So, when I'm online and not negotiating with my child to keep him quiet, I listen to my playlist. I have Vista as my operating system.
Trust me- I heard the boos from you all.
So my playlist is out of date. This isn't uncommon for me. So I go about updating. I give my computer permission to download. Then it wants permission to install. Then it needs it again. Then it needs to restart firefox.
Then it hits me: my computer thinks I'm a moron. I have decided I am fed up with PCs.
I really want a Mac.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Useful Automotive Products
There will be some ads mixed in with this blog so help me generate some additional income to care for my son. These should usually tie into our lives. This one is about my car.
My car takes a beating from my child. If I let him eat then he often gets food all over my backseat and if I don't then he pounds the seat in front of him. I generally let him eat and clean it up later. The link I have to talk about today has a product that would help protect my seats from his ammunition of choice: seat protectors.
I haven't purchased one yet but I'm pretty sure it's in my immediate future. I'd also like to get a dog for our family because we all really like animals and this would also protect my leather seats from sharp claws. Another benefit I can see is that it would cut down on the extreme temperatures of the leather when one first enters a vehicle.
I have a confession to make: I have no sense of direction. If you give me directions I might stare at you blankly and say "Can I have the address please?" You might respond, "But I just told you how to get there!" And I will nod and say you did but I want to put the info in my GPS. It's nothing personal, it's just that I was born without a navigational bone in my body. My life has been considerably easier since I've had my GPS because I can easily get almost anywhere, even with my son howling in the background, or singing- which is really about the same thing.
The website I'm writing about is about automotive products but they have several other categories to look through such as recreational vehicles, motorcycles, or planes. Now, I don't own a plane but I bet one of you out there does. (Come take us for a ride! We love plane rides!)
I did find the site very easy to navigate which is a huge plus since my time is limited. I would recommend this site if you're looking for anything for your vehicle- they even have some car floor mats I think I'll invest in!
My car takes a beating from my child. If I let him eat then he often gets food all over my backseat and if I don't then he pounds the seat in front of him. I generally let him eat and clean it up later. The link I have to talk about today has a product that would help protect my seats from his ammunition of choice: seat protectors.
I haven't purchased one yet but I'm pretty sure it's in my immediate future. I'd also like to get a dog for our family because we all really like animals and this would also protect my leather seats from sharp claws. Another benefit I can see is that it would cut down on the extreme temperatures of the leather when one first enters a vehicle.
I have a confession to make: I have no sense of direction. If you give me directions I might stare at you blankly and say "Can I have the address please?" You might respond, "But I just told you how to get there!" And I will nod and say you did but I want to put the info in my GPS. It's nothing personal, it's just that I was born without a navigational bone in my body. My life has been considerably easier since I've had my GPS because I can easily get almost anywhere, even with my son howling in the background, or singing- which is really about the same thing.
The website I'm writing about is about automotive products but they have several other categories to look through such as recreational vehicles, motorcycles, or planes. Now, I don't own a plane but I bet one of you out there does. (Come take us for a ride! We love plane rides!)
I did find the site very easy to navigate which is a huge plus since my time is limited. I would recommend this site if you're looking for anything for your vehicle- they even have some car floor mats I think I'll invest in!
As we age
When Maddox was a baby I had high aspirations for his future. He hit his milestones early and was very obviously gifted, a trait I assumed was to blame for any weirdness I saw in him. As he got older I fell onto the bandwagon that most parents did: autism. I was sure he had mild autism and some therapy would help him along. While he does have severe sensory processing disorder, he is not autistic. (Remember those early milestones? Who knew they caused severe issues?) I did try to help him by giving him a rich sensory diet, buying clothes that didn't bother him, and catering to his preferences for food but none of it was very helpful. He still cried for hours and slept little.
I lived with my grandparents until he was 2, when we moved out on our own. He was very unhappy with this move and didn't see my grandparents for several months which was their choice because they were punishing me for being gay. What they didn't realize is that I honestly didn't care but Maddox did. Between that loss and starting daycare, Maddox fell apart very rapidly. In the two year old room he was known for his severe biting, smacking, and other violence. He was the tiniest kid in the room at only 20 lbs but he was feared by the other children. He had a wonderful teacher who helped him tremendously and she is the reason he didn't get asked to leave that care center for a whole year.
I remember thinking he would get better as he got older. I had no idea how wrong I was.
I lived with my grandparents until he was 2, when we moved out on our own. He was very unhappy with this move and didn't see my grandparents for several months which was their choice because they were punishing me for being gay. What they didn't realize is that I honestly didn't care but Maddox did. Between that loss and starting daycare, Maddox fell apart very rapidly. In the two year old room he was known for his severe biting, smacking, and other violence. He was the tiniest kid in the room at only 20 lbs but he was feared by the other children. He had a wonderful teacher who helped him tremendously and she is the reason he didn't get asked to leave that care center for a whole year.
