to pay for childcare plus the gym membership to go out to do it. I'm thinking that if I can get a good treadmill here, I can walk on it late at night when I'm watching my TV shows.
Eh. That's a pretty decent start.
Let's start with a recap of what's going on with the kiddos...
Liam is doing really good in school. He had some small issues today, but I expected that with him having the Valentines' Day party. Parties always mess up the routine and make it hard for him to concentrate during the day. He also seems to be coming down with the cold that I have. With his immune system issues, he doesn't get sick "normally"... which is good and bad all at the same time. We've been working on the GFCFSF diet. He's pretty much entirely soy free. That's been pretty simple since I can't have soy either. He's also probably 98% Casein free at home. I still need to figure out how to do daily lunches for him for school without going broke. The school says they can't provide food for his diet, tho the information I'm finding online says that they are legally bound to fulfill his diet's special needs. We had to send in a doctor's note to allow him to have apple juice instead of milk (the only choices are 2% or skim milk) for lunch. If we could find these for less than $4 a box, and if the school had a microwave/oven, I'd buy those and send them in for him for lunch.
Ethan just started school at PACyber in the K4 program. We got his books and materials on Saturday, and now we're just waiting for his laptop, scanner, printer, etc. He's pretty excited about everything. In going through the first workbooks, I've noticed that a lot of the initial stuff to do is already stuff he's already done with the TSS or with me in other workbooks. I think that he'll be able to go pretty quickly through this initial stuff. I'm anxious to see how he does when he gets into the more challenging stuff.
He's also going to be going back to speech this week. Ms H got it through the insurance, so he'll be doing a group speech session on Wednesdays now. When I told him last week that he'd be seeing Ms H again, he was all excited. :)
Health wise, he's doing good. We finally had the post-op appt for Urology last Friday. The doctor said that his incision looked really good, and there is no sign of the Hernia or either of the Hydroceles reappearing. He did tell me that sometimes they do come back, and sometimes they come back on the opposite side, so I will be keeping an eye on things, as usual. We are still waiting to get an appointment with the special neurologist to talk about Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorder. I should be getting a call sometime in March to schedule apparently. I need to call the doctor back we saw in December and see if she sent out the report from his appointment. She had said it would be a bit longer since it was over the holidays, but I think we should have received it by now.
As for me... well, I'm trying to get things back into a routine. At the end of last summer, I found out there was a major mess up with my student aid, so I'm no longer working on my Bachelors. I'm pretty annoyed about it. I would have been graduating this August if this mess up wouldn't have happened. SO close to getting that finished, yet so far away. I did pick up a certificate course through the same place I did my Pharmacy Tech training, in Medical Billing & Coding. I decided to do this mostly to have the knowledge on billing and coding for when I become an IBCLC... and also it will help me navigate the stuff with the boys' medical stuff.
Right now I am trying to get myself to call my doctor to see what is going on with me. I've been having issues that is more than likely Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and every few weeks I've been having issues with either my heart or lungs (can't tell exactly what is going on). The main reason I haven't called is because I'm afraid that the doctor will say that there isn't anything wrong. Yeah, it's stupid I know. It seems when the issues happen, I don't have anyone to watch the kids or a way of getting into the doctor/clinic/etc. I know I really need to get over it and just make the call or go into the walk in clinic and deal. I am hoping with the new routine that I'm trying to set up that I'll feel more comfortable doing that.
I'm also working on re-doing my office. My goal is to get things moved around, add more shelving to get things along the walls and out of the middle of the floor. Then the next plan will be to get a couch. Yes, a piece of real furniture! I realized that I spend more time sitting at the computer because that's the only chair that I have that isn't a folding chair. I don't sit with the kids to play video games because I don't like the folding chairs in the livingroom. Recently, Ethan has been wanting to sit and cuddle with me to watch shows after he is done with the TSS, but it's not comfortable to sit at the computer chair with him on my lap. He does like to be "squished" behind me, but again, that's not really the same. I remember sitting with Mom in her chair and watching Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. I loved that! I really think adding that in, and having a full routine where Ethan has TSS in the morning, then we sit and watch some shows, and then we do his school work before Liam gets home will really help his routine.
Not to mention that I hate inviting people over since our only seating arrangement is folding chairs. I'd love to have Mom, Dad, and Papa come down sometime but they can't be expected to sit on metal folding chairs. We did have a futon, but honestly I don't like that thing. It's too low to the ground. I can't easily get up and down on that thing. It's also not very soft, and you have to keep pulling the mat back up on it. Just really not convenient in my opinion. It would be fine for a spare room, but I want something for every day.
