Category: Kids & Parenting

Tomorrow

Published by dee on January 24, 2011

This morning was a hard morning. This will hopefully be our first full week back to school and back to our routine since Zach got out for Winter Break on Dec. 20th. Between snow days, holidays, sick days, and a couple of doctor’s appointments, our schedule has been all out of whack. Both kids had a hard time getting up and around this morning, as I suspected they would. What I did not expect was for Zach to cling to me when I dropped him off at school. He’s been doing really well with drop-off time since we made arrangements for him to go to the quiet room instead of the noisy gym for his before/after school program. Today, however, his regular staff person was with another group and he wouldn’t even go in the room.

I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me though. The last two days at home have been difficult as well, with several meltdowns of varying degree. Part of that I blame on myself as I was too busy working on my own things to spend the time I should have with him. When he is so good at entertaining himself, I sometimes forget that he needs a little extra attention. Too much down time, not enough physical activity.

Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. we finally meet with an Occupational Therapist to go through a full sensory evaluation with Zachary. I’m feeling very anxious. I’ve read through all the paperwork and yet I still don’t know exactly what to expect. I am ready (and hoping) to get some answers. The answers are only the beginning of a long road we have ahead of us.

On the forms I had to fill out, one of the questions asked what three things I wanted to get from this evaluation. I can’t even remember what I wrote down. What I really want is for someone to say, “This is what’s wrong with your son. This is how you fix it.” I know better than to expect that, but it is truly what I want. I’m tired of trying to figure it out on my own. I want fast, concrete answers. And more than anything, I want someone to just tell me what to do.

I’m still reading through The Out-of-Sync Child, and trying to make sense of it all. I can’t keep all of the terms straight in my head, but I have had many, many, “a-ha” moments. I wish I could read it faster, but I’ve never been one to read non-fiction of any sort in a timely manner. I wish there was an easier way to get the information to sink into my head. In over two months, I don’t think I’ve made it even halfway through the book.

Answers. I want answers. I may have a little too high of expectations for tomorrow. I’m afraid that, once again, I’ll leave feeling defeated and not knowing any more than I do today. I want someone to tell me that I’m not crazy, that there is something to all of this sensory stuff, that there is a way to help my son not feel so out-of-sorts all the time, and mostly, that I am not a bad parent for not being able to deal with it.

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Snow Day!

Published by dee on January 11, 2011

Yesterday we experienced our first official school snow day. As a working parent, this is a new one for me. I think we may have had one time ever that day care closed and nobody was getting out on the roads anyway. I found myself in a sudden panic over what to do with Zachary, although once Evie woke up I knew I was going to stay home. She is going through the most horrible cold ever and still wasn’t well enough to go back to day care.

We spent the day at home. I spent the day frantically trying to get some work done in between starting TV shows, giving hugs, dragging out toys, and refilling milk cups. The kids? They were thrilled to have another day at home. I worked up until about 3:30, when they finally convinced me to take them outside to play in the snow.

Hubby was home as well, but since he was on-call for work, I couldn’t leave him with the kids. With snowy roads, he would have needed to leave immediately if he would have been called out on a job. There wouldn’t have been a big enough time gap to wait for me to get home first.

All of this got me thinking about what other parents of school-age kids do when there is a snow day or teacher work day and the kids are out of school. I’m lucky that my boss doesn’t mind me bringing the kids to the office occasionally, and I’ve taken advantage of that several times this year already. The problem is, I’m not sure how long he’ll put up with it. I certainly don’t want it to become a nuisance. We’re on day two of snow days this week and since Evie could finally go back to day care, he came to the office with me. The good thing is that he is very well behaved at the office. As long as he has his DSi or can play games on the Disney web site he’s a happy camper.

Somewhere along the way, we’re going to have to find a better solution though. There are several more days coming up that he’ll be out of school, and probably another snow day or two, not to mention Spring Break or SUMMER(!). We were lucky to have the in-laws here over winter break to help out, but we can’t expect them to do that every year. We don’t have a regular baby-sitter (Grandma, aunts, and uncles are nearby when we need an evening out) and Zach has decided that he’s way too old to go to day care with his sister (plus her cut-off is 5 yrs) so I’m just kind of stuck. We don’t know a lot of people that live nearby that might suggest a sitter in our area either.

What I would really love to find is a local college student that would be available on those days, but how do you even go about finding someone like that when you don’t know any? What do other people do with their kids when there’s no school and they have to be at work?

