Little art boxes for some American Girl dolls.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sitting at My Desk
Sitting at my desk with an x-acto knife and a little balsa wood. the kids are running around and have no idea what I am up to.
Little art boxes for some American Girl dolls.
Little art boxes for some American Girl dolls.
My Day
Little Miss Emma was in her room
Too much free time on her hands
The closet was calling her name
Come and play house it called
All her clothing must go on the floor
Poor little Miss Emma was in her room
No more free time on her hands
The hamper was calling her name
Come and fill me it called
All her clothing must go
Holiday Fun/Struggles
Yesterday we had a lot of activities planned. Charlotte who helps with my mom brought over her granddaughters and we made cinnamon ornaments.
We also made those snowman ornaments using handprints.
We also baked, decorated and ate sugar cookies.
Michelle was on restrictions and was not able to participate in the activities. Charlotte had planned on taking all the kids to a light show in Columbia to give me a chance to work on my Christmas projects. We decided to allow Michelle to go simply because I did need the time to work.
Sarah went with Charlotte to help with the kids.
Larissa has gone with Charlotte before with no problems. The other kids hadn't. Lets just say that they won't be going with anyone else anytime soon. Emma was mean as a coot, Michelle wouldn't listen and neither would Anthony.
As a matter of fact Anthony took a dip in the river because he wouldn't listen. He kept walking way ahead and Charlotte kept trying to reign him in. At one point he was far ahead and walked right off the dock into the lake, it was actually deep at that point. He said he thought it was concrete.
Lesson learned....maybe, maybe not.
I was disappointed. The kids knew that Larissa had gone with Charlotte before and were anxious to go with her. However, when they got the opportunity to do so they couldn't show her respect. That is a huge problem for me. They miss out on so much because of their behaviors. They also make it hard for me at Christmas time because their behaviors don't give me warm fuzzy shopping feelings.
Back to work, late night creating is wearing me down.
We also made those snowman ornaments using handprints.
We also baked, decorated and ate sugar cookies.
Michelle was on restrictions and was not able to participate in the activities. Charlotte had planned on taking all the kids to a light show in Columbia to give me a chance to work on my Christmas projects. We decided to allow Michelle to go simply because I did need the time to work.
Sarah went with Charlotte to help with the kids.
Larissa has gone with Charlotte before with no problems. The other kids hadn't. Lets just say that they won't be going with anyone else anytime soon. Emma was mean as a coot, Michelle wouldn't listen and neither would Anthony.
As a matter of fact Anthony took a dip in the river because he wouldn't listen. He kept walking way ahead and Charlotte kept trying to reign him in. At one point he was far ahead and walked right off the dock into the lake, it was actually deep at that point. He said he thought it was concrete.
Lesson learned....maybe, maybe not.
I was disappointed. The kids knew that Larissa had gone with Charlotte before and were anxious to go with her. However, when they got the opportunity to do so they couldn't show her respect. That is a huge problem for me. They miss out on so much because of their behaviors. They also make it hard for me at Christmas time because their behaviors don't give me warm fuzzy shopping feelings.
Back to work, late night creating is wearing me down.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Christmas Projects
Never fail, every Christmas I always decide at the last minute to do some Christmas projects.
I have decided to make this dresser with a broken drawer into an American Girl bedroom and office.
I am also using the wood for the demolished ramp my mom used to use into an American Girl loft bed.
I have decided to make this dresser with a broken drawer into an American Girl bedroom and office.
I am using the drawers to make some furniture.
I am also using the wood for the demolished ramp my mom used to use into an American Girl loft bed.
Of course, all work is happening after the kids are in bed.
I really enjoy these projects.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Cursive
Sorry about the quality of the picture, pencil is hard to scan. It does give an impression of Anthony's cursive. In a way he uses cursive as a type of art, he loves to doodle and draw. Unfortunately he does it instead of classwork.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Educational Challenges
This week I met with Anthony's team at school to discuss his IEP. He is currently receiving help with math but I have seen a huge increase in struggles with reading comprehension. He has been off of his ADHD meds for about 6 weeks now because of eye twitches. We have tried two different medications and is still eye twitching. His educational issues started before the ADHD medication challenges began.
We talked for over an hour and struggled to find any ways to help him. At one point they mentioned that his behavior is not bad. A few minutes later I realized that they said that. His behavior is not affected by being off of his ADHD medications. That makes me wonder if he is ADHD. It is not unusual for a child with bipolar to be misdiagnosed with ADHD. He is still on his mood disorder medication. Obviously that is effective in helping with the behavior problems.
Anthony's biggest problem is he doesn't finish anything. I mean anything. He never finishes his homework even though he sits for hours. Even when several of us sit down to help him. The other day I gave him some answers before heading out the door to drop Sarah off at dance. When I got back he hadn't written any of those answers down. His teacher says he does the same thing in class.
