Tag Archives: parenting

Ritalin

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So my 11-year-old son started Ritalin yesterday… just one day after he officially received his diagnosis of ADD (without hyperactivity). We have three more weeks of school and I want to see if this makes a difference before  summer comes and the expectations are less demanding. I’m still struggling with trying to figure out how I feel about this whole “meds” thing. A part of me is relieved that we finally maybe can “solve” the issues in school that have concerned me for the past five years. A part of me is still in denial that *my son* needs medication. Another part of me blames myself for not being able to “fix” him like I used to “fix” my patients (without medication). Overall, I think the strongest emotion I’m currently feeling is guilt. If it works, I’ll feel guilty for not agreeing to meds earlier. If it doesn’t work, I’ll feel guilty that we’re back to square one. If he feels any side effects, I’ll feel guilty that I couldn’t help him without meds. If it either works or doesn’t work, I’ll feel guilty that my job has always come first and that had I dedicated more time to him or had more patience with him, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in now. The rational side of my brain says that the worse thing we could do is to do nothing at all and that ADD is not the end of the world. I know these things, but the guilt’s got me in an irrational funk that’s hard to ignore. So here’s hoping for whatever Ritalin is meant to do for my son…

baby b’s 1st tooth fairy visit

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Yesterday at school, Baby B’s (5 years 8 months) first tooth fell out. It’s been shaking for a while now. Son C (8 years 9 months) wanted to shoot it out with his Nerf gun the night before but I nixed that idea.

She was stoked but twin sister (Baby A) was sooo upset and jealous that her tooth’s not even shaking yet. Oh well, even if they’re identical twins, not everything is gonna be the same (or equal) all the time. She wrote her letter and the tooth fairy left her some cool erasers and $1.

This is my tooth. I already putted my tooth in a Ziploc bag. Are you a boy or girl? My tooth came out today.

“a window (peace sign), a rocket (lava lamp), a flower, and a owl erasers”

 

kiderisms

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Ask Xfire

5/1/14: Real words from the mouths of my three kids –

  • Baby A, 5 years old (sorting through her school folder): “This paper can go in scrap.” (Interpretation: This paper can go in the scratch paper container (we reuse paper if it has a clean side)).
  • Baby B, 5 years old (looking at the calendar): “Today is May Fool’s Day! April 1 was April Fool’s Day so May 1 is May Fool’s Day.”
  • C, 8 years old (reviewing his status sheet from school – weekly report re: behavior where checkmarks are preferable to “OK’s” – commenting on 2 OK’s he got): “At least OK is a thousand times better than better.”

a to z: q is for quiet time

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Shh… we’re having quiet time. Quiet time is something we developed in our household for times when we parents elect quiet time for the kiddos instead of naps so the kiddos can be put to bed earlier. The kids love it because that means they can watch a movie, do a puzzle, or read a book instead of taking naps. We parents love it because that means more quiet time for us at night.

When we’re not committed to going anywhere or doing anything, I prefer quiet Saturday nights lazying around in my recliner on my iPad or laptop while the hubby watches TV. That’s my idea of a perfect Saturday night.

The past few weekends, including this one, have been far from quiet. I’m already looking forward to quiet time and the weekend has only just begun…

– A to Z Challenge: Q
– Daily Prompt: Saturday Night – S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! What’s your favorite way to spend Saturday night?

a to z: k is for (my loving and loved) kids

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When will I be loved? I think I’m already a pretty darn loved and loving person, especially to my kids. Since when does fame equal love? No one needs to be famous to be loved. My kids’ love for (ordinary) me and my love for them is all I need.

A – bear hugs, B – our family of 5, C – love letter

  • A to Z Challenge: K
  • Daily Prompt: When Will I Be Loved? – Have you dreamt of becoming famous? What would your claim to fame be? Comedy? Acting? Writing? Race car driving? Go!
  • Weekly Writing Challenge: Fifty – No rules. Just stick to the word count — no more, no less than fifty words.

daily prompt: she drives me crazy

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What habit/act drives you crazy? How do you prevent it from happening?

Since I’m a list person that (sometimes) goes against the grain, here’s a short-ish list of not-so-deep things that people do that drive me crazy (I have lists of other personal pet peeves (light shining in from curtains/blinds, clutter, long nails) and deep dislikes (disrespect, lack of motivation/initiation, willful misleading) that I’ll save for another time).

Warning: some prevention suggestions are more anecdotal than advisory, some more humorously based off reality, and some may be judged as inappropriate, passive aggressive, and/or offensive. Please read/follow with caution.

  • lack of eye contact (adults who know better) – add in uncomfortably long pauses until they look at me, then immediately resume talking as if the uncomfortably long pause didn’t even exist
  • too much eye contact (i.e. staring) – stare back until they look away
  • leaving stuff (toys, clothes, etc.) all over the floor – randomly start counting down out loud (10, 9, 8…) then announce that time’s up and start gathering and tossing (into the garbage can) items left on the floor
  • stepping over said stuff (see above) on the floor – (see above)
  • when laundry is thrown on or near the hamper (vs. in) – leave it there unwashed and dirty…they’ll either get the hint or eventually run out of clean clothes