Silly Short Story

So HistoryBoy comes home from school sick with a sore throat and a headache. It's his allergies and his molars are coming in. Not much we can do. Tylenol, Ambesol and rest. He is sitting in the living room relaxing, watching TV when HyperGirl comes over and wants to know if he wants to play. I tell her why he wasn't on the bus and I tell her he came home from school early with a headache. "Can he play?" I tell her since he came home from school sick he can't go outside to play. Then she looks at him and says "Do you want to play?" He looks at me. I say to her, If you want to play on the Wii or watch TV but I want him resting. I don't want him running around. She looks up at me and says "Ok." Then looks at him and says "Are you coming?" and runs out the door.

HistoryBoy just looks at me and says "I don't thinks she got it Mom."

Picture of the Week

It can't all be "You don't know the Power of the Dark side"

Sometime Darth Vadar just needs to relax.

Note on Past Meltdown

HistoryBoy doesn't want to ride the school bus. He rode it the first day to school and he rides it home but I CANNOT get him to ride it TO school in the morning, no matter how early we are ready. I fight to get him out the door. I have found I cannot mention the bus. If I just say I am going to take him to school, there is not a problem. However, if I say, it is time to head to the bus, we head toward meltdown city or at the very least make a stop in stubborn town, where nothing goes the way it is supposed to in the morning.

For example, if I need him to be dressed now, he will purposely undress and shower, even though he had his shower last night. He swears he didn't get all the "stink" off last night and needs to wash again. I was in the kitchen making breakfast when he pulled this fast one so I yell for him to make is VERY fast because it is time to leave NOW. I toss a towel into the bathroom and his clothes in there as well. He FINALLY gets out, BUT he no longer want to wear THOSE clothes. He has to wear different clothes.

He is FINALLY FINALLY dressed and we are out the door to school when he decides to talk to me about the bus. He doesn't sit with his friends and he doesn't like it. He doesn't feel safe like he did before. Is anyone picking on you? "No, but no one talks to me either" And there it is. He feels isolated away from friends on the bus. The are only a few seats away but they might as well be miles as far as he is concerned. He can't yell on the bus to them and he won't bother the boys in front of him because of past issues with them. He tolerates it on the way home from school because he is coming home to me, but on the way to school, he just can't do it.

I put a word into the teacher. Have to see if it helps. I don't want him to feel overwhelmed on the bus to school. He needs to feel safe on the bus to school. He should be able to choose where he sits and not be randomly told to sit with the boys, (who he hasn't gotten along with in the past) Have to see what tomorrow brings.

Audition!

Yes, HistoryBoy had an audition. We should hear back by Sunday if we get a call back. He was very nervous. I shouldn't have told him anything about it. Then he would have walked right in and been himself. He was subdued below his normal self and he normally loves auditions. I wanted him to be prepared and it was for a movie not just an extra. So he was nervous. But they like him, and LOVED his look and his pictures and wanted to definitely hold on to his pictures. So even if this isn't a match, maybe they have something that is. We will cross our fingers and hope.

This is what he keeps telling me he wants to do. He wants to acts. He wants to sing. As long as he wants to keep trying I will take him on auditions. We have prepared him though that he could try out for hundreds of things and maybe get one, maybe none at all. He still wants to try, he enjoys it. As long as he enjoys it, then it is what we will do. The moment, he no longer enjoys it. That is the moment, we will stop, and reconsider. We want him to be a kid.

He hopes to be the next Justin Bieber or Zack and Cody! LOL! He's got the looks and the voice. Watch out world! If he decides to come!!

Blogging for a Better Day

I want my life to get easier. I want HistoryBoy's life to get easier. And I know neither one of those things is going to happen soon.

I wake up needing several hours more sleep but HistoryBoy needs to get off to school so I am up to get him up. He is will not get up for me today. I do my best cajoling, tickle, game, blanket pulling. I finally resort to yelling which I know is NOT the way to go because it will NOT work out well. Those of you if you are parent of an Aspie, you know how it can be. Why does he chose today, when I can't handle it to push all my buttons. I know that yelling is NOT going to get the response I need. Unfortunately, I am ready to cry myself because I feel so poorly. I yell for him to get out of bed now I have had enough of his games and he starts banging his head against the wall. I have to just walk away. GREAT start to the morning.

This meltdown he had; I should say that it has been coming on since last night. I noticed he was off but I couldn't put my finger on its source. He was clingy and non-responsive but he can be that way at night when he is tired sometimes so I shooed him of to bed. We read a few chapters of his current book and he fell asleep. And I wake up to HistoryBoy from hell. Is it hormones? Anxiety? Do I need to wake him up earlier? Isn't 6 am early enough? eek!

