5 Days of No School

I've been out of. On November 14th, I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and it totally threw me off. I thought I scheduled the appointment for a day that Gianna didn't have school, but it turns out she was supposed to. I didn't send her because I didn't realize until it was too late. I wouldn't have been able to send her anyway, because no one would have been home to get her off of her bus.

I've missed appointments because I have been so thrown off with my days. I STILL need to call to set up a new therapist for AJ. I need to reschedule a ton of appointments. I need to reorganize my entire house. I need to figure out what to do with the Christmas tree this year. I need to continue to go through my clothes to put aside those that don't fit me any more. So much that needs to be done.

But first, I need to get through this Thanksgiving break. AJ came home from school today unhappy. I'm not sure why, he said nothing happened. I suspect he's upset that there's no school for the next 5 days. He has a love/hate relationship with school. His teacher is fantastic, he has friends, but he struggles with being overwhelmed. He starts his work and feels like he can't do it. It frustrates him. Mrs. R is awesome, and encourages him to take breaks when he needs to- go sit on the rug, get a drink of water, etc. Little things so that he can escape the work momentarily, then get right back on task. She tells me these breaks have been happening more and more as the school year goes on. It started off as once a day, but now it's more like once per subject she was telling me. I am concerned, but I have faith his teacher is doing all she can to help him. The school psychologist tells me they can't do another eval on him, but without that, requesting an IEP or 504 is pointless. We've been denied twice before because his "behavior doesn't affect his learning" while at school.

I keep saying it, but when we see a new therapist, I sure hope they can help more than his current one. I can't take this much longer. When he came home, he was upset and picked fights nonstop with Gianna. Snatching the tablet out of her hands, taking toys from her, pretending he was going to share the blanket with her then saying "NOT!" and laughing in her face. Gianna adores him, and loves to sit with him and play with him, but it breaks my heart to see him act so mean and bully her like this. I keep trying to tell him that one day, he's going to really regret it. It doesn't seem to phase him in the least.

I don't know if I mentioned it previously, but 2 months ago, we added Seroquel to his medications. We started at half a pill (12.5 mg) every day after school, and just bumped it up to a whole pill after school, and an extra half as needed for agitation and outbursts. I've not yet felt the need to give him that extra as needed, but have no qualms in doing so if I must. I have a feeling that I will need to at least once during this break.

Speaking of break, I am not going to enjoy this break if this behavior continues. I've decided that I'm going to start implementing chores as punishments. This will accomplish two things. One, my house will be clean pretty quickly, and two, it will keep the kids busy. With any luck, one or two additional things will come from it- One, my children will discover they actually like cleaning, so they'll do it willingly, more often. And/or two, they'll hate cleaning so much that they'll be extra kind to each other, and work extra hard to get along. Hey, I can dream, right?!





Speaking of being kind, have you checked out the Boogie Wipes giveaway yet? If not, head on over and enter. Bring your best example of spreading kindness with you!

SpinKindness with Boogie Wipes and Boogie Busters! *GIVEAWAY*

As most of you already know, I belong to a fantastic program through Boogie Wipes, which puts me as a Saline Ambassador. What this means is every quarter, I receive a shipment of Boogie Wipes and other fantastic products. Usually Kandoo products (Kandoo wipes, shampoo, hand soap, sanitizer, etc). This quarter also includes DREFT products as well! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a picture of my shipment before my kids tore into it, but my teammate, and fellow blogger, Mammanatty, allowed me to use her photo. Please like her page HERE, and check out her blog HERE.

This quarters focus is SpinKindness. So, what is SpinKindness? It's about making a difference through simple acts and little gifts. It's about being kind to someone, and hoping to create a chain of kindness, hoping to make someone's day just a tad bit brighter. It's the idea of being kind, intentionally. Not just doing something that *might* make someone happy. You know that neighbor you pretend you don't see? Why not say "Hello" to them? It's as simple as that. It doesn't have to be huge, start small! That person behind you in the grocery store short a few cents for their groceries? Maybe you're able to help them? You can read more about it HERE.


We'd love to have you join in our movement! We'd also love to have you enter our giveaway in celebration of this SpinKindness movement! Winner will receive a prize pack direct from Boogie Wipes!! Giveaway starts now, and will end December 26, 2014 at Midnight Eastern. Winner will have 24 hours to respond to the email. If chosen winner does not respond by then, another winner will be chosen. Winners information will be given to Boogie Wipes by the end of December and prize packs will be shipped out shortly after. Please understand that Life in the ODD Lane is NOT responsible for shipping prizes out. Good luck!!


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