I remember thinking he would get better as he got older. I had no idea how wrong I was.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
April 2007
When Michael was born I was overjoyed with how beautiful and tiny he appeared. It was love at first sight. He came out screaming and that is how he spent most of his early days and months. I breastfed him and held him constantly but he cried anyway and when he got older and other children began to calm down, he continued to become more unhappy and violent. I tried every discipline technique known to humanity and nothing changed his behavior or his mood. I took him to his pediatrician when he was 3, stating that he was too old for colic and I needed some answers.
He sent us to an ENT who removed his tonsils, adenoids, and placed ear tubes to stop infection since both physicians were sure that was the problem. The first time I knew there was something more seriously wrong with him was when he came out of surgery, completely awake and ready to go home without pain relief. I had seen how high his pain tolerance was before when he had been injured or ill but this was on another level completely. He never even wanted Tylenol. When I took him in for his follow up appointment the ENT was shocked at his level of activity and even more alarmed he was still only sleeping about an hour or two a night. He recommended a psychiatric evaluation.
I made him an appointment with a psychiatrist but I was pretty sure he wouldn't think anything was seriously wrong. When the day of the appointment came I was still really unsure how I felt about it but I decided to treat the appointment as a consultation and I could always opt out if I wasn't comfortable with the treatment program he suggested.
The doctor was very kind and soft spoken. I liked him immediately and so did Maddox. He spent over an hour with us during that appointment and Maddox was extremely well behaved. I was shocked and a little dismayed because I wanted to make sure he was okay and this doc was just going to see a child appearing completely normal without his more troublesome behaviors.
The psychiatrist was very quiet through most of the appointment. After almost an hour he asked me "Is this how he usually acts?" I said "No, he's usually much more active."
Then, he sat very quietly for about 30 seconds. It was an eternity.
"I don't usually diagnose children as young as your son but he has Bipolar Disorder at the very least. I want to prescribe medication because he needs to be sleeping for proper brain development. We will have to see how he progresses as he gets older but he has some serious issues." He was 3 years and 4 months old.
I was stunned. To say the breath had been ripped out of me would be an understatement. I called my grandmother and asked her opinion because she was a nurse. She said she thought it would be a good idea and I could always take him off if it wasn't working. She said she thought there was something wrong with him and he wasn't just a typical boy. It's the first time she acknowledged there was something seriously wrong with him.
Since April 2007, Michael has been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and recently, Child Onset Schizophrenia. My grandmother, who was everything to us, had passed away the year before and she also found this lack of attention, due to grief, unbearable. This was the first of many losses we would endure in the next year. 2009 into 2010 was challenging for our family on many levels.
This blog will be about our personal struggles with our family as we find our way through his mental illness and how I cope being his mother. It's not always upbeat and positive but it is real.
He sent us to an ENT who removed his tonsils, adenoids, and placed ear tubes to stop infection since both physicians were sure that was the problem. The first time I knew there was something more seriously wrong with him was when he came out of surgery, completely awake and ready to go home without pain relief. I had seen how high his pain tolerance was before when he had been injured or ill but this was on another level completely. He never even wanted Tylenol. When I took him in for his follow up appointment the ENT was shocked at his level of activity and even more alarmed he was still only sleeping about an hour or two a night. He recommended a psychiatric evaluation.
I made him an appointment with a psychiatrist but I was pretty sure he wouldn't think anything was seriously wrong. When the day of the appointment came I was still really unsure how I felt about it but I decided to treat the appointment as a consultation and I could always opt out if I wasn't comfortable with the treatment program he suggested.
The doctor was very kind and soft spoken. I liked him immediately and so did Maddox. He spent over an hour with us during that appointment and Maddox was extremely well behaved. I was shocked and a little dismayed because I wanted to make sure he was okay and this doc was just going to see a child appearing completely normal without his more troublesome behaviors.
The psychiatrist was very quiet through most of the appointment. After almost an hour he asked me "Is this how he usually acts?" I said "No, he's usually much more active."
Then, he sat very quietly for about 30 seconds. It was an eternity.
"I don't usually diagnose children as young as your son but he has Bipolar Disorder at the very least. I want to prescribe medication because he needs to be sleeping for proper brain development. We will have to see how he progresses as he gets older but he has some serious issues." He was 3 years and 4 months old.
I was stunned. To say the breath had been ripped out of me would be an understatement. I called my grandmother and asked her opinion because she was a nurse. She said she thought it would be a good idea and I could always take him off if it wasn't working. She said she thought there was something wrong with him and he wasn't just a typical boy. It's the first time she acknowledged there was something seriously wrong with him.
Since April 2007, