Another month

Things have finally settled down again.  It seemed to take H forever to get adjusted to her new exercises this time.  Part of it was my fault, as I was not as consistent as usual at the beginning.  I finally had to realize that I simply couldn't get all of them done every night.  So I took off two of the exercises and what is left is doable most nights.  She isn't complaining (much) about them and does them with a good attitude.  Her grades in school continue to be good, with lots of As and Bs and a few C/Ds.  More importantly, her teacher said she is doing really well (with the exception of last week when she was fighting a cold and not feeling well).
However something happened a few weeks ago that left me feeling blindsided.  The school called one day saying a parent had complained that H hurt her daughter on the bus; from what H said it sounds like they got too boisterous in playing.  Then another parent complained a week later that H hit her son; again it seems not to be anything meanspirited.  And because of this H was not going to be allowed to ride the bus!  I have no problem acknowledging that H was wrong and too wild and needed to stop.  Which I must point out she did.  From what several people said it sounds like what really was happening is that H tends to be too boisterous and loud all the time on the bus (like many of the other kids there) and the bus driver was looking for a reason to put her off.  Mind you, this was only the second time the school had contacted me about a bus problem with H.  For all I knew, things were fine most of the year.  If they had contacted me sooner at least we could have worked on the problem before it got to this point.  I feel like this is a similar thing to what happened with scouts last year.  For some reason people seem to feel like they have to pretend everything is under control until it has worn them down so much that they can't take your child any more in any situation.
And I am preaching to myself as well.  I teach 3 yr sunday school and have had some problem children as well.  Also I know how frustrating and tiring yet charming H can be.  She is a handful.  So while I understand to some extent how the bus driver feels, I still wish he had approached me earlier (which I had requested after the first incident) so that we could have worked on this.  Yet I know he is a caring person who did his best.  I am afraid this is not the last time we will have something like this with H, especially in situations that have lots of stimulation or are different from what she is used to.

Not over yet

It has been another week of these new exercises, and H still does not like them.  For the most part her mood has been better, though not always.  I am exhausted emotionally tonight from a public emotional meltdown from H.  Thankfully it was a small one, but I felt so bad that her peers saw it.  I wish I could get her out of the sport she is currently enrolled in, which she is not liking much and is not helping all of this.  But we don't want to teach her to run from her problems or to abandon her committments.  In another 6 weeks the sport will be over.  Thank God!  I hope it doesn't take that long for this bit of moodiness to pass over.
What do you think: if someone says something hurtful to your child, should you insist that your child tell you what it is if they don't want to?  In the past I have not forced it, but I am afraid it may be building a habit of hiding in H.  On the other hand, I know I didn't tell my mom things like that, but I don't think she pushed to know either.
I am praying for peace and guidance for all of this and some other stuff.  I would covet your prayers if anyone is reading this!
'Chelle

Another therapy session

We met with H's therapist last week.  In visual memory she is doing quite well, able to remember 9 numbers in a row.  In auditory memory she is much weaker, at 5 or 6 numbers.  This could explain why she had trouble following directions at school.  So this next couple of months we are supposed to concentrate on her auditory memory.  We are listening to books on tape, doing number and word auditory exercises, and playing bop it.  As well as the usual spelling words, math facts, juggling, spinning, writing and massage.
We have been doing this new schedule for a week now.  I have noticed that H is more moody than usual and is disliking the therapy more than usual.  I am hoping this is one of the "regressions" we used to see whenever we changed our schedule.  If so, it is a mild one and should be over in a few days.  Be praying for us!

Two weeks break

For the past two weeks we have not been doing the exercises.  H's therapist suggested we use the Christmas holidays as a break.  In the past when I have missed even three days of massage for H I have seen a definate loss of self control, so I was a bit leary of doing this.  The first week of no exercises I didn't notice that much of a difference in H.  However by the end of the second week she has had a consistently higher level of energy (leading to a bit of wild behaviour) and a bit less of self control.  I have had to reprimand her on her self control several times this past week.  We started up the exercises again last night.
Overall I am encouraged: her behaviour did not deteriorate like I was afraid it would.  However the fact that she did lose some self control tells me we cannot stop the therapy yet.  We are supposed to see the therapist again this coming week; I will report more then.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday celebrating the Christ!
'Chelle

Desserts

Note: I typed this before Christmas, but then forgot about it with all of the holiday hussle.  The gingerbread was delicious and the key lime pie was a hit with all at Christmas dinner.  Sorry this is so late in getting to you!
During the holidays we have been trying one new (or not used in a long time) dessert each day.  The first day we made a GF cinnamon bun cake from Kim at Cook it Allergy Free.   It turned out great!  Then we made a GF vinegar chocolate cake, combining recipes from here and here.  It turned out okay; I like the chocolate sheet cake from Gluten Free Mommy better (though I find the xanthum gum unnecessary).  Tomorrow we are making the key lime pie from Cook's Illustrated (a favorite).  But today we are making gingerbread houses!  This is always so much fun.
The recipe I use for the kids is one handed down from my stepmother.
2/3 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C molasses
2 t ground ginger
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3T water
3C flour

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add molasses and spices, mixing well.  Mix salt and baking soda in the water and dissolve it; then add it to the butter/sugar mixture.  Add the flour and let the dough rest in the refrigerator at least an hour.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, a bit at a time on parchment paper and cut out shapes.  It helps if you have cut out the wall and roof shapes from paper before hand, so that you can be sure you get your dimensions right.  For big cookies like the walls, I usually just take away the extra dough from around the walls and just put the parchment directly on the baking sheet.
Bake 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

(To make it gluten free for myself, I used 1 C sweet rice flour, 1C buckwheat flour, 1 C almond flour, and 1/4 C flax meal instead of the wheat flour.  I also added an egg.  I rolled them out between two pieces of parchment paper and then used cookie cutters.  It worked just fine!)

I love this holiday tradition.  I hope you do too!
Chelle

A break that is actually good!

We have now completed one full week of no exercises: and everything is still going well!
The therapist suggested giving H a break from exercises for the holidays.  At first I was a bit wary, since in the past if we have skipped massages for just 3 days H would have a meltdown.  But this time everything stayed the same.  I am so thrilled.  I think it is another sign that she is closer to normal.   I plan to continue the break for another 3 days, then start up the exercises again.  That way she will be back in the routine well before school starts again.
As a side note, I have also been letting H have a bit more sugar than usual.  And it is not leading to the wild, out-of-control behaviour that has been usual in the past.  I am still leary about letting her have lots of sugar though.
Happy Holidays!

Celebration (and the outcome)

H continues to do well.  Her grades for this quarter are 3 As and 3 Bs.  This is a HUGE improvement over the first quarter's grades.  Even better, she is still behaving well at school.
In celebration of a whole week of good behaviour at school we went out for a donut on Friday.  We went late at night, right before bedtime with the hope that the sugar would work its way out of their system while they slept.  It seemed to be working in that they all had a good night's sleep.  However the next day H had three minor meltdowns over trival events.  She did not have good control over her emotions.  I am willing to bet it was the donut.  Next celebration will be pizza.