I'd really like to get this place feeling more like a "home". I think it would help with a lot my other issues.
I'm also hoping to save up to buy myself a treadmill. I can't get myself motivated to go out and walk, and can't afford to pay for childcare plus the gym membership to go out to do it. I'm thinking that if I can get a good treadmill here, I can walk on it late at night when I'm watching my TV shows.
Eh. That's a pretty decent start.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thoughts after dinner with Papa (and Mom, Dad, Liam and Ethan) last night
Yesterday Liam had a half day of school, so I figured we'd go up to Mom's so I could work on a birthday cake I needed to have for a party for today. This way I had someone to watch the boys and help distract them from "helping" for the 2 1/2-3 hours it would probably take to decorate the cake. (Not to mention it gave me the bonus of having Mom have the cake baked for me and ready for when I got up there, I can use her stuff and not have to find all of mine, and Dad does the dishes...)
Anyways, so we went up and I started working. When Mom came home we went in to have dinner with Papa (she brought stuff from Pizza Hut home). I'm always nervous about going in to see Papa since Mom's been telling me that he's forgetting a lot recently. Dad said that my Uncle Tom (Technically he's my great-uncle since he's Grandma's brother) came over (he lives across the street) to get some wood and visited with Papa for a bit. Dad told me that Uncle Tom told him that Papa had forgotten someone when Uncle Tom talked to him. Now we don't know if maybe Papa just didn't hear Uncle Tom (Papa hates wearing his hearing aid) or if he actually forgot (which he has done about other things), but in all honesty, the man is 91 1/2 years old. He forgets.
So, of course, I was a bit nervous about going in and wondering if he'd remember who I was and remember Liam and Ethan. We went in and, as usual, the boys were little tornadoes. Running everywhere. We got them corralled to the table to eat and NOT to the back room that has the toys (and the exercise bike). During all of this, Papa was sitting in the living room watching us. Mom joked to him that he was hiding from the chaos. I walked into the living room and told him I was going to hide in there with him. He laughed at me, but didn't say much. Mom got the boys settled at the table, so I told Papa it was time to go out and eat. He followed me out and sat down in his spot and the rest of us wiggled around the table. It reminded me of all of the times that Mom, Dad, and I went in to have dinner with Grandma and Papa, which was usually just about every evening from the time I was born until I went to college (then I just came back and had dinner on the weekends with them).
Once we get all settled, Papa looks at me and says "You only have two kids? I thought you had more?"
...
My heart fell. He forgot. We were up not that long ago, but in those 2 weeks or so he had forgotten. I wanted to cry.
Then a half second later, he grinned at me and laughed. Then it dawned on me. He was joking!!! He was joking about the two of them making so much noise! OMG I could have cried! It's the type of joke that is completely Papa. Totally him!
He talked during dinner and ate really well. After dinner the boys went to the bathroom and he KNEW that they were going to try to sneak into the back room to play with the exercise bike. I went back to check on them in the bathroom (his toilet is screwed up) and when he saw Ethan go towards the back room, he yelled "GET AWAY FROM MY BIKE! I have it set up the way I want it!" It was like he was yelling at me and my cousins from when I was the boys' ages ;) We always snuck back there to ride the bike and then got in trouble ;)
I talked to Mom on the way back out to the house about his joke and she said she had the same fear. We've been dealing recently with my Aunt Dorothy (again, she's a great-aunt -- Grandma's sister) who has Alzheimer's. I guess she asked Mom not too long ago if I had Ethan yet. She didn't remember that he was born. She's also asked if I have any kids yet and other similar things and has called once and then called back 30 mins later thinking she hadn't talked to Mom in weeks. I did have a really nice conversation with her a few weeks ago and she seemed to be really aware and knew what was going on, but as anyone who has dealt with this knows, some days are good and some days are bad.
I think the "lesson" that I've learned from this little mini-scare with Papa is that the things he's forgetting are the things he doesn't encounter a lot. He sees Mom and Dad a lot, he sees the neighbors out (tho not as much now that it's winter and he's inside a lot more), he sees me and the boys at least a few times a month, etc. He's forgetting things he doesn't deal with on a regular basis, like grocery shopping (Mom does it for him, tho in good weather he goes with her), days or special dates, people he doesn't see often, etc. Mom says he does, for example, seem to remember people once she tells him who the person they passed in the grocery store that he didn't recognize. So it's not like he has completely forgotten. He just needs the "Hi, I'm Joe!" reminder and then he's back on the same page.
One thing that always makes me smile (well, besides Papa's face lighting up when the kids come in and run around him or sit down and talk to him about something) is that when we drive out the driveway, past Papa's house at the end of our visits at Moms, the boys always wave at Papa's house and say "Goodnight Papa! I love you!" :)
Anyways, so we went up and I started working. When Mom came home we went in to have dinner with Papa (she brought stuff from Pizza Hut home). I'm always nervous about going in to see Papa since Mom's been telling me that he's forgetting a lot recently. Dad said that my Uncle Tom (Technically he's my great-uncle since he's Grandma's brother) came over (he lives across the street) to get some wood and visited with Papa for a bit. Dad told me that Uncle Tom told him that Papa had forgotten someone when Uncle Tom talked to him. Now we don't know if maybe Papa just didn't hear Uncle Tom (Papa hates wearing his hearing aid) or if he actually forgot (which he has done about other things), but in all honesty, the man is 91 1/2 years old. He forgets.
So, of course, I was a bit nervous about going in and wondering if he'd remember who I was and remember Liam and Ethan. We went in and, as usual, the boys were little tornadoes. Running everywhere. We got them corralled to the table to eat and NOT to the back room that has the toys (and the exercise bike). During all of this, Papa was sitting in the living room watching us. Mom joked to him that he was hiding from the chaos. I walked into the living room and told him I was going to hide in there with him. He laughed at me, but didn't say much. Mom got the boys settled at the table, so I told Papa it was time to go out and eat. He followed me out and sat down in his spot and the rest of us wiggled around the table. It reminded me of all of the times that Mom, Dad, and I went in to have dinner with Grandma and Papa, which was usually just about every evening from the time I was born until I went to college (then I just came back and had dinner on the weekends with them).
Once we get all settled, Papa looks at me and says "You only have two kids? I thought you had more?"
...
My heart fell. He forgot. We were up not that long ago, but in those 2 weeks or so he had forgotten. I wanted to cry.
Then a half second later, he grinned at me and laughed. Then it dawned on me. He was joking!!! He was joking about the two of them making so much noise! OMG I could have cried! It's the type of joke that is completely Papa. Totally him!
He talked during dinner and ate really well. After dinner the boys went to the bathroom and he KNEW that they were going to try to sneak into the back room to play with the exercise bike. I went back to check on them in the bathroom (his toilet is screwed up) and when he saw Ethan go towards the back room, he yelled "GET AWAY FROM MY BIKE! I have it set up the way I want it!" It was like he was yelling at me and my cousins from when I was the boys' ages ;) We always snuck back there to ride the bike and then got in trouble ;)
I talked to Mom on the way back out to the house about his joke and she said she had the same fear. We've been dealing recently with my Aunt Dorothy (again, she's a great-aunt -- Grandma's sister) who has Alzheimer's. I guess she asked Mom not too long ago if I had Ethan yet. She didn't remember that he was born. She's also asked if I have any kids yet and other similar things and has called once and then called back 30 mins later thinking she hadn't talked to Mom in weeks. I did have a really nice conversation with her a few weeks ago and she seemed to be really aware and knew what was going on, but as anyone who has dealt with this knows, some days are good and some days are bad.
I think the "lesson" that I've learned from this little mini-scare with Papa is that the things he's forgetting are the things he doesn't encounter a lot. He sees Mom and Dad a lot, he sees the neighbors out (tho not as much now that it's winter and he's inside a lot more), he sees me and the boys at least a few times a month, etc. He's forgetting things he doesn't deal with on a regular basis, like grocery shopping (Mom does it for him, tho in good weather he goes with her), days or special dates, people he doesn't see often, etc. Mom says he does, for example, seem to remember people once she tells him who the person they passed in the grocery store that he didn't recognize. So it's not like he has completely forgotten. He just needs the "Hi, I'm Joe!" reminder and then he's back on the same page.
One thing that always makes me smile (well, besides Papa's face lighting up when the kids come in and run around him or sit down and talk to him about something) is that when we drive out the driveway, past Papa's house at the end of our visits at Moms, the boys always wave at Papa's house and say "Goodnight Papa! I love you!" :)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Flat Stanley
Liam's class has just finished reading the book "Flat Stanley". They are going to be doing The Flat Stanley Project. Pretty much, this is a story about a kid who is flattened by a bulletin board. He then realizes he can do things like be stuffed in an envelope and mailed across country.
