It all started with a $20 deal...

You know those email offers that you sign up for only to delete later? It was one of those things. Roo hasn't had a nice picture taken in awhile and I received an offer of 43 prints + 5 postcards & a free wall hanging of your favorite pose for $19.99 from Portrait Innovations in my inbox. I hadn't heard anything bad about them, and I figured that they couldn't be any worse than our Picture Me (Walmart) or Olan Mills (small studio in Meijers) experiences, so why not? Have I mentioned how horrible almost all of Roo's school pictures have been?? Which is understandable.. because school pictures are taken in the gym.. and, in her mind, the gym is not made for standing in lines, looking nice, and smiling for a picture, then leaving.. The gym is for running around, getting the wiggles out, downward dog, and gym class! Sometimes the gym is for movies, plays and musical instruments... but those are all a toss up. You never know how she's going to do during a convocation. Anyway, that is my personal, logical explanation for why she can't take a good school picture when she loves school so much. It has to be violating her "rules."

We get to the studio a few minutes late, carting in 2 backpacks and purse stuffed extra full of things to keep her happy if things started going south. The hubby is just holding Roo's hand, leading her inside. (I swear, "pack mull" should be added to the job description of a mother! :-) ) I quietly informed the photographer of her autism diagnosis, explained that I understood that there was a minimum amount of pictures she had to take, told her that we would do our best, but when Roo was done, she was done. She seemed very understanding. Anyway! Long story short, she did amazing. Incredible. She made it through 90 photo shots, and an outfit change without a single tear, then sat in a chair with her iPad for another half hour while her dad and I went through them. She shocked us all! These are some of my favorites!

~*Never Give Up!*~

I get it, but your still wrong.

Working in the daycare field, I have a .. general, small insight on what it's like to work in the classroom environment. It involves planning for lessons, gathering supplies, and making sure you have all the help you need to make each lesson a success, no matter what that may be. It takes a lot of work that usually goes unseen.

There's also a social side & that's where I fail the most. Children don't have this affect on me, but I tend to be timid unless I'm really acquainted with someone. So being open and real with parents can be a challenge. 

Parents can also be a pain in the butt or a blessing. 

There's nothing like being in the middle of the morning routine when the same child comes bursting through the door late, again.. and again .. and again, once more interrupting the class. You want to ask why? Why is this happening again?? Well, first of all, you should. You should ask why. 

Now I'm on the other side. I still sub for a daycare part time, & because I'm a parent of a complex child with many diagnoses, there are too many appointments and what would be sick days for me to hold a full time job.

I love my daughter so much--enough to be able to see her strengths and weaknesses. And I know she is wonderful.. And I know that she is intelligent.. And I know that she can be pokey and ..resistant, & even argumentative.. mostly at home though, & sometimes for her therapists. 

And we are late.. Oh my gosh.. we are late so often, and it's so frustrating for me, as I'm sure it is her teachers and paras, but she has a diagnosis. She has a valid reason. And I'm so over it that some days, if we're going to be more than an hour late just because she was too pokey, or we overslept, I keep her home. 

Being a timid person, it takes a lot of courage for me to walk her into the school late (again), and even though I usually put on a cool, this is no big deal air it's because if I didn't, I'd probably be in tears. 

That being said, you can imagine the shock and hurt I felt when I heard a para make a snarky remark one of the last times I brought Roo in. The irony was that she wasn't even late for school, she just missed the bus. And this particular para probably didn't even intend for me to hear it, BUT I DID, which brings up another important fact. If your a parent who isn't homeschooling your child, at some point your going to be talked about by your child's teacher or other staff members. There are going to be moments that they're annoyed with you, or pleased with you, or just mentioning your name in general conversation, but they should never ever do it in front of you, other parents, or other children who are within earshot, especially if it's negative, because it's wrong.

