Saturday, November 5, 2011

Tumultuous times and other tails....



~“There's a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words.” ~





When last I left you- I was stuck on the couch watching countless hours of mindless television (As a rule, I generally don't watch much t.v.-I thought that it was because I am way too hyper to sit still- but after having watched seemingly endless cycles "America's Next Top Model" I changed my mind... ) in a huge and heavy cast..In other words...life was just no fun..neither for me or the herd.  Since then I have gotten rid of the cast (for now)...all of the herd are in school full time..Sammy..I mean, Sam has become a teenager..And we recently celebrated our eighteenth anniversary. Oh..we also have mice.

  School started off like it does every year.  Everyone excited about seeing their friends..wearing new shoes...using new lunch boxes. But, after the first week (which was only three days long) Sam asked if he could be home schooled next year, the girls hated their new shoes (shoes that they had spent the entire summer begging for..really expensive shoes that light up when they move causing the parent who ties them (me) to have blinding headaches-or burnt retina's..really-they ought to have seizure warnings on these shoes) and Oscar..well Oscar-was Oscar..recess is still his favorite part of the day. This year, the school district changed its entire format..from the way that they teach to how they test. These changes primarily effect Sam more than the others...and Sam just ADORES change-not.  He is a teenager now-or as he likes to say "A young man"..and times are not the easiest for him. My boy young man works so very hard-so I'm hoping that things calm down for him a bit. Because home schooling is so not an option! I mean I JUST got them ALL in school full time! I would make a terrible teacher..we'd probably wind up watching "America's Next Top Model" all day.. It would be a terrible thing.

   The beginning of the school year also brought about the dreaded IEP meetings(cue screams)  For the most part, they went o.k. We got the services that we needed-the kids are set for the year. There were however, a few glitches...minor snags...things that you might say.. royally pissed me off. Oscar needs occupational therapy. It isn't something that we ask for because we are bored..or have nothing better to do. In other words, we don't gleefully rub our hands together chortling   "Hee hee! Lets think of ways to make the school pay for things that we don't need!"  No, we request these services because our son requires help with his fine motor skills. Crazy-I know! Which leads me to a topic I think needs addressing.  "Things that special services coordinators should NEVER upon pain of torture, NEVER EVER say to a parent of a special needs kid."  1)" Maybe it isn't O.T. that he needs...maybe it is his stimming that needs to be addressed"  2) "Sure it is nice that his friends accept his stimming now-but it won't be so cute when he is an adult" 3) If he were in a Autism School they wouldn't let him get away with stimming."   I stated quite firmly (but *sigh* not as coherently) to the special needs coordinator "Firstly, he isn't in an autism school-he is here. Stimming isn't your problem to worry about. He works exceedingly hard at controlling it in class-he does a great job. Furthermore,  He is MY son-It is MY job to help/decide what is best for him in the world." Just as a heads up to any coordinator reading this-if a child's entire team (teacher, aid, O.T., speech therapist and service coordinator) says that said child NEEDS a specific service.-it might be worth your while to actually listen-(especially if you have never met said child) instead of trying to think of excuses ideas in order to save the district money. It doesn't make you look very good...and well...you know...appearance is everything. *sigh*

  So it has been a tumultuous beginning of the school year..Although it hasn't been all bad.  Sam-my wonderful boy young man, has turned thirteen! I still can not believe I have a living breathing teenager.  Why If he were a houseplant-he'd have been long gone by now. I mean, no matter how well I take care of my plants-they all eventually wither and die.  Thankfully, I am so much better at child rearing than gardening. The same goes for marriage.  Omar and I celebrated our eighteenth anniversary last month. (Same day as Sam's birthday). After eighteen years, four kids, three dogs, three cats and numerous "fixer uppers"...we still really like each other.(Love is a given-I'm madly in love with my husband..and he with me) We certainly have had many an adventure- although we've had more good times than bad.. it only keeps getting better and better...well, with the exception of the mice. Which brings me to the tail end of this tale of tumultuous tails...

  We seem to have acquired some mice. Now, we live in an older house (132 years old)..and older homes, much  like older people can have "issues".  One of our homes issues is that every fall, all the neighborhood mice, looking for a winter home-think our house is the place to be. I disagree. Strongly.  In fact, I disagree so much that in a preemptive strike/forewarned is forearmed sort of way (remember-experience is a mother) I set out six glue traps...kind of like little  unwelcome mats for our mousy friends.  Well...yesterday morning...much to my horror..I found one little mouse stuck on a trap...and yet the persistent little guy(I think it was a guy-definitely not looking) insisted on dragging his mousy self across the floor in an attempt to escape. All while he was still attached (quite firmly) to the trap. EEK! He was so intent on making his escape-that my presence didn't appear to bother him at all. He just looked at me(with disdain) as he dragged his little mousy self across the floor.  He even posed for this picture.  See the attitude?  The contempt? The utter disregard for my mental well being?  I immediately did what any other savvy and sharp minded person would do.  I went upstairs and woke Omar up. Who promptly rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.  But I was insistent! "You must get rid of the mouse" I proclaimed.  "I'lldoitlater.." he mumbled..."I can't relax while he drags himself across the floor!" I yelled.."I'll take care of it when I get up..." he sighed.."It's freakin me out!" I cried..I began to jump on the bed.. fiercely and with great emotion.."I'll do it now" he said resignedly..As he got out of bed and down the stairs..

