Friday, December 29, 2006
enjoying south florida...
here is a version of our vacation so far.
We left on Tuesday afternoon. The traffic out of Atlanta was really bad. It turns out about 30 miles south of the city there had been an accident northbound. I was scared we were going to be in this traffic all the way to florida! It delayed us an hour. We stopped south of Jacksonville. our hotel was not in our navigation system for some reason. We checked in around 9:30. The hotel room smelled like mold or mildew. Otherwise it was pretty decent. I slept with Alyssa and that was ok, but Jack, like always was "wired" . He will eventually crash , which he did. Alyssa was still trying to get over her cold and I could feel myself getting her cold. We did ok on sleep.
The next day we got an early start and made it to my parents by noon. My brother and his wife were not there, but the kids were. The cousins started to play with each other. Felix and I went next door to check into the posh hotel. There was not enuf room at my parents. I cannot believe as a family we paid 400$ for a hotel room. This was a westin. The room was really high end, with a great bed, big bathroom and wonderful balcony, but did not even give free internet! Also, water was 7$ a bottle. I would normally not spend that money. Then my parents , my brother and I had to attend a funeral. My dad's friend, whom he met on the way over from Poland after the war, had just passed away. It just so happened the funeral was the day we arrived, so I was able to attend. I honestly have only attended maybe one other funeral in my life. I have been very sheltered.
After the funeral we got back and I went to the hotel to get ready for my mom's birthday dinner . My brother , his wife, felix, and I sat with our kids, while my parents sat with their friends. THis was not a real "kid friendly" type restaurant so the kids got bored.. Jack was overtired. Eventually I took him back, but he did not fall asleep until the other kids came back. they went to bed late again. I was in my hotel room and asleep by 10 myself! The next day felix and I walked on the beach and then came back to my parents place to say goodbye to my brother and his family. One family leaving and one "moving in". I got everything unpacked quickly and the kids off to the beach with Felix. I then joined them. We met up with a boy that my mom had met earlier that is a bit older than Jack. He has a 3 year old brother and then two much other (20's) siblings. We met the mom and they invited us to their cabana. My parents building is right on the ocean andpretty expensive. this is their vacation place and they even sprung the 200K for a cabana. I could not imagine how much $$$ they have, but they were so friendly. The mother is russian. LAter that night the kids were going to meet in the movie room to watch a movie together. In the meantime I started to feel really bad. I thought maybe even strep. (But today I was better most of the day with my throat, so probably Alyssa's bad cold) . I took on the project of setting up the router I had bought on my mom's pc. The problem was that somehow I got the cable loose and when nothing worked, noone was happy. But eventually we figured it out.
Now I have wireless access wiht my laptop! Yeah... I have outlook so that I can read my mail that way. Work changed from a nice web based way to having outlook with http over rpc. A big pain the you know what. I felt horrible so felix and my mom took the kids down for movie night.
Today I got everyone ready. This is a big difference from my sister in law, who never takes care of her kids when she is on vacation. She expects everyone else to. The one time my mom left her with her own kids she took an hour shower and then read a book. my mom's place was trashed. I am so different. I take care of my kids and I am happy to do so. I will say that my kids are easier, since my nieces are still only 4. They have to be watched more carefully at a pool. Yesterday at the beach I got the relax. The kids just play nearby and never go that far out in the ocean.
Anyway, today we took my mom to sawgrass mills, an really big outlet mall. We ended up being there about 5 hours! My mom needed stuff. We had lunch at the rainforest cafe. We came back and went to the pool.. There was a girl Alyssa's age there and her sister who is 9. The dad has partial custody from what he told me. He has one of hte most expensive units in teh building. I asked him what he does and he is a prominent breast cancer dr/surgeon. He lectures all over the world. He has a nanny and I guess splits the girls with their mother. Tomorrow Alyssa has a playdate with them. She was all shy until they started talking about webkinz. I know she plays it too much, but webkinz is a good thing for her socially. Today we also played monopoly JR. I am trying to get my kids to do better with games. While at the pool Jack worked on his stroking. His backstroke is coming together.
I am here while everyone went out to dinner. I am just not a going out person much anymore. I dont like to go out to eat. I guess I always gain weight as I have no self control, so its better not to even tempt me.
We thought about going to key largo to snorkle, but its probaby not the best time of year to go.