He avoids the work at all costs to include hiding it. Why? Is it because he can't do the work or something else. That is our struggle. There have been other clues. We played hangman at home. When it got to him he couldn't pick a letter. Simply couldn't. He had to know what the word was so he could pick the right letter. He couldn't stand to get the wrong letter, it paralyzed him. We finally had to play the game without him.
We started to discuss the possibility that he had to have it right and if he didn't think it would be he couldn't' do it. His teacher mentioned that if he was taking a test and couldn't get number 2 right then he couldn't skip ahead to the other questions. Are we dealing with severe perfectionism?
He hasn't had his medication for bipolar changed since he started it last year. Perhaps that needs adjusting. Honestly, I believe that we are dealing with a combination of mental illness and learning disability.
We ended the meeting with a plan to meet again the end of January. In the meantime he is going to meet with the counselor at school to talk about his perfectionism. Also, I am going to get him to his doctor to see about a little increase in his medication. I will send him to school after Christmas break with the increased medication to see if there is any effect. After two weeks I will bring back in the ADHD medication to see if it helps. Then we will meet again to see how to help him.
I decided to go home and look a little more at bipolar. When you read on it you mainly notice the behaviors that you are dealing with. When something new pops up it helps to go research again.
I found this site...
http://www.jbrf.org/page-for-families/educational-issues-facing-children-with-bipolar-disorder/
A child struggling with a bipolar disorder is often highly gifted, but may have difficulty making transitions, and may have co-morbid syndromes that make him or her distractible, inattentive, anxious or very perfectionistic.
Ahhh, this is the first time I noticed the perfectionism that we are seeing. Interesting. Larissa has the anxiety and some of the perfectionism.
The site gives IEP suggestions but I really don't' see much for what we are dealing with so I go and search perfectionism and find this.......
http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip53.html
Some characteristics of children who are extreme perfectionists:
This site gives some suggestion on how to deal with the problem. Hopefully by our next meeting I can have some suggestions on how to help Anthony. Managing education and mental health issues is challenging. It is hard to distinguish exactly what the problem is. When everyone at the table looks confused then you know you have a problem!
The question might be why don't I homeschool him like I do Larissa. The quick answer is he wouldn't work for me. I can't get him to do homework how would I get him to do anything else. He is the master of the blank look. I don't want to have the responsibility of trying to teach a child who will not work independently.
On a good note his cursive is beautiful. I guess perfectionism in some areas can be positive. I will post a copy of his writing tonight after I get one from him and scan it.
We talked for over an hour and struggled to find any ways to help him. At one point they mentioned that his behavior is not bad. A few minutes later I realized that they said that. His behavior is not affected by being off of his ADHD medications. That makes me wonder if he is ADHD. It is not unusual for a child with bipolar to be misdiagnosed with ADHD. He is still on his mood disorder medication. Obviously that is effective in helping with the behavior problems.
Anthony's biggest problem is he doesn't finish anything. I mean anything. He never finishes his homework even though he sits for hours. Even when several of us sit down to help him. The other day I gave him some answers before heading out the door to drop Sarah off at dance. When I got back he hadn't written any of those answers down. His teacher says he does the same thing in class.
He avoids the work at all costs to include hiding it. Why? Is it because he can't do the work or something else. That is our struggle. There have been other clues. We played hangman at home. When it got to him he couldn't pick a letter. Simply couldn't. He had to know what the word was so he could pick the right letter. He couldn't stand to get the wrong letter, it paralyzed him. We finally had to play the game without him.
We started to discuss the possibility that he had to have it right and if he didn't think it would be he couldn't' do it. His teacher mentioned that if he was taking a test and couldn't get number 2 right then he couldn't skip ahead to the other questions. Are we dealing with severe perfectionism?
He hasn't had his medication for bipolar changed since he started it last year. Perhaps that needs adjusting. Honestly, I believe that we are dealing with a combination of mental illness and learning disability.
We ended the meeting with a plan to meet again the end of January. In the meantime he is going to meet with the counselor at school to talk about his perfectionism. Also, I am going to get him to his doctor to see about a little increase in his medication. I will send him to school after Christmas break with the increased medication to see if there is any effect. After two weeks I will bring back in the ADHD medication to see if it helps. Then we will meet again to see how to help him.
I decided to go home and look a little more at bipolar. When you read on it you mainly notice the behaviors that you are dealing with. When something new pops up it helps to go research again.
I found this site...
http://www.jbrf.org/page-for-families/educational-issues-facing-children-with-bipolar-disorder/
A child struggling with a bipolar disorder is often highly gifted, but may have difficulty making transitions, and may have co-morbid syndromes that make him or her distractible, inattentive, anxious or very perfectionistic.
