Big Update

Wow - I knew it had been a while since I had updated by blog, but I did not realize that over 2 months had passed!

A few things have been going on in our lives since March.

Mid-March was my last day at my old job.  It was sort of good day/bad day combination.  A good day because I received flowers from the Sales Rep, and a nice bag of goodies from my assistant - teas and such - and a bottle of wine from Boss.  Bad day because it was my last official day there.  I received a few phone calls from some clients wishing me all the best, so that was very nice.

We had a pretty quiet March Break - it was so nice to have that time off when the kids were home and no one had to be up and ready for any specific time.  I used my "off" time between jobs to clean, clean, clean.  I did major spring cleaning that I don't think I have ever done before!  Even the base boards were washed and sparkling.

During Easter weekend the A-man and I worked at the Pet Show.  It meant he got a day off school (on the Thursday) and then on the Sunday coming home with a pay that was more money than he has ever seen.  Made his birthday - that Sunday - pretty good dispite the whole "working" thing.  I was happy to have that little flush of money come my way, too, I will admit.

All in all, I was off for a grand total of 5 weeks before I got the call from the new job.  I was even starting to get a little panicked, I will admit.  Started to wonder if that "offer" had just been a wish and not a reality.  But, on April 19, I did report to my new position.

It's very strange going back to the 'starting' position with a job.  For years I have been the "go to" person - the one that would have all of the answers, and if I didn't, I would know who to get them from!  Then, suddenly, I am the new kid on the block that knows nothing and is constanting bugging someone for some details.  It probably took about three days for me to have my "ahhh haaa!" moment.  That wonderful moment when the task you are working on actually starts to make sense.  I was thrilled.
But, of course, that was the easiest part of the job!  I'm still making mistakes, but I don't think they are too major, and the "reminders" I received today didn't seem that major considering the amout of documents I have ploughed through.

My second and third weeks on the job involved working the afternoon shift.  It was half way through that second week that things started to come apart at the seams on the home front.  I had made arrangements for the boys to spend the two weeks I was on afternoons at my parent's house.  This would mean they boys wouldn't be home alone from after school until either Hubby or I got home after midnight, and it would also ensure they had proper meals, and the possibility of having a "living in town" life that they have never experienced before.

On Wednesday morning, I got a text from the A-man saying that S had taken money from my Dad's night stand, and now my parents didn't want them to stay there anymore.  This was not the first time that change had gone missing.  On the Tuesday morning my Dad had counted the change on his nighstand, and when he went to bed that night there was 8 loonies and 8 quarters missing.  Yup - a grand total of $10.  Of course both boys denied taking the money when they were asked.
So, my Dad felt that he had no option - he told them that if he couldn't trust them, they simply couldn't stay there.  It just so happened that I had been planning on going to my parent's house that day to work on my Dad's books, so I was able to pack up their stuff and bring it home with me.

I sent the A-man a text and told him that he and S were to take the bus home that evening.  I also told him that I would give them a call when I had a chance.  When I called home, the A-man informed me that S had admitted to taking the money and that he had put the money back on my Dad's night stand after my parents left for work.  Grand total that went back - $3.

What bothered me the most about this is that if S had indicated to my Mom or Dad that he wanted/needed money for lunch, they would have given it to him!  Neither of my parents have EVER denied my boys anything.  But stealing, and then lying about it?  That's a line you just don't cross with my parents.

When I spoke with the boys on Wednesday night, I also found out that report cards had come home.  The A-man's was a great report card.  81% average.  I was pretty pleased with all 4 classes grades.  When I talked to S, he told me his marks.  I wasn't quite a happy to hear his marks, but at least they were in the 60's and 70's.

Thursday morning I got up to get the kids off to school, and I asked to see their report cards.  Please note - I didn't get home from work until 12:30am and I had not gone to bed until close to 2.  This is now 7am.  Yeah - S had lied to me about his marks.  He got a 40 in Religion!  From what I understand, the only way a child can fail this class is to simply not do the work.  Needless to say, I wasn't happy.  When I asked him about why he lied (AGAIN) he said that he didn't want me to be mad at him.

Lovely.

I then explained - as calmly as I could - that yes, I would have been upset about the failing grade, but now I was upset with him for two reasons - because of the failing grade AND because he lied about it.  Add this into the fact that I was still reeling from the previous day's events, and I just was a very unhappy, sleep deprived Mommy.

Oh - and did I mention the fact that we were only a few days away from S's birthday?  His birthday was on Saturday - May 1.  That was to be the first day both Hubby and I would be able to sit and talk to S about the turn of events, and it was his birthday.  (Oh, and don't even get me started on the fact that my parents always GIVE HIM MONEY on his birthday!!)
He had asked that we go to the cottage to celebrate his birthday.  We did not go; we explained that if we couldn't trust him, and my parents couldn't trust him, we certainly we NOT going to take him to the cottage where we wouldn't be able to keep a close eye on him and we didn't know if he would take anything from any one else's house.

When Saturday morning rolled around, Hubby had prepared some information for S to read - a document he got off the Internet about what life is like when you have a criminal record.  He and S had quite a conversation about the week's events.  I felt it best to have Hubby lead that conversation - I was still too emotional about the entire thing.

There was, however, one thing that I could address.  The failing grade.  I called the school and left a message for both the Teacher and S's SERT.  I was furious about the fact that no one has even been in touch with me to let me know that he was failing.  He has an EA in that class for Pete's sake - someone should have been letting me know that he hadn't been doing that work.
When I called the school and left a message for the teacher, I discovered that he has gone on a religious retreat and the day before (the Wednesday) had been his last day.  Great.  So, I asked for the SERT to givve me a call.

Poor woman - I've never talked to her before.  When we finally had an opportunity to talk, I explained that I was very upset that no one had been in touch with me, etc., etc.  She admitted that this failing grade had been a bit of a slip up on her end.  Gee - ya think??  She had been in touch with both S's English and Math's teachers, but hadn't thought to ask his Religion teacher about S's status.  I expressed that I felt it was very unprofessional of both the teacher and the EA to allow things to get to this level and not to have been in contact.  She agreed - but with the teacher gone, what could we do?
I asked if S would be able to still hand in the missed assignments, etc. etc.  Needless to say, I made sure he worked each day in the resource room at the school to get the assignments done.

Then, on the second week of my night shift, my Father in Law ended up in the ICU at our local hospital.  Lovely.

It's been a bit of stress for the last couple of weeks, needless to say. 

As I was typing this, I found out that S has NOT completed any of his Religon.  He started to have a wee fit when I pulled rank and told him that I would be in touch with the teacher tomorrow.  At dinner he had told us that he was all done everything and just needed to hand it in.  This is what he told us yesterday.  When I asked him today why he hadn't turned it in, he said it was becuause the teacher was away.  Then after dinner when I questioned him, he said the teacher told them today...  "Wait a minute," I said, "I thought she was away."  The little brat has been lying again, and now has gotten himself caught up in them.

When Hubby heard him yelling at me he came up to see what was going on.  I have stayed calm, but when S explained that none of the Religion has been done, Hubby got upset.  S started to head for the door - time to take off and show us he is angry, I guess.  We suggested that he should rethink this action because he is lying again, and if he wishes to go out that door, it may not open again when he is ready to return.

I have had enough of this.  And he does not have the memory to be a good liar.  Apparently he hasn't done the work because he doesn't like doing homework.  Well, that is just too darn bad, Mister.  Life isn't all fun and games and doing what you want when you want to do it.

Homework... and is it really the thought that counts?

I am feeling very annoyed and frustrated this morning.


I got an email from S’s SERT last night indicating that S has not completed a number of Geography assignments. Again. The email indicated that the teacher was thinking he might contact me about these last assignments – but he never had.

