I am a joy to watch movies with. And I am also being sarcastic in that statement.
We try to do movie nights as often as we can as a complete family. Since my husband travels so much for work, it is difficult to find a day when everyone is home in the evening. Last night we all were home and had nothing going on. It's summer, so the kids can stay up later and it worked out perfectly.
My husband chose the movie. He chose Gremlins. I had never seen it. This is common...growing up I didn't see many movies that everyone my age seems to have seen. Quite often when a bunch of friends are talking about a movie, I have never seen it. No one can understand how I am the age I am and haven't seen movies that "everyone" my age grew up with. Now it is almost a joke, where a friend will talk about a movie and then say "Tori never saw it, I'm sure" and then continue on.
We started watching the movie. When they said not to feed the guy after midnight, I said "until when?" I was being serious. It is always after midnight, isn't it? My husband shot me a look and we continued watching. Unfortunately, as soon as I said it, a debate happened with all the kids trying to figure out exactly what the time constraints were for them not being fed.
Eventually, one by one my kids lost interest in the movie. My 5 year old was the only one left towards the end. If you have seen the movie, you will know why this was a problem. When the girl talks about her dad in the chimney and then says "and that was how I found out Santa wasn't real" or something like that, my son looked at me. I gasped and looked at my husband. Now obviously my husband hadn't remembered that part or he wouldn't have shown it to our 5 year old, the only one of the kids who still believes in santa.
Luckily I am awesome at covering without actually lying. I don't believe it is right to lie to my kids about santa or the easter bunny or whatever, but I also don't want to be a dream squasher. Up until now, when we talk about things, I always sort of make them talk while I just listen. I have never told them they do exist and have never said they don't. I always turn it around into a question. This time I knew I had to do some damage control. I don't care if my 5 year old believes in santa, but I sure don't want the movie to be how he found out!
Luckily on Christmas day at my in-laws house an uncle dresses up as santa and hands out presents. Luckily, my son knows that is not the real santa. Luckily I was able to talk about how people dress up as santa a lot and he knew that was true and made his own story about this. He talked about how the real santa must be very tired so people pretend.
I did not enjoy Gremlins and neither did my kids. They have spent all day talking about the things in the movie that didn't make sense. I think maybe they are all a little too much like me in their skepticism. Or maybe once I planted the seed of doubt (when is after midnight? how long does that last?) they couldn't let it go and then started picking apart all the unbelievable parts of the movie. Oddly enough the actual Gremlin was not something they questioned at all. Apparently they are like me in that they can suspend their sense of reality if it is unreal enough, but if it is close to something that could be real and is only slightly off, they can not accept it. But at least we spent the evening together. Tonight we are eating ice cream and watching The Wizard of Oz. How many kids will be in my bed tonight with nightmares? Any guesses? I think they have all seen it before, so I'm not too worried. We'll see.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Stuff and Things
1. My kids were doing a pottery camp the past few weeks. They learned some really cool stuff and I wished I could have taken it too. While they were there, I dyed some yarn and worked on business things. Last week we got to pick up all the cool stuff they made. One thing puzzled me. The kids were supposed to sculpt some kind of food out of clay. Most of my kids made pie, cookies, pizza, and other easily identified food. My 5 year old made "moldy french fries" (because he wanted to paint them green but the teacher said they had to be realistic) and "fox fudge freakout ice cream". Once I knew what they were, I could tell, but I am constantly intrigued by his mind. I love that he problem solves and figures out creative ways to stay within the rules. I know when he begins Kindergarten, there is the potential that the teacher won't "get" him and it will be a problem, but I love it.
2. Maya got spayed on Friday. Although I was sad, I was sort of excited about sleeping in Saturday morning with no dog to have to take out early. It didn't quite work out that way because I was so worried about her that I couldn't sleep. I ended up much less rested than if she had been here. We did all kinds of things Friday to try and take our mind off of what was happening to her. We went to a reptile zoo and saw an animal that really freaked us all out. He was behind glass but the tour guide told us he can break any bone in a human's body with his tail. Even the skull or femur. Then she said that his saliva was so toxic to people that an adult would be dead within 2 days of contact. The animal (no idea what he was) was staring at us and watched our every move as we saw different animals in the same room. I was getting really creeped out and was trying not to act like it in front of the kids. The first thing they said when we turned the corner was "that guy was freaky". They had noticed it too. We then saw some kind of snake that would kill people even if they had the anti venom. Apparently he locks his jaw on you when he bites and continues injecting poison until the victim is dead. The tour lady said that even if the antidote was there, you'd run out before the snake ran out of poison.
