Snowshoe Pics

I forgot to post these earlier this month. The kids were trying out their snowshoes. It was obviously not this weekend - since this weekend has been rainy, which unearthed a TON of dog crap in the yard. It involved two kitchen trash bags and a shovel... None the less - the kids enjoyed the snowshoes. Allison found that they were not prohibitive in the snow angel making department, which is key. Jacob was surprisingly good at running in them without tripping (he never did - I was a teensy bit worried). Time for Brian and I to invest.



I realized too that all the pics I took were the kids walking away from me. Mom, the abominable snow monster. Run!!

Controlled Substances

I was up early this morning - I think stressing out about classes resuming tomorrow. It's one of the overabundance of things I've found to stress out about lately.

Allison started a trial of Ritalin this week. We had / have a lot of mixed feelings about it. Some have to do with Allison and some have to do with us. I'll tackle the latter category first. There is a great amount of stigma in giving your child a stimulant drug. From people who believe parents just drug thier kids rather than deal with the real issues - to people who say that it turns kids into mini-meth addicts. So we actually entered this process with a lot of skepticism. And so, I feel somewhat like I need to defend myself - with developmental evals beginning at 18 months, MRI, genetic testing, play therapy, and (now 2) neuropsyc exams. So - let's dispense with the "first line of defense" argument.

Why explore it now? Well, one is that we're running low on other options and school has not been going well lately. Academically, she seems to be keeping up well "despite the behavioral challenges" to quote her teachers. She gets school services through the autism program, though no one really thinks she fits the profile of "autism," even if you throw in the rest of the spectrum. There is the possibility of ADHD, but again that doesn't seem to really fit either. So what direction to go?

After an eval and a discussion with the pediatrician (which Brian and I both kindof agree that talking to doctors in their offices is not all that helpful), we decided to try this. Well, actually, we thought about it for a week and then decided to try this. Then I found out that you have to physically pick up the prescription and drive it to the pharmacy because it's a controlled substance and they can't fax the prescription over. So - then I again had some second thoughts.

But, we did decide to "give it a go" as the kids would say. So last Sunday, we gave Allison a dose of the medication in the morning. To say the reaction was not what we were expecting would be a MILD understatement. We expected it to zone her out a little. I don't know why - but this is what we both expected. Now - it wasn't a "bad" reaction - it was just.... eh.... weird. Allison started at about 9:30am with the watercolor paint pens she got for Christmas. She was still coloring with them during lunch (12:30pm). Nothing we could do would get her away from the coloring. And she kept quizzing us on what we wanted her to color. Flowers, rainbows, people, houses, whatever. "What color should the hair be, what color do you want your name, what do you want me to draw next." Seriously, she must have colored 100 pictures. Finally, we were able to go to the library for a while, but what happened when we got home - coloring!

Secondly, she developed a "tic" of sniffing and wiggling her nose. Constantly and incessantly. Now, I'm not stranger to sniffly kids - but this was a whole new plane. And she was kindof jittery - like 1 too many cups of coffee.

I, of course, call the nurse - and let me say that the ped's office does not employ the best phone answering staff on Sunday. I think our conversation went something like me: my daughter is sniffing uncontrolably. Nurse: hum.... I'm trying to think if that's a normal reaction or not. Do you think she just has something in her nose? (BTW - the criteria that separate "side effect" and "call you doctor immediately" seemed to be a continuum that is open for debate. Like normal: nervousness, increased heart rate; call immediately - fast heart rate. Is there some BPM that defines "increased" versus "fast"?

Anyway, we did not give it to her Monday morning. This was me wanting to call and talk with a real nurse. After explaining what happened, the nurse had moderate concern and discussed with the pediatrician - at which point they suggested trying a half-dose. (Apparently, dosing this kind of stuff is part-science, part-alchemy). So with a warning to the teacher to watch for anything "weird" - we gave her a half dose on Tuesday and sent her off to school.