When I went in to meet with this man, I told him that I wanted him to contact me as soon as an assignment wasn’t turned it. When the school year started, I provided him with my home, work and cell phone numbers. I also gave him my email address. It is not a difficult thing to get in touch with me.

So, needless to say, I was very upset with both S and the teacher this morning. I actually woke up a full hour before I normally do this morning. It wasn’t that I couldn’t sleep – I had just woke up and got to thinking… and that was it for me. Up and at ‘em.

Last night I had made three different dry rubs to give away as Christmas gifts. I had also picked up a number of containers to make the bath bombs and scrubs all nice and pretty for gift giving. So, at 6:15 this morning, I was creating the labels I needed for each of these items, and figuring out how I was going to distribute them. Apparently I made quite a few things. (Happens when you start early, I suppose.)

When S got up, I was ready for him. The A-man told me that I made S’s day terrible for him by giving him such a hard time so early. I explained to both of them that it is important their school work is completed prior to all other things. I also told S that I am very happy he has made friends, and has been very social lately, but that if the school work is going to begin to suffer because of these interactions, I am going to have to put a halt to everything. I think I was able to help him realize that I’m not being ‘mean’; I am simply being a good parent.

S assured me that he will bring home everything he needs for the assignments, and he seemed to realize that he would be required to complete these in the next couple of days if he wants to have a peaceful Christmas break. I really don’t want to harp on school work when he is home for a break from school, but I also will not allow him to just coast through, either.

How am I going to get through to this boy?

Anyway, both boys were very happy to get their Christmas hats all ready for the last day of school. I even took pictures of the two of them before they headed off to school. (Will post them on FB with other photos showing off my Christmas decorations.) Before they left, I asked them if they would like to give a bath bomb package to each of their bus drivers and they thought that would be a really nice idea. Not much, but the thought was there. I know I would appreciate something like that, so I am sure these ladies will, too. (Who knows?)

I am thinking that I may leave work a couple of hours early today. My house still isn’t fully decorated for Christmas – there are boxes still all over the basement, there are papers scattered among the decorations, and everything is just sort of out but not really placed. I have a lunch with my highschool friends tomorrow afternoon, and I think we may have people stopping by tomorrow evening, so I would really like to get a jump on things tonight. Half the time, when I get home from work I just have zero energy to tackle getting the house ‘ready.’

I love Christmas; I really do. But for the past couple of days I’ve not really been feeling the spirit very much. I’ve made these gifts for some friends, and now that I’ve put them together, I’m feeling like it’s just not very much, and I’m am questioning if the recipients will even like them. Now I feel like I need to go out and buy ‘more’ just to make the packages not look so… well, cheap.

Sigh.

Report cards and sore teeth

I have found myself reading the boy’s report cards again and again. I can’t help it - I keep checking to confirm that my memory hasn’t gone and left me.


The report cards are both just so… positive! The life skills section – initiative, homework completion, working well with others, etc – is always the section that I read first. For S, I was never surprised to see a “Needs Improvement” for cooperation with others, initiative or homework completion. A “satisfactory” was always much better, and if we saw a “Good” that was always cause for celebration in our household. An ‘excellent’ was rarely (if ever) seen on S’s report card. (Maybe in kindergarten…)

I would say that was pretty much the case for the A-man too when he was in elementary school; maybe not for the majority of the skill set, but definitely for a couple of the categories.

S’s report card still shows 78% for his average mark. He has almost 90% in Music, and the teacher marked him “excellent” in all of his skill sets. The same teacher also has S for his lowest scoring class – Geography – which is 67%, and even that is showing a number of ‘Good’ and ‘Satisfactory’ comments in the skills set. Actually, there isn’t any “needs improvement” notations in any of his classes! Heck, in Science the teacher even commented that S submitted “very well written lab reports”.

I love high school!

(Okay, well, as a parent I love high school. When I was actually attending high school, not so much…)

On the home front, my poor Hubby has been having not a very good week. He awoke on Sunday evening (early Monday morning, really) to a terrible pain in his mouth. He called in to work on the Monday morning and went to see the dentist at the first appointment he could get. He has an abscessed tooth. The abscess is in a tooth that had a root canal a few years ago over the Christmas holidays. (NOT a fun holiday, I will admit)

The dentist prescribed some antibiotics to help clear the infection, and some Tylenol 3’s with codeine to help with the pain Hubby was experiencing. On Monday evening, Hubby was still in a lot of pain, and wasn’t actually able to sleep much (again) that night.
Tuesday evening he went back to the dentist at the urging of our friend (a hygienist in the office) to see if the other dentist would be able to prescribe something stronger for the pain. But, since Hubby hadn’t been on the antibiotics for more than 48 hours, the other dentist wasn’t willing to give him anything else. (I wonder if he might have thought differently had he been living with the pain…)

Yesterday morning the original dentist called to see how Hubby was feeling. When Hubby told the dentist that he pain was actually getting worse, they made an appointment to have him come back in yesterday morning. They ended up pulling the tooth, even though they don’t like to do so when there are still signs of infection in the area. Apparently this does happen to some 25-30% of the cases.

Hubby said the best he had felt in days was when the dentist gave him the first freezing for the extraction. Apparently they aren’t willing to continue to give Novocain every four hours… imagine. The extraction itself, however, wasn’t very pleasant to hear about, never mind living through. Hubby said it was terrible when the freezing started to come out, but I have got to believe that now that the tooth is gone he has to start feeling better once the infection has the ability to drain.

His jaw was actually visibly swollen from the infection.

So, it hasn’t actually been a whole lot of fun in our world for the last few days. The boys and I have been trying to stay as quiet as we can to ensure Hubby can sleep whenever he needs to, but he is still a bit of a grouchy bear. I get that.

Here's hoping he starts to see some improvment today.

A weekend of birthdays

Whew – what a weekend! I got to see so many people that I haven’t seen in a very long time, and although it was quite tiring to do so much driving, it was totally worth it.


Friday night was a quiet one for us. I left work earlier in the afternoon with plans on taking a nap before the kids got home from school, but then I ended up running into Laur when I was downtown and went to have a coffee with her. That ended up getting me home about my normal time.

I laid down for a bit when I did get home. After about half an hour, I told Hubby that I was going to get up and get supper started. Next thing I knew, an hour had passed and I was still in bed. I’m thinking I fell back asleep! I made dinner for the family (we have been dining late!) and then sat with Hubby to watch a bit of TV. Hubby went to bed around 10 or so that evening, and although I had a nap, I ended up following him around 10:30 and I slept quite soundly until after 7 on Saturday. (I was obviously very tired.)

Saturday morning I had both of the boys make sure their rooms were tidy. Hubby and I were heading to Cuz’s house for the night and I had a friend coming to my place for the night. She was coming with her mom and son, and I didn’t quite know how the sleep arrangements were going to work for the evening, so I wanted all of the linens to be fresh and clean, and all of the rooms straightened up – just in case. I got all of the linens changed, set out fresh towels for everyone, and prepared a note for Bear.

Hubby and I got on the road about half an hour later than I had planned, but that was still okay. We had a few hours before the start of the surprise 50th birthday party, but I wanted to have a bit of time to just catch up with Cuz before we had to get moving again. We had a great afternoon followed by a very tasty Moose roast for dinner!
Off we went to the 50th birthday party. It was very nice to have the chance to see everyone again, but it can sometimes be overwhelming to have that many people in a house. I found at the end of the night that I hadn’t really had an opportunity to spend much time with as many people as I would have liked.