3. Speaking of Poison, they are touring near me. I won't be able to go, but how cool would that be? Even though now that I have watched all the Rock of Love (including Rock of Love Bus) I have no attraction to Bret at all anymore. He sort of grosses me out a bit now.
4. Speaking of bad reality tv shows, I record Daisy of Love to watch on the treadmill. It is an amazing thing that some of the people on the show survived long enough to be adults. Some of them seem to lack common sense at an astounding level.
5. I just opened the mail and found out that my blood work was great. Everything that was supposed to be in the normal range was, everything that was supposed to be absent was, and everything that was supposed to be low was. How awesome is that?
6. I took my girls for their first pedicure on Saturday. My reasoning is kind of strange and morbid. I know everything will be fine with my surgery. Yet I can't think about it without thinking about all the things I would miss if something did go wrong...not just necessarily with the surgery, just in life. All the things I keep thinking about doing later, well, who knows how much later there is, you know? Not just for me, but for anyone. That's one of the reasons I didn't go with my instinct and wait to start the yarn stuff until after my surgery. I keep being all practical with everything, which is fine in some cases, but it is also fine to just try something and see. It is fine to not wait until everything is exactly right for whatever it is and just go for it.
7. Which is why we spent the day at the beach today and had a wonderful day. It was beautiful out, not too hot, not too cold. We had a lovely picnic there. Just a beautiful day all around.
8. I have 2 weeks until my surgery, which basically means I have only 2 weeks left of summer with my kids. I could look at that with sadness and be upset about how much I will miss, but instead I am choosing to look at it as how lucky I am to have two whole weeks to cram in as much fun as we can.
9. Speaking of surgery...Maya is doing fine after hers. I was laughing when the kids asked what she had done because basically she had the same basic surgery I will be having. I think. Isn't spaying a hysterectomy? When we dropped her off, they asked if we wanted to pay extra for pain medicine to bring home. I was expecting it to be super expensive or something because why else would they ask. It was $20. Do people really not spring for the pain medicine after their dog has major surgery like this? Is $20 so much that it needs to be an option? It would be unheard of to give a human surgery like that and the not be willing to shell out for the pain medicine. It boggles my mind that people can be cruel to animals and not think they realize or whatever.
10. Maya spent a lot of the rest of the weekend snuggled on my lap while I knit. She isn't allowed to go outside for 11 days, isn't allowed to play (how in the world do you stop a puppy from running around and playing?) and isn't supposed to go up the stairs for 11 days. Frankly if I knew how to keep her from going up the stairs, I would do it permanently but since I don't, we will just have to hope she doesn't hurt herself too badly when she sneaks up there.
I did a lot of knitting while she was on my lap.
These are knit with my Wildflowers yarn.
And below are mystery socks that will have the next clue/part of pattern out on Wednesday and the one after that on the 22nd (I think). I can't wait to knit the rest of the socks. Hopefully I will have them done by my surgery so I can bring them to the hospital.
2. Maya got spayed on Friday. Although I was sad, I was sort of excited about sleeping in Saturday morning with no dog to have to take out early. It didn't quite work out that way because I was so worried about her that I couldn't sleep. I ended up much less rested than if she had been here. We did all kinds of things Friday to try and take our mind off of what was happening to her. We went to a reptile zoo and saw an animal that really freaked us all out. He was behind glass but the tour guide told us he can break any bone in a human's body with his tail. Even the skull or femur. Then she said that his saliva was so toxic to people that an adult would be dead within 2 days of contact. The animal (no idea what he was) was staring at us and watched our every move as we saw different animals in the same room. I was getting really creeped out and was trying not to act like it in front of the kids. The first thing they said when we turned the corner was "that guy was freaky". They had noticed it too. We then saw some kind of snake that would kill people even if they had the anti venom. Apparently he locks his jaw on you when he bites and continues injecting poison until the victim is dead. The tour lady said that even if the antidote was there, you'd run out before the snake ran out of poison.
3. Speaking of Poison, they are touring near me. I won't be able to go, but how cool would that be? Even though now that I have watched all the Rock of Love (including Rock of Love Bus) I have no attraction to Bret at all anymore. He sort of grosses me out a bit now.