Ahhh, this is the first time I noticed the perfectionism that we are seeing. Interesting. Larissa has the anxiety and some of the perfectionism.
The site gives IEP suggestions but I really don't' see much for what we are dealing with so I go and search perfectionism and find this.......
http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip53.html
Some characteristics of children who are extreme perfectionists:
• having exceptionally high expectations for themselves;
• being self-critical, self-conscious and easily embarrassed;
• having strong feelings of inadequacy and low self-confidence;
• exhibiting persistent anxiety about making mistakes;
• being highly sensitive to criticism;
• procrastinating and avoiding stressful situations or difficult tasks;
• being emotionally guarded and socially inhibited;
• having a tendency to be critical of others;
• exhibiting difficulty making decisions and prioritizing tasks;
• experiencing headaches or other physical ailments when they perform below the expectations of themselves or others.
• being self-critical, self-conscious and easily embarrassed;
• having strong feelings of inadequacy and low self-confidence;
• exhibiting persistent anxiety about making mistakes;
• being highly sensitive to criticism;
• procrastinating and avoiding stressful situations or difficult tasks;
• being emotionally guarded and socially inhibited;
• having a tendency to be critical of others;
• exhibiting difficulty making decisions and prioritizing tasks;
• experiencing headaches or other physical ailments when they perform below the expectations of themselves or others.
This site gives some suggestion on how to deal with the problem. Hopefully by our next meeting I can have some suggestions on how to help Anthony. Managing education and mental health issues is challenging. It is hard to distinguish exactly what the problem is. When everyone at the table looks confused then you know you have a problem!
The question might be why don't I homeschool him like I do Larissa. The quick answer is he wouldn't work for me. I can't get him to do homework how would I get him to do anything else. He is the master of the blank look. I don't want to have the responsibility of trying to teach a child who will not work independently.
On a good note his cursive is beautiful. I guess perfectionism in some areas can be positive. I will post a copy of his writing tonight after I get one from him and scan it.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sadness
I hate it when I want to give my kids the world and all they can handle is the spot next to me.
That was my last facebook status. I know that many adoptive/foster parents understand that saying. Today it was really driven home to me by one of my children. We went to a Christmas party with our new church family. We don't often do such social activities because of our children. However, we are trying to build relationships within our new church. Many of the children congregated upstairs where there was a FROG/play space. This is a normal thing, the adults gather and the children gather.
However, I have one child who has to have attention at any cost. Upstairs she was using a lot of inappropriate language and discussing things that little ones shouldn't be hearing. The pastor's 10 year old son complained about it. We left the party early. This particular child will not be going back any time soon. If we do go back she will get to sit beside me the entire time.
On Mondays we go to Chick Fil A for family night. Kids eat free and they have fun activities for the kids. Last Monday we told the kids that if they were caught in 3 lies before the next Monday then they would not be able to go. Two kids are not going.
I feel sad that my kids are not able to participate in a lot of activities. However, I can't just let the behaviors continue. It is my job to consequence consistently. If I am not consistent then the behaviors would escalate. It is not fun. It is tiring. It gets real old. Some days it seems as though the behaviors don't improve at all.
I think that the holidays are worse. Schedules are changing. More social activities are happening. More opportunities to test me at a time when I just want to relax and enjoy my family.
Today I have sadness that even though these kids are mine, they are still suffering the effects from a time in which they weren't mine.
That was my last facebook status. I know that many adoptive/foster parents understand that saying. Today it was really driven home to me by one of my children. We went to a Christmas party with our new church family. We don't often do such social activities because of our children. However, we are trying to build relationships within our new church. Many of the children congregated upstairs where there was a FROG/play space. This is a normal thing, the adults gather and the children gather.
However, I have one child who has to have attention at any cost. Upstairs she was using a lot of inappropriate language and discussing things that little ones shouldn't be hearing. The pastor's 10 year old son complained about it. We left the party early. This particular child will not be going back any time soon. If we do go back she will get to sit beside me the entire time.
On Mondays we go to Chick Fil A for family night. Kids eat free and they have fun activities for the kids. Last Monday we told the kids that if they were caught in 3 lies before the next Monday then they would not be able to go. Two kids are not going.
I feel sad that my kids are not able to participate in a lot of activities. However, I can't just let the behaviors continue. It is my job to consequence consistently. If I am not consistent then the behaviors would escalate. It is not fun. It is tiring. It gets real old. Some days it seems as though the behaviors don't improve at all.
I think that the holidays are worse. Schedules are changing. More social activities are happening. More opportunities to test me at a time when I just want to relax and enjoy my family.
Today I have sadness that even though these kids are mine, they are still suffering the effects from a time in which they weren't mine.
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