The next morning I was quite surprised at how late Hubby and I had slept! This time Cuz had put us up in the basement, and I guess the darkening blind really made a big difference for us. Hubby and I woke up about half an hour before I had been hoping to get heading home. We were just getting our first coffee of the day when the birthday girl called to let us know she was coming over for some additional visit time. It was very nice to have that extra hour with her, that is for sure.  (Even made some plans to come and visit Cuz again in a few weeks so that I can have a chance to see some friend's new homes.  Both now live near Cuz and I was complaining about not getting to see their homes!  I am going to be missing a group dinner, but I won't be too upset about missing that!)

Hubby and I made really good time coming back home. I arrived to the 100th birthday party only about 15 minutes after it began, and I had even made it in time for the guest of honour’s entrance! He had a piper lead him in to the hall. I must say, for someone that is now 100 years old, he was quite spry. I can only hope that if I were to live to that age that I would be able to walk myself into the party at the clip he walked!

I’m not sure if my favourite part of the day was the opportunity to get to see so many faces that I haven’t seen in so long, or watching the ‘birthday boy’ take a drive off the 10th hole of the golf course. Now legally blind, he hasn’t been able to play golf in over 5 years, but yesterday afternoon, he was lead by the bagpipes out to the course where he took an honourary drive for his guests prior to having some family pictures taken.

I didn’t have a chance to spend near enough time with Bear, but it sounds like the A-man did his very best to make sure they were comfortable in our house with Hubby and I not being there. It sounds like he was keeping them in stitches for most of the night, and also made sure that everyone was ‘taken care of.’ He prepared the pizza, and in the morning even made scrambled eggs for Bear’s mom! Who knew I had such a host in my eldest son?! (I’m not really surprised, though, given the amount of times Hubby and I entertain, it only makes sense that he would know what sorts of things to do and offer to guests.)