Today our disney tickets arrived. WE had forgotten them, so the neighbor watching the cats mailed them to us. it was worth it,, as there was no reason to then get new tickets. They are just so expensive.
We left on Tuesday afternoon. The traffic out of Atlanta was really bad. It turns out about 30 miles south of the city there had been an accident northbound. I was scared we were going to be in this traffic all the way to florida! It delayed us an hour. We stopped south of Jacksonville. our hotel was not in our navigation system for some reason. We checked in around 9:30. The hotel room smelled like mold or mildew. Otherwise it was pretty decent. I slept with Alyssa and that was ok, but Jack, like always was "wired" . He will eventually crash , which he did. Alyssa was still trying to get over her cold and I could feel myself getting her cold. We did ok on sleep.
The next day we got an early start and made it to my parents by noon. My brother and his wife were not there, but the kids were. The cousins started to play with each other. Felix and I went next door to check into the posh hotel. There was not enuf room at my parents. I cannot believe as a family we paid 400$ for a hotel room. This was a westin. The room was really high end, with a great bed, big bathroom and wonderful balcony, but did not even give free internet! Also, water was 7$ a bottle. I would normally not spend that money. Then my parents , my brother and I had to attend a funeral. My dad's friend, whom he met on the way over from Poland after the war, had just passed away. It just so happened the funeral was the day we arrived, so I was able to attend. I honestly have only attended maybe one other funeral in my life. I have been very sheltered.
After the funeral we got back and I went to the hotel to get ready for my mom's birthday dinner . My brother , his wife, felix, and I sat with our kids, while my parents sat with their friends. THis was not a real "kid friendly" type restaurant so the kids got bored.. Jack was overtired. Eventually I took him back, but he did not fall asleep until the other kids came back. they went to bed late again. I was in my hotel room and asleep by 10 myself! The next day felix and I walked on the beach and then came back to my parents place to say goodbye to my brother and his family. One family leaving and one "moving in". I got everything unpacked quickly and the kids off to the beach with Felix. I then joined them. We met up with a boy that my mom had met earlier that is a bit older than Jack. He has a 3 year old brother and then two much other (20's) siblings. We met the mom and they invited us to their cabana. My parents building is right on the ocean andpretty expensive. this is their vacation place and they even sprung the 200K for a cabana. I could not imagine how much $$$ they have, but they were so friendly. The mother is russian. LAter that night the kids were going to meet in the movie room to watch a movie together. In the meantime I started to feel really bad. I thought maybe even strep. (But today I was better most of the day with my throat, so probably Alyssa's bad cold) . I took on the project of setting up the router I had bought on my mom's pc. The problem was that somehow I got the cable loose and when nothing worked, noone was happy. But eventually we figured it out.
Now I have wireless access wiht my laptop! Yeah... I have outlook so that I can read my mail that way. Work changed from a nice web based way to having outlook with http over rpc. A big pain the you know what. I felt horrible so felix and my mom took the kids down for movie night.
Today I got everyone ready. This is a big difference from my sister in law, who never takes care of her kids when she is on vacation. She expects everyone else to. The one time my mom left her with her own kids she took an hour shower and then read a book. my mom's place was trashed. I am so different. I take care of my kids and I am happy to do so. I will say that my kids are easier, since my nieces are still only 4. They have to be watched more carefully at a pool. Yesterday at the beach I got the relax. The kids just play nearby and never go that far out in the ocean.
Anyway, today we took my mom to sawgrass mills, an really big outlet mall. We ended up being there about 5 hours! My mom needed stuff. We had lunch at the rainforest cafe. We came back and went to the pool.. There was a girl Alyssa's age there and her sister who is 9. The dad has partial custody from what he told me. He has one of hte most expensive units in teh building. I asked him what he does and he is a prominent breast cancer dr/surgeon. He lectures all over the world. He has a nanny and I guess splits the girls with their mother. Tomorrow Alyssa has a playdate with them. She was all shy until they started talking about webkinz. I know she plays it too much, but webkinz is a good thing for her socially. Today we also played monopoly JR. I am trying to get my kids to do better with games. While at the pool Jack worked on his stroking. His backstroke is coming together.
I am here while everyone went out to dinner. I am just not a going out person much anymore. I dont like to go out to eat. I guess I always gain weight as I have no self control, so its better not to even tempt me.