4. Speaking of bad reality tv shows, I record Daisy of Love to watch on the treadmill. It is an amazing thing that some of the people on the show survived long enough to be adults. Some of them seem to lack common sense at an astounding level.
5. I just opened the mail and found out that my blood work was great. Everything that was supposed to be in the normal range was, everything that was supposed to be absent was, and everything that was supposed to be low was. How awesome is that?
6. I took my girls for their first pedicure on Saturday. My reasoning is kind of strange and morbid. I know everything will be fine with my surgery. Yet I can't think about it without thinking about all the things I would miss if something did go wrong...not just necessarily with the surgery, just in life. All the things I keep thinking about doing later, well, who knows how much later there is, you know? Not just for me, but for anyone. That's one of the reasons I didn't go with my instinct and wait to start the yarn stuff until after my surgery. I keep being all practical with everything, which is fine in some cases, but it is also fine to just try something and see. It is fine to not wait until everything is exactly right for whatever it is and just go for it.
7. Which is why we spent the day at the beach today and had a wonderful day. It was beautiful out, not too hot, not too cold. We had a lovely picnic there. Just a beautiful day all around.
8. I have 2 weeks until my surgery, which basically means I have only 2 weeks left of summer with my kids. I could look at that with sadness and be upset about how much I will miss, but instead I am choosing to look at it as how lucky I am to have two whole weeks to cram in as much fun as we can.
9. Speaking of surgery...Maya is doing fine after hers. I was laughing when the kids asked what she had done because basically she had the same basic surgery I will be having. I think. Isn't spaying a hysterectomy? When we dropped her off, they asked if we wanted to pay extra for pain medicine to bring home. I was expecting it to be super expensive or something because why else would they ask. It was $20. Do people really not spring for the pain medicine after their dog has major surgery like this? Is $20 so much that it needs to be an option? It would be unheard of to give a human surgery like that and the not be willing to shell out for the pain medicine. It boggles my mind that people can be cruel to animals and not think they realize or whatever.
10. Maya spent a lot of the rest of the weekend snuggled on my lap while I knit. She isn't allowed to go outside for 11 days, isn't allowed to play (how in the world do you stop a puppy from running around and playing?) and isn't supposed to go up the stairs for 11 days. Frankly if I knew how to keep her from going up the stairs, I would do it permanently but since I don't, we will just have to hope she doesn't hurt herself too badly when she sneaks up there.
I did a lot of knitting while she was on my lap.
These are knit with my Wildflowers yarn.And below are mystery socks that will have the next clue/part of pattern out on Wednesday and the one after that on the 22nd (I think). I can't wait to knit the rest of the socks. Hopefully I will have them done by my surgery so I can bring them to the hospital.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Who Wants to Do Me?
Construction and detours are awful. The End. Just kidding.
The only notable thing about my appointment yesterday (besides the stupid construction and detours that almost made me late despite leaving one and a half hours before my appointment) was when I went to the lab to get my blood work done. The lab was empty of patients but there were a bunch of technicians just standing around waiting for a patient. When the front desk woman finished my paperwork, she told me to go in the back and choose a technician. The funny part was when I walked back and said "so who wants to do me?" Then I laughed. I hadn't exactly meant it to come out like that but because it did, it cracked me up. I laugh at my own unintentional jokes a lot. It's a personality quirk I guess.
The only other person who laughed or even got why it was funny was the one male technician. He did not get to do me though because a pregnant woman grabbed my paperwork and pulled me towards the chair. I have never had a pregnant woman do me before. On the one hand I am being silly with the way I worded that, but on the other hand, I am being serious about never having my blood drawn by a pregnant woman. I was surprised that when she put my arm in the position she wanted it in, it was touching her pregnant stomach. I felt her baby kick while she was drawing my blood. That was sort of weird. Nothing else notable happened and I drove home in the horrible construction again.
My doctor said if the blood work comes back the way we want it to, I will not need a radioactive scan or even any thyrogen and thyrogen blood work this year. Thank goodness! I will need an ultrasound in March or April and then an appointment next July and that is all. That is all if the blood work comes back the way it is supposed to. I have faith that it will because I think this will all be fine. One problem at a time for me, and right now that is the re hysterectomy thing. Oh, the one other notable thing from my appointment was that according to my chart, I have lost 5 pounds since my visit last year. 5 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, but I guess on someone my size it is a bigger deal than I would think. My doctor told me to eat lots of cookies and that if I have lost weight next year, we will have to talk. I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I'm sure it is just because I am nervous about the surgery and have been so busy with the new business stuff. (Had to sneak that in one more time, right?)