Had a pretty quite Sunday evening where I got all the laundry caught up and spent some time just taking it easy.
~~~
The boys both received excellent report cards. The A-man ended up with a 76% average with his English mark pulling him down a bit. There is some room for improvement in both that course and his Math course, but I am not upset with anything any of the teachers had to say.

S brought home a report card that shows him with a 78% average! I am so proud of him! His Geography mark isn’t quite as high as I believe him capable of, but that isn’t really a subject that he is overly interested in (I never was either) so I have just reminded him that he needs to make sure he gets everything done and handed in on time. He did very well in both Skills for Success and Music, and his Science mark was quite good for him, too. All of the comments were very positive.
The beams were just shinning as they were coming out of his smile when he gave me that report card.

I am very proud of both of them.

Warning - it's a long one today...

Oh my, my, my…


Last night I called the school to make arrangements to meet with S’s Geography/Music teacher. I know he is doing well in music, but I had been advised by the SERT that he hadn’t been doing as well in Geography. I was of the feeling that it would be good to be able to put a face to a name, and to get a feel for the teacher’s approach on things.
Sometimes you just need to meet a person to be able to get that ‘vibe.’

I set up a meeting for first thing this morning.

After I spoke with S’s teacher, I decided I would try and kill two birds with one stone and see if I could get a meeting with the A-man’s English teacher. The A-man told me that she still had not gone over the reader response from his first novel, and I was starting to feel that it would probably be time for another assignment to be due because they had just finished reading Canterbury Tales and had moved on to Shakespeare.

It turned out that the English teacher didn’t have her prep time at the same time as my first meeting, so we opted to have a telephone conversation. Apparently the A-man had been assigned the Canterbury Tales reading response assignment a little while ago – and he didn’t turn it in.

I asked her about the follow up she had told me she was going to do on October 8 with the first assignment. She seemed to have completely forgotten about that. I told her that the A-man hadn’t even received the work back so he didn’t even know if he was working better toward achieving the goals she had laid out.

She seemed surprised that he didn’t have the assignment back because she had a mark of 61% recorded in her book. I asked her if she had taken the time to review the work with the A-man and she admitted that she “didn’t think so.” She also admitted that she wasn’t even sure where the assignment was. (HUH?)

I told her that I thought the A-man was still at school working on the set for the play, so she told me she was going to get him to come to see her and they would review the work right then. I sent the A-man a text to confirm that he was at school, and it turned out he wasn’t – teacher was away so they weren’t able to work on the set.

I texted the A-man that he was going to have to do his reader response that night and he answered that he would “see if he had time because (his) drama ISU was due.” I told him that he would find the time.

(To the teacher’s credit, when I got home from work there was a message on my machine indicating that she had called the A-man to the office, but since he didn’t come she assumed he wasn’t still at the school. So she did follow up on that at least.)

Fast forward to my getting home from work: the A-man was sitting at the computer working on his Drama ISU, and S was downstairs. I brought in the groceries, and while putting them away I started to ask the A-man about his English. He told me point blank, “I decided not to do that assignment.”

EXCUSE ME?!? Not a happy Mommy when I heard that answer.

The A-man went on to further explain that the regular teacher wasn’t there when the assignment was given out – and that the substitute gave it to them one day and expected the work to be turned in the next day. Apparently the entire classroom made a “pact” that no one was going to turn in the work. They were staging a protest.
Again, not flying with this mother.

I called Jazzy’s house and asked to speak to her brother. He is in the A-man’s class, and I knew I would get a little more reliable information from him. Apparently the one-night thing was true, and apparently the class did all voice their unhappiness with the time-frame given, but when asked, Jazzy’s brother did admit to completing the assignment and handing it in, as required.

He also had the assignment rubric and I requested a copy be emailed to me. Armed with this information, I explained to the A-man that although ‘everyone’ said they weren’t going to do the assignment, obviously Jazzy’s brother did and I was willing to bet that others did as well. I also told him that a “protest” was not going to make his English mark any better and since this is the grade that is looked at for University, I suggest he get something done to review with the teacher when he arrived at the class today.

After dinner, I sat down at the laptop while the A-man finished plugging away on the Drama homework. I pulled up a website that offered both a synopsis of the Canterbury Tales, and also some teaching notes about the poem. (I have saved it because once I started going through it with the A-man, I think it may be some classic literature that I might actually enjoy. But I digress…)

After the A-man declared his Drama ISU ‘done,’ I suggested that he take the time to read both the summary and the section of the book that the assignment was on while I reviewed his Drama. There were a few parts where he didn’t quite answer what was required, so I made some notations in red to suggest he consider adding/revising these sections.

After he did this, I helped him pull the various parts together to form one complete package. As we were doing this cut-and-paste mindless work, we talked about the angle he was going to take with respect to The Canterbury Tales.

He decided to focus on the “social commentary” aspect of the Tale. He felt that the selection of the travelers were in fact a good “mix” of what you would find in either a classroom or even in the world. Once we got talking more and more, he seemed to warm up to the subject a bit more. Suddenly his little hunt and peck fingers were flying on the computer as he was selecting which characters he wanted to focus on and which quotes he was interested in citing. (He was also very happy that the lines were numbered for citation purposes…)

Anyway – I had him prepare a very rough draft of the concept of his ideas to present to the teacher today. I am hoping that she will be able to read what he had prepared and at least give him a little bit of guidance so that he can finish it up complete tonight and submit it tomorrow. I am also hoping that she will accept the assignment given that she did not follow through on the follow up she had promised three weeks ago.

The best part of the evening was when the A-man was going to bed.  He came over to me and gave me a big hug and said, "Thank you, Mom, for all of your help with this.  I really mean that."  He's never thanked me for being so tough on him.  Could he be starting to see that I am only 'mean' because I care?
I went to the school this morning and met with S’s teacher. Apparently S has 85% in Music class, so there isn’t any cause for concern in that classroom. Geography, on the other hand is a bit of a different story. Apparently one of S’s hand written assignments wasn’t “very neat” so he didn’t receive high marks on it. I reiterated that writing isn’t a strong suit for S. The next thing that he said, however, it was really stuck in to my head.
“I do put notes on the board, so he will just have to get used to taking notes. He is preparing for college after all.”

I asked about having the notes in advance for scanning, but apparently he doesn’t “do” that. Here is a teacher that doesn’t really understand the benefits of Assistive Technology, nor does he seem willing to learn to understand it.

This is okay – S has an EA in the classroom, and this EA will be able to scribe for him. We can adjust to this. At least I know where he stands.

He went over some other details about how his classroom works, and now I know to get S started on some of the end of unit assignments now – they are directly from the text book, and the text book is on his computer.

He will be able to bring his mark up to something more reflective of his abilities. S has no interest in following the Geography field, so I doubt that he will even take it again after this year. Not the end of the world.

And onward

The 3-week old chicks have arrived. They are quite a bit bigger than I was expecting them to be, to tell the truth.
They have lost most of their “chick fuzz” and are mostly feathers. They still have the underlying fuzz around their necks and under their wings. You can even see a big of the combs starting to form on their heads now. We have a couple of heat lamps in the brooding pen, but I don’t think it will be too long before we are able to put them out in the coop.

All are very skittish, and I now understand where the term “You are such a chicken” comes from. If you make any type of sudden move around their pen, they will all go running the other way. They can be quite comical at times, actually.

S was very excited about the arrival of the birds. He sat outside and watched them for the better part of an hour. After supper I went out to watch them with him, and was quite surprised to hear his analogy on the “pecking order” of the chicks.

“Look at those ones there, Mom. See how the two of them are alone in the corner over there? Those two are the geeks. They are like me and J. They have a good time just themselves, just pecking away in the corner and having fun together. Now watch what happens. She how she is going to head over to the main group and try to fit in? Yeah – watch that big one; I call her ‘Bertha the Bully’. Watch what she does. See?! She just pecked her and then jumped on her! They are so mean to the geeks, but the geeks would let them come in to the corner and peck with them. They wouldn’t mind at all.”

In his mind, S has divided the chicks into three separate and distinct groups – the ‘populars’, the ‘regulars’, and the ‘geeks’. I honestly don’t think he can tell any two chickens apart, but he swears he knows which one is Bertha. “She’s the fastest one; the biggest one. She knows she’s bigger than all the others.”

The first thing he did this morning – even before getting dressed – was to go out to the garage and check on the chicks. I’m sure he is going to do all that he can to try and make these chickens his friends. Not sure that he will be successful in that venture, but you never know. (And yes, he is very clear about the fate of these birds and realizes he won't get to keep any as 'pets')

I will confess though – it absolutely broke my heart to hear him talking the way he did. I remember being in Grade 8 and how hard it was to not be one of the popular ones. The chosen ones. Everyone wanted to be like “them” but it was impossible to get in, no matter how hard you tried, no matter what you did. When I mentioned S’s conversation this morning, my assistant commented that it sounded like S had accepted the divisions. I said that I felt he was more resigned to it rather than accepting of it. She’d never thought of it that way.

The A-man stayed home from school today. He told me that he was sick, but I am pretty sure he was just over tired. He’s been working pretty hard the past three days trying to get caught up on his English assignments that he didn’t get done. He will be getting a failing grade on his mid-term because he had so many assignments that simply were not handed in. When I spoke with the teacher, he assured me that he would mark the assignments and apply them to the A-man’s final grade. He told me that he realizes the A-man is more than able to complete the work and this has been proven by the assignments and tests that he has completed in class. I was glad to hear that, but I think I am going to have to address the organizational portion of the A-man’s IEP.
At this point, I'm starting to thing that it's simply not clear enough for the teachers. They just don’t get that he lacks the ability to start something if he isn’t given absolutely clear and set directions to do so. This teacher provided them with one sheet with a number of dates in which assignments would be due. Yeah - that doesn't work for him.

(sigh) Just when I feel like things are on the upswing, we always have a few bumps in the road! Not sure if I will be able to have it addessed this year, but I will be SURE to make an appointment to meet with ALL of his teacher's next year to address these issues. Will also be making an appointment with the Special Ed teacher to ensure the IEP is even more clear than it currently is.

Back at it

I find it incredible how two weeks of each year can have such a build up, and then in the blink of an eye, be done. Just a memory.

So went another Christmas. I will admit, I really liked not being the person making the traditional dinner this year. My Christmas morning/day was just so relaxed. Now, don't get me wrong - I love doing the dinner, etc., but since I've done it for the past five years or so, it was nice to NOT be doing it, too.
Funny how we like to have it both ways, huh?

So, the New Year has arrived. Ours was brought in with a few friends at a house party. It was quiet, but still a pleasant time. The most excitement occured when our pre-scheduled taxi arrived, then promptly pulled away from the house, thereby leaving us stranded. We ended up getting a friend's daughter to take us home, and she benefited by us hiding the taxi money in the car for her. Win/win situation.
Yes, I did call the taxi company to complain, but I doubt anything will come of it. No matter - jut won't ever use them again. Ever.

The A-man has an ISU for his History class. He's known about this assignment for a number of weeks now, but has done nothing on it. He told me that he would work with his partner over the holidays. It drives me nuts that they have partners for ISU's. I have no problem with this particular partner - it's actually Jazzy's brother - and I know he will do his share of the project, but the idea is that it is an INDIVIDUAL study unit. I N D I V I D U A L. That is the key word there, people.

Anyway, over the beginning of the holiday, I knew that Jazzy's family was away on a ski holiday. Then it was Christmas, and we were away for 5 days. Next thing we know, it is the New Year, and the A-man and Jazzy's brother have done nothing on the project. I ask the A-man for the detailed sheet on the project. He claimed they weren't given one.
Yeah, right. Because a teacher is going to assign a project - a major project - and not give out detailed information about what is needed, etc. You buy that, right?
What, you don't?!?!?
I didn't either.

After having the A-man call a couple of classmates - which was impossible because he claims he knows no one in the class - there seemed to be no information available. On New Years day, when we went to get our vehicle from the house party location, I happened to ask their son if he had a sheet. The day previous when the A-man had called, this boy claimed he didn't know if anything had been given out. It's amazing how a memory can suddenly be triggered when the same question is asked by a parent, in front of another parent.
When I came home and gave the A-man this sheet he had SWORN he didn't receive, I did feel somewhat vindicated, I will admit it. Hey, you gotta take the small pleasures where you can. ;o)

The next day, the A-man and Jazzy's brother spent quite a bit of time working on the project together. Both of them claimed a due date had not been given, but Jazzy's parents are somewhat like me in their homework approach, and were both 'with me' when I said I didn't want to see this done in the last possible moments. Turns out they have to turn in the project in a week and a half, meaning they do have time, but Jazzy's brother is a ski instructor and works every weekend. At least now they have split up the work and each can be responsible for certain portions of the project. This project is worth 15% of their final History mark.
Maybe someday the A-man will realize I am not just being mean. Hopefully.

On a positive note, the A-man received a very good mark on his Tourism ISU - 95% - and was quite pleased with that, for obvious reasons. Again, I road him a bit on that one, but HE was pleased with that outcome; maybe I'll give him a reminder about that.

