As most of you know, I have a special needs child. I came into her life at age 3 and she was unable to talk clearly at all and not potty trained. Compared to my daughter who was only 5 months older, she was very delayed. Once I felt comfortable to say, Hey she needs help, I started fighting for her. And I have still been fighting for a diagnosis. In an earlier post, I wrote about my frustration with getting an answer, which you can read here. Well since then we got a new doctor who really listens to me and my concerns and who actually wanted to see the results of the outside test I got done on her. Since then the word Autism has been used here and there. But nothing definite. Finally I said what is her diagnosis. I just want an answer. As of right now, she has Asperger’s Syndrome with PDD. Now he did say this will change next year because the guidelines and titles are changing. So she will be considered under the Autism Spectrum. But I feel finally on a path to answers. And with this doctor, instead of making me feel stupid for saying I don’t think she is maturing like she should, he has told me that we won’t know what the bar limit will be for her because everyone is different. I always been made to feel like a terrible parent for not having confidence in my child that she will live a normal life but that was not reality in what I was seeing at home. I didn’t want blinders on. I wanted to know why and what to do next. And now I feel we have finally gotten the right doctor for us. It may have taken 11 years but we are at a turning point.
special needs children
Here we go again! Throwing out the plans Part 2!
Yes, that is right. I am revamping our homeschool schedule again! This is what I love about homeschooling. The fact that I can stop and change directions on a whim is empowering.
So this what we were doing in the beginning.
I was trying to fit every subject into everyday. I was also trying to do preschool like I did it back 10 years ago in a daycare center. And I was trying to follow the Florida school calendar.
This didn’t work at all!
Then I began:
Doing split scheduling like I did last year. We also started 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off, except preschool. And mostly book work.
Forget about it. With 4 kids that have dentist appointments, doctor appointments, sick days and the everyday household running, I felt like I was flying through the 6 weeks, but not accomplishing anything and rushing my kids through. I would leave out the “fun” part of homeschooling~ all the hands on stuff. And I still had a preschooler who hated school. He woke up twice and told me my school sucked and that he hated school, especially coloring. Plus with Christmas here and all the fun of that, it is hard to fit in school, fun, errands and cleaning.
So for now we are just coasting through. Working on hands on projects, finishing up books that we were reading, practicing our writing and working on Math. For Lil Man, we are making everything hands on. More learning centers, more arts and crafts, more computer and tablet time. And it has been working so far.
But beginning in 2014, we begin a whole new chapter, which the girls and I are very excited about. We are starting back to school January 6 and I will be posting more regular updates then.
Life of chaos
Well the holidays are upon us. And the reason I can tell it’s the holidays is because I can’t get a break.
First there is the Christmas shopping for the millions of family members that we have. Which I do it all. Hubby doesn’t know any other store other than Lowe’s. And he likes to pull the last minute I need a gift for so & so trick.
Then there was the fact that my car broke down on the way home from an 8 1/2 hour power shopping with my mom. And did I mention that I had groceries in the car at the moment….frozen groceries. Luckily I was 5 minutes from home so Hubby came and rescued me. Now I am without a car for a while. This is after putting it in the shop 2 weeks ago for some repairs on worn out parts on the vehicle.
Then there is the income hit that came unexpectedly. So I am having to really, really budget now and be extra frugal.
Next we move on to sickness. Of course, somebody has to be sick. My middle daughter came down with some kind of respiratory infection. Heck, even 2 out of 3 of my dogs were sick. Lysol was my best friend those 2 weeks.
Last, my youngest daughter can’t handle the holidays too well. It over stimulates her, which triggers her ticks and meltdowns. Factor in that she is a teenager and her hormones are kicking in, oh it’s been a joyous season.
Needless to say I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays:
I love the weather, but hate the chaos.
I love the decorations, but hate the amount of money I spend.
I love this season and hate to see it go.
But I also hate this season and love when it is over.
The last 4 weeks
The last 4 weeks have been a nightmare around here. It was bad enough that I was struggling with getting in the groove of back to “school”. But then Hubby just up and decided that he needed a vacation! He needed to get away from life, his responsibilities, stress, me, the kids….I don’t know. But he up and left for 2 weeks to Alabama and South Carolina to see family members.
In a way this was good and bad for me. One I don’t have to fight over the TV remote or listen to him bitch and complain about something not being done. I was also able to relax; I have to admit he was stressing me out for a bit. I also got down and dirty and cleaned out some areas of the house that needed to be sort through without him coming in and saying I need your help in the shop.
The bad part was now I had to get my high schooler to the bus stop by 6:20am and hope Lil man didn’t come looking for me. Because no matter what anybody told Hubby, when he left, they did NOT get up and help at all! I was also left to deal with the attitudes and the discipline instead of having moments where I pushed it off on him. The last bad part is I know this is only a one way road. There will be no vacation for momma by herself because the kids always have to come with me. Hell I can’t even go to the bathroom, let alone vacation by myself.
Then he came back home and 3 days later gets Pneumonia! REALLY?!? Can it get any worse? Yes! He got it from being stupid and fixing up an old barn and not wearing a mask. So he was down and out for a week and a half with it. During that week and a half, our septic pump and our hot water heater elements went out!
And now beginning our 5th week, I am sick. Not with pneumonia (I hope) but with some kind of sinus/ upper respiratory thing! But is anyone taking care of Momma?
I think all the stay at home whatever you are should start lobbying for hazard pay or something! This job is hard work!
Throwing out all my planning and winging it!