The project is for us to collect 3 addresses of people around the country/world for Flat Stanley to be mailed to. The person who receives Stanley will need to take pictures, write letters, etc about Stanley's adventure with them. Then they will mail it on to the next person. All of the postage is pre-paid, so no worries about any expense (besides taking pictures and writing a letter).
I do have an idea for one address to send to, but I am wondering if anyone else would be interested in helping out. I'd love to find at least one address out of the US!
The project is for us to collect 3 addresses of people around the country/world for Flat Stanley to be mailed to. The person who receives Stanley will need to take pictures, write letters, etc about Stanley's adventure with them. Then they will mail it on to the next person. All of the postage is pre-paid, so no worries about any expense (besides taking pictures and writing a letter).
I do have an idea for one address to send to, but I am wondering if anyone else would be interested in helping out. I'd love to find at least one address out of the US!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween to me...
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love getting dressed up with the kids and going out Trick or Treating. It's not really even the idea of getting candy, but going out and seeing other people and seeing how excited the kids get. This year I was really excited since I made the boys' costumes.
In September we began work on these costumes. Ethan wanted to be a dragon. I cut out felt triangles and hot-glued them onto a shirt. I hand painted glitter on other triangles for a tummy piece. I molded teeth and eyes out of glow in the dark FIMO clay to go on a hat. I knitted a head cover with scales that I just finished last Friday.
Liam wanted to be a knight. I cut out pieces of cardboard and covered it in very expensive colored duct tape -- did a front and back chest piece and then arm pieces. Made a helmet out of cardboard and duct tape. Knowing that he couldn't wear the helmet to school, I then knitted him a fake chain mail hat (I'm blanking on the real name of it... I'll think of it later) so he could wear it to school. We bought him a foam sword and shield to go with it.
Both looked excellent. We went to Zoo Boo last weekend and people recognized what both of them were supposed to be. At the Squirrel Hill thing on Thursday, they thought it was great.
Tonight, however, Ethan refused to put his costume on. He told me he hates it and it's ugly. Liam didn't want to wear the majority of his costume. They decided they wanted to sit and watch TV. I wasn't nearly as hurt about wanting to watch TV as Ethan saying he hates the costume and it's ugly. I told him that he wasn't going out trick or treating without his costume. That's what you do and that's that. He bawled. I even told him "Wear the costume that Mommy slaved over for a month or go to your room". I feel awful about it, I really do, but I still feel hurt that the costume that he liked at one time, he now hates.
I told him he wasn't going out without the costume... and he went outside and cried to Karl, who was working on the car. I'm guessing that he let them go without costumes. Liam came inside and ordered me to light the jack-o-lanterns that are on the porch to be lit, mentioned something about a change of plans for Ethan to only wear part of his costume, and then left again.
So I'm currently home alone... I do have the porch light on, but TOT has been on for 50 minutes and no one has even passed by the house, so I think I'm just going to shut off all of the lights and sit in the dark. Maybe go to bed early or something...
Oh, and did I mention today is my 12th wedding anniversary?
I've been dressed in my costume since before 5:30 trying to get the kids ready to go out. Now they're out, probably without their costumes, having fun, and I'm home alone. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Someone remind me of this the next time I want to do something special for the kids...
In September we began work on these costumes. Ethan wanted to be a dragon. I cut out felt triangles and hot-glued them onto a shirt. I hand painted glitter on other triangles for a tummy piece. I molded teeth and eyes out of glow in the dark FIMO clay to go on a hat. I knitted a head cover with scales that I just finished last Friday.
Liam wanted to be a knight. I cut out pieces of cardboard and covered it in very expensive colored duct tape -- did a front and back chest piece and then arm pieces. Made a helmet out of cardboard and duct tape. Knowing that he couldn't wear the helmet to school, I then knitted him a fake chain mail hat (I'm blanking on the real name of it... I'll think of it later) so he could wear it to school. We bought him a foam sword and shield to go with it.
Both looked excellent. We went to Zoo Boo last weekend and people recognized what both of them were supposed to be. At the Squirrel Hill thing on Thursday, they thought it was great.