~~
I called S's principal yesterday afternoon about the in-school suspension he had received prior to the holidays. My main reason for calling was because he had been in the school all day and not given an opportunity to go out and run around a bit. Turns out S didn't mention to me that he was given outside time; it just wasn't at the same time as the rest of the school.
The Principal explained to me that she wanted to use that time to talk one-on-one with S, to explain a few things to him, and simply to get to know him - and how his mind works - better. She was very surprsied to learn that he was agitated after the day, because she said he was just fine throughout the entire day in school. In fact, she told me that he was very helpful in completing a number of tasks that needed to be done before the start of the Christmas break.
We ended the conversation with the agreement that Principal was going to talk to S today about how he felt after the in-school suspension, and explain to him that if he exudes a calm exterior and then blows up at home, she can’t do anything to help him at the time. She explained to me that she was going to work on encouraging S to ‘use his words’, etc.
It seems to strange to think that we have to talk like this to a 13 year old, but I guess that is all part and parcel with the Auspergers. I need to do more reading/research on Auspergers.

So, all in all, life is back to ‘normal’ again. School is back in, routine has been established once again, and my work-life is about to enter the crazy phase from now until the middle of March. February will once again be a time of away-from-home-more-than-at-home, but at least it’s not the first time we’ve gone through this, and I will be able to breathe a little easier this year knowing that both boys did so well with it all last year.

So relaxing

This is the first weekend since the end of September that I haven't had stuff going on. Now don't get me wrong - many of the past weekends have been a lot of fun. We got to see friends and family that we don't see very often, and we did some new things, but it just felt like we were go-go-go all the time.

Approaching this weekend, I declared "I don't care who invites us, or for what, we are doing NOTHING all weekend long."

That didn't last very long. I am so weak.

My mom's boss invited her to a Pampered Chef party this afternoon and Mom has asked me to join her. I thought, "Oh, it's a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon. I can do that. That is not a big deal."

Thursday, I got a text from a friend inviting us over for drinks on Friday night. Her hubby's birthday was on Thursday, so we knew the reason for the invite. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Also on Thursday, Jazzy's mom sent me a text asking if we could get together on Saturday night. I thought she had indicated they were coming to OUR house, and although I said that would be great, in my heart I was thinking, "Man, I don't wanna have to clean for company..." Found out last night that I mis-read the text. We are going to their house.
Whew... get to take my time on the housework this weekend!

Apparently Hubby didn't take my "We aren't doing anything" declaration to heart, either. He is off doing a computer job this morning, and is apparently helping a friend install a new window this afternoon.

*I* am sitting here, at 10:12 in the morning, still in my jammies, enjoying a leisurely coffee and quite happy to look (and feel) like a lazy slug for the next little while. Sloth may be a deadly sin, but oh, how great it can be sometimes!

The boys both have homework this weekend. The A-man was assigned an ISU (individual study unit) in his hospitality course a couple of weeks ago. They were told to work in groups of two, and given one full month to complete the assignment. To date, he and his partner have done nothing other than pick the country they are doing the assignment on. The A-man has requested he and his partner get together to work on this assignment a few times, but she has always been 'too busy' to do so. Yesterday she told him she 'might' have time after school on Monday, but she would let him know Monday morning if she was busy or not.
This is ridiculous. There is NO WAY he is going to do this entire assignment by himself and then have this girl take credit for his work. I know he hasn't done anything ON the assignment as of yet, but I am going to make sure that changes this weekend. Then, if she doesn't have time on Monday, I will be calling the teacher on Tuesday and letting her know that the A-man will be doing the ISU alone. It is called an "Individual" unit after all.

S didn't go to school yesterday - he went to a Volleyball tournament instead. I was a little hesitant about him missing a day of school for that, considering he doesn't actually play, but then when I thought about it and realized that all of the boys on the team are from his class, I also realized the class wouldn't really be doing a whole lot of 'new' stuff. He had a lot of fun at the tournament.
It's funny how an Asperger child can get so pumped about the slightest thing. He was so excited to tell me about every single person he saw that he knew at the highschool. I suddenly started hearing the names of every single student that had been in Grade 8 last year... and those that were in the same class as the A-man. I honestly don't think he realized where they all went when they left his school.

The other reason that I thought it would be good for him to go to the tournament was because it was being held at the school S will attend next year. Although he hasn't mentioned anything, I'm sure he is anxious about going to a new, larger school, and having spent some time there yesterday will have given him another opportunity to get more familiar with the school's layout and procedures. My hope it that this familiarity will help ease some of that transitional anxiety.
I think that was another factor in his excitement last night, too. He started to realize that the school really isn't as big as he was thinking.

Yesterday at work it came to light that I made a big boo boo when shipping some promotional items for my boss' conference in Spain. Apparently the items to shipped to Sapin, not Spain. I felt sick. I still feel sick when I think about it.

I called boss' partner to confess my error. He laughed and told me that he just wished his errors only cost the company $500, then suggested a stop-gag measure that will hopefully allow boss to have some of the materials by Monday. I was so relieved that he took it so well, but I still haven't talked to boss about what happened. I hope he takes it as well as his partner did.

On another work note, we are participating in a trade show next weekend. Actually working it for OUR business and for one of our clients. As I mentioned, Boss is in Spain so it will fall primarily on my shoulders to make sure all of the items we will require for the show - for both booths - make it to the city. No pressure here. I spent a lot of time yesterday coordinating the shipment/delivery of various marketing materials between the multiple areas they currently are, and making sure this, this and THAT, get picked up and delivered when and where we need it.
I'm sure it will all work out in the end; I've done this before, just never been the most experienced one in the office. My assistant and the sales rep will be there to help me, but both will be relying on me to make the final decisions on quantities, etc.
I will admit it - I'm a little freaked.

Okay... I've been a sloth for long enough now. It's almost 11... time to get motivated so do SOMETHING...

General "stuff"

I haven't been blogging much as of late - just been go-go-go lately.

I had a few other 'general' items that I wanted to post the other day, but after the severity of the post about the young man that passed away, I thought it best to just comment on that. Turns out they feel he became disoriented in the bush, and eventually feel asleep due to exhaustion and passed away as a result of hypothermia. I am so very grateful that he wasn't harmed in any way, but my heart just breaks when I imagine how scared and upset he must have been in the hours before he fell asleep. His parents and sisters will never get over this tragic loss, but I hope their faith gives them some peace after they lay him to rest. So tragic.

Hubby surprised me yesterday by coming home a day early from the Hunt Camp. I wasn't home when he arrived - was on the go all day yesterday - but it was nice having some together time this morning before I have to rush off again.

OH!! The A-man brought home a very nice certificate a while back - it's congratulating him for making the Honour Roll! I told him we would get a frame to put it in. He was very proud of that paper, I must say.
We will be getting his mid-term marks soon. I gather he has been able to improve his Science mark since I met with the teacher, and I know he will be doing all that he can to ensure this increase continues.

S (knocking wood here) has been having a pretty good time at school as of late.
The other night he and I sat at the kitchen table working on his math homework. At first he told me that he didn't need help, but when I wandered in to the kitchen to get a cup of tea, I could tell that he was really not sure what he was supposed to do, or simply just didn't understand the assignment. He actually had two work sheets - one on square roots another on lowest common denominators.
I had him explain what he knew about these 2 concepts so that I could assess what he "got" from the day's lesson. The thing is, he knows this stuff, and he can SEE the answer, but he can't explain how he knows the answer. Sometimes the question requires the work to be shown... Very frustrating for him because when I ask him, "How do you know that?" he gets upset and says, "Well, isn't that the answer? Why do I have to explain it?!"
He's right - when was the last time someone in your job asked you to explain how you knew that any number between 25 and 36 would have a square root between 5 and 6?
Regardless, I was very proud of him when he took more than an hour to complete the homework and he didn't complain one single time. He was actually very proud of himself when he finally 'got' what the sheet was asking for.
I love seeing that "A-HA" moment on his wee face! It's very exciting for me to see that I can explain it in such a way that he then knows what is being asked of him.

I'm off again today. Going to a fundraiser event for a friend's precision skating team. Should be a nice day out with a group of ladies.

General ramblings and such

I guess it has been a while since I did a bit of an update on here.

Hubby and I had a lovely dinner on Thursday evening. It was actually a very nice date. The new Thai place we went to had quite a selection, and I think we both found it tough to decide what to have for dinner.
After dinner, we went shopping to buy Hubby some new clothes that actually fit him, then we came home a shared a nice bottle of wine. It wasn’t a big fan fare anniversary, but it was nice to just have some quite time together.

On Friday night we went and dismantled our new (to us…) swimming pool. I took pictures as the pool was taken down so that we would be sure to reassemble it properly. Saturday morning was sunny and beautiful, and by the end of the day, all of us were quite hot and tired. While Hubby and his friend did the tamping of the sand pad, and S the A-man and I shoveled the sand and took level measurements. Between having to do the level readings, I worked on yanking out some of the weeds in my badly neglected gardens. I am pleased to report that both S and the A-man helped quite a bit with the assembly, and by the time we called it a day, the pool walls were up.
Sunday was just as warm, and after a few fits, starts, adjustments and even a few curse words now and then (bad boy Hubby), we were able to start putting water in to the pool some time around 4 or 5, I guess. This morning Hubby started putting more water in to it shortly after 7. I will continue to fill it each evening when I return home from work. We aren’t going to actually fill the pool to a usable water level – we are more or less going to winterize it and then it will be ready for official opening some time in May. Bummer that we aren’t going to get to use it this year, but I know that the water simply won’t warm up enough to justify trying to get the chemical levels proper.

Throughout the day yesterday, I did laundry and also worked on cleaning up parts of the house. Hubby's parents stopped in after church to wish Hubby and I a happy anniversary. I felt a HUGE pang of guilt when my mother in law informed me that she hasn’t seen S & me since the end of June, and it has been since May when she last saw the A-man. I know we get up to the cottage a lot in the summer, so next year I am going to have to make a very conscious effort to stop and visit MIL more often. My Mom and Dad stopped in on their way home from the cottage to check out the new pool and to wish us a happy anniversary, also.

Overall, it was a very busy weekend. I have broken two nails, I’ve got dirt embedded in my skin, I actually ripped a chunk of skin out of one finger, and I feel like I actually got some things accomplished. :o)

I’m going to be calling S’s school this afternoon to make arrangements to meet with the new principal. I’ll admit it - I am VERY worried about having a new principal. Given the BS we went through the last time we had a new one…well, I guess my trepidation is somewhat understandable. At the end of the last school year, the acting principal told me that I have nothing to fear – he assured me that this new principal is very knowledgeable and understanding in respect to the special educational system. I’m hoping I can get a meeting on Wednesday; I really need to address the EA that S had working with him last year, and the possibility of a more suitable one for him this year.

Ughh… my belly hurts just thinking about the fact that we are starting all over again. The only silver lining I have is that I'm not as concerned about the A-man. His final report card from his second semester had him with two marks in the mid 80's and two in the mid 70's. He was a little disappointed in the 70's marks - figures he should have studied a bit more for the exams. I'm still thinking I can live with that. I don't have any concerns with respect to him anymore. Thankfully.

Where has the time gone?

Today, the A-man turns 15.

I am still amazed that this can be so. It just seems like yesterday that the doctor's office called to confirm my pregnancy test was positive.
I remember when he was just days old: My house was full of friends and family getting ready for my parents 25th wedding anniversary (would have been nice for him to be born on time, rather than waiting over 2 weeks to make his entry...) and as I held him his entire body filled my arms from wrist to elbow. Cuz told me to enjoy it - he would grow so fast. At the time I could never have believed it truly would.

Oh, as he grew up, and we started to encounter the many issues that have occured with him, I will admit that the days just seemed to be never ending. Still - 15 years, gone.
~~~
We had parent teacher interviews for the A-man last night. Mid-term reports will be coming out soon, so I guess they just like to let the parents know in advance of what to expect. In the fall I was not able to attend the meetings because I was in Mississippi, so this was a very new experience to me.
The teacher for our first appointment was running late, so Hubby and A-man went to the second appointment while I waited for the first. His English teacher. Well, I sat down and she told me, "I just have to say, I love the A-man. He is such a great student, and I loved him right from the very first day." I smiled, naturally, but inside I was quite unprepared for such a glowing report of my boy. Only once before (just last year) have I ever really heard a good thing about him, and that was from a teacher that I knew socially - so it just didn't hit me quite the same way.
The teacher asked me if he had tourettes, and then told me that his IEP didn't specify that - she has taught TS students before, which is why she suspected that. She said that despite the stutter, the A-man never hesitates to participate in class. She is amazed at how well he comprends all that he reads, and how quick his is to raise his hand to answer questions. She commented more than once that his love of reading makes him an ideal English student, and she was surprised when the A-man told her that he wasn't good in English.
My meeting with the English teacher was just the beginning of a very positive evening; all of his teachers had nothing but positive comments about him:

