News
Saturday
Saturday, I meant to take D13 to our local amusement park, but after driving out there, we discovered that our passes didn’t work on Saturdays. Probably for the best, because my sleeping disorder was acting up, and I desperately needed a nap.
Later, Aaron and I went out to dinner and axe throwing with a friend. Followed by a couple episodes of X-Files with D13.
Sunday
Sunday I worked in the morning, and then we had family day. M11 chose Super Mario Game of Life (which, despite its name has no resemblance to the Game of Life except the appearance of the spinner). Then we watched a couple episodes of Psych.
Monday
Monday was one of those days for me where everything felt bigger and badder than it was. It started well enough with an IEP meeting for D13. We decided to leave things the way they are for now. Then I took M11 to his eating disorder doctor (with IL4 tagging along). M11 was a champ at getting his blood drawn!
But that’s when the dark cloud descended on my mood. I took M11 to his dentist appointment (with IL4 tagging along). M11 had one cavity, one crater that would soon be a cavity, and apparently looked like he never brushed his teeth. When asked, he claimed to brush his teeth when I tell him to, but I only manage that somewhere between 50-75% of the time. The rest of that time, he sneaks downstairs while I’m distracted by IL4, and I don’t find it easy to leave IL4 during bedtime routine, so I can’t follow M11 and tell him to brush.
Telling him to brush is a 15-20 minute process in which he doesn’t move for at least 5 minutes, finally enters the bathroom upon repeated frustrated prompting, uses the toilet and tiptoes out pretending he’s “forgotten,” reenters the bathroom IF I catch him, noisily plays with any tub toy IL4’s left lying around, then finally (ineffectively apparently) brushes his teeth.
So you can understand my frustration to hear about the state of his mouth. With all the effort I put in to get him to stand in the bathroom with his toothbrush motor running, I’m no longer sure that noise means he’s brushing. The tech told me to watch him brush his teeth and re-teach him. But what good is that, if the problem is that he’s not actually brushing?
Anyway, this issue, which should have been moderately frustrating, was infuriating in my darkened mood. I scolded him long and harsh. Then I dropped him off at school, dropped IL4 off at school, and went to the clinic to get my blood drawn.
That gave me a good while to stew in my shame and become equally infuriated at myself as I was with M11. Upon arriving home, I decided to calm myself with a relaxing bath. I spent the entire bath making phone calls, sending emails, and generally trying to figure out what IL4’s GI specialist is telling me to do.
Because, oh-did-I-mention, IL4 has fecal loading again? Does that mean he’s impacted again, you ask? Or is fecal loading the predecessor of impaction? Darned if I know. All I know (after a bit of listening and relistening to a voicemail from the nurse and sending emails to the doctor) is that I need to cleanse his colon with 4 caps of Miralax a day for 1-2 days every 3-4 weeks, give him a stool to prop up his legs while pooping (IF I can get him to sit on the toilet to poop – something I’ve accomplished a grand total of 3 times in the last year because he’s afraid to poop), and the doctor will refer me to a poop psychologist and order a GI image because this may be an anatomical problem.
I emerged from the bath less infuriated and more confused. M11 returned from school shortly afterwards, and I bit down my nasty mood to apologize for being so hard on him earlier. He asked me, quite seriously, “when do you mean? …. oh, that! That wasn’t that bad.” (Yes it was. But whatever.)
The day went downhill from there, as everyone kept talking to me. It was terrible.
Tuesday
Tuesday was a lovely day. Aaron took the day off so we could spend it together. We ran to Target, went out to lunch, and watched an episode of Supernatural. Dad got his covid shot, then the whole family went out to eat.
Wednesday
Wednesday was my birthday, but we did all the celebrations on Tuesday. After work in the morning, I went to a wellness visit with my doctor, followed by a walk to the store to buy a few items. Then I took D13 to her dentist appointment (her teeth look good), followed by some yardwork. I was using shears to trim a bush down to a more reasonable height when I cut right through the flesh on my pinky finger. Oops. It was mildly deep, but could be contained with some neosporin and a bandaid.
In the evening, IL4 had a “family night” at his preschool, but he fell asleep immediately before it. So we left him at home, and Aaron and I popped by to talk with his teacher. He has a bag in which he’s supposed to put an item beginning with “A.” All we could think of (that wasn’t food) was some tiny axolotls that M11 happened to have for a previous project. Apparently his teacher doesn’t know what an axolotl is, though, and who knows if the other kids know what one is, but IL4 knows.
Thursday
Thursday was pretty relaxed. After work I went to my second job. And then I took D13 to her play rehearsal.
Friday
Friday after speech therapy, I did what will apparently be one of many bowel cleanouts for IL4. I also watched “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” with D13 and M11.
Week’s Photos
Letters Written
- 1 letter Washington
- 1 letter Morocco
- 1 letter Massachusetts
Reading to myself
- Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor
- The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Great Mythologies of the World, by Various Professors
- How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Reading to IL4
- Super Rabbit Boy vs Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
- Super King Viking Land, by Thoms Flintham
- Henry Heckelbeck Spells Trouble, by Wanda Coven
M10 reading
- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher
D13 reading
- Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean
Aaron reading
- Burning Gods, by R F Kuang
Media Completed
Henry is in trouble again when the school has a spelling bee. He gets out of trouble in his own magical way. This is a cute read and my son seemed to enjoy it.
This is still a good show, but there were some really bad decisions (and unlike the characters) made in the last few episodes.
Sunny is an albino free agent – a Nigerian witch who grew up with the lambs (non-magical people). She is convinced she must stop an oncoming apocalypse.
This is an excellent follow-up to Akata Witch. In fact, I liked it even more than the first book, because I’m a sucker for action.
This is a 1991 movie about 5 kids who learn a valuable lesson when they try to make it on their own after their babysitter dies. It was hilarious to see pre-X-Files David Duchovny. The movie seriously lacked verisimilitude, but it was amusing.
Games Played
Hibernator's Library 