We are 2 weeks in to homeschooling and I haven’t found what will work for us. It is so much harder than any of those blogs, the ones that make you feel like your not doing enough, let on. I can’t seem to balance everything. So we are trying last years schedule with some adjustments and additions.
Preschool seems to be the hardest because he wants nothing to do with it or he wants all of my attention. I can’t win really. And trying to get a 4 year old to wait is impossible.
Hopefully next week I can post how everything has worked itself out and is going smoothly.
HOPEFULLY!
First Day of homeschool 2013
Here are my angels on their first day.
Dakota on the first day of Preschool. This was our 3rd attempt at a picture.
Brianna on her first day of 6th grade.
Cailin on her first day of her 8th grade gap year. She has a goofy smile because of her uncle standing behind me.
Here they are my 2013-2014 class!
You know I still can’t believe how fast time flies. When we started our homeschool journey Cailin was going into 3rd and Brianna was in 1st and little man was just a hope and dream!
Pre-K, middle and high school
This is my life and the cause of my anxiety. The question of the last 3 months has been how in the heck am I going to homeschool 3 kids at 3 different levels without someone getting left behind or forgotten.
I have a preschooler who needs my attention to learn the basis of learning for the rest of his life. No pressure there!
I have a middle schooler who is severe special needs and is actually on a 3rd grade level.
I have a high schooler who doesn’t need as much guidance but still needs something to make it fun and engaging. Working out of a textbook day in and day out is not going to fly around here.
We are a hands on learning family. So needless to say this next year is going to be a major success or the death of me. Regardless it should make some great blog post.
The 5 minutes my heart stopped
Two days ago I had the worse scare of my life. I felt like the safe sanctuary of my country life had been compromised. I was talking on the phone to my mom, when Brianna came running out of her room terrified. I mean completely terrified to the bone and yelling there is a guy with a gun. So I jump up and run to her bedroom window. And I see this strange guy casually walking with a gun hoisted on his shoulder between my front yard and my neighbors. I immediately tell my mom I got to go there’s a guy with a gun. The last thing I heard my mom say as I was hanging up was call the cops.
Now let me give some background. My mom lives 30-45 minutes away. My husband’s workshop is in my backyard. And him and my 2 oldest daughters were out there working.
So I try to call my hubby’s cell and got no answer. I told Brianna to watch her brother and lock the doors and I ran full force across my yard, shoes flying off to get to the shop. I yell there is a guy with a gun. My hubby yells WHAT?! Then I turn and realize my kids weren’t there. I yelled where are the kids. And we take off out of the shop to see them casually walking across the yard. We both yell get in the house~ there’s a gun. We all are running full force. Before any of us called 911 or my hubby grabbed his guns. He looks out the window and sees he is pumping it because it is a BB gun. We were all completely freaked out. But relieved!
Apparently he is our new neighbors boyfriend. And he was chasing their ducks because they were hungry or bored. I don’t know and I don’t care. That is just not what you want to be doing in a neighborhood in this day and age.
Now in the meantime, my mom has practically had a heart attack because she never got to the point of our conversation of where my hubby was that day in our shop or installing a job at a house somewhere. So she called my brother who has moved in with me, asking where he was and where was his brother in law and what was happening. He is flipping out and called me while driving. Which is awful because he has had his license for less than a month. I explain to him what happened and how we are fine.
I then called my mom and explained to her. And we both praised Brianna because even though it wasn’t a real gun, it was the right thing to do to warn us and get an adult. And that you can never be too careful. Then I realized that that 5 minutes knocked about 20 years off my life! And then I felt sad because this is the reality of the world that my children are growing up in. Shootings everywhere~ theaters, shopping malls and even our sacred schools.
But thank god it’s not in my neighborhood. I will take crazies with BB guns anyday. Well maybe not. I don’t think my heart can take it.
If only I was a more organized mom
I feel like I have a lot of missed opportunities when it comes to my kids. And sometimes (ok A LOT of times) I think if I was more organized then I wouldn’t miss them so much. I feel like we miss out on a lot of the fun aspects of homeschooling because I am so focus on finishing the books and saying we did it. I am definitely missing out on things with my son because of being so focused on the girls and not having a plan of attack. Sometimes he will ask to do school and then I have to scramble. And to me that sucks! I feel like it is half ass done then.
I also feel like if I was more organized then we could do the experiments and the art that my kids thrive on. We could take the field trips that they drive me crazy about.
For example, this past Monday I thought I was having oral surgery done. And I had nothing planned for the kids to work on while I was recovering. I had barely any menu planned that wasn’t microwavable and processed. I felt terrible. Luckily the surgery didn’t happen and I am feel to live about my life without stitches in my mouth and with yummy solid food in my belly. But then yesterday, reality hit that I have no meal plan, no grocery list made, no homeschool plan, coupons from the last month that needs organizing and a huge TO DO pile that has deadlines.
So I am determined to get more organized this year (what’s left of it). I want to make my life easier. I want to have time to myself because right now all I do is cook, clean and try to get organize. I have no hobby or anything for me. And I realized that I need that, no crave that me time.
First things first, the present task at hand. We have to eat, so bring on the meal plan. I usually try to make a months worth of menus but decided a week was good considering everything going on.
Then grocery list!
Homeschool plan is very vague and non detailed but gives me an idea of what to accomplish so done there.
Work on coupons with the kids.
And I want my To Do list done by Friday.
So that leaves the weekend open to think of more ways to organize and make my world simpler.
Christmas 2012
Christmas Collage! Scroll over pictures for captions.
Growing a Large Family 