• In English he needs to just slow down when doing hand-written work, take the time to proof-read, and if possible, type his notes rather than doing by hand. Sitting at 84%
• In Math, there were no concerns that the teacher mentioned. Sitting at 86%
• In Phys-ed, the teacher wants him to give 110% (I hate that comment - you can't give more than 100%) and be serious about warm ups, etc. Sitting at 84%
• In Religion, the teacher explained how he uses real life experiences to let the kids realize that religion, and the bible, really do apply to modern day-to-day life. He has a very unorthodox approach to teaching religion - one that students love, and many parents have issues with. He insisted that grades were irrelevant, and that the people (and karma!?!?) you surround yourself with are really more important. He said A-man's circle is a very positve circle. (see what I mean about unorthodox?) Sitting at 79%, but has not yet turned in 2 assignments, but there are no deadlines on handing in assignments.

All in all, this is not the same child that had the teacher phoning me to whine and complain, and then give 3 failing grades to in Grade 7.
Not the child that in Grade 4 was tested for giftedness, but decided it was 'boring' so only did what he had to do.
NOT the child, that at aged 4 told his day-care provider that the food was garbage, and he would not eat it.
Not the child that I have heard - repeatedly - "Thank GAWD that isn't my kid..."

THIS is the child that in my heart of hearts I knew he was, and could be.
THIS is the child I have always loved, and I am SO glad that he has finally emerged for the rest of the world to see.

Happy Birthday A-man. I love you.

Report cards are in

Cuz - just read your comment on the last post. You ask a very good question - one that I will have to ask the doctor myself, actually. Will keep you posted.

Nothing to report on the homework front - two snow days this week, and the final day before March Break - there will be little to no work done in the schools today.

I am very upset about the snow day yesterday because S was supposed to receive another two and a half hours training on the laptop, and I have no idea when (or if) they will reschedule that. When I took the results of the fMRI in to the school, the SERT gave me all of the training dates for the remainder of the year, and I am hoping I will be able to make a couple of them.

My time at the school on Tuesday was pretty effective, I will admit. I received a new copy of S's IEP for term three, we established a date for an IPRC review meeting - based on the newest findings - and I was told all the training dates. The IEP...well, let's just say I am glad that it is a 'working document' because I don't think this one is a clear nor concise as last term's was. It's is still are far cry better than the first one I ever received, but there are some older things being carried forward that really are not applicable anymore. March break homework for me, I suppose.

S got his report card the other day. His marks are pretty good actually.

