Fraggin' kids

I've got kids on the brain tonight, so I thought I'd dish up some fraggin' kids today.

 

We've hit the home stretch of Annie's 8th grade year. Tomorrow (well, today -- in just 7 hours actually), her class will do a dramatic presentation of the Passion for Good Friday. It's really the first of the last events of 8th grade. After the Passion, there will be May Crowning, the DC trip and graduation. It's really so hard to believe that she's been there for 9 years. As I heard recently, "the days are long, but the years are short." So true.

One of Annie's favorite activities of late has been to record silly, rambling videos for friends and post them on Facebook. I've watched them. Nothing harmful, just lots of random silliness. I thought it was getting to be a bit much, but she got a text from an old friend today who's had a pretty rough go of it lately. This friend told her that those videos were one of the first things the friend has laughed at in a long time. Just another testament to the power of humor and of social media.

Charlie goes back to the doctor tomorrow for a check of his arm. I hope they give him a new cast because the one he has on now is filthy! I swear he must roll in dirt on recess. And if a new cast is in the future, I'd be happy for it to be waterproof.

Pics of Robbie's first birthday popped up on Mike's FB page tonight. He was so little, round-faced and happy. And blonde! Who could resist this cutie?

I wrote a guest post about Robbie on Acting Balanced. Not sure when it will post, but I'll let you know. It was a step out of my comfort zone, but good for me to do.

Speaking of babies -- the baby-birds-to-be are still doing well. There are four eggs in the nest now and we're trying to avoid using the front door as much as possible because a.) we don't want to disturb the nest and b.) we don't want Mama to peck our eyes out.

Not specifically related to kids, but moms -- and anyone interested in healthy habits: I'd love it if you'd visit the Fit City Moms blog to read (and comment on!) my post this month -- 15 minute start to fitness.

It's almost 3:30am and I'm fresh out of fragments. If you need more, be sure to visit Mrs. 4444s Half-Past Kissin' Time blog. Wishing you all a happy Easter and a wonderful weekend.

Not many things can get me teary-eyed

But today I was. As I pulled up into the driveway, the garage door opened and Robbie was putting a bike helmet on. I asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm going to practice riding my bike with no heel wheelers." (Translation: training wheels) It's actually a bike that Charlie has outgrown.

Last summer, we tried to get Robbie to ride without training wheels. He was 7 years old -- high time to be riding a two-wheeler. We tried once. He wobbled and fell and was finished with that nonsense. Anytime after that when I asked if he wanted to learn to ride a two-wheeler he would say, "No thank you. I really couldn't."

And I didn't push it. With Robbie's sensory processing issues, there are some things that just seem scarier to him and take longer for him to achieve. I figured riding without training wheels was one of those things.

A few days ago, however, lots of the neighbor kids were out riding bikes, including our little neighbor girl who is a year younger than Robbie. I don't know if he decided it looked like fun or if he didn't want to be upstaged by a girl, but he decided he wanted to try it.

I went out into the street with him, held the back of the seat and ran down the street as he pedaled. There were two problems with this scenario. First, anytime he felt the least bit unsure, he'd let go of the handle bars and turn to grab onto me, which meant the bike came crashing down on both of us. Second, after about two passes up the street, I was huffing and puffing almost as badly as I was on our hike up Stone Mountain.He finally gave up and went back to the bike with training wheels.

But he didn't give up for good because he was back at it today. And he was determined. He didn't want any help. Though he did want us to watch. Typically, Robbie gets easily frustrated and wants to quit the first time things don't go away. As I watched him try again and again to push off, get pedaling and stay upright, I couldn't have been more proud. That's when I started getting teary-eyed.

Then he rode halfway down the length of the street, stopped in front of me and waited for me to cheer, which I did -- wildly. He dropped the bike, came over to me and said, "Can I get a hug, Mom?"

That's when I lost it all together. This is my kid about whom I jokingly say my biggest hope is that he can move out of the house some day. This is my kid who I worry about making friends and succeeding in school. This is my kid who put his mind to something and achieved it today.

THIS is my kid:

Rx for a sensory seeker

I've written before about some of the challenges Robbie has as a result of his sensory processing disorder (SPD). But he's come a long way and we've learned a lot about what works for him and what doesn't.

Rob is primarily a sensory seeker. That means that he is under-responsive to touch and movement. As a result, he seeks out what we refer to in our house as "deep impact." When he was a toddler, he was a literal head banger. If he's going to hug you, he's going to hug you hard. He loves to wrestle and knock over blocks and do lots of things that you'd expect little boys to do, but maybe a little more zealously than other kids. Swimming and gymnastics meet his needs more than soccer does.

Once we got hooked up with an occupational therapist who specializes in SPD, I jokingly said that the treatment for a sensory seeker is to allow them to do everything you've spent their whole life telling them not to do. Crawl downstairs on your belly headfirst? Go for it! Put all the couch/chair cushions on the floor, stand on a chair and jump into them? Have at it!

But I recently discovered an even better Rx for my little sensory seeker. Big, scary rides!

A few weeks ago, I took Robbie, Annie and a friend to Holiday World for a quick one-day trip as part of my Indiana tourism gig. I told Annie and her friend they could go off and ride all the big rides while I took Robbie to the more tame attractions. Well, Robbie wasn't going to have any of it. He begged, pleaded, whined and near pitched a fit that he wanted to ride The Legend, a roller coaster the girls were headed for.

So I sent him to the line and motioned to Annie that he was going to ride with them. Seconds later, I got a text from her:

"MOM! He's can't ride this. He's going to FREAK out!"

"I know," I texted back. "Then I can take him to the little rides and you guys will be free."

We were all shocked when he got off The Legend (100 feet high, nearly 60mph) and hollered "That was wicked awesome!"

