Posted Friday, September 12, 2008 - 10:18 by Anonymous
Here I sit, at my computer, without anybody to interrupt or deter me from my cathartic writing! That’s right; both Thomas and Hayley are at school and I have approximately one hour before I have to fetch Thomas and then Hayley. Hey, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my father-in-law used to say.
The waterpark last weekend was a success! The kids (and we, the parents) had a great time riding the slides and splashing around. Thomas liked the wavepool the best. He really enjoyed diving under the waves and letting them wash him ashore. The only problem with that was that he liked to float, face-down in the surf like a drowned person. He got more than a few concerned looks from lifeguards, but I waved their concern away and they saw Thomas stand up a few seconds later. Thomas got really upset at one point, actually. I was with him in the wavepool and Jonathan wanted to float down the Lazy River with Hayley in an inner tube. They needed help being shoved into the current and I told Thomas that I was going to help them. He didn’t hear me very well because he kept going underwater and was really upset when he couldn’t see me when he came up for air. He started crying, even! It’s such a comfort to know that he does worry when he can’t see Jonathan or me. It cuts down on our anxiety about him just wandering off.
Another issue we discovered while at the waterpark was that Thomas is not especially assertive with other children. There were kiddie slides that were being “monitored” by a lifeguard. Thomas stands in line okay with Jonathan or me, but when he’s in line by himself, he tends to dance around a bit. He was waiting in line for a turn to go down the snake slide and other kids were just going right in front of him. Jonathan was up at the top of the slide helping the kids go down, and he came down after a few turns and said, “Go up there and see! It’s Thunderdome! No rules! ‘Two man enter, one man leave!’” The lifeguard wasn’t especially strict with the whole turn-taking idea, so we explained to Thomas that when it’s his turn, he should go down and if another kid attempted to “cut” in line, he should say something. The fallout of this was that on the playground on Wednesday, after we picked Hayley up from preschool, he was pretty snippy with a little girl who wanted a turn on the teeter-totter. He said, “Hey! No, it’s my turn next!” She wasn’t really attempting to cut in line, but Thomas perceived her presence as such and was a little pushy about it. So we have to work on that. But the waterpark trip was a success and the kids enjoyed spending the night in a hotel. It was very romantic for me and Jonathan as well. I slept in one bed with Hayley and Jonathan slept in the other with Thomas. As usual, no making-out.
School is going great for both kids. I will be volunteering in Thomas’ classroom on Tuesdays now. I helped out this past Tuesday and I was concerned that Thomas might behave differently in class if I was there. Hayley came with, of course, and now has a little boyfriend. They kept holding hands and putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. We’re going to have to watch her, apparently from now until her wedding day, which she is already planning.
I did some filing for the teacher and cleaned up the coffee she spilled in the hallway on our way to the library. The teacher and library staff were so nice to Hayley, letting her participate and even check out a book although she’s not technically a student. The librarian thought that Thomas and Hayley were twins. I’ve been getting that a lot lately.
I was really worried that Thomas wouldn’t react well to my being in class. Jonathan and I explained to him that he would have to act like I wasn’t even there; just do what the teacher told him and that she is the boss when he’s at school, even if I’m there. To tell you the truth, I had a harder time ignoring Thomas! Every time he didn’t immediately follow the teacher’s instructions, I wanted to say, “Do what your teacher said! Go put your folder in the tray!” I had to stifle my own words on more than one occasion. Hopefully, I’ll get better at it. I know that his teacher appreciated my help and she said that I’ll be helping the kids with reading eventually, and learning computer programs. She told me that she feels like she’s known me forever, and I kind of feel the same way. We have a very easy manner between us. We discovered that she is exactly one week older than Jonathan and we were all at NIU together. Far out!
Oh yeah, the Focalin. We had to take Thomas off the Focalin because he developed a facial tic. He kept opening his mouth as if to yawn before speaking. It was becoming disturbing to us, so I called the doctor (who is out of the office this week) and the nurse called back to say “Stop the Focalin!” Remember how I said that the Focalin wasn’t doing anything for him? Well, it seems that it was. I’ve noticed an increase in rambunctious behavior and general nervous energy since stopping the meds. I was concerned about that. I thought the Focalin wasn’t helping because he was being better, but I didn’t notice until we stopped it. I’m supposed to call the doctor later today and tell them how he’s doing. I’m not sure what we can do now; all of those Ritalin-type medications carry the risk of developing a tic, and it appears as though Thomas is susceptible to that. We’ll see what they say, but he is still doing okay in school, I guess. I’m not going to ask the teacher until next week if she’s noticed a change in Thomas. If I tell her that he’s stopped the Focalin, she might be looking too hard for a behavior change and I’d rather wait until I see her again on Tuesday to mention it.
This weekend will be quiet. We’re doing nothing tomorrow and Sunday we’re going to what will most likely turn out to be an indoor BBQ if Hurricane Ike makes its way up to Chicago.
