Thankfulness

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

So Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I haven't posted anything in quite some time, but here I am...and feeling thankful. Yes, Fragile X is still causing it's share of havoc in our family, but we are blessed to have 2 healthy children. Tim has a good job that he enjoys and he is able to support our family and allow me to stay home. We have a stable, loving marriage. We don't have any crazy meddling in-laws or Jerry Springer dramas(not in the immediate family, anyway!). Our kids have caring, dedicated teachers, and we are blessed with great friends. All in all, much to be thankful for. Most of all for God and his Son, Jesus, we are thankful.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Bullies

Oh, let's see....where do I start? Generally Justin seems to be very popular among his classmates. They argue over who will sit next to him at lunch and who will hold his hand on the stairs. The kids in his class are all very sweet to him. Last Thursday, I was there for their fundraiser Fun Run. The kids were all running laps and the teachers are all at the start/finish line marking their t-shirts at each lap. So just past the start/finish all the teachers backs are turned and I see a kid from another kindergarten class run up behind J, grab the back of his shirt, jerk him to the ground, and then take off running. I was in shock. And torn between checking on my child and chasing the other one down. Of course I had to go check on J, and he just dusted himself off, smiled, and went on. By then I lost track of the other kid (they were all wearing the same shirt, and I only saw the back of his head). I didn't say anything about it at the time because I couldn't identify who did it, and Justin wasn't upset.
So this week I got this note from his teacher "Last Thursday, at free play, we had a little incident. Justin went down the slide and there was a child at the bottom of the slide- Justin kicked the child to get him to move. The boy preceded to try and hit Justin back. Of course Justin did not know any better so he started swinging at the child and anyone around him. I calmed both of the children down and talked to the little boy who tried to hit Justin back. I let him know that it was not okay for Justin to hit him, but sometimes Justin just acts. I also told him that he should NEVER hit a child back if they kick or hit him. The child was told to come tell an adult if Justin put his hands or feet on him again. I found out today that the very same incident happened at P.E. yesterday. One of the aides told me that it was with the same child. She told me that she did not know who started the hitting, and I let her know that I talked with that child and he knew that if Justin put his hands on him to go tell and adult and not hit back."
Free play would have been in the afternoon after the fun run, but I wonder if J and this kid have had prior incidents that the teachers didn't notice or report. So anyway, I did go to school & tell the teacher about what I saw at the fun run and she is going to talk to him and see if it might be related. I just can't imagine why a kid in another class would choose to target J as it seemed he did during the fun run.


And on the other end, Justin can also be a bully. We had a younger boy (also with FX) over to play one afternoon this week and J did NOT want him playing with his toys, and kept taking things away from him and shoving him. He only does this when he feels like something is 'his', not at school, but it's definitely something we have to work on so we can have friends over to play.

Haven't posted in quite a while. I've been meaning to, but it's hard to make myself do it at times. I went through a valley a few weeks ago worse than the initial diagnosis. I guess we had a few particularly bad meltdowns, and the realization that he's only 5, and the fear that it could get a LOT worse. I dunno, but I spent the better part of a week feeling that I could burst into tears at any moment and did a few times. That is very much not like me...I cry over sappy movies, yes, but real life very rarely. I finally told my Sunday School class, asked for prayer, and began feeling better the next day. So anyway....I'm finding myself praying more, and feeling more optimistic.

Every time I go to school either a teacher, an aide, the nurse...somebody, always stops me to tell me how much they love Justin. "He just smiles all the time", "he's the happiest kid I know", "he just lights up my day", etc... one even told me "everyone should have a child like him". I am thankful beyond measure for this - he obviously saves his worst behavior for me. I suppose that is a good thing, but it also wears on me emotionally that they get so much of the loving, happy Justin, and I get that mixed with outbursts of angry, violent, wild Justin. If only I could keep him the loving, happy, smiley boy all the time......

Facebook has taken over my life

Well, I wasn't very good at blogging before, but now I'm never here at all! Facebook has taken control of my computer...

Anyway, what's new...well, Justin is just gradually getting more and more aggressive and I had a bit of an emotional breakdown about it a few days ago. I'm better at the moment and working on a plan to try to get that under control. We are journaling everything, trying to identify triggers, searching for a behavioral therapist, and trying to get another appt with the neuro to discuss meds. We appreciate all of your prayers.

Most of Birmingham is abuzz with the possibility of snow next Monday/Tuesday. Lindsey is now nine and she has seen snow twice in her life and both were maybe half an inch. So snow is a big deal - I hate it, though. Anyway, I have to go buy carrots today just in case we need a snowman nose. :)

And it sneaks up on me again!