To the best of our understanding - Tuesday went very well. "Angelic" might have been a word used by her teacher. So - drugs, or did she just have a good day? Let's see about the next day. Wednesday, half dose and off to school. Wednesday night we were reading her daily journal and were like "whoa, what went wrong!!" I think something was mentioned about a BM and pee accident. Of course my FIRST thought it "why is she still in the same clothes!!" Then Brian looks at the front of the notebook and notices that hers got mixed up with someone else's. Well, that's good - although probably some massive breach of protocol and something I wouldn't have minded so much if I wouldn't have been so curious about how the day went!!

Thursday, again, 1/2 dose and off to school. Thursday night. NO NOTEBOOK. What are they doing to me!! Where is it? Now I'm two days behind and no real knowledge of how the days are going except that (a) no one has called me with some major problem, and (b) the teachers wanted to postpone a meeting we were trying to schedule for a few weeks while we evaluate the effects of this medication trial.

Friday, it was a short day, but finally the notebook came home. It had been a good week. Allison was Allison - a little mischevious - but easily redirected. A good worker, and very helpful with her friends. So - definitely a departure from the past few weeks. I think her teachers were very encouraged - and a little surprised. Frankly, I am too. I didn't really think this would help.

Saturday, we finally got to view a day on medication for ourselves. Allison had gymnastics in the morning, and she did great. She waited in line for her turn, paid attention to her teacher, tried to copy the movements, and really only had issues on the balance beam - she wanted to be on the lower one because the higher one scares her. We had a few issues in the afternoon, but I can't say if it was less than normal, really, or not.

So, I guess right now, we're pleased that it's helped at school. It's too early and we still have lots of questions. Will we continue, will we give it to her on the weekends, in the summer, what can we do to address other areas? Is it really that helpful, or do the teachers simply think it's really helpful? We shall see, I guess.

Games Galore

Jacob was home from daycare today due to MLK Jr. Day. Allison still had school. Jacob is in a game phase. We played Memory Match, Yahtzee, BINGO, Go Fish, Chutes and Ladders, and Sorry. I like to play games - don't get me wrong - it certainly beats racing cars across the Thomas table, which we did for a half an hour. But every time I would sit down - Jacob would run over with "so Mom, you want to play ......"

Very belated holiday party

Jacob had his holiday party tonight. It was a little late. Jacob called it the winter concert. Enjoy!

Wish I May

I was trying desperately to commit this conversation to memory on the way to swimming lessons.

Allison: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might..." * pause *
Jacob: "See some fireworks tonight!"

Allison: "No! Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might..." * pause *
Jacob: "See some baseball games tonight!"

Allison: "No! No! Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might..." * pause * "have the wish I wish tonight"

Verse two Allison: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might..." * pause * "smash some houses up tonight..... but not our house.... just the neighbor's house.... ok, star?"

Give a kid a camera

Views from a 7-yr old:


Self portrait


Mom - at breakfast - awesome.


Dad - intent on something.


Jacob - caught unaware - but also intent


A few of our favorite things - for posterity


Jacob sneaks a call on his sister's phone - and why is the front door open?

Yeah - I know

Ok. There's no Christmas in IL pictures to post yet. Soon, very soon.

I've been thinking about snow, mostly because it's been falling again the past few days (leading to three shoveling events). Throwing this year in - the past three years have been incredible for snowfall, at least compared to the previous however many we've been in WI. Maybe because we moved a little farther north, maybe because it's cyclic - I dunno.

But what I have realized is the permanence of winter snow and cold changes the way I look at it and the way the kids look at it. Is it cold? I dunno - did I drop Allison off in the building or on the playground today (tipping point is when temp + windchill < 0 degrees)? I guess I didn't realize that not every elementary kid everywhere has to take snowpants to school every day as a requirement.

But mostly, it's a little weird to watch the kids play in the snow. Today - Jacob was out there making ramps in the snow for his monster trucks. Allison has been known to play on the swingset on a snowy day. Today she got out her scooter on the newly shoveled driveway. I remember when I was little getting po'ed when all the "snow angel" spots got taken in the yard because it would probably be another year before there was enough snow to make another one. Allison and Jacob make them weekly on the driveway while I shovel. To them - snow is just something else to play in.

We are looking forward to trying out the snowshoes this weekend in the new snow. Pictures soon.