I did let the girls go off on their own and took Robbie on the high-flying swings, the "octopus" ride, the Turkey Twhirl and several other rides that made me sick while leading my daredevil to a state of sensory bliss.

If I thought he was wild then, I had no idea what he was capable of handling. Last weekend, we took a mini-vacation back to Holiday World. This kid -- my little 7-year-old, 60+ pound boy -- not only rode The Legend three times, but he also rode the Raven three times and the Voyage (70 mph!) twice, along with several other wild rides.

Too bad I can't get our insurance to cover a season pass.

Free is good

I had a (virtually) free lunch today. Every Wednesday this summer, Arby's restaurants are offering a free item with purchase. Today was the roast chicken club sandwich, which I ate with Arby's new Diet Blackberry Fruit Tea. The tea was decent, though I prefer iced green tea from Starbuck's. Next week's free item at Arby's is a regular order of Sidekickers with the purchase of a sandwich. For the summer's whole freebie schedule, click here.

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Sharon (of The Bird's Nest Fame) is offering her first giveaway. Some lucky winner will get three months of membership to www.jumpstart.com absolutely FREE! If you have kids ages 3-10 and would like to try out the great online learning games at JumpStart.com, visit Sharon's blog and enter to win.

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I learned of this next giveaway on Twitter today. I'm glad I did because it also introduced me to a a blog written by two moms who have kiddos with sensory processing disorder (SPD), which is what Robbie has. The ladies over at The SPD Life are offering a giveaway of two great products by Pacific Pediatric Supply, the doorway net swing and a peanut ball.

Robbie has not used the peanut ball in OT, but he LOVES the net swing. It has such an amazing calming effect on him. Even if your kid doesn't have SPD, Pacific Pediatric Supply has some really cool products that any kid would love. (Charlie is always so jealous of the fun Robbie gets to have in OT.)

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I actually have a couple of items to give away as well, but I have to send out the stuff from my earlier giveaways first! When it comes to the U.S. Postal Service, I fail!

It it finished.

The morning get-out-the-door-for-school rush, that is. And this morning it was particularly painful.

Charlie felt the need to tell me in detail every move he played in some archery video game -- walking in and out of the room as he was doing so. Which meant that if I really was interested in what he was saying (I wasn't), it would have been impossible for me to hear it anyway.

I was trying to get in Robbie's "sensory diet" -- activities that give adequate input to his sensory system so that when he gets to school he'll be in a better frame of mind to take on the day. On this morning's diet menu was having him crawl upstairs and back down (head first) several times, which he wasn't very interested in. Having him jump off the landing into the entryway over and over again, which then Charlie wanted to do, too, and the whole thing turned into a circus.

Annie was coughing up a lung every three minutes. And in the moments where she wasn't hacking like a chain smoker, she was bossing the other two around.

I finally sent Charlie for a run around the cul de sac. That earned me about 2 minutes of relative peace.

And of course the carpool was late today, so when I expected to have the house to myself at 7:05am, I wasn't alone until almost 7:15am.

So now I am sitting in the blissful silence, the tapping of the keyboard the only sound I hear. I'll take a few minutes before I have to get dressed to pray for those noisy, wild, wonderful kids of mine and assure myself that, for the next seven hours, they are the teachers' challenge.

Not quirky enough

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my reservations regarding Robbie's upcoming school conference and how I worried that he would be saddled with some label that he doesn't deserve. That conference was postponed by a snowstorm. Then my frolicking travel schedule got in the way of re-scheduling. Today, we finally met to discuss my little cub.

I arrived at school feeling nervous and defensive, fearful that these professionals who'd only spent 30 minutes or so with my son would try to tell me something that I knew was not right. So I said a little prayer, asking God to help me remember that we were all there to look out for what is best for Robbie and what we can do to help him be successful in school.

As we went around the table and each evaluator had her say, I heard a lot of what I already know. "Difficulty attending to tasks." "Does better in one-one-one situations." "Likes the attention of being the class clown."

Some things were shared surprised me, including that he is within acceptable limits in language expression and comprehension. We all got a chuckle when the director of the school resource center said that when Robbie is working with a resource teacher and is asked if he is working hard, he answers honestly.

"Robbie, are you working hard?"

"No. Not really," replies my truthful George Washington.

His most significant deficits are in the area of fine motor skills, though the occupational therapist indicated he might need some work on his core strength. She recommended that he receive OT services.

"Ok," I thought. "That's a start."

But not so fast. Turns out that occupational therapy is considered a "related" service and is only available to students who qualify for academically-linked services. Apparently, fine motor control -- which you need for coloring, writing, and cutting among other things -- is not considered critical to academic success.

So we continued the discussion and went through an "Autism Spectrum Checklist," which he "passed," indicating he does not have enough characteristics on the autism spectrum to qualify for services through the school.

And suddenly, I found myself at once both thankful and frustrated. Thankful that he does not fall onto that spectrum (which was confirmed by another evaluation by the children's hospital last year) and frustrated that, despite the clear recommendations that he needs some level of service and intervention, he isn't "quirky enough" (my words) to qualify for it. Actually what the evaluators said is that our state guidelines don't include services for kids with sensory processing disorder. Anyone have the energy to take on that legislative agenda?

My hopefulness that the conference would lead us to some useful services for him evaporated right in front of my eyes. That's the point at which I started crying, which just made me mad. I had promised myself I wouldn't do that.

The conference ended ok. The resource director said they would start implementing some of the evaluators' recommendations. The occupational therapist offered to meet with us separately to give us some suggestions of how to work with him at home. But I couldn't help but feel disappointed and, quite frankly, emotionally exhausted.

Of course we'll investigate other avenues for assistance, although going through the school would have been easier on our schedule and cheaper. But you can bet we'll do whatever we need to for our quirky little cub.