Sometimes I feel conflicted about the things I can and can't post on my blog for fear of being unfairly judged or ridiculed for putting too much information out there. Some people tell me to be myself and just tell things like they are. ((If I am stressed out, at my wits end or proud to the gills)) Whereas, some people tell me to be uber careful, because employers, banks, etc. are looking at blogs and social profile information to help them decide if we are an appropriate fit for them. This brings me back to a conversation that I find myself and J having over and over about people being too sensitive these days. If someone wants to judge me I can't stop them, and it happens everyday, I know it does. I also know that if I am not offered a job or membership to an organization because of the personal infomation I share, I don't want to be there anyways. I would rather be around people that like me and respect me for who I am and not who they think I might be.
With that being said, IMO I don't think that a person dealing with a difficult child, a parent that is getting little sleep or a person trying to seek suggestions for raising their children should be judged as anything other than a parent. I have met a lot of children in my life and very few of them have even been close to the little angel their parents would like them to be, my children are no different. Our struggles may not be the exact same as other families, but they are typical struggles that I think many families face on a daily basis and sometimes just writing about them helps me to be able to feel less weighed down by it all.
I went to the child study meeting on Thursday to see what kinds of things may be going on at school that need to be taken care of. Aiden is a good kid that makes bad choices, and is good at getting caught. The teacher fears that Aiden may be ADHD and she has also noticed some motor skills she would like to work on. I contacted our pediatrician and he is sending some paperwork to me that can be used to assess him and see if there is a diagnosis to be made. Meanwhile, the teacher has also expressed great concern about Aiden using a "palmer" grasp when writing and being very resistant to changing that behavior. She mentioned using a broken crayon to fix the behavior and my sister agreed that ths method is very effective. So, I tried it at home and gave Aiden a regular size crayon and told him he needed to hold it correctly, with two fingers and his thumb, he refused so I gave him a broken crayon. Now Aiden is stubborn and the first broken crayon was still long enough to hold in his fist, so I took that one away and gave him one that was about an inch long instead and since he couldn't put it in his fist he wrote with it the correct way. When he asked for the long crayon back, I told him he could have it if he would hold it right. And guess what? He held the crayon the way he was supposed to. Seeing this progress I am sending a note back to school with Aiden asking the teacher to continue this practice at school and we will wait on the paperwork from the Dr. to see if there is anything we need to take care of on that front.
The girls have gotten very talkative very quickly. They will talk in sentences and ask questions and babble to each other in what I assume other people have coined "Twinspeak." They are to the point that they no longer like to wear a dirty or wet diaper at all and since they are removable they do so. Unfortunately, they don't really seem to get the concept of the potty, they do like that they get to be at least half naked when they are sitting on it though, so staying put is not the big issue, they just don't seem concerned about where they "go." So I report with great sadness that this will not be easy either, but we are more stubborn than our children and we will win this battle. ((Now I just need to learn how to potty train girls)) ;)
I am excited to be able to say that J is finally close enough to the end of his college experience that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. After this semester he will only have a few classes to take to get his degree. So far he has made the Presidents List multiple times and this semester seems to have classes that interest him again so he is happier when he talks about and goes to school again. I don't think most people realize how hard this has been on us financially, but more importantly how selfish J feels for taking the time to better himself so that he can better provide for his family while we struggle and it seems rare that anyone tells him how proud they are or even just asks how it is going. I think it is sad that people are quick to judge and find fault in others, but they rarely take the time to tell others how proud they are of them. I am very proud that J has gone back to school, his reasons for going back and even more proud of the grades he is earning and the effort he is putting into learning as much as he can. I have seen J work in several fields and he has never liked a job more than the one he had at Nuvotronics, in Radford VA. When he lost that job due to a failing economy he looked and looked for a job that was anywhere close and every direction he turned lead him to a job needing a college degree.
We have finally gotten the floor, walls, doors and frame for the roof put together for Mom's new chicken coop. Now we just have to get the truck back with the nails for putting on the roof, build some nesting boxes and install some roosts. Next in line is the new rabbits Mom and William went to get today. We are going to need to build some new rabbit houses or put an addition onto Harveys to make room for some new bunnies. I can't remember what kind of rabbits these are, but they are so pretty, extremely soft and are even registered.
It seems like we always have a lot going on, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I to say we do appreciate the advice and guidance and help that we have received along the way. Sometimes we choose to step outside of the box and choose to do what we want to do instead of what others recommend, but we will never dismiss any ideas and suggestions i get along the way.