Tonight, however, Ethan refused to put his costume on. He told me he hates it and it's ugly. Liam didn't want to wear the majority of his costume. They decided they wanted to sit and watch TV. I wasn't nearly as hurt about wanting to watch TV as Ethan saying he hates the costume and it's ugly. I told him that he wasn't going out trick or treating without his costume. That's what you do and that's that. He bawled. I even told him "Wear the costume that Mommy slaved over for a month or go to your room". I feel awful about it, I really do, but I still feel hurt that the costume that he liked at one time, he now hates.
I told him he wasn't going out without the costume... and he went outside and cried to Karl, who was working on the car. I'm guessing that he let them go without costumes. Liam came inside and ordered me to light the jack-o-lanterns that are on the porch to be lit, mentioned something about a change of plans for Ethan to only wear part of his costume, and then left again.
So I'm currently home alone... I do have the porch light on, but TOT has been on for 50 minutes and no one has even passed by the house, so I think I'm just going to shut off all of the lights and sit in the dark. Maybe go to bed early or something...
Oh, and did I mention today is my 12th wedding anniversary?
I've been dressed in my costume since before 5:30 trying to get the kids ready to go out. Now they're out, probably without their costumes, having fun, and I'm home alone. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Someone remind me of this the next time I want to do something special for the kids...
Monday, September 20, 2010
No More Blood: Part 1
Ok. I just have to say that blood is now ILLEGAL in my house. I swear if CSI ever used Luminol in our house, they'd be blinded by the glare. Seriously.
Let's start with the blood work the boys had on the 9th. I figured I'd take them then since Liam didn't have school and we'd have the whole day tosuffer get it done. The plan was to drop one kid off at the Sibling Center (otherwise known as the best possible place in the known universe) while the other one had his blood work done. Then swap the kids and repeat. This way both kids get playtime at the Sibling Center and I only have to fight one child at a time with blood work.
Liam decided to "let" his brother go first since he had had blood work done last year and remembered it too well. Ethan never had blood work done before, so didn't know what he was in for. Liam had worked himself up into quite a tizzy. I had hoped that if I had told him about the blood work and reminded him that, while it hurt last time, it didn't take long and he survived it. I'm certain had he been on his regular medicine I would have been able to reason with him and calm him down. Unfortunately he was NOT to be reasoned with.
So he was sent off to the Sibling Center and I went upstairs with Ethan. Ethan *danced* up the stairs... singing "I'm getting blood work done! YAY!". Needless to say, people were very amused. We checked into the office and he got all excited. The registration girl asked if he knew what was happening and I said nope. He saw the lollipops on the desk and asked for one. The girl told him that he'd get one when he was done.
So we went to the waiting room and played with Liam's Leapster Explorer. When they called him into the office, he ran in and was all excited. The Phlebotomist saw on the paperwork that the doctor was Dr Faber, so asked if Ethan was Autistic. I told her we were unsure and explained that his "current diagnosis" was Disruptive Behavior Disorder NOS, Rule Out of PDD (Pervasive Development Disorder), Sensory Issues, and we're not totally sure on other things. She asked him to go into the room that was 1+1. Ethan looked at her. Laughed, said "That's two" and walked to the second door. She asked him what 2 + 5 was and he immediately answered 7. She just smiled like she totally knew what she was dealing with.
As an aside, the girls at Children's Hospital are *wonderful*. They always have two girls per kid. One is changing the vials and the other stays only with the child and the needle. This makes it perfectly wonderful for kids who fight. I love it :)
Anyways, so Ethan DANCES into the room and jumps into the chair (it's like a normal adult chair for blood collecting, but it's double size so the parent can sit beside) and starts playing the Leapster Explorer. I sit down beside him and the first Phlebotomist tells the second one that he'll be a bit interesting of a case. She said that he probably won't notice the needle at all or he'll over react. Second Phlebotomist seems to not believe her. I told them that they could do whatever they needed to -- don't worry about hiding blood from me or making him cry. I'm used to the routine *lol* (My Godson used to be quite an experience to get blood draws from... *shudders at the memories of 4 adults laying on him to do a blood draw at 3-4 years of age)
First Phlebotomist starts to explain to Ethan what they're going to do. He won't put down the Leapster Explorer, so we have to take it away to get him into position. He looks at them a bit odd when they put the rubber band on his arm, but nothing big. When they put the needle into his arm he says "ouch." and then does a bit of "ehhh" and mild whining. First Phlebotomist puts her hand up and covers the needle so he can't see it. He acts like nothing is happening. At all. He starts to try to get up and we have to remind him that no, he has to sit. I pull out the Leapster Explorer and told him that he can play it with his left hand. He then proceeds to play with his left hand like nothing is happening.
It was almost freaky to watch him. At one point I almost got up to video it with my cell phone because I was in such shock. First Phlebotomist looks at me and says "He's Aspergers isn't he?" Second Phlebotomist couldn't believe it at all. She says she has been doing this for years and has never seen a kid act like nothing wrong. She's seen them be calm and do the "Ok, it will be over soon" routine, but never acting like nothing is going on as they move the needle. They did approximately 19 vials. Yes. Nineteen. Dr Faber's first blood work is extensive.
I'm pretty sure he did the same initial work up as he did for Liam's initial work up a year ago. This is what he checked for on Liam's: Serum copper, plasma zinc, lead level, selenium level, T cell subsets - CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD4/CD8 ratio, quantitative serum immunoglobulins, CBC and diff with platelets, ESR (Sedimentation rate) , Tissue transglutaminase (tTGA) IgA antibody, antigliadin antiboties, antigluten IgG antibotides, anticasein IgG antibodies, antisoy IgG antibodies, total protein, albumin, calcium, phosphrous, alkaline phosphatase, ammonia, iron, TIBC, percent Fe saturation, ferritin, free T4, cholesterol, AST, ALT, electrolytes, BUN, creatinine, random glucose, amylase and lipase, and DNA for fragile X.
So anyways, Ethan sits still through the whole thing with no flinching. I asked First Phlebotomist to uncover his arm at some point since I wanted to see his reaction. She waited a minute or two and then moved her hand. He looked at his arm and did a reaction of "Ehh.. ehh", almost like a reaction of a bug or something being on his arm. She covers it and he stops. When she takes the needle out of his arm, he made no movement, until she uncovers his arm and he sees the band aid. Then he begins to pick at it. We tell him that no, he needs to leave it on. She takes off the band from his arm and he makes the "ehh" sound again.
She tells him he's all done. His reaction? He jumps into her arms and gives her a big hug and a kiss, then DANCES/moonwalks out of the room and up to the reception desk and asks for the lollipop. The receptionist actually thinks that he hasn't had his blood work done since she never heard him make a noise. The Phlebotomist had to come out and explain that no, he did have the work done. The office ended up amazed.
Liam was the opposite and about killed the nurse when she touched his arm to look for a vein. Cried all through the draw and most of the rest of the day -- even to the point of freaking out tonight when he took the band-aid off and saw the "hole" from the blood work.
I'm not sure which is worse -- Mr OverReaction or Mr UnderReaction! It was nice not having to hold Ethan down kicking and screaming, but was disturbing to see him SO relaxed....
Let's start with the blood work the boys had on the 9th. I figured I'd take them then since Liam didn't have school and we'd have the whole day to
Liam decided to "let" his brother go first since he had had blood work done last year and remembered it too well. Ethan never had blood work done before, so didn't know what he was in for. Liam had worked himself up into quite a tizzy. I had hoped that if I had told him about the blood work and reminded him that, while it hurt last time, it didn't take long and he survived it. I'm certain had he been on his regular medicine I would have been able to reason with him and calm him down. Unfortunately he was NOT to be reasoned with.
So he was sent off to the Sibling Center and I went upstairs with Ethan. Ethan *danced* up the stairs... singing "I'm getting blood work done! YAY!". Needless to say, people were very amused. We checked into the office and he got all excited. The registration girl asked if he knew what was happening and I said nope. He saw the lollipops on the desk and asked for one. The girl told him that he'd get one when he was done.
So we went to the waiting room and played with Liam's Leapster Explorer. When they called him into the office, he ran in and was all excited. The Phlebotomist saw on the paperwork that the doctor was Dr Faber, so asked if Ethan was Autistic. I told her we were unsure and explained that his "current diagnosis" was Disruptive Behavior Disorder NOS, Rule Out of PDD (Pervasive Development Disorder), Sensory Issues, and we're not totally sure on other things. She asked him to go into the room that was 1+1. Ethan looked at her. Laughed, said "That's two" and walked to the second door. She asked him what 2 + 5 was and he immediately answered 7. She just smiled like she totally knew what she was dealing with.
