Today, Emmett brought home the results of the first school project he took on this year. He ended up doing very well. Apparently, this project was in regards to habitats. Part of this was done working on an individual basis and the other part was working within a group of peers. Great job Emmett. I'm very proud of you.. ☺ 💙
Both boys had a great day at school, despite having a rough start to the day. While this isn't a surprise because they almost always have good days, I never take these days for granted. I'm proud of my kids for doing their best and I'm grateful they came home with a smile on their faces...
In the spirit of trying to remain focused on the positive, I have some really good news to share this afternoon. While at Akron Children's Hospital this afternoon for Gavin's Speech Therapy, I inquired about Emmett's return to Occupational Therapy. The news I received was a really positive boost to my afternoon. Emmett's therapist has returned from maternity leave and today was her first day back. We sat down and discussed what would be best for Emmett. Basically, we're going to stick to the same schedule and time slot. Rather than every other Tuesday though, we're moving to the first and third Tuesday of each month. Akron Children's Hospital as a whole is moving to this to avoid months with a fifth week from throwing everything off. Emmett…
I confessed last night about how I'm not in the best of places. Today doesn't seem to be any different. Life in general is okay but I'm really struggling with Gavin. When it comes to conversation skills, Gavin has three topics that he talks about: Food Video Games His Super Best Friends It's not like it's on occasion, that I hear about this stuff. It's as though he compulsively tells me about every thought that enters his mind. Those thoughts typically center around the above three topics. I'm so grateful that he can speak. I'm grateful that he wishes to communicate with me. I'm even more grateful that he can communicate as well as he does. At the same time however, he's driving me crazy. Yes, I know it's a…
Emmett woke up in a really, really, really bad mood. I can't even talk to him without being screamed at. As a result of finding myself overwhelmed already, I've put myself in a brief timeout and I'm trying not to let all of this unpleasantness, set the tone for the day. I love waking up after not getting enough sleep and getting screamed at all morning by my youngest for reasons that known only to him. 😔
So I've mentioned that I'm going through some things at the moment but never got around to saying exactly what those things were. This is the post I promised a few days ago. I'm sorry it took so long but it's not as easy for me to write lately. By nature I'm a positive person. I've got a wicked sense of humor and I enjoy laughing. Frankly, if we're being honest, it's that sense of humor that's mostly kept me from losing my mind on many occasions. For instance, I refer to Gavin's schizophrenic hallucinations in a manner that some may deem disrespectful but it's simply how I cope with all of this and the name is actually very appropriate. I've dubbed the friends in Gavin's world, his visibly challenged…
I want to take a second and give some recognition to Mr. Elliott. The middle of three, Elliott has traditionally struggled with homework, not because he couldn't do it but for reasons tied to rather extreme anxiety. Anyway, so far this school year, Elliott's been doing awesome with his homework. He now does his homework with little or no complaints. Rather than give him a set amount of time to work on his homework, we now define a set amount of work he needs to do per night. This has taken much of the anxiety inducing nonsense out of the picture. Elliott doesn't do well with anything related to being timed or time limits. Rather than continue pushing that concept, we have instead found a way that works better…
This is one of those things that I don't expect everyone to understand but if you've had a child experiencing psychosis or an episode of mania, you're probably all too familiar with what I'm about to share. There's such a mishmash of feelings that one experiences when parenting a child with special needs. Aside from loving your child unconditionally, one of the most common emotions experienced is very likely to be guilt. In most cases, this is what I refer to as irrational guilt, meaning a parent feels intense amounts of guilt for things outside of their control but nonetheless impact their child in a potentially negative way. I'm no stranger to this form of guilt and today is one of those days where I'm facing it again. Gavin always…