The kids snuggled in my bed this morning with a Lalaloopsy movie while I snuck to my secret hiding place and inventoried what I had for each child for their upcoming birthdays. I have realize that I need to even out the presents still. Just a couple more presents for Princess and I will be done. Maybe hubby and I can find someone to watch the kids this evening, so we can have dinner together and finish birthday shopping. Sometime today I need to figure out when we will have their birthday party and who to send invitations to. Next weekend is definitely too short of notice, so most likely we will plan for the weekend after that.
Right now the kids are watching Epic. We would be watching PBS kids, but with all of the wind today that station is not coming in too well on the television. Pumpkin is trying to build an elaborate Hot Wheel track out of the couch cushions, pillows, and other various objects like a stool, laundry basket, boxes, and more. Princess is working on getting dressed and snuggling with her Specs Read-A-Lot Lalaloopsy silly hair doll.
Pumpkin is recovery well from his surgery on Monday morning. He had the remain ear tube removed. The doctor also found a cyst in association with the tube so that has been removed too. He goes back in two months for a recheck to see if the hole in the ear drum has closed. Monday afternoon you would of never known that he had had surgery that morning by the way that he was bouncing off the walls. Never boring in our household.
I have heard from the special education administrator that I contacted a few weeks ago in regards to Pumpkin getting an education evaluation. After talking to her supervisor, we are being transferred to another administrator that works more with parochial schools. So hopefully I will hear the new person in the next few weeks. I hope to make some progress soon. Kind of tired of feeling like we are always in a holding pattern.
I talk with the childhood behavior pediatrician yesterday and she has recommended that Pumpkin have an autism panel. It will be about a two month process to actually get to the appointment date, but hopefully it will answer more questions. I really like this doctor and she has talked to me multiple times on the phone and answered any questions that I have. In this day and age you are lucky to just get past talking to the nurse. Anyway, most likely we as parent and probably his teacher will have more paperwork, surveys, and evaluations to complete prior to the appointment. The doctor said that the appointment will be an all day thing, so hopefully I can manage to schedule it on a day off from school. We will meet with a speech therapist, then a childhood occupational therapist, then our doctor who is specialized in autism, and finally a educational psychologist. Then everyone will have a break for lunch. All four doctor will reconvene and share notes and thoughts. Then our doctor and probably the educational psychologist will sit down with us and share their finding and thoughts. The main purpose of the panel is to help distinguish what aspects of our son's behavior are caused by ADHD and what might be caused by high functioning autism. Once we have the information it will be easier for us, the school, and the doctor to determine what are the best methods and treatments to help our child succeed academically and socially. I am going to hate to see how much this is going to cost. I know that we have met our $2,500 deductible on Pumpkin with the surgery he had. So maybe that will be in our favor for all of the other appointments that we will have this year.
Pumpkin is struggling at school, but his teacher is working with us to see how we can modify things to help him improve. Right now math is the largest hurdle. We are working on Touch Math, which works perfect for 1-5 but 6-9 is confusing to him. He did get 100% on his spelling test yesterday. YAY!!!! That has not happened since September. He enjoys listening to the Junie B Jones books so we got him the collection through Scholastic to see if it would help to entice him to read more. He picked up one of the books that we have read in the past and told me all about it, but yet he cannot get a single question right when he takes the computerized AR test at school on the book. I talked with him about trying to read the books today and he told me that the words were too small. Ugh! We will have to figure out a solution to that problem.
I am still trying to wrap my head around everything. I am glad that we are finally starting to understand our son's quirks. It could be so much worse. I keep reminding myself that I survived my mom losing her battle to cancer, survived losing two family members just a month apart, survived my dad's bone marrow transplants, survived family alcoholism, and survived many more hurdles. I am so tired of dealing with the continuous hurdles of life, but I can survive this. There may not be an easy fix. There may not be a cure. But, my son should live a long and healthy life.
I worry though. I worry that Princess will not always get the attention that she needs. I worry that both kids will get teased at school by their peers. I worry that we are not doing enough to help Pumpkin succeed at school. I worry about what the future holds. I try to not plan ahead, because nothing ever turns out the way that I plan. Believe me there are so things in life that I definitely would not have planned. I know, it makes us the person that we are today. Struggles strengthen us and fortify us. God is always with us and picks us up when we fall. It is just frustrating to see how easy it is for others when it seems like our world is a constant struggle.
I know for me, I need to work on finding myself again. I feel like I do for everyone else all of the time. My Energizer Bunny wears me out on a daily basis. I have lost my love for cooking along the way. It is always fast and rushed, so we can get on with perpetual homework. Cleaning usually has to wait until the weekends because there is no time during the week. Then when the weekend comes, I do not want to clean. I just want to relax and unwind. My only escape from the world right now is reading.
Well back to reality and the monkeys. I hope that everyone has a great weekend!
This post exhausted me, so I'm sure you are exhausted living it! Stay positive! Other famirs don't have it easy, there are struggles within every family. Be it finances or marriage problems. Illness or job stability. I often worry and stress about our life, but have discovered that each family has it's own issues. Know you aren't alone!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen! You are super mom in my eyes!!!! I know that all families have hurtles to overcome. Some families are so much better at hiding it from the world than others. Some days around here are are more manageable than other days. But regardless of the day and the hurtles we have to keep trudging along life's path. I am glad that I can use this blog to let my thoughts out and unload my worries from time to time.
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