Warning: Long post ahead.
We are doing really well here. Busy, yet not really all that busy. It's a happy, productive, relaxed, at-home busy, mostly.
Yes, there have been the dental appointments, lessons, etc. We're enjoying the Christmas parties, church activities and time with friends and family. But a few of the regular activities (homeschool co-op, AWANA) are suspended for the holidays. We had our last day of school yesterday, and are embarking on a week off school this week. Our big plans are to make and wrap gifts, do some fun activities, spend time with family, and continue to make progress on our house.
We're having the big family Christmas party here this year, and are excited about that. I don't think we'll have too much trouble having the house ready for guests (including some overnight guests) at the rate we're going. Hoping to do lots more decluttering this week and continue making progress on developing routines to make upkeep easier as we go along.
Homeschooling is going really well. We seem to have found a schedule and combination of resources that is a very good fit for our family, and with DH scheduling out the math and doing the grading in the evenings, my workload is considerably lightened. We've been reading a lot of books, doing activities, and enjoying learning.
I've been struggling with pain and fatigue levels and fighting flare-ups for the past few weeks, but getting a root canal to deal with a bad infection at the root of a tooth last week did seem to help. Having NLASS here to help with the kids, school, meals, etc. when I need to rest is a huge help. I'm finding I can cheat very little on my avoidance of excitotoxins in my diet, if I want to have energy and mental clarity. Usually it's worth the trade-off to miss out on some foods in order to feel better.
Mira, the dog, is still making progress on her training and is a joy to have around, also. I'm transitioning to where I will need to be doing more of her training other places rather than at home, so that will be a challenge. I'm planning to take her out for a short training session today.
We have baby bunnies right now that are at their cutest age, and the kids and I are enjoying them a lot. NLASS has even brought college friends over to play with them. :) I'll have to post some pictures soon.
DH has been having a challenging few weeks at work, but in his spare time at home (when he's not doing stuff with the kids and family or fixing someone's computer) he's been building me a custom rabbitry management software and pedigree program. I'd looked at rabbitry software options out there, but was unimpressed with them and was so excited when DH decided to make me one for my birthday. We do have to watch out that we don't stay up too late playing with it and working on it together, though. :)
Overall, life is very good right now. Despite the little challenges we deal with from day to day, life in general is feeling pretty manageable and enjoyable at the moment. My overarching feeling is thankfulness for all our blessings. Praying for friends whose children are struggling with things like leukemia certainly puts our own life into perspective.
Ebee is getting very close to learning to read, and M&M is as usual full of activity and love for life and learning. A few days ago DH told her that we would be taking a break from school during the week of Christmas, and her response was, "Oh nooo! But I LOVE school!"
We signed M&M up for gymnastics and AJ for a children's choir, and they're both loving those. M&M is doing cartwheels all over the house, and AJ is enjoying practicing her songs.
AJ is also doing much better. We like the new psychologist, Dr. M.A. He's giving us practical suggestions, homework, books to read, etc. to help us develop more effective tools for helping AJ.
She's always had difficulty with sleep, and he has been helping us brainstorm and try different things to help her get better and more sleep. We currently have a white noise machine that he loaned us, which seems to be helping.
AJ enjoys her talks with him and finds his insight and suggestions helpful. One of her favorite conversations with him so far was when she told him that she was worried about germs on doorknobs. He told her that he had a little boy come to visit him who didn't want to touch doorknobs because he was worried about germs. They talked about it, and agreed that they just wouldn't lick doorknobs. AJ found that reassuring on several levels--not the least of which was knowing that there are other kids who struggle with the same types of worries and find ways to manage it.
Dr. M.A. has been great with providing resources and information that help to reassure AJ about her worries. For instance, she had been quite worried about the fact that Ebee often puts her hands in her mouth and then touches other things. Dr. M.A. talked to her about how people actually have germ-killers in their saliva, and that the younger the child the more of these germ-killers they have. Then he asked me to do some research and reading with her about those germ-killers.
We found
this great article online where a parent "asked an expert" about a child who put her hand in the toilet and then in her mouth. We read it together, and AJ was of course both grossed-out and fascinated.
This type of informational approach really does so much to take the power out of her fears and worries. If it's not that huge of a deal for a toddler to put her hand in the toilet and then in her mouth, then it's no longer so scary for AJ that Ebee put her hands in her mouth without washing them first, and she doesn't have to panic that Ebee might get herself or someone else sick.
I love that Dr. M.A. listens carefully to what we tell him seems to work, and then helps us find ways to build on that and do it even more effectively. He is good at finding out what types of stories, images or information clicks with AJ and then using that to help her process and understand things.
On the way out of our last session he asked me if I could take AJ to get some books about swans, because they had done a craft project and made up a story about swans to help AJ understand and practice some particular issues with social interaction and understanding that she's been having difficulty with.
We're also learning ways to help meet AJ's unique needs and figure out what types of information, mental stimulation and sensory input are most effective for her. It's looking more like we'll be able to manage all this without needing to put her on medication, which makes me very happy. She's feeling so much less frustrated and overwhelmed, it seems, is having fewer and milder meltdowns, is obsessing far less about worries like germs and poison or things like people pronouncing words wrong, and is enjoying life more (though she certainly still has her moments, like any normal child :) ).
With the right type of input and tools, we hope to find an equilibrium so that she can interact and learn without being overwhelmed or melting into a screaming heap of confusion (or have her mind get stuck in a circle of worry or obsessing about things) when life gets frustrating, boring or overwhelming. At least most of the time. :)
This week Dr. M.A. is having us read a book called
The Out of Sync Child about sensory integration. I knew there would be a few things here and there that would apply to AJ, but I was not expecting to read it and be blown away by how some sections of the book seemed to be written specifically about her.
She definitely has a preference toward the sensory-seeking end of the spectrum when it comes to sensory input. This could give us a head start at figuring out which tools are most helpful to her. For instance, there are specific activities and exercises we can use to help calm her down when she's upset, that will address her sensory-seeking needs and will help her integrate sensory input more effectively.
I'm excited to see how much the exercises and tools we'll learn will help. Every child is so unique, and it's a joy to find people and resources that can help us understand and meet a child's needs and learning style better.
Labels: enjoying the ride, just life, kid stuff, learning