The only notable thing about my appointment yesterday (besides the stupid construction and detours that almost made me late despite leaving one and a half hours before my appointment) was when I went to the lab to get my blood work done. The lab was empty of patients but there were a bunch of technicians just standing around waiting for a patient. When the front desk woman finished my paperwork, she told me to go in the back and choose a technician. The funny part was when I walked back and said "so who wants to do me?" Then I laughed. I hadn't exactly meant it to come out like that but because it did, it cracked me up. I laugh at my own unintentional jokes a lot. It's a personality quirk I guess.
The only other person who laughed or even got why it was funny was the one male technician. He did not get to do me though because a pregnant woman grabbed my paperwork and pulled me towards the chair. I have never had a pregnant woman do me before. On the one hand I am being silly with the way I worded that, but on the other hand, I am being serious about never having my blood drawn by a pregnant woman. I was surprised that when she put my arm in the position she wanted it in, it was touching her pregnant stomach. I felt her baby kick while she was drawing my blood. That was sort of weird. Nothing else notable happened and I drove home in the horrible construction again.
My doctor said if the blood work comes back the way we want it to, I will not need a radioactive scan or even any thyrogen and thyrogen blood work this year. Thank goodness! I will need an ultrasound in March or April and then an appointment next July and that is all. That is all if the blood work comes back the way it is supposed to. I have faith that it will because I think this will all be fine. One problem at a time for me, and right now that is the re hysterectomy thing. Oh, the one other notable thing from my appointment was that according to my chart, I have lost 5 pounds since my visit last year. 5 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, but I guess on someone my size it is a bigger deal than I would think. My doctor told me to eat lots of cookies and that if I have lost weight next year, we will have to talk. I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I'm sure it is just because I am nervous about the surgery and have been so busy with the new business stuff. (Had to sneak that in one more time, right?)
Monday, July 06, 2009
Fireworks and Yarn
I don't talk about my 11 year old daughter much here now. That isn't because I don't love her or because she doesn't do interesting things. She does tons of things that I'd love to write about but it is because I love her that I don't. Her stories are not mine to tell. I can, however, tell you an incredibly thoughtful thing she did this weekend.
For 4th of July, we always go to my husband's parents house for dinner. His mom invites the entire world over for dinner and we hang out and have a great time. When it gets dark out, we go to the park that is literally in their backyard and watch the fireworks that the village does. From their park, you can see several different towns' fireworks and it is just the best place I have ever been to see fireworks. We brought Maya this year and she actually did fine with it all which surprised me.
Since my mother in law invites tons of people for dinner, you just never know who will be there. My 11 year old wanted to make 4th of July bracelets for everyone. Since she wasn't sure how many people there would be, she made tons of extras. Then she decided that she should make something for the boys/men too. She made key chains. She spent hours working on them and they turned out great.
The girls begged me to do their nails in patriotic colors. I didn't have a very good blue color, but I did the best I could with what we had. The pictures aren't turning out great but in real life they looked pretty cool.
Remember when I told you about my new business?
Here it is. If you click on the link, you can see all the yarn I have been working on. It is crazy that the amount of work I have done seems like nothing if you go by the amount of product I actually have available to sell. Hopefully I will be adding more things before my surgery on the 28th.
Today I have a doctor appointment. That's totally shocking right? Because I never go to the doctor (sarcasm). I don't think I ever updated you on my chest CT weeks ago (months?). It was stable. The stuff is still there, but no changes. That is great news. Today is just my endocrinologist appointment. I'm sure there will be tons of blood work, but otherwise, I have no idea. I don't think I need a radioactive scan this year but if I do it will be problematic. I usually schedule them for the summer because it isn't safe for my kids (or anyone) to be around me when I am radioactive but because of my surgery I wouldn't be able to do that this summer. I am just going to cross my fingers that he says no radioactive scan this year and maybe just an ultrasound or something at some point. I think if my blood work comes back with no cancer marker stuff then I should be safe. I'll let you know. In the meantime, go check out my yarn. You don't have to buy anything, but at least go look at it! The only sad part is that I don't want to sell any of it! I want to keep everything for myself!