I realize that there are exceptions to every rule, but this wasn't one of them. I emailed Roo's special ed teacher, explained the situation and hated to do it. Just like I feared, the para denied it, but thankfully, other staff members have continued to be polite & I feel I was believed. Which is a huge relief, because why would I make that up? I don't even know this lady's name. Yet, she denied it. Later I was told that this particular para held a respected position elsewhere, which makes it even more sad. Why can't people admit that they slipped up, or "I'm sorry, I was having a bad day," or the honest to goodness blunt truth that this child is late often, and in a moment of frustration I said something that I shouldn't have. How hard is that?

Okay, it's hard. But now I don't trust this para. I hate that. 

There really isn't a good way to end this post, so I will go with a hopeful...

The End.

Tis' Just A Virus, They Said

This has been a long week... or two? I can't remember.  School started during the first week of August around here, and it seems that Roo and I just keep passing germs back and forth to each other ever since. The first round of colds struck the weekend after school started, & she literally missed 4 days of school for that. 

Four days. 

School. Has. Started. There are things I need to do. Things that I've been wanting to do all summer, and now I have to wait even longer?! And then we hit a calm phase.. We coasted along for about a week and she went to school and I tried to get up in time to get her to the bus while I to get better myself. 

Less than a month into the school year and we have Labor Day off. This year is so much different that last year. About this time last year, I was thrilled to have Labor Day with my daughter, because I was having a hard time adjusting, and I was missing her a lot during the day... This year, I'm just trying to keep us both healthy enough to get out the door & one of those healthier-ish days happened to be Labor Day. I'm going to leave out the lingering red, gooey eye left over from the cold.. and obvious bacterial infection around her g-tube. Sure, she looked like a wreck, but she was happy..? (This is where a sarcasm font would come in handy.) 

I was doing okay at this point. There was a little fluid on one of my eardrums, but anyone who constantly deals with seasonal allergies knows that this sort of thing comes and goes (right?) & Roo had been on antibiotics starting the Sunday before Labor Day because we just so happened to have a leftover antibiotic  refill at the pharmacy. Normally we wouldn't do this. Gone are the days of it being okay to give your child leftover antibiotics, but it was a holiday weekend and we felt this couldn't wait until Tuesday. 

Labor Day was fun. We hung out at my Mom & Dad's and had a cookout. I was feeling better. Roo looked awful, but smiled through it all, and my hubby enjoyed himself too. We decided, "Yeah, you should probably keep her home & take her to the doctor tomorrow.." And that was that.

It's Tuesday, and the whole right side of my throat is killing me. My ear is killing me. I call to make an appointment for myself and my doctor is on vacation. *fill in the -beep-* Roo still has and appointment though, so I pull myself together and get us there--on time even. The tech/nurse that checked us in seemed more upset about the antibiotic refill than the doctor who saw us (such a relief! I wasn't up to defending myself) and he gave us something new for her eye and increased the antibiotic dosage. :-)

While waiting for the meds to be filled, we went across the street to this sweet little flea market. I find a lot of good deals in there that I resell on eBay. It takes more effort, but competitive shoppers spend more than yardsalers do, so I usually make a profit. Anyway, while I was walking through the market, that's when the first rounds of dizziness hit. At first I thought I accidentally took my morning meds twice, but then it kept getting worse, even after the 4 hour mark when things should have calmed down. We made it home, made it though lunch (which I couldn't eat), and I was done. I didn't even have the strength to take my daughter to the bathroom. I laid on the couch with a 102-103 fever, freezing, falling in and out of sleep. Thankfully, she didn't hurt herself or break anything. Terry came home and we dropped Roo off at my Mother's & headed to the after hours clinic. Apparently, my lingering effect of the cold was a bulging, infected eardrum. I ran fevers off and on and slept for most of 3 days. All that sleep really messed up my internal clock. I still have trouble keeping days straight. A week later I was able to see my regular doctor and he put me on a second round of antibiotics and a nasal steroid spray. :-/ Yep, I'm on a nose spray. Yuck. 

Woe is me, I guess. I really wanted to tell you about my new BB gun (that I bought specifically with the neighbor's dogs in mind) and about Roo punching one of her teeth out at the eye doctor, but this post is already long enough. So, as our pharmacy says, ..no matter what.. really, no matter what.. until next time, Be Well. :-D