Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kid Jedi is out of control!

Well, the first day of karate wasn't good at all. Well, actually the first 20 minutes weren't too bad, but the last 25, well, my hubby thought we'd be asked to never bring Kid Jedi back again, EVER!!! Well, because of this, I did some research on impulse control.

We were told when we had the Child Study Team evaluation that Kid Jedi's problems in school were basically that he was bored because he knew what they were learning and since he has problems with things like coloring, which they use to teach the kids what Kid Jedi already knew, it was torture for him. He could use some orthotics to help with his balance and intoeing (which I've been trying to get someone to do something about for 2-1/2 years)...oh and there's a slight chance that he has Sensor Processing Disorder, so go buy a book and do what it says...a whole lot of help I can tell you. We went to the pediatrician and did get Kid Jedi the orthotics and they recommended a place to have him evaluated for Sensory Processing Disorder, but it's not covered by our insurance and it's $400 just for the 1-1/2 hour evaluation!! Well, we've put that off for a bit, not only because of the price but because my husband doesn't think Kid Jedi really has SPD, but that the Child Study Team put that out there to justify their evaluation, especially since the OT couldn't find anything wrong with Kid Jedi's pencil grip which the head of the Child Study Team said was very immature. Oh, and his non-verbal IQ is 129, overall 119 and that's with him refusing to complete a section of the test.

Anyway, back to the research, everything I kept coming across referred to ADHD, now I've been saying for a long time to anyone who listens that there's no way my son could have ADHD because he can sit all day and play with Lego blocks without a problem. Well at a family graduation party, my cousin told me her son had ADHD and she had the same reservation about the diagnosis, but they explained that they could hyperfocus at times too, and that's what I kept coming across, especially if they are in the impulse control/hyperactive side of ADHD and not the inattentiveness side. So, needless to say I called our pediatrician today and we are working with CHOPS Center for Management of ADHD to get him evaluated, we won't be able to actually see a doctor until the end of September or the beginning of October, but they do a full battery of tests - IQ, basic skills, depression, anxiety, and a 2 hour psych eval, the psych eval alone is about as much time as our Child Study Team spent evaluating him. To give due to the Child Study Team, since Kid Jedi was in preschool at the time of the evaluation, they had to look at him for early intervention and since his IQ was so high and he had no obvious learning disabilities, there wasn't much they could do. I do know that ADHD is not commonly diagnosed in 5 year olds, but we need something here. Since he's been out of school, he's just been getting more and more unruly, he even was sent out of Sunday School 2 weeks ago because he kept trying to crawl to the door.

I'll let you know how things go.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tackle it Tuesday - miscellaneous changes

With all the changes that we have happening here, there's a lot going on. So, my tackle is more of a to do/done list than one task.

Yesterday we signed Kid Jedi up for Karate which was recommended by the Child Study Team to help him focus, but in the evaluation, of course, he got distracted by the mirrors and ran around so he could see himself run and almost couldn't get signed up because he wouldn't refocus. So, we're hoping that he will pay attention in class and stay on task, otherwise we'll be looking for something else for him to do.

I have another yard sale this Saturday at the campground my parents stay at during the summer, so I'm getting lots of stuff together, I already sent down 2 totes full of baby toys, books, other baby equipment with my sister, and I'm working on getting more together, and though we could use the money to help pay down our credit cards, anything that doesn't sell is getting sent to VVA for a donation. We really need to get rid of the clutter in the house.

I have some more baby blankets and burpies to make, I may sell some of them at the yard sale, depending on if I can get them made.

And lastly this week I'm getting all my paperwork in for substituting. I was approved by the board, had an interview with the Junior/Senior High School yesterday and picked up my transcript, I am getting my fingerprinting done today and then I just have to get my drug screening done and go to the Dept. of Health to get my PPD/Mantoux test done.

Good bye clutter, hello freedom!!

This is what I'm tackling this week, let us know what you're tackling and head on over to 5MFM to see what other Mom's are doing.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The way we say things...

Kid Jedi and I are off to the shore today for the week!!! Now we live in south Jersey, so really we are going "down the shore", it's one general area, once down there, you can go to the beach and sit and relax, but from home you go down the shore, one of those odd colloquialisms that are everywhere.

I remember when I went to school in Western PA, the oddest thing I ever heard was that they were going to "red up dinner", which, of course, means they were getting dinner ready.

These sayings as well as whether you call your carbonated beverages soda or pop and the totes that you bring your purchases home in bags or sacks are what make our language in the US so rich and identifiable, you can tell where people are from just from what they say or rather how they say it.

What interesting local sayings or words do you have?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Ch-ch-changes

A lot has been going on here. We had VBS last week which was such a blessing, I don't even know where to begin. Kid Jedi had some times when he was running around when he should have been with his group, but not many and no one cared, they all loved him!!! Kid Jedi was also so moved by the Bible stories and memory verses that he asked Jesus into his heart, at 5! We also attended church services at the church that ran the VBS and we loved it, Kid Jedi came out from his Sunday School class so excited with his craft project, it made my day.

We also made a tough decision, we are getting rid of our credit cards and moving to be a cash only family, which will make things a lot tighter here at first, but in the long run, we will be blessed beyond measure for this change. Since this decision, I have been feeling much better about our situation, primarily because I hate credit cards.

I put my application in for Substitute teaching and once I get my criminal background check done, I'll be all set to get my license to sub and I'll be on the rolls at our local Junior/Senior High School. Once my license comes in, I'll put my name in our elementary school as well as the other 3 elementary schools that send to our HS. I'm nervous, but excited.

I can't wait to start paying down those credit cards, and it's going to be a big change since we've been relying on them a lot over the past 5 years, the journey may be long, but it will be steady and definitely worth it.

Oh, and I'm starting decluttering with having a yard sale with a friend of mine (our street isn't good for yard sales, but hers is) and I'm getting rid of a lot of Kid Jedi's baby things, like the travel system, umbrella stroller, etc. I will be keeping some outfits, etc., but if I don't need it, I'm letting it go!

I so feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that we aren't using credit cards and I'm getting rid of stuff. I'm beginning to realize that the stuff is what holds us down. Changes are coming, and they are all good!