We thought about going to key largo to snorkle, but its probaby not the best time of year to go.
Today our disney tickets arrived. WE had forgotten them, so the neighbor watching the cats mailed them to us. it was worth it,, as there was no reason to then get new tickets. They are just so expensive.
Monday, December 25, 2006
well its xmas today ....
its a rainy xmas morning. WE dont celebrate Xmas here, so its like a sunday morning, but with nothing open or things to do. Today the JCC will have stuff for the kids. Im tired so I am not sure how motivated I will be . plus we have to be packed for tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning macy's is having a great sale. will drag the kids there.
The kids, expecially Alyssa, spend too much time on the computer doing webkinz. But on a day when we are home the options are games, art, computer, tv, and gamecube. They do it all, but tend to migrate back to the computer. Not sure what I think about that. Yestersday we also went out to see charlottes web. It was a nice movie. I just remember reading the book first as a kid. Speaking of books we are also went to barnes and noble and I got the 1st of the little house books for Alyssa. Iw ould like reading to become something that she really enjoys -- not something she does because I beg her to. The Ramona books were a hit. Timeless classics.
Alyssa and her friend also collected ladybugs and put in plants in a tupperware. The lined it with vasoline so that the ladybug "would not get out" and would slide back down. Not the nicest thing to do, but I do understand their logic.
The thought of packing , laundry, straightening theh ouse, etc is overwhelming me right now.
The kids, expecially Alyssa, spend too much time on the computer doing webkinz. But on a day when we are home the options are games, art, computer, tv, and gamecube. They do it all, but tend to migrate back to the computer. Not sure what I think about that. Yestersday we also went out to see charlottes web. It was a nice movie. I just remember reading the book first as a kid. Speaking of books we are also went to barnes and noble and I got the 1st of the little house books for Alyssa. Iw ould like reading to become something that she really enjoys -- not something she does because I beg her to. The Ramona books were a hit. Timeless classics.
Alyssa and her friend also collected ladybugs and put in plants in a tupperware. The lined it with vasoline so that the ladybug "would not get out" and would slide back down. Not the nicest thing to do, but I do understand their logic.
The thought of packing , laundry, straightening theh ouse, etc is overwhelming me right now.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
let the holiday begin...
Well today is the last day of school for 2 weeks. Felix is working Sun -tues afternoon and then we leave for florida. I am definately not stressed about packing, but rather keeping the kids entertained until then.
Good news... Jack has had 8 green lights in a row. But of course at home he has now gotten somewhat defiant. That is the ying yang of behavior. They cant be good all the time. I would rather him be good at school.
I am getting addicted to alyssa's webkinz web site and Jack's gamecube (super monkey ball), as well as sea haven towers at work. I have got to stop.
Tools at work are still not working and noone seems to care. they just want to make our job very hard. I still have to find a way to log in from home. They took away my email web site to get to mail. now I need to go thru a profile in outlook.
Ah, and Alyssa. I finished the explosive child and I do admit that I do plan C sometimes. aka give in. One thing when we get back is that I am going to look into a group therapy program to help with social skills. my Ped recommended it. The other strange thing is that Alyssa's worse nights to sleep tend to be Tuesdays. Wonder if there is something in that. overall though, her tandrums/metldowns are getting better. She said that she stopped herself from having one . yesterday. Or should I say they are getting less frequent. The problem with them is that when she has one, the words and things that she does has gotten worse. Lets see if using CPS, along with the ignore method if we are in full blown explosion, helps.
Oh I read the other day they now have a diagnosis for adults of an explosive syndrome. i do sometimes wonder if we are labeling too much. I dont want labels for my kids. I just want tools and methods of which to make them happy. I want them to not explode, to do well in school, to behave in public, to have friends, and overall be happy children. That is why I am doing all that I am right now. Not for the label, but to make sure that they have happy lives.
Good news... Jack has had 8 green lights in a row. But of course at home he has now gotten somewhat defiant. That is the ying yang of behavior. They cant be good all the time. I would rather him be good at school.
I am getting addicted to alyssa's webkinz web site and Jack's gamecube (super monkey ball), as well as sea haven towers at work. I have got to stop.