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A Visit With Santa

Published by dee on December 23, 2010

We had a hard time fitting it in this year, but we finally made it out Saturday for the annual visit with Santa. The kids were so excited and knew exactly what to do when it was finally their turn. Zach told Santa the only thing he wants for Christmas is a DS and a game to play on it. I sure hope Santa brings him one or he’s going to be a very disappointed little boy Christmas morning. I’m not sure what Evie asked for, but I’m sure she will be happy with whatever Santa brings.

I didn’t have a chance to speak to the big guy myself, but honestly, all I really want for Christmas is to be surrounded by my family and enjoy the time I have with them. It is all I really need and I’m pretty sure I’ll get my wish.

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She Really Is Paying Attention

Published by dee on December 22, 2010

Scene: Zach, Evie, Mommy, and Granny riding in the car on the way to order yet another pair of glasses for Zach.

Zach: Happily singing and chatting with Mom and Granny…

Evie: Playing with an old cell phone that she likes to carry around. Suddenly she yells out, “Stop talking! I’m on the phone!”

Zach: Continues to talk

Granny and Mommy: Stifling our laughter the best we can

Evie: “Stop it! I’m ON THE PHONE!!!”

Hmmmm, wonder where she gets that from???

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This One Is For The Grandparents

Published by dee on December 17, 2010

Zach’s school had a Winter Music Program this week. Sadly, it was at 3:00 in the afternoon and nobody could make it there but me. Lucky for all of you though, I recorded as much of it as I could with my shaky hands. I ended up sitting on my knees in front of the chairs they had set up for parents as it was the only place I could get a clear view. Here are the four songs that the Kindergarten performed, minus a few seconds I missed at the beginning of a couple songs. Zach is a little hidden by the big hair in front of him, but you can find him at the end of the second row from the top, on the right side.

The best part though, was at the end when the principal announced they had a Christmas gift for every single child, sponsored by Toys for Tots. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard so many kids squeal all at once!

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‘Tis The Season

Published by dee on December 2, 2010

In between photo shoots, editing photos, Christmas shopping, two Thanksgiving dinners, a birthday party, laundry, bill paying, and just generally putting out fires in every direction I turn, we somehow managed to get the Christmas Tree up and decorated. To be perfectly honest, I put the tree together, strung the lights and garland, and then pretty much let the kids go crazy with the ornaments. I put a few up toward the top where they couldn’t reach, but mostly just let them go with it. They were thrilled, and continue to re-arrange it on a daily basis. We have yet to find the time to hang the lights they begged for on the house, but we’ve still got a couple weeks for that.

Every year I swear I’m going to not let things get so hectic this time of year, and every year it does. As I scanned through the few snapshots I took of the kids while they were decorating the tree it struck me just how much they have grown over the last few months. They both required new shoes again last weekend as their feet just keep getting bigger and bigger. My babies are not babies anymore. Even Evie, who is still only two for a few more months, talks and acts well beyond her age at times. They just look so big sitting there next to the tree.

I also realized, as I was uploading photos to Flickr, that I took very few photos of my kids over the last month or so. Very few compared to what I normally take anyway, and it makes me a bit sad. I know I overdo it on the photos most of the time, but I absolutely love looking back at all those captured moments when – on days like today – I realize just how fast they are growing and changing.

December is certainly not slowing down. I have so many things I want to write and post here, but there is so very little time to accomplish that. This weekend I’m doing two photo shoots for friends/family, have a birthday party to attend, and then hopefully can squeeze in some time for my own family’s photos. Next week we have our first appointment to start evaluations on Zach for his sensory issues, then my cousin’s wedding that weekend where I am also helping take photographs. The next weekend is my nephew’s birthday, and then my in-laws are coming to town and suddenly we’re at Christmas.

Somewhere in there I need to finish buying /making Christmas gifts, edit all those photos I’m going to be taking, AND try to find time to hang out and have some fun with my own family. The kids are so excited about Christmas this year and I really want to enjoy that with them, including fun things like making cookies, watching Christmas movies, writing out their wish lists, as well as reading and talking about the story of Christmas and helping them to understand what it is really all about. I wish I had a giant Pause button so that I could get all of the things finished that I need to do, then catch back up with my family.

Whew! I’m not sure how that all reads, but I’m talking a mile a minute in my head as I’m writing. That is how rushed I am feeling with everything right now.

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