For 4th of July, we always go to my husband's parents house for dinner. His mom invites the entire world over for dinner and we hang out and have a great time. When it gets dark out, we go to the park that is literally in their backyard and watch the fireworks that the village does. From their park, you can see several different towns' fireworks and it is just the best place I have ever been to see fireworks. We brought Maya this year and she actually did fine with it all which surprised me.
Since my mother in law invites tons of people for dinner, you just never know who will be there. My 11 year old wanted to make 4th of July bracelets for everyone. Since she wasn't sure how many people there would be, she made tons of extras. Then she decided that she should make something for the boys/men too. She made key chains. She spent hours working on them and they turned out great.
The girls begged me to do their nails in patriotic colors. I didn't have a very good blue color, but I did the best I could with what we had. The pictures aren't turning out great but in real life they looked pretty cool.
Remember when I told you about my new business?
Here it is. If you click on the link, you can see all the yarn I have been working on. It is crazy that the amount of work I have done seems like nothing if you go by the amount of product I actually have available to sell. Hopefully I will be adding more things before my surgery on the 28th.
Today I have a doctor appointment. That's totally shocking right? Because I never go to the doctor (sarcasm). I don't think I ever updated you on my chest CT weeks ago (months?). It was stable. The stuff is still there, but no changes. That is great news. Today is just my endocrinologist appointment. I'm sure there will be tons of blood work, but otherwise, I have no idea. I don't think I need a radioactive scan this year but if I do it will be problematic. I usually schedule them for the summer because it isn't safe for my kids (or anyone) to be around me when I am radioactive but because of my surgery I wouldn't be able to do that this summer. I am just going to cross my fingers that he says no radioactive scan this year and maybe just an ultrasound or something at some point. I think if my blood work comes back with no cancer marker stuff then I should be safe. I'll let you know. In the meantime, go check out my yarn. You don't have to buy anything, but at least go look at it! The only sad part is that I don't want to sell any of it! I want to keep everything for myself!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Easily Amused
Proof that I am not the only one in my house who can occupy herself when most people wouldn't be entertained at all.
My kids were finishing up lunch when my daughter asked me if I could do a cartwheel. I got up and did one. Immediately after I did the first "perfect cartwheel" my kids were on a quest to take a picture of it. We spent about an hour taking pictures and missing, trying again, missing and on and on. Most people would have given up. Why does anyone really need a picture of me doing a cartwheel anyway? My kids were determined. They played with settings on the camera, experimented with turning the flash on and off to see if that made the picture take faster or slower, and finally got a picture of me doing a cartwheel. Pay no attention to what I'm wearing or how I look...I am going to swim in a few hours after I drop my kids off at their pottery camp.
P.S. in the last photo, look at Maya looking at me like I am insane. And also look under my dishwasher for the cake pans that are collecting water because it is still leaking.
My kids were finishing up lunch when my daughter asked me if I could do a cartwheel. I got up and did one. Immediately after I did the first "perfect cartwheel" my kids were on a quest to take a picture of it. We spent about an hour taking pictures and missing, trying again, missing and on and on. Most people would have given up. Why does anyone really need a picture of me doing a cartwheel anyway? My kids were determined. They played with settings on the camera, experimented with turning the flash on and off to see if that made the picture take faster or slower, and finally got a picture of me doing a cartwheel. Pay no attention to what I'm wearing or how I look...I am going to swim in a few hours after I drop my kids off at their pottery camp.
P.S. in the last photo, look at Maya looking at me like I am insane. And also look under my dishwasher for the cake pans that are collecting water because it is still leaking.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Dogs and School
Yesterday we went to a Dachshund Derby. We entered Maya in the race. The proceeds were to benefit the MidWest Dachshund Rescue. We didn't think Maya would win (and she didn't) but we thought it would be a fun way to spend Sunday morning.
We met some of the nicest people there and some of the cutest dogs. Remember when I said I wasn't a "dog person"? Well, I was wrong. I am a "living creature person" because I seem to love all animals almost equally. They did the race in heats. When it was Maya's turn we expected her to not really know what to do but we did not expect her to look so frightened and just sit there looking around for us. I felt awful! She did not win, and actually at the end of her heat I had to go out on the "racetrack" to get her because she was just sitting there shaking. Did I say I felt awful? Because I really did. Poor Maya was glued to my side the rest of the day.