Tools at work are still not working and noone seems to care. they just want to make our job very hard. I still have to find a way to log in from home. They took away my email web site to get to mail. now I need to go thru a profile in outlook.
Ah, and Alyssa. I finished the explosive child and I do admit that I do plan C sometimes. aka give in. One thing when we get back is that I am going to look into a group therapy program to help with social skills. my Ped recommended it. The other strange thing is that Alyssa's worse nights to sleep tend to be Tuesdays. Wonder if there is something in that. overall though, her tandrums/metldowns are getting better. She said that she stopped herself from having one . yesterday. Or should I say they are getting less frequent. The problem with them is that when she has one, the words and things that she does has gotten worse. Lets see if using CPS, along with the ignore method if we are in full blown explosion, helps.
Oh I read the other day they now have a diagnosis for adults of an explosive syndrome. i do sometimes wonder if we are labeling too much. I dont want labels for my kids. I just want tools and methods of which to make them happy. I want them to not explode, to do well in school, to behave in public, to have friends, and overall be happy children. That is why I am doing all that I am right now. Not for the label, but to make sure that they have happy lives.
Monday, December 18, 2006
the explosive child...
Well I finally got this book in. What it basically says is that just like some kids are behind in reading, math, or have other delays, some kids have pathway issues in their brain that can cause them to "explode". We need to help them train these pathways . There are several catagories of pathways.
Then there is plan A, plan B (their plan) and Plan C.
plan B can be emergency or try to head off an explosion
Plan A is when the parent lies down the rules. The issue here is supposily that it has not been working. plus kids supposily WANT to behave and comply and they know the rules.
Plan C is when you just give in as its not worth it.
Plan B is the CPS thingie that the book is about.
First you make sure that you understand the issue and are empathetic.
Then you need to state what the issue is at hand
Then with your guidence you help put together a plan that can work. In the book is an example of a kid that doesnt want to go to movies, but the mom has to take the brother.
Well here was my situation over the weekend. Alyssa got an "F" on a math test. She has issues with subtraction. So she need to do so workbook stuff. She said no on friday and sat, and said she would do it on sunday. of course when yesterday came a battle ensued and she "exploaded". The person we saw told me that we should ignore it. Well I wanted her to do it, so it was hard to "ignore" it completely but we did send her to her room. We got the usual "you think I am stupid"; I hate my life; and so on.
Eventually when I left the house with Jack she did do it. But she also destroyed her room in the process. Felix did not think that anything is wrong with that. I did not discover this until much later aka bedtime.
So after all this, on the way to a chanukah party we used the cps plan.
Me: you hate to do math subtraction
HER: yes, plus you made me do some addition in that workbook as well.
Me: But you need practice since you seem to have problems with it. Can you come up with a solution as to how we wont fight over getting you to improve in math.
HER: let me think... time passes... me: do you want ideas... yes
ME: What about a small reward after doing X worksheets.
HEr that sounds good. and off she went thinking about reward. In teh meantime I also said
that we could also get a math tutor, but we decided not to.
So I shall see. We have tried rewards for math before and it has failed. We both came up with it, so lets see.
Another strange thing Alyssa did was bite herself last week. She has no good reason as to why she did it. She bit her arm.
Other notes:
Alyssa has a bad cold. I hope its just a cold. I have heard of strep without fever going around. She has her 8 year tomorrow so we shall see.
WE had the skating show. Alyssa loved doing that.
Jack got a new game for his gamecube. He had a great week last week. We went got a used game at ebgames. They have a 7 day return policy. Its hard to find the type of games he likes. He loves the pinball game and wnats stuff like that. the one we got has bowling and similar things, but first you need to "get there". that is where he has issues. I need to get some super mario games, but they are expensive.
Then there is plan A, plan B (their plan) and Plan C.
plan B can be emergency or try to head off an explosion
Plan A is when the parent lies down the rules. The issue here is supposily that it has not been working. plus kids supposily WANT to behave and comply and they know the rules.
Plan C is when you just give in as its not worth it.
Plan B is the CPS thingie that the book is about.
First you make sure that you understand the issue and are empathetic.
Then you need to state what the issue is at hand
Then with your guidence you help put together a plan that can work. In the book is an example of a kid that doesnt want to go to movies, but the mom has to take the brother.
