A Very Difficult Day

This morning was an especially difficult morning for the girls and me. We had to take our dog, Pepper, to the vet to have him put to sleep. We've had Pep for nearly 17 years. Besides the fact that he had become deaf in recent years, he also had doggie dementia. Up until the moment he left us he was still smiling at us and giving us lots of love. I know that when some dogs get old they get cranky and unfriendly. Not Pepper. He was still as loving and spirited as he was when he was a puppy. Everyone that ever knew him loved him. I kid you not. That was how special he was. He LOVED everyone! He even loved our cats. :) I am going to miss him laying at the foot of my bed at night and keeping me warm. Every once in awhile he'd sneak up and lay right by me if it was storming. He was my companion when I couldn't sleep at night. I would sometimes get frustrated when he would follow me all over the house and he did that all the time. I've tripped over him more than once when I didn't realize he was under-foot. I know that he followed me because he just wanted to be close to me. He was my little sweetheart. Good-bye buddy. I love you.

Sometimes it just gets to me.

The past 2 days have been a little difficult. Em's tic disorder has been very pronounced and nearly constant in the evenings. I try to get her to concentrate on other things or stay busy because sometimes that helps. It hasn't been helping. I feel like such a bad mom but it really, really grinds on my nerves some days and today is one of those days. I know that most of the time it is involuntary and can't be helped but I still scold her sometimes. I even told her that if she didn't try to control it tonight she had to go upstairs where I didn't have to hear it. Right now she is watching a movie which may or may not help a bit. It is very unpredictable. This happens a couple times a year and usually lasts about 2 weeks or so then it gets better again. I am just afraid that if the kids at school hear this high pitched squeaking, they'll make fun of her. I know her true friends won't. They know about it. Will her new friends understand why she makes these noises? I just don't know.

So far, so good. :)

Em has been in school for a week and a half now and she loves it! If you've read my previous posts you know how nervous I was about her going to Junior High. She hasn't made many new friends yet but she is reconnecting with some "old" ones and that makes me feel so happy for her. She is trying her best to make the kids that feel a little left out a part of things, at least at lunch. She invites them to sit with her and her friends at lunch and tries to include them in the conversations.

She has come to realize that Junior High comes with a lot less social time during the day and a lot more homework at night. :) She doesn't seem to mind though.

I've been seeing less and less of her on the weekends and I miss her being here but I am so glad that she has such nice friends to spend time with.

Before school started she told me that she didn't want to do any school sports. Just today she mentioned to me that she thinks she'd like to try basketball. :) I told her she'd have to be at practice at 6:30 in the morning but she didn't seem to mind. This poses a bit of a problem with the medication she takes for her ADHD. The pill she takes in the morning lasts for about 8 hours or so which means there is no way it will last the whole school day. Not good. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I think she'll have to wait to play basketball until next year when practices and games will be after school. She has also showed an interest in track and that is after school so that just might be it for this year. It may not be fair but sometimes life isn't fair and she realizes this.

More to come as the year goes on. :)

Nervous Momma

As the school year approaches, I get more nervous by the day. It just seems like everything is topsy-turvy and no one knows where they'll be or what's going on. I've never been anxious or felt quite so unsettled before. I've worked at River Hills for 6 years already so you would think I wouldn't feel this way. From what I have heard many of the rooms employees are going to be shuffled around this year. What I don't understand is why? If things are going well in a classroom and things run like clockwork why would anyone want to shake that up? Don't get me wrong. I'll go wherever I'm needed. That has always been my attitude. I just feel like where I belong is where I've been for the past 6 years. The other associate in the room last year isn't going to be able to come back because of personal reasons so hopefully I can stay put. I will miss her very, very much but her family comes first and I understand that. I just hope they let me stay where I've been so it won't put too much stress on the teacher I work with. We are supposed to be able to go room to room and know just what to do but that isn't realistic. Every room does things differently or in a different order so it can be difficult to adjust to things. I've done it before when I floated for awhile but it wasn't easy. Enough about me. I'll be fine no matter where I'm assigned. I think a lot of my stress is due to Em's moving on to junior high more than it is about my job so....

Em's turn. Talk about nervous! She'll be at Holmes Jr. High in about a week and a half. I talked to her about the fact that it will be a lot different than elementary school and that there will be a lot more kids. And lets face it, they won't all be nice kids. She's has had her share of other girls being nasty to her and so far she has managed to ignore it for the most part. I'm just worried that things will escalate this year because there are so many more kids and they are older and their hormones are pretty much starting to go crazy at this age. Go figure...

Classes. They will be a lot harder too. Em is a very intelligent girl. I think she'll do alright for the most part. Homework will be a challenge though. She had a little bit of trouble keeping up with it for awhile last year about mid-year. Things turned around though and she ended up with really awesome grades. I guess I'll just have to stay on her about it like I did last year. If she really wants to go to Yale or Princeton (she dreams big :)) then she'll have to continue to do as well as she has.

Fitting in. Here's a biggie. Em is definitely her own person. She isn't interested in athletics which is OK. She's a dancer and dancing IS a sport no matter what people say. I just kind of wish she'd give volleyball a try just for the fun of it. She plans on doing anything and everything they have which involves music or theatre but there isn't a lot offered at this level in her education. She thinks chess club sounds fun but I don't even know if they have one. I talked to her about joining a math club but she's not too sure about that.

I know she'll be fine. I have to believe she'll be fine. Right?

Some things they just don't tell you.