He finally calmed down. I calmed down. He finally got out of bed and got dressed on his own. THEN decided to take a shower which didn't thrill me but we were late to school already so what was another 15 minutes at this point, right? He then was all dressed, and ready and wanted to sit on my lap and nuzzle me. At this point, I am calm and collected but I am at a complete loss. What is going on? Why is he ok now but was at Defcon 5 just 30 min ago? He is holding onto me and wanting my attention and arms wrapped around him and I am trying to escort him out the door.

He goes into school easily enough, but what about tomorrow? Unfortunately I do not have the energy to try and figure it out now. I need to go back to bed. Like I said in the beginning of this blog... I want my life to get easier. I want HistoryBoy's life to get easier. And I know neither one of those things is going to happen soon...

And Back to School Night!!

Well you know the IEP went well, so did Back to School Night! I had already met the teacher, so that was easy. I just had to introduce Angus to them. Then we had to sit down and listen to Mrs. S's presentation about the school year and what is expected of our little cherubs. Nothing unexpected there. The only bad think is that these desk have no storage space so our kiddies have to keep
EVERYTHING on top of their desks ALL day. You should see how they are stacked. They will get lockers...eventually, but not yet. They are still in the adjustment period. I am not sure who decides when they are adjusted enough to get a locker. Is there a locker fairy who taps each kid on the head and says "You are now locker ready!" And suddenly They Are!... Nah I don't think so.

But Anyway. So After the presentation, we signed up for the PTO, and checked out the band room. Yes our HistoryBoy is going to be in the band! I will tell that story tomorrow maybe. :-) All in all Back to school night went well. I even ran

into an old friend. Her son is in HistoryBoy's class! When I realized it, I texted her! Yes, I texted her while sitting in the Mrs S's Back to School Night presentation. I said "YAY! Our kids are in the same class! We can hang out now! Not like we couldn't hang out before, but now we have an excuse! LOL!" I was all non-chalant about the texting, hiding my phone under the desk while doing it, and she took her phone out of her purse to check hers, and laugh and look at me, lol!

I think HistoryBoy and I are going to have a fun year!

IEP Meeting went AWESOME!

Guess What?! History Boy has started a new school year! Did you know that? I bet you forgot! But that isn't the best part. He made it through the first week. He likes his class. He likes his teachers and his aide. Yay! :-)

But on Day 4 of school I have an IEP Meeting, and not just any IEP Meeting. It is the IEP meeting that is where we discuss his review of his classification and could be retesting and all that good stuff. You moms know what I mean. It comes up EVERY 3 years years and HistoryBoy is due. So I get to meet his teachers at this meeting, only 4 days into school. I am a little scared. I know my HistoryBoy seems happy, but well I know my HistoryBoy. LOL.

I meet Mrs. S and Mrs. H and they we discuss HistoryBoy and they have read over his IEP and most of the stuff is listed as "as needed." I tell them what may be more "needed" than others and how to handle his outbursts of knowledge. It is hard to stop out Aspies flow of information once it is going and apparently she is already aware of this on Day 4 but I gave her some suggestions so he doesn't feel bad for sharing, like "If we have time later we can come back but we have to move on to ... this or give someone else a chance etc" I have found these to help me when I need him to slow his flow a little. It doesn't always work. Sometimes he just has to say what he has to say, but sometimes it does.

Once we all settle into IEP meeting mode, we discuss that YAY! we are just going to keep his placement as is! No retesting. If I am happy with his current level of service and we know he still qualifies for services, he does not need to be retested. So no pull out for all those tests again. I am SOOO happy. That would be so hard for him as his is just starting the whole middle school thing. So NO RE-EVAL! NO RE-DETERMINING Eligibility! YAY! He is just eligible because he is! We know he has ADHD and Asperger's and OT isssues and it is documented and we have observed! I am so glad his teachers and therapists were so on the ball. We were able to discuss and fine tune things yesterday and make sure the teachers were aware of what HistoryBoy can do, but he also has to have consequences for misbehavior and such.

Now we can just move forward from this point. I am not saying it will not be a bumpy road. This is middle school. A whole new venture for my growing into a young man HistoryBoy. He needs to take more responsiblity for himself. He can't rely on mom to check everything for him all the time. Pretty soon (age 13), he will be included in these meetings with me and have a say himself. I am so proud to know I have help to mold him to this point. He is my greatest achievement, my little miracle, my angel. I love you HistoryBoy.

Top 10 terrific traits of autistic people

Today's blog is not written by me.

I am giving you a task today.

Please read this from the Autism Support Network

I think it is AWESOME! (And True!)

Top 10 terrific traits of autistic people

Medication Free Summer? Oh Heck No!

Ok so summer is over and this is really just because HistoryBoy and I were talking about it and joking.

For those of you that know my HistoryBoy, you know I gave birth to a stick. For a brief period around 5 months or so, he was a chubby little thing, but no one seems to remember except the camera. He is nothing but limbs for the most part, bony limbs. So we are supposed to "fatten" him up so his medication doesn't affect his growth.