Well here was my situation over the weekend. Alyssa got an "F" on a math test. She has issues with subtraction. So she need to do so workbook stuff. She said no on friday and sat, and said she would do it on sunday. of course when yesterday came a battle ensued and she "exploaded". The person we saw told me that we should ignore it. Well I wanted her to do it, so it was hard to "ignore" it completely but we did send her to her room. We got the usual "you think I am stupid"; I hate my life; and so on.
Eventually when I left the house with Jack she did do it. But she also destroyed her room in the process. Felix did not think that anything is wrong with that. I did not discover this until much later aka bedtime.
So after all this, on the way to a chanukah party we used the cps plan.
Me: you hate to do math subtraction
HER: yes, plus you made me do some addition in that workbook as well.
Me: But you need practice since you seem to have problems with it. Can you come up with a solution as to how we wont fight over getting you to improve in math.
HER: let me think... time passes... me: do you want ideas... yes
ME: What about a small reward after doing X worksheets.
HEr that sounds good. and off she went thinking about reward. In teh meantime I also said
that we could also get a math tutor, but we decided not to.
So I shall see. We have tried rewards for math before and it has failed. We both came up with it, so lets see.
Another strange thing Alyssa did was bite herself last week. She has no good reason as to why she did it. She bit her arm.
Other notes:
Alyssa has a bad cold. I hope its just a cold. I have heard of strep without fever going around. She has her 8 year tomorrow so we shall see.
WE had the skating show. Alyssa loved doing that.
Jack got a new game for his gamecube. He had a great week last week. We went got a used game at ebgames. They have a 7 day return policy. Its hard to find the type of games he likes. He loves the pinball game and wnats stuff like that. the one we got has bowling and similar things, but first you need to "get there". that is where he has issues. I need to get some super mario games, but they are expensive.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
A good day yesterday
Yesterday both my kids had good days. Jack had 2 green light days in a row. Alyssa was happier and had a good day. The day before she hated school and wanted to be home schooled. Yesterday was much better. I really feel for her. I want to fix all her problems. She has a hard time ignoring what the other kids say and they know it. She even said this one boy was saying the word "alien" and that was bothering her. I tell her to just worry about making friends. She only has one friend from school right now. I guess yesterday that one friend was also not being nice to her. I cant "force" friends on her.
One thing is that I am going to send her to jewish sleepaway camp. I think that will be very good for her.
Both the kids have been on the computer with Alyssa's webkinz. Alyssa loves the stuffed animal as much as she loves the website.
Tonight I am taking JAck with me to my office to do the giving tree . We got all these presents to moms in a group home and handing them out. THis year was fun as we had babies and got to buy clothes. last year was mostly teenagers and they want big ticket items ---mostly sneakers. The younger set is so much more fun to buy for. I did a great job getting the best bang for the $$ by shopping on black friday for my groups stuff. I got a microwave, cd player, and DVD player for around 90$ total. the clothes from old navy cost the most. they were 70$. Jack is real excited to come with me. Felix will take Alyssa to gymnastics.
Tomorrow is real crazy with rehersal for the skating show and the 1st night of chanukkah. Felix wants to take the kids to synagogue.
Thats about it right now. I am working on our trip in less than 2 weeks. I cant believe its almost Xmas break.
One thing is that I am going to send her to jewish sleepaway camp. I think that will be very good for her.
Both the kids have been on the computer with Alyssa's webkinz. Alyssa loves the stuffed animal as much as she loves the website.
Tonight I am taking JAck with me to my office to do the giving tree . We got all these presents to moms in a group home and handing them out. THis year was fun as we had babies and got to buy clothes. last year was mostly teenagers and they want big ticket items ---mostly sneakers. The younger set is so much more fun to buy for. I did a great job getting the best bang for the $$ by shopping on black friday for my groups stuff. I got a microwave, cd player, and DVD player for around 90$ total. the clothes from old navy cost the most. they were 70$. Jack is real excited to come with me. Felix will take Alyssa to gymnastics.
Tomorrow is real crazy with rehersal for the skating show and the 1st night of chanukkah. Felix wants to take the kids to synagogue.
Thats about it right now. I am working on our trip in less than 2 weeks. I cant believe its almost Xmas break.
Monday, December 11, 2006
gifts gifts gifts....