As an aside, the girls at Children's Hospital are *wonderful*. They always have two girls per kid. One is changing the vials and the other stays only with the child and the needle. This makes it perfectly wonderful for kids who fight. I love it :)
Anyways, so Ethan DANCES into the room and jumps into the chair (it's like a normal adult chair for blood collecting, but it's double size so the parent can sit beside) and starts playing the Leapster Explorer. I sit down beside him and the first Phlebotomist tells the second one that he'll be a bit interesting of a case. She said that he probably won't notice the needle at all or he'll over react. Second Phlebotomist seems to not believe her. I told them that they could do whatever they needed to -- don't worry about hiding blood from me or making him cry. I'm used to the routine *lol* (My Godson used to be quite an experience to get blood draws from... *shudders at the memories of 4 adults laying on him to do a blood draw at 3-4 years of age)
First Phlebotomist starts to explain to Ethan what they're going to do. He won't put down the Leapster Explorer, so we have to take it away to get him into position. He looks at them a bit odd when they put the rubber band on his arm, but nothing big. When they put the needle into his arm he says "ouch." and then does a bit of "ehhh" and mild whining. First Phlebotomist puts her hand up and covers the needle so he can't see it. He acts like nothing is happening. At all. He starts to try to get up and we have to remind him that no, he has to sit. I pull out the Leapster Explorer and told him that he can play it with his left hand. He then proceeds to play with his left hand like nothing is happening.
It was almost freaky to watch him. At one point I almost got up to video it with my cell phone because I was in such shock. First Phlebotomist looks at me and says "He's Aspergers isn't he?" Second Phlebotomist couldn't believe it at all. She says she has been doing this for years and has never seen a kid act like nothing wrong. She's seen them be calm and do the "Ok, it will be over soon" routine, but never acting like nothing is going on as they move the needle. They did approximately 19 vials. Yes. Nineteen. Dr Faber's first blood work is extensive.
I'm pretty sure he did the same initial work up as he did for Liam's initial work up a year ago. This is what he checked for on Liam's: Serum copper, plasma zinc, lead level, selenium level, T cell subsets - CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD4/CD8 ratio, quantitative serum immunoglobulins, CBC and diff with platelets, ESR (Sedimentation rate) , Tissue transglutaminase (tTGA) IgA antibody, antigliadin antiboties, antigluten IgG antibotides, anticasein IgG antibodies, antisoy IgG antibodies, total protein, albumin, calcium, phosphrous, alkaline phosphatase, ammonia, iron, TIBC, percent Fe saturation, ferritin, free T4, cholesterol, AST, ALT, electrolytes, BUN, creatinine, random glucose, amylase and lipase, and DNA for fragile X.
So anyways, Ethan sits still through the whole thing with no flinching. I asked First Phlebotomist to uncover his arm at some point since I wanted to see his reaction. She waited a minute or two and then moved her hand. He looked at his arm and did a reaction of "Ehh.. ehh", almost like a reaction of a bug or something being on his arm. She covers it and he stops. When she takes the needle out of his arm, he made no movement, until she uncovers his arm and he sees the band aid. Then he begins to pick at it. We tell him that no, he needs to leave it on. She takes off the band from his arm and he makes the "ehh" sound again.
She tells him he's all done. His reaction? He jumps into her arms and gives her a big hug and a kiss, then DANCES/moonwalks out of the room and up to the reception desk and asks for the lollipop. The receptionist actually thinks that he hasn't had his blood work done since she never heard him make a noise. The Phlebotomist had to come out and explain that no, he did have the work done. The office ended up amazed.
Liam was the opposite and about killed the nurse when she touched his arm to look for a vein. Cried all through the draw and most of the rest of the day -- even to the point of freaking out tonight when he took the band-aid off and saw the "hole" from the blood work.
I'm not sure which is worse -- Mr OverReaction or Mr UnderReaction! It was nice not having to hold Ethan down kicking and screaming, but was disturbing to see him SO relaxed....
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Yes, I am still here...
Yeah, I haven't posted much in a while. I'm quite the slacker, I know. I keep intending to post and then one thing or another comes up and then I end up forgetting about it or I'll do a short status update on FaceBook and leave it at that. I still need to do a full update on the cell phone drama and a few other things but those aren't going to happen tonight.
I figure a good way to get back on track for what I had planned on this blog being about, would be to post something cute that Liam did today. Now we're having medication issues with Liam (again, another long post that I'm going to try to get to this week), so Liam didn't have a dose of medicine yesterday so I could make sure he had a dose today (tomorrow we're just paying out of pocket to get more for him). Anyways, because of this I think Liam was a bit off. So this is what happened...