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Here I sit, at my computer, without anybody to interrupt or deter me from my cathartic writing! That’s right; both Thomas and Hayley are at school and I have approximately one hour before I have to fetch Thomas and then Hayley. Hey, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my father-in-law used to say.
The waterpark last weekend was a success! The kids (and we, the parents) had a great time riding the slides and splashing around. Thomas liked the wavepool the best. He really enjoyed diving under the waves and letting them wash him ashore. The only problem with that was that he liked to float, face-down in the surf like a drowned person. He got more than a few concerned looks from lifeguards, but I waved their concern away and they saw Thomas stand up a few seconds later. Thomas got really upset at one point, actually. I was with him in the wavepool and Jonathan wanted to float down the Lazy River with Hayley in an inner tube. They needed help being shoved into the current and I told Thomas that I was going to help them. He didn’t hear me very well because he kept going underwater and was really upset when he couldn’t see me when he came up for air. He started crying, even! It’s such a comfort to know that he does worry when he can’t see Jonathan or me. It cuts down on our anxiety about him just wandering off.
Another issue we discovered while at the waterpark was that Thomas is not especially assertive with other children. There were kiddie slides that were being “monitored” by a lifeguard. Thomas stands in line okay with Jonathan or me, but when he’s in line by himself, he tends to dance around a bit. He was waiting in line for a turn to go down the snake slide and other kids were just going right in front of him. Jonathan was up at the top of the slide helping the kids go down, and he came down after a few turns and said, “Go up there and see! It’s Thunderdome! No rules! ‘Two man enter, one man leave!’” The lifeguard wasn’t especially strict with the whole turn-taking idea, so we explained to Thomas that when it’s his turn, he should go down and if another kid attempted to “cut” in line, he should say something. The fallout of this was that on the playground on Wednesday, after we picked Hayley up from preschool, he was pretty snippy with a little girl who wanted a turn on the teeter-totter. He said, “Hey! No, it’s my turn next!” She wasn’t really attempting to cut in line, but Thomas perceived her presence as such and was a little pushy about it. So we have to work on that. But the waterpark trip was a success and the kids enjoyed spending the night in a hotel. It was very romantic for me and Jonathan as well. I slept in one bed with Hayley and Jonathan slept in the other with Thomas. As usual, no making-out.
School is going great for both kids. I will be volunteering in Thomas’ classroom on Tuesdays now. I helped out this past Tuesday and I was concerned that Thomas might behave differently in class if I was there. Hayley came with, of course, and now has a little boyfriend. They kept holding hands and putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. We’re going to have to watch her, apparently from now until her wedding day, which she is already planning.
I did some filing for the teacher and cleaned up the coffee she spilled in the hallway on our way to the library. The teacher and library staff were so nice to Hayley, letting her participate and even check out a book although she’s not technically a student. The librarian thought that Thomas and Hayley were twins. I’ve been getting that a lot lately.
I was really worried that Thomas wouldn’t react well to my being in class. Jonathan and I explained to him that he would have to act like I wasn’t even there; just do what the teacher told him and that she is the boss when he’s at school, even if I’m there. To tell you the truth, I had a harder time ignoring Thomas! Every time he didn’t immediately follow the teacher’s instructions, I wanted to say, “Do what your teacher said! Go put your folder in the tray!” I had to stifle my own words on more than one occasion. Hopefully, I’ll get better at it. I know that his teacher appreciated my help and she said that I’ll be helping the kids with reading eventually, and learning computer programs. She told me that she feels like she’s known me forever, and I kind of feel the same way. We have a very easy manner between us. We discovered that she is exactly one week older than Jonathan and we were all at NIU together. Far out!
Oh yeah, the Focalin. We had to take Thomas off the Focalin because he developed a facial tic. He kept opening his mouth as if to yawn before speaking. It was becoming disturbing to us, so I called the doctor (who is out of the office this week) and the nurse called back to say “Stop the Focalin!” Remember how I said that the Focalin wasn’t doing anything for him? Well, it seems that it was. I’ve noticed an increase in rambunctious behavior and general nervous energy since stopping the meds. I was concerned about that. I thought the Focalin wasn’t helping because he was being better, but I didn’t notice until we stopped it. I’m supposed to call the doctor later today and tell them how he’s doing. I’m not sure what we can do now; all of those Ritalin-type medications carry the risk of developing a tic, and it appears as though Thomas is susceptible to that. We’ll see what they say, but he is still doing okay in school, I guess. I’m not going to ask the teacher until next week if she’s noticed a change in Thomas. If I tell her that he’s stopped the Focalin, she might be looking too hard for a behavior change and I’d rather wait until I see her again on Tuesday to mention it.
This weekend will be quiet. We’re doing nothing tomorrow and Sunday we’re going to what will most likely turn out to be an indoor BBQ if Hurricane Ike makes its way up to Chicago.