Well this is the first year that I am actually doing the card thing en-masse. I actually have some time for once. Getting addresses for distant friends and relatives.
Meanwhile I had told my brother and my brother in law not to get my kids anything. My brother got my son his usual hess truck, and then had to go all out and get Alyssa a very expensive birthday present (high end clothes). Now my brother in law informs me that he got something for my kids. This puts me in a wierd position, as I honestly did not want to get his teenage daughter anything. Not because I am cheap, but but because she is very ungrateful. she has NEVER acknowledged presents that I sent, nor has she even said "thank you" When they were here a few years ago for a weekend I bought her a shirt and did not get that simple "thank you". At least acknowledge that you got the gift. I got her a necklace from mexico last year and I had to ask my BIL if she even got it!
So I have 3 choices.
1. just get something small for katie and realize that I am not getting an ack.
2. Confront my BIL and tell him the truth
3. Not get anything, because I said we shouldnt, even though he did get something small for my kids.
not sure where to go on this. As far as my other nieces go (my brother's kids) I will now get them something small. Probably some books.
The weekend was all the usual stuff. Alyssa has been good lately. Maybe turning 8 has somethign to do with it. I have cracked down hard on Jack due to his behavor at school. It is so hard when he is easier at home. I finally gave him back the computer yesterday. But he had to do educational stuff first. I told him that today we start with no priv's. If he does well he gets priv's when he gets home. AKA he has to earn Computer, GAmecube, and TV.
Once again, I can take either kid with me out and they behave great. Take both kids and forget it. They feed off each other. Taking Jack to the grocery store was a pleasure yesterday.
I once again have feelings of being a bad mother. Maybe I need therapy more than my child.
Meanwhile I had told my brother and my brother in law not to get my kids anything. My brother got my son his usual hess truck, and then had to go all out and get Alyssa a very expensive birthday present (high end clothes). Now my brother in law informs me that he got something for my kids. This puts me in a wierd position, as I honestly did not want to get his teenage daughter anything. Not because I am cheap, but but because she is very ungrateful. she has NEVER acknowledged presents that I sent, nor has she even said "thank you" When they were here a few years ago for a weekend I bought her a shirt and did not get that simple "thank you". At least acknowledge that you got the gift. I got her a necklace from mexico last year and I had to ask my BIL if she even got it!
So I have 3 choices.
1. just get something small for katie and realize that I am not getting an ack.
2. Confront my BIL and tell him the truth
3. Not get anything, because I said we shouldnt, even though he did get something small for my kids.
not sure where to go on this. As far as my other nieces go (my brother's kids) I will now get them something small. Probably some books.
The weekend was all the usual stuff. Alyssa has been good lately. Maybe turning 8 has somethign to do with it. I have cracked down hard on Jack due to his behavor at school. It is so hard when he is easier at home. I finally gave him back the computer yesterday. But he had to do educational stuff first. I told him that today we start with no priv's. If he does well he gets priv's when he gets home. AKA he has to earn Computer, GAmecube, and TV.
Once again, I can take either kid with me out and they behave great. Take both kids and forget it. They feed off each other. Taking Jack to the grocery store was a pleasure yesterday.
I once again have feelings of being a bad mother. Maybe I need therapy more than my child.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Alyssa's appt...
Alyssa had her pysch appt yesterday. I was told that I absoluately need to completely ignore her "episodes". Also that I need to work on positive reinforcement instead of negative. She is slightly ADD and he believe sthat she has well above avg IQ. We need to have it tested. (though it would not affect if she has bipolar or not). Also, typical ADD meds would never be recommended for her due to the possibility of bipolor
He says that the sleep issues are a sign of something more, but very hard at this age to tell. Also she could have "explosive child syndrome" . I still need to read "the explosive child"
One drug that was a possibility was Trileptal. My reading on it so far has been pretty positive if I was to ever go that route. We have to see what happens with the sleep issues, which by the way, falls in the "manic" catagory.
It was a very expensive appt, but overall I feel a lot better about thigns. When asked about therapy for Alyssa to learn not to fall into her "tandrums" he said that it probably wouldnt work as they are "sudden" . I still might try that route.
He says that the sleep issues are a sign of something more, but very hard at this age to tell. Also she could have "explosive child syndrome" . I still need to read "the explosive child"
One drug that was a possibility was Trileptal. My reading on it so far has been pretty positive if I was to ever go that route. We have to see what happens with the sleep issues, which by the way, falls in the "manic" catagory.