Since I only have one paper left for class, and that's due tomorrow, I decided to turn on some music and fold some laundry and stuff tonight to clear my head so I can work better tomorrow. I ended up going through a pile of clothes that I've been digging through for laundry for way too long. Got a bunch folded and put away in drawers.
After I had a good amount done, Liam comes up to me and says:
"Mommy! Your room looks SO nice with your laundry all folded and put away and stuff picked up! You have done SUCH a good job! I am SO proud of you Mommy! I love you!" and gives me a HUGE hug.
*waits for everyone to stop "oohing" and "aahing"*
Now, this would have been the sweetest thing I had heard in all of my life IF I was not sitting on the toilet and wiping my behind while he was hugging and praising me. *snort*
I told him thank you and asked him if he could please wait until I was done in the bathroom and then that would be a more appropriate time to tell me that. He seemed a bit confused, but stood outside of the bathroom door as asked him to. He tried pouncing one more time before I could wash my hands and I had to again explain that no, this was NOT an appropriate time.
I have also decided to implement something similar to what our BSC and another friend told us about. We're going to do a "reward book" for both kids. It's pretty much a booklet made out of construction paper with lines dividing it into 20 squares per page. I am going to give them stickers anytime that I catch them doing something nice/polite/following a rule/etc. It's not going to be everytime they do something, but at random times. We started it this afternoon and so far it's done pretty well. I'm hoping that focusing on this might help both of them -- for Liam I'm going to be focusing on being nice to Ethan, helping around the house, doing homework, getting "green days" in school. For Ethan, I'm going to be focusing on safety rules, being nice to Liam, helping, being nice to Tiger, etc.
I'm not sure what to make the rewards at the end of the page. I was thinking maybe 50 cents to be able to spend when we go somewhere that has those little toy machines (like gumball machines). They love those silly things. Or maybe when they fill the page they get to pick where we go for dinner or get a "no chore" evening or something. I'll have to keep thinking on it. For now they are content with earning stickers without a concrete award. I am sure this will change as they approach the end of the page. Thankfully 20 things should at least get me through a day or so ;)
I figure a good way to get back on track for what I had planned on this blog being about, would be to post something cute that Liam did today. Now we're having medication issues with Liam (again, another long post that I'm going to try to get to this week), so Liam didn't have a dose of medicine yesterday so I could make sure he had a dose today (tomorrow we're just paying out of pocket to get more for him). Anyways, because of this I think Liam was a bit off. So this is what happened...
Since I only have one paper left for class, and that's due tomorrow, I decided to turn on some music and fold some laundry and stuff tonight to clear my head so I can work better tomorrow. I ended up going through a pile of clothes that I've been digging through for laundry for way too long. Got a bunch folded and put away in drawers.
After I had a good amount done, Liam comes up to me and says:
"Mommy! Your room looks SO nice with your laundry all folded and put away and stuff picked up! You have done SUCH a good job! I am SO proud of you Mommy! I love you!" and gives me a HUGE hug.
*waits for everyone to stop "oohing" and "aahing"*
Now, this would have been the sweetest thing I had heard in all of my life IF I was not sitting on the toilet and wiping my behind while he was hugging and praising me. *snort*
I told him thank you and asked him if he could please wait until I was done in the bathroom and then that would be a more appropriate time to tell me that. He seemed a bit confused, but stood outside of the bathroom door as asked him to. He tried pouncing one more time before I could wash my hands and I had to again explain that no, this was NOT an appropriate time.
I have also decided to implement something similar to what our BSC and another friend told us about. We're going to do a "reward book" for both kids. It's pretty much a booklet made out of construction paper with lines dividing it into 20 squares per page. I am going to give them stickers anytime that I catch them doing something nice/polite/following a rule/etc. It's not going to be everytime they do something, but at random times. We started it this afternoon and so far it's done pretty well. I'm hoping that focusing on this might help both of them -- for Liam I'm going to be focusing on being nice to Ethan, helping around the house, doing homework, getting "green days" in school. For Ethan, I'm going to be focusing on safety rules, being nice to Liam, helping, being nice to Tiger, etc.
I'm not sure what to make the rewards at the end of the page. I was thinking maybe 50 cents to be able to spend when we go somewhere that has those little toy machines (like gumball machines). They love those silly things. Or maybe when they fill the page they get to pick where we go for dinner or get a "no chore" evening or something. I'll have to keep thinking on it. For now they are content with earning stickers without a concrete award. I am sure this will change as they approach the end of the page. Thankfully 20 things should at least get me through a day or so ;)
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