Both kids started school on the 1oth of August (so early!). It's been... a lot.
We started Bertram on Adderall the day before school started. We practiced trying to swallow pills al Summer (using M&M minis), but he never got the hang of it. The nice thing about Adderall, is it's a capsule, so I can pull it open and put it in his pb&j or smoothie. He has gotten used to the idea of taking it, he was very, very anti-medication. Of any type. Getting him to take Tylenol when he's sick is impossible. I "incentivized" him. I said if he took it for at least a week, with out complaining (or balking), I'd get him a Nerf gun. (And I hate Nerf guns). So far it's been going well. I sent an email to his teacher, just to check in. He's not been disruptive, or non-participatory, like last year. She said he is actually answered too often, and not giving others a chance to talk. He's been keeping up with his work. And he hates PE. Back to school night is next week, so we'll learn more about both kids' classes then.
Bronwyn, on the other hand, has been having a terrible start to the school year. In the first 3 days, I got 2 calls from the principal, and she was sent home one day. She got a full-time aide (for the meantime) but she hasn't been helping much in preventing behaviours, so I'm not sure hoe much help she is. Bron has been hitting, scratching, and just being physical with the teacher and other students. Everyday has been terrible. I think a lot of it is it's different from kindergarten (which she has expressed wanting to return to), also, there are a lot of kids in the class (23), and one teacher. She wants/needs more attention, and there is only one adult. (In kindy, there were usually 3-4 adults). Except, sometimes when she's acting up, the teacher will send her to the SpEd class. She does very well over there. So we called for an IEP meeting to see if we could switch her too that class. During the IEP, everyone seemed to think it would be a good idea for her to switch classes, except the special ed liaison from the district. She sort of implied that SpEd wouldn't be a good fit, because SpEd is the last resort, and the academics aren't as good. I'm not entirely convinced that that is the case, since there are a lot fewer kids, and way more adults to help. But we changed around her RSP time, and she will have a full-time, trained aide starting on Wednesday. After the IEP meeting, we met privately with the teacher, and she was implied that the district isn't offering us everything she is entitled to. So everything was/is jumbled in my head. There are pros and cons to each choice. It's not as easy as I'd hoped it would be. Nothing ever is, I suppose. I think what we're going to do is try the aide for 4-6 weeks, and see how that goes, and revisit. I'm thinking if the aide doesn't help, then SpEd is the best option for now. She also can go into the regular class to do some work, and return to SpEd for other work. We also are getting her re-evaluated for ADHD. She's very young, but I think she might benefit from some medication. I think we're going to keep her home on Monday, and (as long as it's ok with the teacher) I'll sit with her all day on Tuesday. Then Wednesday the aid will start. Bron has her well-check with the doctor on Tuesday so we'll talk about that.
We'll also talk about her sleeping habits. I think I've mentioned this before, but she has suddenly stopped sleeping at an appropriate time. Left to ger own devices, she'll stay up til midnight. We're been able, the last few days, to coax her into bed by 10ish. It's doesn't matter if we get her up earlier, how many activities we do during the day, how "tired out" she is, she won't go to sleep. The melatonin has stopped working for her, so we stopped using it. Benedryl, which we used on occasion, isn't doing much anymore either. Dramamine works, but I'm limiting the use for now because I don't want her to become immune, and because it's not the proper use of Dramamine.
I am feeling better. Except, I'm awake at 5am (since 1:30am). I talked with my GI last week. Just a check in. I'm feeling well, my medicine is working. But it's been 2 years since my last colonoscopy, which means I get to do that next month. Yay. I don't really mind the prep, except being hungry all the time.
I ordered birthday gifts for Aaron, my sister, and my niece. And next week, I'll buy gifts for my other sister.
We decided to go to Virginia for Fall break. I was on the fence, because it's expensive for a short trip. But both kids were lamenting that they didn't get to go to Nana's house this summer. And they want to see BB's house. I decided that If I could get tickets under $300 we'd go. Aaron opted not to go this time, so he'll watch the animals and the house. We're going from Saturday to Saturday. I was hoping to do like Friday to the following Sunday, but those tickets were a lot more expensive. It's also more expensive to fly out of San Jose, so we'll drive to San Francisco. But it's off hours, and on Saturday, so traffic won't be an issue. I wish Aaron were going. It's definitely easier to travel with kids with 2 adults (and I'll miss him). But I think they'll do okay, they have in the past.
Aaron had his physical. They want him to lose weight, 40 lbs. I decided I'm going to get more serious about losing weight too. So no snacking after dinner (which is hard, because I'm a night time snacker). And I'm trying to snack less during the day, and walk more. I've been walking the kids to school, then walking Monty after, so I get more steps. Aaron doctor also said to take a 20 minute walk after dinner. We were doing that most days, but we're skipping it because of the heat. Now we're committed to our evening walks.