Also, for those of you that know him, you know that he eats like a house on fire. There is always food in his hand and/or mouth AND he is ONLY 11. IMAGINE him in a few more years, I am going to absolutely broke! I am going to need a 2nd mortgage just to FEED him. Forget about college! Aren't these ADHD meds supposed to curb his appetite a little. Can you imagine if we actually *DID* a medication free summer?

Well since HistoryBoy is 11 now he does like to sleep in thankfully, so that does give me a few hours of extra money saving food hours. So maybe I don't have to feed him breakfast, just lunch and dinner and a few snacks in between.

DARN I forgot something. One of those Aspie traits that DRIVES me nuts. Everything has to be in order. Even when he wakes up late, he likes breakfast, even if it is *close* to lunch. He can't skip a meal. If we have a late lunch/early dinner, he still need another meal because you can't combine those in his mind. You need order. Pesky Asperger's messing up my ADHD meal skipping intentions.

Hmmm maybe I can buy cheaper food. Yeah that it's more junk food that will just sit in my pantry because he won't eat it because he doesn't like it. Oh wait. DOH! Foiled again! Oh well I guess it is just lucky for me that HistoryBoy isn't going on a medication free summer any time soon, at least as long as HistoryBoy himself has something to say about it, from the Follow Up to The Medication Game. His quotes are in the last two paragraphs of that blog.

Hope you enjoyed this!

Saturday Fun Means Sunday Sucks

This past Saturday was a great day for several reasons. We started off the day as usual. HistoryBoy had karate. Then my good friend Kathy came down to visit. We see each other maybe once a year if we are lucky. We went to college together and she currently lives in Connecticut so it is tough to get together often. But it was so great to see her. We has breakfast, early lunch at Popeye's. LOL

We then went our community town fair. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. We didn't expect it to be so warm or so sunny, otherwise I would have had sunscreen and possibly an umbrella. I think I melted. I pushed myself because I wanted to spend time with Kathy and I promised HistoryBoy that he could ride the ride. Ok, so by the time we got through the booths to the rides I was so done in, he got to chose 3 rides but he was good about it. Kathy had to leave to go meet up with her family and I had to went home and CRASHED.

On Sunday, I couldn't even get out of bed. Ok, I got out of bed to go to the bathroom, none o us wanted to deal with THAT. But otherwise, I was in bed. I was so sore, so achy. My head hurt.

It's the same story again and again. I think you have read it before. I have a nice day. Then an sucky day or two or three. How to avoid it is what I want to know? But would I trade the time I spent with my friend? Or the enjoyment of watching my son play with his friends?

I need a little button like a Thanksgiving turkey that says your done, stop now and you will be fine, no repercussions. I can tell when I am getting tired, don't get me wrong, and I know when I am pushing the envelope and stealing tomorrow's spoons, but I know I didn't steal a week's worth of spoons so what gives? I am just feeling a little frustrated. The answers are NO, I wouldn't trade any of these moments, I just have to get my body to keep up.

Picture of the Week ~ Sexy!

David Boreanez (YUM!)

Because sometimes you just need to see a pic of a hot guy sitting in a tub looking all hot and sexy. Yum! Besides he is one of MY faves.

First Day of 5th Grade

He woke himself up. He set his alarm for 6 am and got up all on his own. I reminded him that he needed to get in and out o the shower because he dad needed to get in at 6:15 and he said "I know." He hopped in and out of the shower got dressed, ate breakfast and was ready in no time, with an hour to spare before we had to leave for the bus. He was happy with that. He said "I wanted to be able to play with my toys before school" I said fine as long as you stop when I say it is time to go.

I went and flopped on the bed for 45 minutes. No need for me to up if he is all ready. LOL. I set my alarm for 7:20 so we would make it to the bus on time. We did with no hitches. He really didn't want to stop playing, but he didn't want to miss riding the bus with HyperGirl and SassyGirl either since this was the first time they has ridden the bus together in two years. We waited to for the bus. I snapped pictures like I do EVERY year of his waiting for the bus. I know one year he is going to be like "M-O-M that is enough!" But it wasn't this year, so I got my pics. Bus comes and off to school they go.

I am not sure yet what time the after school bus is supposed to be here because it is only the first day. By next week they will be in full swing and have everyone where they are supposed to be but not yet so buses run late. So I wait at home instead of sitting by the bus stop for him. He gets home. I ask how he day was he says "Good." I asks for more. I get nothing. I am not surprised. Some days he is not talkative. Us moms of Aspies know how it can be, but I can usually cajole he out of a funk so long as he isn't in meltdown mode, if I try. So I try.

I make him a snack. I take it to him in his room, where he is flopped on his bed. I try to ask him about his day again. He says to me, "Mom, can't you just leave me alone. I just want to be alone." I say ok and try to hug him and get pushed away for my efforts. Was it a bad day at school or was he just overwhelmed? Or is he just tired? Or all of the above? I guess we will have to wait and see. Only tomorrow will tell.