Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I'm baaaack!!!!

I've been absent a while - sorry about that.  I got sick again with Diverticulitis - but that's boring to talk about.  Let's not mention that D word again.

Except to say that since the only position I was slightly comfortable in was flat on my back.  This put me in bed for 2 weeks, which gave me lots of time to get obsessed with police shows.  They are on all the time, has anyone noticed this?  I got hooked...it was like police drama crack.  I was jonesing for more for the half hour that they were not on.

The downside to this is that at night my mind went bananas.  First of all I couldn't sleep because of the pain, so I was up at 1am watching Criminal Minds, which is a really freaky show.  There are some messed up people out there!  Poor Sean in the meantime got really good at falling asleep with pillows over his ears.  I really should take a picture of it.

Anyway, the show would freak me out so much that I would walk around the house and quadruple check that the windows and doors were locked up.  Which is really silly because if I learned anything from these shows it's that if the bad guys really want to get to you they can - doors mean nothing to these hulk like psychopaths.  Have I mentioned before that I was raised in a home where anxiety wafted through the air like oxygen?  No?  Well maybe that explains a thing or two.

One night Sean the superhero saint took the boys on a backyard camp out.  Big tent set up and all.  They boys were thrilled (minus a little drama by my youngest as to whether or not he wanted to sleep in the tent.  First yes, then no, then yes, then no, then yes.  He settled in the tent around 11).  Of course I was alone in the house but stayed awake until about 4 so I could hear any attempted massacre that took place in the backyard.  I had completely prepared myself for the gruesome scenario and how I would defend my family with the mighty dog that is Sam.  In my mind I was invincible and had the power to defeat any Freddy Kruger or Jason that would appear in the night and dare to attack my family. 

Seriously.  This is not healthy.

Finally I fell asleep and decided it may be time to cut back on the police show dramas.  Maybe.

Really, with my overactive imagination, I should only be allowed to watch My Little Pony or something equally fluffy.  Although there are certain horrors associated with these shows too, but I won't get into that now.

So that's me in a nutshell.  And how are you?

Thursday, August 9, 2012

You Can't Always Get What You Want


Peter and TJ earn coins around here (they are actually poker chips - have I mentioned this before???), and each coin is worth 10 minutes of Wii.  TJ could care less about Wii and uses his for computer time.  Peter, however, is crazy about the Wii and is forever asking how he can earn more coins.

Pete:  "Mom, what can I do to earn coins today?"

Me:  "Well, you can dust, vacuum, and play with the dog.  He needs some attention today."

pause

Pete:  "I'll vacuum.  That's worth the most coins, right?"

Me:  "Yes, but you have to dust before you vacuum."

Pete:  "Why?"

Me:  "Because when you dust, some of the dust falls on the floor.  Then you vacuum it up."

Pete:  "Well I don't want to dust."

Me:  "Well then you have to wait to vacuum until I do the dusting."

Pete:  "Well do it now."

Me:  "Well thank you for your suggestion but I'm reading right now.  I'll do it later."

pause

Pete:  "How long are you going to read?  The whole book?"

Me:  "No, but I just sat down.  I'll read for a little bit and then I'll dust."

longer pause

Pete:  "How long is a little bit?"

Me:  "Pete, I can tell you right now that the more you ask, the longer you'll be waiting."

extra long pause

Pete:  "Dang it, I'll dust.  Where are the single socks?"


I win.  :) 

And that's where I'm at.  Kids need to go back to school....and soon!!!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Summer Super-Mom....NOT

So I'm coming off a string of a few days of meltdowns - not mine.

Both my boys have been having a difficult time lately.

This is the first summer TJ has not qualified for summer school.  TJ has autism.  At first I was actually happy and proud, as if he was somehow semi "cured", what an amazing thing, aren't we lucky, blah blah blah.  In fact, our district is desperate to save money, so qualification was strictly based on academic performance.  While I'm happy that he's doing well academically, the school is in for a rude awakening when they get my sweet boy in the fall.  Without the structure, TJ is slowly falling apart.  Last year his start of school was seamless.  This fall, I'm not putting any money on it.  It's funny....they take away supports because he's doing so well.  But he's doing so well because of all the supports.  Chew on that one for a while.

Peter does not have autism, but has "little brother of a special needs kid syndrome" (not an official syndrome - this one is Lauren named).  He thinks that he always knows better, no questions asked.  He bosses his big brother around and pushes all his buttons, then when TJ explodes and says nasty things to Peter, he cries victim.  It's exhausting.

The best part was yesterday.  TJ was mid meltdown.  He yells "everything is about Peter.  It's like he's more important than me.  I'm older.  I'm #3 in this family and he's #4 - I should come first."  There was more but I'm not going to detail it here.  Finally after he calms down, it's Peter's turn to melt down.  And the first thing out of his mouth is "everything is always about TJ.  It's like he's more important in this family than I am."  Seriously?!?!  Can't these 2 compare notes before melting down???  It would avoid meltdowns all together and save me some headaches and heartaches.  Dudes.  Seriously.

Later in the day I was walking with my friend who grew up with a special needs sibling.  She said, wisely, "you can get advice from everyone in the world, but if they don't have a special needs person in their family they just can't get it."  True.  It's a balancing act that goes beyond your typical sibling rivalry, and is further isolating as every case of autism varies so much from child to child.  And while I appreciate advice (sometimes - other times I'm just like "I didn't ask - please stop talking"), it often makes me feel more isolated and alone than anything else.  But that's neither here nor there. 

So my fingers are crossed for today.  For all of us.  Because apparently, not only am I supposed to be "fun summer mom who's calm and can handle everything", I also have to be "summer school replacement mom who can magically structure every day for her son with autism without fear of not doing enough for him."  No pressure.

At least I didn't get hit in the head by the glass orb from that lamp - THINK POSITIVE!  (see previous post)