It was a very expensive appt, but overall I feel a lot better about thigns. When asked about therapy for Alyssa to learn not to fall into her "tandrums" he said that it probably wouldnt work as they are "sudden" . I still might try that route.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!!!!
8 years ago today, I had Alyssa. She might have been born on the 4th, but my first induction did not work, so we started all over on the 5th. It was a Saturday. I remember not feeling "familiar" with her after she came out. It was disconcerning. But that feeling did go away as we got to know each other... Felix took to her right away and was a natural at it.
She has definately been a challenge. I hope that 8 brings some maturity to her. I know that yesterday someone kidnapped my child and brought me a different one that I actually liked. She stopped herself from crying about something. She listened. Yes, she made protests, but she was being a typical 8 year old, not someone that was not in control of herself. She had also just come off of 2 days of sleeping through the night. I know that it helps . The meltdowns are definately related to tireness, but they can happen after a good nights sleep as well. I dont know how we fix the sleep issues.
today we may go to see the Macy's day parade balloons. they ahve brought some of them here to Atlanta today. They are suppose to have this entire kid thing. Tonight is CiCi's pizza night from school and Alyssa would like to go, so that is what we will be doing.
Work, since the crazy week of thanksgiving, has been unusually slow. this is not good.
She has definately been a challenge. I hope that 8 brings some maturity to her. I know that yesterday someone kidnapped my child and brought me a different one that I actually liked. She stopped herself from crying about something. She listened. Yes, she made protests, but she was being a typical 8 year old, not someone that was not in control of herself. She had also just come off of 2 days of sleeping through the night. I know that it helps . The meltdowns are definately related to tireness, but they can happen after a good nights sleep as well. I dont know how we fix the sleep issues.
today we may go to see the Macy's day parade balloons. they ahve brought some of them here to Atlanta today. They are suppose to have this entire kid thing. Tonight is CiCi's pizza night from school and Alyssa would like to go, so that is what we will be doing.
Work, since the crazy week of thanksgiving, has been unusually slow. this is not good.
Monday, December 04, 2006
its monday morning.....
Well the party is over ... I really know I went overboard this time. Alyssa probably doesnt appreciate it all. LAter Sat night, after the party, she was having one of her meltdowns and one thign she said was how "this was the worse day of her life" . Then I asked about how it could be with that party. Then she said "the worse day after the party was over". On one hand I created this monster, in the fact, that I sorta spoil her. I sometimes wonder if her issues are not "real", but because I did create the brat. I think in some cases, that is true, but I think again and these meltdown over silly things dont seem "normal" even for a spoiled child.
I was so tired from this weekend. GEtting only a bit of sleep on friday night affected me. Plus with one of the girls at the party having a cold, I am trying not to get sick. I take lots of airborne. It also irks me that Felix has gotten "bad" again. When he had his heart condition he spend a lot of time on the couch, etc. Now its his sinuses. I know that they bother him, but sitting around all day isnt going to fix them. I get all pissy at him, because I have to constantly ask him to get up and help. He never just "does it" anymore. When I feel this way towards him I also tend to hold back physically and emotionally. I dont want to go through another surgery with him. The sinus thing would not be a biggie, but still, he is not a great patient. Since we have been married we have gone thru tonsils and hearts. Now its sinuses. I do have some sympathy that he has issues, but I dont believe in his methods. He is overweight and sitting around is not helping that. Yesterday, yes, he did the photos for me, but that is about all he does do and he enjoys it. Meanwhile I am running around with kids all day. While I am complaining, he also will not do anything to go out of his way for the kids. AKA, I wanted him to go to school tomorrow to do Alyssa's bday, but he refuses to take off of work to do that. I have to do it now. Whenever he does have a day off of work while the kids are in school he wont meet them at lunch. He says that noone did that when he was kid, so why should he do it. I tend to disagree. The kids just light up when you join them at lunchtime.
Ok. done with my morning rant. I dont mean to rant on him, but I guess its a good therapy sometimes to get it off your chest.