When we got home, my 3 older kids each had birthday parties to go to. My husband took my 5 year old to do something with him so I was alone with Maya. I recently got a bunch of DVDs to do instead of the shred because as much as I love it, it is getting repetitive now that I have been doing it for over 3 months. (that was an awkward sentence but as much as I try, I can't seem to fix it) I popped in a video and began. Maya chewed on her toy and watched me, like she always does. When I got to the ab part and I was lying on the mat, Maya dragged her bed over and placed it on my mat. I wish I had taken a picture because it was really sweet that she wanted to be so close to me. Annoying, but sweet. I can only imagine how clingy she will be after she gets spayed next week.
Switching topics here to something serious that bugs the crap out of me.
I brought my 9 year olds to their checkup on Saturday. I know I have mentioned before that my 9 year old daughter has difficulty with handwriting and other things. The pediatrician agreed with me that the school doesn't seem to know what they are doing in helping her so I should take her to an independent learning disability testing place. This way, someone with nothing to gain/lose from diagnosing her can identify the problems and come up with a plan to help her.
So far the school isn't really even really acknowledging that she has difficulties. If they did, they would be legally required to provide that help. That help costs money, which is why I believe they are hesitant to confirm the disabilities. Every time I bring it up, they say that she seems to be doing fine. They do give her some extra help with handwriting and reading, but otherwise they aren't willing to give her the testing that they are supposed to be legally required to do in order to figure out what she needs. Our insurance of course doesn't cover this testing with a private facility because technically the school should be doing it.
look especially at the word "bedroom". My daughter can not distinguish between b's and d's. She sort of randomly switches witch way she writes them in a frustrated attempt to get it correct. This looks fine? This looks like a kid who doesn't need some testing to see how to help her?
This will all work out fine for my daughter because we are willing to pay to get her the testing she needs but what if we couldn't? What would happen to her academically? I can imagine the consequences of her feeling like she was dumb or whatever when that isn't true, she just has some trouble learning/learns differently.
The school is unwilling to admit that all her difficulties (writing letters backwards, mixing up numbers, trouble reading, trouble writing, etc.) go together so we are going to pay to find out how to help her. What if we couldn't? It is really frustrating to me to think about all the kids who don't have such involved parents, who maybe don't notice the issues and just think their kid is lazy or something and don't get them help. We shouldn't have to push so hard for them to give her some help, we shouldn't have to pay to get her tested and then most likely pay for the extra help she needs, but we will. But what if we couldn't/wouldn't?
We met some of the nicest people there and some of the cutest dogs. Remember when I said I wasn't a "dog person"? Well, I was wrong. I am a "living creature person" because I seem to love all animals almost equally. They did the race in heats. When it was Maya's turn we expected her to not really know what to do but we did not expect her to look so frightened and just sit there looking around for us. I felt awful! She did not win, and actually at the end of her heat I had to go out on the "racetrack" to get her because she was just sitting there shaking. Did I say I felt awful? Because I really did. Poor Maya was glued to my side the rest of the day.
When we got home, my 3 older kids each had birthday parties to go to. My husband took my 5 year old to do something with him so I was alone with Maya. I recently got a bunch of DVDs to do instead of the shred because as much as I love it, it is getting repetitive now that I have been doing it for over 3 months. (that was an awkward sentence but as much as I try, I can't seem to fix it) I popped in a video and began. Maya chewed on her toy and watched me, like she always does. When I got to the ab part and I was lying on the mat, Maya dragged her bed over and placed it on my mat. I wish I had taken a picture because it was really sweet that she wanted to be so close to me. Annoying, but sweet. I can only imagine how clingy she will be after she gets spayed next week.
Switching topics here to something serious that bugs the crap out of me.
I brought my 9 year olds to their checkup on Saturday. I know I have mentioned before that my 9 year old daughter has difficulty with handwriting and other things. The pediatrician agreed with me that the school doesn't seem to know what they are doing in helping her so I should take her to an independent learning disability testing place. This way, someone with nothing to gain/lose from diagnosing her can identify the problems and come up with a plan to help her.
