No, I’m NOT crying over the spilled milk!

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I’m crying because

  • the fight. The every-single-day-fight of why he needs to do this school work.
  • the fact that when he finally did settle down and get to work, he mis-spells every single word in the sentence except the curse word. Great! He’s a curse-word-spelling savant! Sh*t!
  • the fact that his little brother can’t find his headphones to do his computer work. Every single pair offered to him was “not right”. STUPID sensory issues.
  • the fact that there is TOO much for me to do.  I have to sit here hour by hour overseeing their seatwork but somehow I still need to make sure the menus are planned, groceries are bought and prepared, laundry and all the other chores that make this house keep going are all done too.
  • the fact that there are just TOO many of them.  I can’t meet all their needs. I can’t even come close.
  • I’m frustrated.  THAT is why I’m crying!

(Sorry for the vent – I’ll get a second wind and be back to ‘normal’ soon.  It was either write this post and be angry or keep crying!  Thanks for letting me get it out!  FASD SUCKS!!!!)

Ah ha moment

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“An explosive outburst-like other forms of maladaptive behavior-occurs when the cognitive demands being placed upon a person outstrip that person’s capacity to respond adaptively.”

from The Explosive Child by Ross Greene

J2’s IEP Meeting

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I am so thankful for the direction the Lord lead us last Spring when we realized that we needed help with J2’s education.  I didn’t share it at the time, but things got very bad around here in relation to his schooling.  He became very angry and discouraged.  This lead to a depression that caused him to threaten – and even to attempt – to take his own life. 

It was a very dark time for all of us.  J2 is normally a very enthusiastic, happy person.  But his struggles in school and our inability to help him, created a very angry, very volatile person.  I pray everyday that my Happy J2 returns, but for now I’m content that he’s doing better than last Spring.

After last Spring, we made two big changes.  (1) J2 started to see a Psychiatrist and eventually a therapist to help him deal better with his emotions and (2) we enrolled him in a charter school – specifically South Sutter Charter School.  I had lots of reservations about this change to our homeschool.  I worried what my local friends would think when I joined a charter and abandoned the private school method of homeschooling.  I had fears based on the bad experience with a different charter school several years ago.  And, I was scared that this change would create more busy-work but not help us make a difference for J2’s education.

But I’ve been so blessed in so many ways….

  • One of the biggest blessings is that both of the charter people whom I work with most frequently are believers.  Maybe that wouldn’t mean anything to you – but it was an added blessing to me.
  • Our ES (Education Specialist) is my former neighbor who has had many, many years of working with special ed students.
  • My brother – who’s working on his special education masters – has been great to listen to my worries and educate me on the system!
  • The school has agreed – based on the new diagnosis of autism & the length since his last testing – to update all his tests.
  • This testing will happen quickly which is another blessing!

More than anything else I feel blessed that I’m not doing this alone.  I am blessed that I can continue to make the decision to keep my child at home where I know he can do his best work without all the distractions in a standard school setting but  now I can do it with help and encouragement.  I’m not alone anymore!  And, I’m so thankful!!

The Nest

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I just made my daughter’s “nest” for her nap time and it occurred to me that most moms might not do this.  It’s a way my children sleep better during naptimes.   To make a nest we use 4 light-weight blankets.  One is on each side of her – sort of bunched up and touching her.  One is under her feet and then one is across her.

We did this when she was little when she was developmentally delayed but then stopped as she developed and grew.  But now I find myself doing it for her again.  It helps her stay in her bed and I think it also comforts her.  Does anyone else do this with their kids?

A bit of this, a dash of that

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Today, it’s catch-up day on the blog….all those things I’ve been meaning to share but they aren’t enough for a full blog post:

  • Today Netflix released a new iPod/iPhone app to allow you to watch movies/tv shows from your instant queue! Love this! I almost can’t wait for the next time the boys take over the television! I’ll go find a comfy chair – maybe backyard on my swing? – and watch a bit of my old favorites!
  • Sweater Design Class.  Tonight is class #2 and I think I’m ready to set aside the sleeves but I’m a bit confused how to do that and what to do with the rest of the stitches so I’m definitely looking forward to this class! I hope to take some pictures tonight to share here – stay tuned!
  • Linde Lane Tea Room – I’m so blessed! Tomorrow, Ruth, Margaret & I are headed back for visit #2 and then, next week, I’m headed there with a friend who works with Hubs!  Yeah for me!!
  • I realized it wouldn’t hurt to bring a little organization to Sissy’s day.  So I did a quick search and was super happy to find http://www.letteroftheweek.com/ is still around.  This is a free curriculum for preschoolers that I used for J1 & J2 and loved.  (I wasn’t in a good place to do anything like this with J3 – poor J3, and me!)  Check it out if you too want some structure for your preschooler!
  • We now have all our curriculum for J2’s school year!  We are plugging away.  I am SO happy to have some help each week!  I hope when we have his IEP to ask for a bit more, some speech therapy for his Auditory Processing and possibly to have him retested.
  • We also finally have a weekly therapist for J2.  I hope she will help him recognize emotions in himself and others to help him in his interactions.
  • Jennifer S. shared about the Home Ec class she is using with her kids on her blog, For Such a Time As This, and it’s free! Definitely going to use this with my boys.  It’s written for girls, but I think it will work for them with just a bit of tweaking!  Check it out here:  http://www.futurechristianhomemakers.com/FCHLessonsIndex.html
  • Working out first thing in the morning is working great so far.  By the time I wake up enough to think I don’t want to do this, I’ve already been there for 25 min so I might as well finish! 😉
  • Downside is that it is really cutting into my work schedule.  So I’ll be working on that next.
  • J1 starts school in just about 1.5 weeks but we found out his teacher is still on maternity leave. :(  Please pray along with us that the substitute will be a good match for J1 and our family!
  • I’m attending a free webinar next week “Ten Stumbling Blocks to Writing” . I’m really looking forward to it.  Check out the link – there are other great webinars available for you!  Definitely an encouragement!

Guess that’s it!  Hope you enjoyed some of these links!