Wednesday, April 16, 2008

No more twins. And other updates

Well, The Boy's twin moved closer to the Casino over the week-end so we won't be having him around any more. We are going to miss him a lot. I'm hoping that he will come and visit some times.

So I'm looking for something else to do to make some money. I'm not sure what that will be, because I'll need a really flexible schedule. I feel that I need to be available for The Boy. I also need a few extra hundred dollars, to be able to have the things we want to have and to still be able to eat. LOL So, if you know of any work from home opportunities that are for real let me know okay?

In other news, Howard might be getting a better job soon. It's by now means a done deal, but if he gets it he will be making $11 an hour and will be a manager. He's also looking for things here in town, because it would be easier for him to get to work and home again. But so far there hasn't been much that would be worth it at this point.

The Boy has been having a much better week so far this week. I just hope he can keep it up. I don't know what we will do about Kindergarten next year. I'm not sure he is ready for it yet, and I'm not sure Howard will agree to sending him to a Special Education Kindergarten, where he can learn social interactions, in a smaller class room, along with academics. I've considered Homeschooling him, but I'm not sure I have the ability to do it correctly. In smaller groupings, and one one one, he is so sweet and co-operative. (Most of the time, he is a normal little boy who gets antsy some times.) We have meetings with teachers to talk about his situation. If he will stay where he is for the rest of the year (2 months?) or will go to WESD in a special education class. Then we will have a meeting with the school that he will be going to kindergarten in, about if he should be going there or should be going to the WESD Kindergarten class. By the end of May we should have it all figured out. We just need to find out what he needs to help him do the best he can in school. (I told Howard that I want The Boy to be the Nerd who makes One Million dollars every couple of weeks, rather than the Popular guy who flips burgers. I don't think he agrees with me completely. He wants The Boy to be the Popular guy who makes One Million Dollars every couple of weeks. LOL)

Depressing, death related, post feel free to skip.

I'm feeling sad today. I've been thinking about the members of my family who have passed on. There are 4 members of my family who died from Cancer.
My Dad's Mom (Maude Bea) died when he was just a baby, from "cancer of the female organs".
My Great Grandmother (Mom's Dad's Mom) had cervical cancer.
My Mom's youngest brother's wife (My Aunt Gail) died of breast cancer, and her daughter (Theresa) isn't expected to make it much longer because of it.
My Mom's older sister (My Aunt Carline) and her husband (My Uncle Jim) both were diagnosed with lung cancer, he passed away not long ago, and now my Mom thinks her sister isn't going to be around much longer either.

I've spent more time thinking about heart disease and other circulatory problems than I have about cancer. As far as I know 2 family members have passed from heart related disease. My Dad's Dad, (Grandaddy) when I was about 5 or so, and my Mom's Dad (Pa, or Pop), who had circulatory issues and passed from a stroke. My Mom's Mom (Monie) had some circulatory issues as well, but I believe it was complications of Parkinson's for her.

I should go have a cup of coffee, or get a Pepsi, and relax. It's good to remember those who have passed. They were all important to me in their own way. Even the ones who died before I was born. I miss the ones who are gone, and wish I could spend more time with the ones who are going.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Rambling update.

Between hormonal headaches, and allergy headaches, I'm feeling pretty beat up today. Luckily the rain is keeping quite a bit of the allergens down so I'm managing. However having 2 trees in the yard that I'm allergic to guarantees that I'll suffer at least a little bit until they finish flowering.

We are thinking that The Boy's burst of aggression last week was due mostly to the behavior of other kids who were pushing, hitting, and wouldn't let him play. He knows that it was wrong of him to react that way, and we are trying to find things he can do before he gets too frustrated and/or not physical ways to keep himself out of trouble. Things like telling others not to hit or push him, or walking way to be closer to the teacher. (He won't tell on the other kids. He doesn't want them to get in trouble.) It's going to be a balancing act, because none of us want him to be a punching bag for the other kids, but he can't hurt them back either. He loves school, he thinks that all the kids in his class are his friends, and he would be sad if he couldn't go to school any more. He is still 6 months to a year behind other kids his age in his speech and social skills. We are looking at a kindergarten class for kids with developmental delays. If that is decided to be the best placement, we are hoping that he will learn the coping skills he needs, and since it appears that he is closing the gap between what he is doing and what other kids his age are normally doing we are hoping that he will be ready for first grade in the normal school setting. It's hard watching him go through this, he's a really sweet little boy. He really does love going to school, and all the kids. He just doesn't have the skills to understand and prevent himself from over reacting when he gets overwhelmed. I'm not sure he is understanding what we are telling him, the advice people are giving him to deal with things that are normal for a class this size, or the reasons why he can't hurt others if they hurt him first.

I'm rambling and I'm not making any sense so I'll stop for now.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Aggressive behavior.

The Boy has been having a bout of aggression lately. Until we came back to Oregon I worried that he would be too passive. Other kids would bully him and hurt him because they knew he wouldn't do anything about it. (This happened several times with the cousins kids who were all within months of him in age. 1 boys and 2 girl) That's changed now. He pushes back, and he hits and he grabs other kids when they annoy him. (Sigh) I need to find a way to teach him that he doesn't have to just sit there while other kids hurt him, and that it's not okay to hurt other kids even if they hurt him first. He is normally such a sweet kid. Last night he cried when The Other Boy was in trouble. And yet, on Monday he was in trouble for pushing and shoving at school and today at school he hurt another child. According to The Boy this other child (a boy) hit him 2 times in the stomach before he grabbed him . He says he just wanted L (the other child) to stop hitting him. I understand, but he had such an extreme reaction! He's in time out right now because of it and won't get gummy slugs for his snack later. We talked a long time about why it's not okay to hurt someone else. He seems to understand, but does he really understand? What am I going to do if he keeps this up? He isn't aggressive with adults, maybe because they are bigger than he is or because adults don't often show aggression toward him.