I've come to the conclusion that there are some things doctors neglect to tell you when your child is on meds. for ADHD. I've learned the hard way that when the dose is decreased or your child is taken off the meds. that the side affects are not so much fun.

Em has been on her regular dose of the extended release med. as usual with a supplemental smaller dose to be given as needed later in the day if she has a dance class or something else going on that night. Well, she has been taking the supplemental dose everyday for most of the summer due to her theatre class. Yesterday and the day before were the first time for 2 days in a row that she hasn't had that 2nd dose. Needless to say, last night was the night from hell. She was so out of control that she couldn't calm herself down. She was moody, shaky, impulsive beyond her normal impulsive self, and downright crazy. This happened one other time over a year ago when her doctor wanted to see what would happen if we took her off her meds. for awhile too. The same thing happened only it was about 3 times worse. Thank goodness I had some of her meds. left over. She was off of them for a total of 3 days and was having panic attacks and was completely out of control. She cried for hours and begged to go back on her meds. She almost became violent which is NOT Emma. With the doctors consent I started her back on them. At least this time it was only her supplemental med. that I had her stop taking.

Today she is nice and calm so I know the "withdrawal" phase is over. I hate having her on meds. I really do. But, I know that if she doesn't take them she feels overwhelmed and can't get things done. She can't concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes and is constantly on the move.

I can't even imagine how it feels to have your mind so out of control that nothing makes sense and you can't stop yourself from moving, moving, moving. She's tried to describe it to me but there really aren't words to describe it.

Em's level of ADHD is very significant. Put it this way--there are yes and no questions that you have to mark off about your child when they are first diagnosed. I had to answer yes to all of them but one. Yup. That's my girl. Her doctor has only seen a few other kids with this degree of ADHD.

No one really knows why ADHD has so many levels or what even causes it. They do know that it runs in families.

Em is going to have quite a few challenges ahead of her for a lot of years yet. Will it get better? Maybe. Will she eventually be able to go off of her meds. when she is older? Possibly. One can only hope. At least she doesn't see it as a disability. She sees it as a gift. It makes her more creative and intuitive which is cool.

She starts a new school in a few weeks. I hope they are as attune to her needs as her elementary school was. They had a sound system for her severe hearing loss which Holmes doesn't have so hopefully they will provide one so she can continue to do well.

I hope she continues to have her "can do" attitude. I truly believe that is why she does so well and doesn't let anything stand in her way. :)

Friends

Emma really has great friends. Today she and her friend Ariella sold lemonade outside of Arie's house. What fun! With Em's siblings being quite a bit older than she is sometimes it is hard for her to relate to them so she needs the interaction with kids her own age. We've had fun hanging around and doing things together this summer but a mom is not a friend or a sibling. I can't do some of the things that someone more her age can do. I am hoping that once she is in junior high this fall that she will get involved in school groups or clubs. Do they have a chess club at Holmes? That was her idea. Maybe she could start one. That would be cool. I know she'll be in all the plays and vocal music things. She has her sport which is dance but isn't interested in the sports they have at school. That's OK. I wasn't exactly looking forward to going to volleyball games at 7:00 in the morning. :)

I just found out today that one of her best friends will be going to Price Lab/NU High in the fall and not Holmes. It made me really sad but Em seems OK with it. I guess she has known for over a week but forgot to tell me. Another one of her good friends is going to be home schooled for most of his classes but will be at Holmes for advanced math so Em will get to see him for a little while everyday.

That has got to be hard for her to think about. These 2 friends are such nice young people and are good for Em. Both of them seem to be pretty level headed and keep Em grounded. I think Em will be fine though. She is so happy go lucky that she makes friends easily and even the "bullies" seem to respond to her and soften up. At least the ones that are boys. It's the girl's that are tough as nails and think making fun of kids is cool that I am worried about. I won't name any names. That wouldn't be right. I know she still has a few friends that are going to Holmes. Hannah N. and Charly W. to name 2 of them. Oh! Tiffany and Billie Ann too. They are sweeties. Always smiling.

Of course there will be the typical junior high drama. I've been through it 3 times already and my older 3 survived so I know Em will too!

My baby is 12!

It's July and the rain just keeps on coming! That hasn't stopped the craziness that is the Meier home.

Emma turned 12 on July 1st. Yup. My baby is 12. Scares me to death! It also makes me feel really, really OLD. That makes my kids 27, 24, 19 1/2, and 12. OK. I guess I am old. :)

I got a Zune for Em for her birthday. That's like an IPOD for those of you who wonder what the heck a Zune is. She really wanted one badly yet she hasn't gotten around to putting any music on it yet. She has been pretty busy though with trying to outdo both her sister and me on my new Wii, practicing piano, getting her reading in every day, and going to play practice every afternoon and evening. OH! I forgot to mention that she is in James and the Giant Peach at the end of July through the Sturgis Youth Theatre. This is the 4th summer that she has done this but she has been going to acting camps since she was 3. LOVES IT!

Em has had her eye on a chess set at World's Window for over a year now. It is absolutely beautiful with a marble playing surface. Needless to say it is not cheap. Pretty much every penny she gets or earns has been put aside for this chess set. Yesterday I took all of the money she received for her birthday plus some she had saved and added the gift certificate that one of her sisters and her brother gave her for downtown Cedar Falls businesses and purchased that chess set. She thinks I put it on hold for her at the store. I'm saving it for just the perfect moment to give it to her. I think I'll milk the helpfulness around the house for just a wee bit longer. :)