Every year Lindsey's birthday does this to me. I always say I'm going to plan ahead, but then Christmas gets chaotic, and then we are just trying to recover from the chaos and get through New year's, and then it's time to take down the decorations, and suddenly Lindsey's birthday party is this Saturday and I've not sent out one single invitation.
I tried to get her to have it at one of the pottery painting places, so I don't have to deal with the mess and clean up, etc, but she wants to have it at home again. She just wants a very few friends and family, thankfully.
So anyway...I guess I've got to get invites mailed out today. I so wish her birthday was maybe a week or 2 later so it wouldn't do this to me every year. But given how miserably large I was, and the fact that she was over 10 pounds, I don't think I could have survived being pregnant much longer anyway.
I think I had more to type, but suddenly J is here 'helping' me, telling me to 'push the green button'....

A Visit with Santa 2008

So Friday was the last day of school for the munchkins. Christmas for the teachers was more of a challenge this year as J now has his regular ed teacher, a special ed teacher, speech therapist, OT, 6 different aides, and the nurse. I wish I had seen Betsy's Pretzels a few weeks ago - they would be an awesome teacher gift. I made Chex Muddy Buddies(AKA puppy chow) and gave them all $5 Starbucks cards.
Thursday we went to their class parties and then checked them out an hour early and took them to the mall to see Santa. Yay, I'm so glad we went when we did! There was only one family in front of us in line! Justin has refused to have any part in sitting with Santa ever since the Screaming Fit of 2004. Yeah, it's awful, but it will probably always be my favorite Christmas picture ever, because it's the one that makes me laugh every time.







But this year he joyfully walked up, said "Hi Santa" hopped up on his lap and in the very first snap, we got this amazing picture. What a difference a few years make!
He didn't stay long, but he handled it well and we were proud of him. They gave us coupons for a free cookie for each of them, so that part was great too. He wasn't happy on the way out because he kept seeing toys and he didn't like the idea that he was leaving without getting anything other than a cookie. Yeah, patience is not his strong suit.

Ollie is back this year, and our elf brought a note from Santa this morning. Apparently Ollie has seen the meltdowns and the disobedience, but he has also seen some very kind and loving behavior too. Maybe the reminder will keep them in check for a few more days. One can only hope, right? I'd hate for Santa to bring them nothing but coal, but I have a feeling Santa will be kind to them this year.

I need to get busy wrapping stuff today as I've only wrapped one present so far. Oh and I've not yet sent out one Christmas card. Yeah, queen of procrastination, here, I know.

Thankfulness...

Things I'm thankful for, some more serious than others, and not necessarily in order...

• My Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ
• My family, immediate, extended, even my in-laws are awesome. I could go on for days just on this one, but I won't, because it would cause me to miss turkey dinner.
• That reminds me...yes I'm thankful for dinner, and the turkey who gave it's life for us. And dressing (Yummmm!), sweet potato casserole, rolls, dessert....yuuummmmeee!
• Friends....how would I survive without you?
• The internet, as it has allowed me to connect with many new and old friends.
• Kindergarten. J knew about half of his letters in August, and his IEP goal was to know them all by May. He knows them all, uppercase and lowercase, and can tell you the sound they make. And, I have a life of my own between the hours of 8 and 3 - it's awesome.
• Teachers who care - they make a world of difference.
• Hubby's job, which allows me to stay home.
• My DVR. How did we survive without it? We love it so much hubby and I each have our own. Actually I share mine with the kids, which means I watch a LOT of Dora and the Backyardigans.
• This country, the freedoms we enjoy here, and the many who sacrificed to make that possible.
• Take-out Chinese, because my kitchen is currently clean, and I'm not cooking tonight.
• The 11-0 season the Crimson Tide has had thus far, and the hope of beating Auburn for the first time in quite a while - Roll Tide Roll!
• My parents, for raising me right, & for telling me to marry hubby anyway, in spite of the fact that he's an Auburn fan AND a yankee.
• The current drop in gas prices - wow.
• Slice and bake cookie dough - that's good stuff.
• My church family, a fantastic pastor, and great teachers.
• The Hagerman's, Steve Warren, Dr Berry-Kravis, and the many other specialists, researchers, educators, & therapists who have made huge differences in our lives and who continue to work towards finding better treatments for our kids.
• All of the Fragile families who work together to help and support each other through this journey.

There's more I'm sure...but my crossing guard is ready to go out and direct the holiday traffic in our neighborhood, so I better go keep an eye on him. Happy Thanksgiving to all!