Splat Goes Life.

Cuz I'm done!! I'm already breaking down our "classroom", sorting things I might put aside to give to another mom whose contemplating homeschooling, and I am going to attempt to straighten up my office. It's a mess! Jack doesn't mind any of this in the least. We gave it our best effort, I had him finish the last project I wanted him to do (a research project), and you know what? Why the hell do we need to stick it out one more day? Today was spent painting and playing with shaving cream. LOL After I get the stuff moved out of the living room, I'm going to sit down with a nice glass of wine. Cuz I freakin' deserve it!

I HATE IT!! Growing up, I probably was the center of attention until my sibling was born. That gave me about 5 years to bask in the glow of being one grandma's first grandchild.. and the others first by her favorite (if not most headache-inducing) son. After that, other grandkids were being born, and I wasn't so cute anymore. That was a tough pill to swallow, but eventually I found that I preferred being by myself anyway. I buried my nose in a book, sat in the middle of the street and surrounded myself with neighborhood cats (seriously), and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Naturally, I did not like being put on a stage. Figuratively or literally. Yet I was forced to be a cheerleader when it was absolutely the last thing I wanted to do on earth. I was forced to dance in multiple church functions. I was sometimes singled out by people at times when I would rather just curl up and die. Not that I prefer outright rejection by society, but being put on the spot or sticking out...

We have a 4-day work week, starting tomorrow. Jack's last day of 3rd grade will be Friday. (I don't want to quit too early, nor do I feel the need to hang on til the 4th, when Savannah has her last day. Those last two days at school are spent cleaning up anyway!). Tomorrow is also Jack's last soccer practice. This will *hopefully* be our last week of homeschooling. (EEK!) This is Savannah's last real week of elementary school! Those are the big things winding down for us, before summer break. I can't believe we've nearly made it! Jack is now down to 3mg of Intuniv. We have not seen a really drastic change in him (well, my husband thinks he sees it, but I don't). He isn't dramatically more hyper or obnoxious, except for when it comes to touching my face ALL THE TIME. I would say that I've noticed him being more irritable at times, though. For example, if I tell him something that he already knows (or if I remind him about something, or tel...

But somebody's gotta do it. Already starting off the morning with an attitude. Some people (and by people, I'm currently referring to Jack) do not realize what the tone of voice they're using tells others. I try to be helpful, and offer suggestions, and I get that sing-songy "Okaaay!", full of irritation. This kid is never going to figure out (at least it seems like it) that all he has to do is think about how he is going to say something before it comes out. How you speak affects how others view you, hear you, react to you. He doesn't get it. Or doesn't want to. Partly both, but I do think more of the first. So when I point out how he is speaking, he finds that very offensive and then he gets angry. So what was just irritation minutes before, has now become (literally) a hand to the face- as in, "Talk to the hand!". All I can say is that he's damn lucky I'm his teacher right now... even if I am disliking my job at the moment, and l...

There's about 14 days total of school left for this year- 12 if I let Jack skip the last two days, seeing as how most of those days at real school would involve cleaning up desks, watching movies, and things of that nature. It would be pointless to sit Jack at a desk all day. The day before school gets out, he has the opportunity to say hi/bye to his fellow 3rd grade classmates during their Pet Sharing Day- assuming it doesn't rain that day. We'll probably also go to school on the last day, right when the bell rings, so that he can say bye to his friends as they leave. It's kind of bittersweet for me, watching my kids say goodbye to a building they've been in for many years. Despite all the negative, it's what they've known, and what I have known. I'm probably no bigger a fan of transition than Jack is! I have the feeling I'm going to be emotional when I take him on those two days. (I'm already feeling a pit in my stomach). I'll be watch...

Actually, I'm feeling quite optimistic.. I think. I did the best I could, in the relatively short amount of time that I had, to prep Jack for the start of his Spring achievement tests. I find myself wondering what teachers do for the last month of school if their students pretty much need to know everything for this final batch of tests? I mean, Jack probably doesn't know 100% of everything required of him for the 3rd grade, and I felt myself trying to cram in maybe a bit too much at times. But once we hit 2:20pm on Friday (the longest school day we've had since we started homeschooling- by about 20 minutes LOL), I was done. He was done. Our day wasn't even really that stressful. I read a book that took about an hour, and we did some science experiments, etc. I may quickly go over a few things about looking back over his test to make sure he didn't miss any questions, and can only hope that he remembers that. I'm not sure if the Special Ed. director can say...

Started on March 30th... Today I received the psychological evaluation done on Jack, from the psychologist he saw for County redetermination. According to them, while he definitely (99%) had ADHD and ODD, he also still appropriately qualifies for the diagnosis of Autism. The County still has to tell me if they feel it is enough to continue providing him services, but from everything I just read, they would be insane not to. I don't believe one just "gets over" Autism. He had it, and he still has it. Yes, he has gotten much better with help over the years, but you don't cure it, no matter what Jenny McCarthy might say. (Sorry, not a huge fan). Being that he has gotten so much better, and as I'm not a psychologist, I don't know all the things they look for that make him still qualify. So while I was hopeful that Jack would still be able to receive services, I was also anxious that maybe he would not. Of course the other side to that is reading a whol...