So far the school isn't really even really acknowledging that she has difficulties. If they did, they would be legally required to provide that help. That help costs money, which is why I believe they are hesitant to confirm the disabilities. Every time I bring it up, they say that she seems to be doing fine. They do give her some extra help with handwriting and reading, but otherwise they aren't willing to give her the testing that they are supposed to be legally required to do in order to figure out what she needs. Our insurance of course doesn't cover this testing with a private facility because technically the school should be doing it.
look especially at the word "bedroom". My daughter can not distinguish between b's and d's. She sort of randomly switches witch way she writes them in a frustrated attempt to get it correct. This looks fine? This looks like a kid who doesn't need some testing to see how to help her?This will all work out fine for my daughter because we are willing to pay to get her the testing she needs but what if we couldn't? What would happen to her academically? I can imagine the consequences of her feeling like she was dumb or whatever when that isn't true, she just has some trouble learning/learns differently.
The school is unwilling to admit that all her difficulties (writing letters backwards, mixing up numbers, trouble reading, trouble writing, etc.) go together so we are going to pay to find out how to help her. What if we couldn't? It is really frustrating to me to think about all the kids who don't have such involved parents, who maybe don't notice the issues and just think their kid is lazy or something and don't get them help. We shouldn't have to push so hard for them to give her some help, we shouldn't have to pay to get her tested and then most likely pay for the extra help she needs, but we will. But what if we couldn't/wouldn't?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Evil Scientist
Starting a business is hard work.(duh!) It is also fun hard work that takes my mind off of surgery coming up next month. I will admit that I have had a couple morbid thoughts about the whole new business/surgery thing. My main thought has been "I am spending a bit of money getting things ready and if I die, what will happen to it all?" That is horrible and morbid and I only typed it out here because sometimes I need to write something down to get it off my mind. Anyway, I have been getting excited about it all and can't wait to share with you what it is. I'd say most of you won't be interested in it other than to just see what I have been working on though.
My oldest daughter watched me work on some stuff for the new business. She watched me struggle with some of the label stuff and website stuff (was that a big enough hint that anyone could figure out what kind of business it is?) I worked with programs I didn't know and learned the best I could. What I couldn't figure out, I found another way to do. At the end, when I ended up with something pretty awesome, she remarked that I was very resourceful and stubborn (two words I often think about my 5 year old who has about the same personality as me...and drives me bananas sometimes because of it). She talked about the fact that she was proud of me for working so hard, proud of me for figuring it out when I began with no idea how to do it. That is something I hope my kids have learned from me. Even when things are hard, there is always a way to figure it out if you work hard enough and think creatively.
Besides all of that, the kids and I have been having fun doing summertime things. I love that they are home and hate that they ever have to go back to school. Yesterday it was amazingly hot out so we stayed in for most of the day. We pulled out these plastic chemistry supplies that my sister in law gave my son for Christmas when he wanted to be "an evil scientist". She intended for him to put colored water in them and play around making "potions". He has done that before and had a lot of fun, but this time I filled one with vinegar and gave him a teaspoon of baking soda to drop in. The older kids already knew what would happen, but he had no idea before he saw the "volcano". He thought this was the coolest thing in the world. We made quite a mess, but it sure was a fun mess!
My oldest daughter watched me work on some stuff for the new business. She watched me struggle with some of the label stuff and website stuff (was that a big enough hint that anyone could figure out what kind of business it is?) I worked with programs I didn't know and learned the best I could. What I couldn't figure out, I found another way to do. At the end, when I ended up with something pretty awesome, she remarked that I was very resourceful and stubborn (two words I often think about my 5 year old who has about the same personality as me...and drives me bananas sometimes because of it). She talked about the fact that she was proud of me for working so hard, proud of me for figuring it out when I began with no idea how to do it. That is something I hope my kids have learned from me. Even when things are hard, there is always a way to figure it out if you work hard enough and think creatively.
Besides all of that, the kids and I have been having fun doing summertime things. I love that they are home and hate that they ever have to go back to school. Yesterday it was amazingly hot out so we stayed in for most of the day. We pulled out these plastic chemistry supplies that my sister in law gave my son for Christmas when he wanted to be "an evil scientist". She intended for him to put colored water in them and play around making "potions". He has done that before and had a lot of fun, but this time I filled one with vinegar and gave him a teaspoon of baking soda to drop in. The older kids already knew what would happen, but he had no idea before he saw the "volcano". He thought this was the coolest thing in the world. We made quite a mess, but it sure was a fun mess!
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