Feeling A Little Better and Cross Country

Buster is starting to feel a little better. He's eating and drinking pretty good. He thought he'd help out by washing out his medicine cups and droppers.

He is still crying off and on in the night and waking up very sore and agitated in the morning. He's usually good to go as soon as he has some tylenol in him and as long as he has it in him he is fine.

We are a little concerned because his speech is not very clear when he tries to talk to us.
We never had a problem understanding him before. I called his ENT Dr. and they said that's normal, but let us know if it get worse. Not sure how to take that.

Bunny and Bubbas are running cross county this year and really enjoying it. Bunny gives it her all and with Bubbas it just depends on the mood he's in.

Tator is also running, but she recently has gotten very violent in the car and this race was about 45 minutes away so she wasn't allowed to come.



One Unhappy Camper

Buster had his tonsils and adenoids out and tubes put in his ears on Monday.

It has been a long week. None of the kids have ever had surgery before, so I am new to this.

He had tubes put in his ears a couple years ago, but that is the extent of surgery we have ever been through.
He's coming around. Tuesday was rocky, her wouldn't drink or take any of his medicine so I was very worried he was going to get dehydrated. Wednesday went better he's drinking and eating a little bit. He even played cars with Bubbas for awhile.

They gave him some medicine to make him relax before they took him back. He started to act very goofy. He kept trying to eat the bar on the side of the bed.

 

When he woke up after surgery he was very upset so they gave him more medicine to put him back to sleep. Then expected us to wake him up and make him drink. We were not real happy.

I'm sure under any other circumstances he would have loved a ride in a wheelchair.

When we got home he attempted to eat a popsicle. But he was just too tired.



One Muddy Mess

Things are moving right along at the house. Last weekend we found this big bee hive in a bush in the front yard.

I started washing down the walls in this room. We had already painted the ceiling and revarnished two out of the three windows in it. The other window had broken glass in it. So it is being repaired. We are also going to do something different with the lights. It's a really big room that we're making into the kids hang out room, so we're thinking about putting in a couple ceiling fans with a disco ball between them.  I'm hoping to finish the walls next weekend so we can move some things into it for the kids to play with while we're working on the other rooms.

I repainted around the mural in the library again. I had to get rid of the smurf blue. This looks much better.

My husband tore out the wall to the greenhouse and dug this huge hole, so we could repair a water leak.

Ok, not really, a local basement company brought in a big machine thing (I have no idea what it's called) and dug out the whole backside of the house to reseal the back wall where water was leaking in. The downstairs, which is the main living area, is built in the side of a bank so the water was coming in and causing problems in the whole downstairs.
 I'd say they left us with one huge mess, but that's nothing compared to the mess the water was making in the house.

Being Proactive

   Last year there was a lot of triangulation over homework between people at school, Tator, and I so I am very nervous about this upcoming year. Last year she ended up playing us all until it ended in a disagreement between me and the teacher where the teacher felt sorry for her and I was basically the bad guy. Since Tator doesn't show her behaviors at school it was hard for her teacher to understand that she was choosing not to do her homework which was where the triangulation came in.

   I take full responsibility for what happened last year. I never went in and talked with her teacher until the end of the year. I didn't know what to say to her so I didn't say anything.

   This year I decided I would be proactive. At the end of the year the principal thought it would be a good idea if him, this years teacher, the school psychologist and I had a meeting before school started so I could explain RAD and what Tator is like at home. I was advised by her therapist to explain to them that I would not fight with her about homework, but really needed them to follow through on her loss of privileges at school if she did not do her homework. (the teacher last year did not follow through)

   So today I met with them. I have been thinking about this meeting all summer long. I was nervous and sick to my stomach. Honestly, how do I explain her behavior when they will never see it.

   I had a hard time finding information about RAD that explained that it is normal for her to have these behaviors at home and be fine at school. But I finally found something. I ran off copies for everyone in the meeting. I prayed and prayed some more then, with a very upset stomach, went to the meeting.

   It went really well and I'm very pleased. I'm not sure that the teacher really understood, but was very open to what I had to say. The principal and psychologist were very understanding.

   Homework was the big thing, I just explained I will give her one chance to do it and then not ask again. I will not fight with her about it. I asked that they be VERY consistent about what happens when it doesn't get done. Her and I have way bigger issues to deal with and because I refuse to make homework a battle, she may win that one.
   She is still spiraling out of control and I'm very anxious about this coming school year. I wish I could say that she is feeling the same way and this is why her behavior is so bad, but because her behavior pattern has only gotten worse since the end of March I have no idea what's going on in her head.