• English - Reading 74%, Writing 74%, Oral 77%
• French - all components 60%
• Math - varies from 65% in measurement to 70% in Algebra, and 75% in the two math components
• Science - 70%
• Geography - 65%
• History - 75%
• Phys-ed - 75%

Of course, the "Learning Skills" within his report card are really the pieces of information I have always said are the most important anyway, and the areas that he has always had "Needs improvement" remain the same - Cooperation with others, Conflict Resolution and Problem Solving. The comments (again) say things like "S needs reminders to follow behaviour expectations..." I wonder when the teachers are going to realize this is why he has an IEP that is behaviour based?!!? Whatever.

Trust me - there are days that I really wish I could tell some of these teachers what I really think, and feel, about these bogus marks, comments and report cards...

Flu Season

It would appear the flu bug has his this household in a big way. Hubby is still sick, and home again today. Last night, the R-man came home from work, and said he'd been sick for the better part of the day, and when I looked out this morning, his truck was still here - meaning he is still in bed. S came upstairs last night shortly after 8, told me he didn't feel well, and he went to bed and went right to sleep.

At first I thought he was trying to get out of doing his homework - I was on the phone when he came upstairs - but when I went in to check on him a short while later, he was quite pale, and I could tell that he was really not feeling well. Poor guy. He does seem to be better this morning however - and I am still making him finish the homework. (He is resisting a wee bit...)

Now, on to the subject of homework. On Monday night, I had asked S about his homework, and he said he had History homework due for Wednesday. Yesterday morning, I get a phone call at work from the teacher. It seems S hadn't completed his homework, and she was concerned that maybe he either didn't understand it, or had some issues with the computer program. I assured her that he is not having a problem with the computer, and I also apologized for not looking at the agenda the previous night, and for taking S's word on what was due, and when. And then he got sick last night. I'm wondering if he is having some difficulty around the whole History issue.

~later~

I've been helping S with his History homework for the past little while. I don't think it was that he was having a problem with the actual work, it was more of not quite sure how to approach the task at hand. Once I made my suggestion, and he got started on it, he seemed to be much more willing to complete the task, but then we ran out of time. I am going to call the teacher today to discuss this further. I feel bad that he didn't do his homework when I told her that I would make sure he did, but let's face it - he was sick. He did his Math, he did what he could on his History. I need to stop beating myself up.

By 9:30 last night, it was just the A-man and I. We actually sat around and discussed things. Many subjects, actually. He is really growing up to be a very interesting - and insightful - young man. He showed me an essay he had prepared for his Religion class, and I was amazed to see that he had actually paraphrased me in a section of the essay. When I commented on that, he smiled, and said, "See, I do listen to you sometimes." (brat)

Actually, his essay was probably a very insightful piece for the teacher, too. I am very interested to find what he thinks about my little man. Here's part of what he wrote:

We were at the top of the food chain a year ago, and now we are at the bottom
here. Another reason is because most of the teenagers today only care about
what other people think, so we don't want to appear like idiots to other
people. We don't even care about what we think; it all depends on if or if
not others like us. I am not like those people; I don't care about what
others think and I am proud of it! I even wore a dress and bra on
Halloween..... and I don't care about what other thought about that.

The teacher made some very positive comments on the essay, which was actually the response to 4 questions. The A-man got 4 out of 4 (meaning he answered all the questions within the essay) but I think the teacher may have learned a bit more about each of his students through this particular assignment. Anyway, I think he is quite an incredible guy, and I am so happy to see him growing and maturing as he has.

Interesting

On Saturday, both boys were acting a little more crazy that what we have been experiencing for the last few years. I found myself giving reminder after reminder, and the A-man was the biggest offender. He was doing things to intentionally irritate his brother. After about 9 hours of it, Hubby lost his temper. Hubby doesn't often loose his temper - takes a LOT to make that happen. As a result, all electronics (computer, TV, video games, etc.) were banned for Sunday.

As I was going to bed (for the final time) on Saturday, the A-man apologized for acting so silly, and then told me that he had not taken his medication that day. I told him that I accepted his apology, but I also told him that medicated or not, he needs to realize when he is being annoying, or silly, or rude, and HE has the power to cease. I told him that the medication is meant to be an item of assistance - to help with concentration - not to be 'blamed' or 'praised' for good or bad behaviour. He knows how he should be acting, and he was not behaving as an almost 15 year old should.

Anyway, Sunday was very nice here, I must admit. There were chess games, and monopoly. There was a romp out in the snow, and there was helping me with cleaning up the house! Everyone was just so much nicer to each other, and I don't think either of them missed the electronics. Around dinner time - as Hubby and I were visiting with my Dad - the boys were allowed to watch TV because you could tell they weren't enjoying the adult conversation. At supper time, I pointed out how much more civilized our household seemed, and all agreed. We are now going to make sure to have pre-determined "non-electronic" time on a regular basis.

Last night, after dinner, I went to a horticultural society meeting. I haven't been to one in well over a year, since the meeting nights always conflicted with S's karate nights. But, since he isn't in karate anymore, that option is now open to me again. Last nights topic - plants for shade, and drought resistance. The speaker wasn't all that good, but it sure was nice to be able to just sit around and talk about plants.

When I got home, both boys had finished all of their homework, and S was heading off to bed. The A-man and I hung out for a bit, then it was off to bed for us. Hubby was in bed when I got home, but I think he had just gone there. He came home from work today - sick again. This is not like him.

On the school front for S: got an email from the SERT yesterday telling me that I would be getting a term-three revised IEP, and she also wanted to know how S liked his training session and the new programs that are on the laptop. I told her how this past weekend was the first time I have ever seen S happy about doing his homework. The stress level seemed to be gone - simply because he doesn't have to struggle with reading AND comprehending what he is reading. She asked me what my thoughts were on him having a novel study assignment, and I told her that I want to see him doing GRADE LEVEL work, and I only want accommodations as needed. I guess we are on the same page, because she seemed happy with my response.

S is a bright boy. He has an average, to above average IQ. He simply does not learn in the conventional way, and now that he finally has all of the devices in place to enable him to learn, I think he SHOULD be doing the work the rest of the class is doing. We shall see how Term 3 goes. He seems so much happier now, and he is much better about going to school. Have we crossed that bridge? I hope so.

Looking forward to holiday...

Hubby and I have booked an ATV off-road tour for the Sunday of our holiday! It just sounds like a GREAT day - and a wonderful way to really get to see the area. I think the other tour that we are going to try and take is a Volcano Tour, but I think we will wait until we get to Mexico to book that one.
Looked at the long range forecast for that area of Mexico... lows of 23 or 24, highs of 29 or 30....sunny every day. Yes, the next week and a half will not go by fast enough for this girl, I will admit.

Cuz - in answer to your comment on my last post - Thank you. I hadn't even thought about the fact that working with the doctor could prove our case even further. I was just upset about the news that we couldn't get a new EA. You made a very valid point, and, if she is successful in working with the doctor, either way, S will come out ahead. And, yes, only one more year...
Unfortunately, the current principal will not be remaining at our school. He will find out from the superintendent today when he is going to be replaced with our 'permanent' principal. He told me that he has told the board what type of person our school requires, and that we need someone that will be consistant, a member of the community...that sort of thing. I just hope the current acting principal will share details about S's history with whomever replaces him.
It's possible he will remain until the end of the school year, but at this point, he just doesn't know what is going to happen. He was slated to leave at the end of January, but since that is Thursday, I don't think that will be happening... What a bloody mess...

Anyway, S had to work on his Science test-revision last night for homework. He did very poorly on the test, as I figured he would. He did not study at all, and I know he probably tried to rush right through it to simply be done. He spent a fair bit of time on the homework, though - he was required to use the text book to find the correct answers to the questions.
As I was helping him through it, our financial advisor arrived for our appointment, and so I left S to his own devices in the dining room, while we met in the kitchen. After a little while, the A-man wandered into the dining room and helped S with reading the parts of the text book that were confusing him. He can be nice to his little brother - sometimes.