Moments later, he "disposed" of our little friend.(you can see why we have such a great marriage. Teamwork!)  The problem is..well, remember I set out six traps?  One was "disposed" of..that should have left us with five. Much to my dismay...I can only find four. Which means that there is a mousy somewhere roaming my house attached to a glue trap! ICK!!!!!  We have looked EVERYWHERE...well..Omar has looked everywhere..I assisted..giving him suggestions of where to look...from another room. Ah  teamwork. It is the basis of a happy marriage.

  So, another school year has begun. Halloween has come and gone...and soon it will be Thanksgiving. For as tumultuous as times have been lately-I really can't complain. I have got great kids and a fabulous husband. All together- a wonderful family.  Mice not included.

   

 

 

14 comments:

Bard said...

As someone that works in autism school....I can tell you that they let kids get away with stimming. <.< as well as this particular staff member.

Kim Wombles said...

Yay! Glad you blogged! hee, the mouse is cute. Well, was cute?

Lizbeth said...

See, this is why you should have e-mailed me about the mouse situation....we used the glue thingies and had that exact same problem at our lake house. Darn mouse was still alive trying to get unstuck. What do you do with that?!? I called an exterminator and had the place napalmed. There were no animals smaller than a dog for about 2 years and life was good.

I'm glad you're back and ugggh, those shoes. My daughter has them and I swear I'm going to stroke out when she wears them and its dark out. Its like we're in a walking disco....

I hope the school year is settling down a bit and things are calming down.

Daniel "Captain" Kirk said...

Good to hear from you again!

Looking for Blue Sky said...

I kill house plants too. I haven't had to kill mice yet, but I did have to move the bird feeder when the neighbourhood mice coven discovered it. I also had to kill maggots.

Luckily my children are alive and well. Aspergers caused lots and lots of problems in August and September, but all is quieter now thanks to medication, behaviour programmes and him finally settling into school again. Hope that last bit happens for you too and great to have you back xx

Accidental Expert said...

You have mice too? We live next to a farm and we get mice every fall. I hate it!

Sorry about the school woes. Wouldn't it be nice if they stopped obsessing about the stimming and focused on his education instead?

Anonymous said...

Great post - loved the picture - What a cute little guy! Do you need another pet? :)

Very glad you are back.

Love, Ei

jazzygal said...

Great to see you back here Kathleen! I've missed your blogging presence and hearing all your news.

EEk....to the mouse...eeeekkkk!! can't stand 'em.

Can't believe you have a teenager! Teenagers, I mean young men are too old and cool for Home Schooling;-) Right??!!

Hope Oscar gets what he needs and the co-ordinator listens.

really glad to hear that your cast is off...hope you're fully mended?

xx Jazzy

jazzygal said...

PS..... LOVE your new look ;-)

xx Jazzy

D. S. Walker said...

Glad you got rid of the heavy cast and are back to blogging. Keep fighting for Oscar! I know you will win. Homeschooling is not as fun as Sam imagines and if you truly value those respite times when they are in school, do not let Sam do homeschooling unless there is no other choice.

kathleen said...

@Bard-sigh...I know..it just astounds me that some of the people who work with kids like mine...well, they don't seem to "get" it..There worries are misplaced and silly...

@Kwombles..heehee...yup "WAS" would be correct...

@Lizbeth-had I known we shared mice tales....ummmm...did you ever find the mice who walked away stuck to the traps? We haven't yet...eeewwwww!! I know those stupid shoes..I really believe that they are some form of torture. What does this company have against parents???
@Papabear-thanks :)
@Bluesky-we had to move our feeder too! That was last year when a rat decided to live under my porch-close to the feeder...maggots..ick!!! sigh...I've killed them too...Glad to hear things have calmed down a bit for you..:)
@Accidental Expert-yup-we are in a rural area as well...I don't mind mice as long as they stay where they belong-outside!! That was my thought exactly-my son isn't in school to focus on his stimming..he is there for an education. The team that works with him is wonderful...it is the people who have no clue as to what is going on that make the decisions-crazy isn't it?
@anonymous-a.k.a. Eileen-I'll send him to you for Christmas...
@Jazzygal-missed you to! should be visiting all my blog peeps this week..I KNOW-a teenager! Hard to believe when I am one myself. :)
@DSWalker-I could not agree more!! I just got them out of the house! I think that it is just going to take time for him to adjust to the change in things...and when that happens...it will be Christmas break-and we can start all over again in January! ...sigh...

Floortime Lite Mama said...

i missed you
how awesome awesome to have this lovely meaty post !!
Congrats on anniversary and Sam's birthday
ughh hate all the things the coor said on stimming
what is their problem !!!

Stephanie said...

I'm glad you got your cast off and are back to posting. Your young man...I hope all this change goes better for him. Such a wonderful young man!

And mice. (shudders) We also have an old house and have had our run-ins with mice. The only thing that worked for us was poison pellets--along with moving all the food out of the cupboards that had even the smallest point of access, which left us with only the one cupboard for food. It worked for one year, but not the next.

kathleen said...

@k floortime-Thanks it is nice to be back...:)
@Stephanie-Eeek! I loathe mice in the house!! But now-I'm curious as to what you did when you couldn't even use the one cupboard???