I was so tired from this weekend. GEtting only a bit of sleep on friday night affected me. Plus with one of the girls at the party having a cold, I am trying not to get sick. I take lots of airborne. It also irks me that Felix has gotten "bad" again. When he had his heart condition he spend a lot of time on the couch, etc. Now its his sinuses. I know that they bother him, but sitting around all day isnt going to fix them. I get all pissy at him, because I have to constantly ask him to get up and help. He never just "does it" anymore. When I feel this way towards him I also tend to hold back physically and emotionally. I dont want to go through another surgery with him. The sinus thing would not be a biggie, but still, he is not a great patient. Since we have been married we have gone thru tonsils and hearts. Now its sinuses. I do have some sympathy that he has issues, but I dont believe in his methods. He is overweight and sitting around is not helping that. Yesterday, yes, he did the photos for me, but that is about all he does do and he enjoys it. Meanwhile I am running around with kids all day. While I am complaining, he also will not do anything to go out of his way for the kids. AKA, I wanted him to go to school tomorrow to do Alyssa's bday, but he refuses to take off of work to do that. I have to do it now. Whenever he does have a day off of work while the kids are in school he wont meet them at lunch. He says that noone did that when he was kid, so why should he do it. I tend to disagree. The kids just light up when you join them at lunchtime.
Ok. done with my morning rant. I dont mean to rant on him, but I guess its a good therapy sometimes to get it off your chest.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Today is the big day.....
Tonight is Alyssa's sleepover , limo, libby lu party. We have 4 girls plus Alyssa. We had 5 but one got punished so she is now not coming. Or at least that is the story I was told . This is the same girl that we were not sure if alyssa was still invited to her party. Then this monday the mom said she was coming, but called this morning to say that she is now punished. Personally I would not take away a birthday party as a punishment. That is hurting the other child as well. Its the one thing I wont do. Even some playdates are kept as its not fair to the other person.
I got a gingerbread house , an art project, and some posterboard for the girls. I also got this workout video from sabrina bryan of the cheetah girls. Alsysa doesnt know I got that. Then I hope to put in a mellow movie for them to fall sleep to .
Last night was the first night that Alyssa slept thru the night since Sunday. She woke up around 6:30, but still had uninterrupted sleep. Previously I had even tried melatonin and that did not work. Last night I did a very small dose of Tylenol, but I really think that her waking up issues, despite her saying the contrary is due to her worrying about stuff. The party is exciting and I think she was relaxed because of it. She also did not pitch a fit this morning when Jack "had the bigger flashlight"
Its funny how things go in cycles. On Tuesday this week Jack got on Red light and even Alyssa got on yellow light (I am not that worried though), and had her sleep issues, and other stuff. I felt like I got no good news from either kid. Then yesterday both kids did great in school and Alyssa slept thru the night and had decent behavior even when I took her to gymnastics. My mood is also related to how good/happy my kids are. When things are going well, I am happier.
I guess this is normal.
You s hould see the lego stuff that JAck is building . He has the spongebob set that had tons of pieces and a big instruction book. He is on instruction item 51 now. He is so good at following the directions and building. Maybe he will be an engineer, and not the lawyer just like his uncle.
I got a gingerbread house , an art project, and some posterboard for the girls. I also got this workout video from sabrina bryan of the cheetah girls. Alsysa doesnt know I got that. Then I hope to put in a mellow movie for them to fall sleep to .
Last night was the first night that Alyssa slept thru the night since Sunday. She woke up around 6:30, but still had uninterrupted sleep. Previously I had even tried melatonin and that did not work. Last night I did a very small dose of Tylenol, but I really think that her waking up issues, despite her saying the contrary is due to her worrying about stuff. The party is exciting and I think she was relaxed because of it. She also did not pitch a fit this morning when Jack "had the bigger flashlight"
Its funny how things go in cycles. On Tuesday this week Jack got on Red light and even Alyssa got on yellow light (I am not that worried though), and had her sleep issues, and other stuff. I felt like I got no good news from either kid. Then yesterday both kids did great in school and Alyssa slept thru the night and had decent behavior even when I took her to gymnastics. My mood is also related to how good/happy my kids are. When things are going well, I am happier.
I guess this is normal.
You s hould see the lego stuff that JAck is building . He has the spongebob set that had tons of pieces and a big instruction book. He is on instruction item 51 now. He is so good at following the directions and building. Maybe he will be an engineer, and not the lawyer just like his uncle.
