yes... what goes on when I don't post for days and days, or weeks and weeks? Sometimes... just a lot of "normal" life. Sometimes... just a lot of "busy". Sometimes... just a lot of "stress". So, for those who have been wondering where I've been, here's a recap of the last couple weeks:
-1 long camping trip with the extended fam. Lots of fun... pics and details to come.
-1 day trip up north to see my mom after her bike crash (and knee surgery and two night stay in the hospital). Poor mom. We also went swimming at Gma's condo and visited my brother's new house.
-1 day trip up north to see my mom (again) and visit my grandparents. Grandad is home on comfort care and has generously decided to bequeath his woodworking tools to Beorn. Yup, picking up that stuff was like watching a little boy on Christmas morning. (And of course we went swimming too)
-1 dog-attacked-kitty. Poor Lucy learned (the hard way) that not all dogs are nice (like Trigger) and she shouldn't be so trusting. Trigger alerted us to the middle-of-the-night problem and Beorn ran outside and chased off the offending mutt. Lucy came out of the whole experience very battered and bruised. She is up and doing again, but is much mellower for the experience and takes the stairs very slowly.
-1 pediatric psychiatrist visit. After jumping through numerous hoops, I was finally able to get Bucket into see one. Hopefully he'll be able to better diagnose and treat Bucket. We're trying out two antidepressants, one as a sleep aid and one for anxiety, and letting the attention issue go, for now. His sleep has improved (8-10 hours/night, instead of 5 or 6) and the goal is to only use that med long enough to reset his internal clock. I have mixed feelings about the other med... it'll take some time to see if it's really helping.
-1 sugar addict in recovery. We decided last month to nix refined sugar for Bucket in an attempt to teach him to eat "real" food. He's a very picky eater and will only voluntarily eat sweets and some carbs. It's not a healthy way to live. We made sugar taboo before the camping trip and were pleased with the results, but ok'ed sugar while we were there since it was a vacation, so we've have had to start all over. The first few days are nightmarish. Truly. He's like an addict. Meltdowns galore. Tears. Screaming. Threats. But, after that... the meltdowns disappear, entirely, his behavior and attention improve immensely and he eats without complaint. The only drawback is even a little "treat" starts the whole process over again. A tiny bowl of icecream at grandma's yesterday and today has been hell.
Of course, those are only the highlights. There was also plenty of child-wrangling, repeated dishwashing lessons for Monkey, babysitting, housework, yardwork, tree-trimming, scout and young women activities, playdates, a friend's baptism, visiting teaching visits, helping in primary and a pack meeting (in which they forgot Bucket's award - argh!)... and finally finishing the mural!
Sounds like a day in the life of a busy, incredible, awesome, and beautiful Mother! I'm excited for the new wood working tools! Good luck with the no sugar thing. It's so sad that you have to be so consistent. I feel like I want to reward my kids sometimes, but if I give them an inch, they want a mile. It's almost not worth the reward. Love you always!
ReplyDeleteI've considered instituting a no sugar diet for Adriana. How extreme are you on the no sugar? Do you let Bucket eat something like Cheerios, which has 1 gram of sugar, or have you absolutely eliminated it from his diet? Do you use other sweeteners, like honey or agave?
ReplyDeletewe're not being super strict on the no sugar thing. He can have cheerios (and other "healthy" cereals) but no frosted miniwheats and definitely no marshmellow mateys. I let him have jam on his french toast, but not cinnamon/sugar. He can have sweetened yogurt, but not icecream. I guess it's kind of arbitrary... going with the gut feeling - does it qualify as "food" or just "treat".
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