S hasn't been able to bring his laptop home since there has been a new 'error' on it. I asked about it at the meeting, but the principal didn't know when the request for repair would be finalized. I will let it go until Monday. S is off on Thursday for his appointment, and the SERT is back to the school then. I will follow up when I return from the show.

A confession

Ever since we got them, the cats have always slept by my feet. Neither of them are big cuddle bunnies when sleeping - which is a good thing - but I can usually feel them either by my feet or knees in the middle of the night.

Little Lily often comes and goes. She really liked to sleep under the Christmas tree for a while there. I think she thought she was a lion or something. But, without fail, Abby has always slept with me.

Since the R-man has moved in, she has started to sleep with him. My confession - my feelings are hurt. I mean, he's only been here for less than a week! No fair, no fair, no fair! ;o)

(just kidding)

The A-man did amazing with his Science project! I am simply so surprised at the level of maturity he has attained in such a short period of time. I think the switch of schools has been an incredible boost for him in so many ways. Yippee.

Had a big problem at work yesterday - about 20 minutes before the end of the day. I did what I could to remedy it, but I will have a post-mordom review today, I suppose. I was telling the R-man last night - you can have checklists out the whazzo, and have everything prepared, but you still have to be ready for the element of human error. Fun, fun times. But, on the up side - in a month I will be in Mexico!!

Christmas Concert

S and I went to his school's Christmas concert last night. He has been so excited about it all this week. I've heard about every single rehearsal, every single skit... so, needless to say, he was just pinging off the walls by the time I got home from work last night.
Funny thing about the school concert - even though he attends a Catholic school, very few of the skits actually focused on what Christmas is really about. The littlest ones - Junior Kindergarten - sang "Away in the Manger" and there were a few that maybe mention Jesus' birth (maybe), but for the most part it was just.... fun. I really don't understand why the public schools aren't allowed to have Christmas concerts anymore. Well, I guess some of them just have concerts, and the songs and skits are based on popular songs or things. Anyway, I just found it strange.
The A-man opted not to come to the concert with us last night. S told me on the way to the school that the A-man has sworn he will never set foot in that school EVER again. I guess to say he really didn't like his time there would be an understatement.

S handed in his history project yesterday, and got his mark back already. He was happy to have received an A on it. I was a little surprised, truth be told. I mean, I am thrilled that he got a good mark, but.... well, maybe I just don't know what the curriculum is really wanting. I have started to realize that.

I have an IPRC meeting late this morning. The EA has been invited to attend the meeting, but when I told the SERT the latest, she was not very impressed (to say the least) and asked if I still wanted the EA in attendence. She will be there.
On the up side of that nonsense - her 'factured' thumb no longer requires a splint of any sort. S told me last night - "She's all better, Mom." Hmmm...when I fractured my wrist last winter, I needed 6 weeks in a cast, then a couple months of therapy... interesting....

Briefly

Another PD day for S today. He is going to come to the office with me. Boss has left for his conference in Cancun this morning, so it will be fine to have S there. Not that it wouldn't have been fine with Boss there, it's just easier to not have to worry about it.
S will bring his History project to work on, but I'm sure he will just watch TV and play on the computer for most of the time. Have a meeting at the school to review report card - which is why I want him with me. He needs to hear what the teachers say. Will spend a fair bit of time with the French teacher, I'm sure. There is no way he should be getting a 55% if she is making the accommodations that are listed in the IEP. If he is, then the IEP needs to be modified.

Have to call Cuz tonight - her hubby has been admitted to the hospital. Heart issues. This bites.

Today, I am empowered

We had our AGM for the ADHD group last night. First part was the meeting. Typical boring stuff - vote on this, vote on that. Just something that must be done.

The second half, however, was a dynamic speaker! She just made me feel so GOOD about all that I have been successful in doing, and also offered a few new tips and tricks I will have to give a go.

After the meeting, I had a couple of people tell me how much they enjoyed the article I had written for last month's newsletter. They said it was informative, interesting, and very well written. (In your face boss' ex...) Anyway, I just left that meeting feeling great.

When I got home, the A-man was very excited to tell me all about the play he had been to see. His drama teacher had secured VIP passes for her entire class, and he loved it. This is the second professional performance he has been to, and the reaction has been the same each time. Now, the performance I took him to over a year ago in Toronto (Lord of the Rings) was far more advanced in many respects, but still, the glow and excitement was just as real this time around. The boy loves the theatre!

S got his report card back. Pretty much what I was expecting, truth be told. Actually, some marks were quite a bit higher than I was expecting, so that is a nice surprise. Mostly low to mid 70's - a couple of 80's (!!) and not a very good mark in French, but that is to be expected at this point, I think. We will address that tomorrow at the meeting, I'm sure.

S had a good day yesterday. A blip in the radar, perhaps? We shall see... Specialist has indicated something in his last email - I have asked for clarification. Will post more when I know more.

And, we finally have a date for the fMRI - the last Thursday in January. Not really the best time for me, as that Friday is the move-in for one of the shows, but I will NOT request a date change - I've been waiting since July for this appointment, so we will just have to do a lot of driving in a very short period of time, I guess. City one (3 hours away) to back home, then from home to city two (2 1/2 hours the other way...)

Who has more fun that us??

Mid term reports are in

Hard to believe that much of the school year has passed, but it's true. The A-man brought his report card home yesterday, and he is doing very well. I am very proud of him, but most importantly - HE is very proud of himself.

Mid-term marks:

• Drama - 83%
• Geography - 75%
• Learning Strategies - 93%
• Science - 77%
• Overall average: 82%

The comments were all very good, and the learning skills were either in the "Excellent" or the "Good" range. Past years reports have all been either in the "Needs improvement" or "Satisfactory" range. Yes, going on to highschool has been very good for my big little-man.

Another thing that I equate to his new-found successes, and higher self-esteem, is the fact that we have been treating the ADHD. I have always been a little leery about the whole medication end of things, but sometimes we just have to let medication do what it's made to do. There was one morning the A-man was getting ready to leave for school, and I asked him if he'd taken his medication. He said, "Oh, no, I forgot. I have to make sure I do that - my friends have told me I am really annoying when I don't take it." We have noticed a huge difference in the way he acts, and reacts, and the good thing is he is no way in a 'zombie-over-medicated' state. (I have seen kids that way, and I would never allow either of my boys to get that way.)

The other morning - Thursday - I couldn't get the A-man moving, and guess what? He missed his bus. Yup. Monday the new rules are set, Tuesday he makes the bus, Wednesday the bus has to wait, and Thursday - misses it. As I was driving him in to school, we started to discuss what the 'payment' should be for his frequent morning-lateness. I started to explain to him the cost of a taxi from our house to school, the cost of gas for my car, the extra time for me to drive to his school and then back track to work...and then I just remembered something, and stopped talking. I asked him what he thought his payment system should be.

(See, I have to consciously remind myself to follow the "collaborative-method of problem solving" the doctors have recommended, so before I expressed what I thought the punishment should be, suddenly realized that I was starting to control the conversation - which is why I just stopped talking.) I had a bit of payment format in mind, and I was about to start dictating it to him - without his input - and I am glad I didn't go forward with it. His self-punishment was far greater than what I would have come up with! And, since he set the rates, he can't deem it 'unfair.'

Final outcome - for making the bus wait, half of his weekly allowance. For missing the bus - two full weeks allowance. He's up to the better part of $20 now... and when I told him the full amount for the current week, I could see his eyes just bug out of his head. Friday, he was up and ready for school before I was even out of bed!! We will see how this coming week fares...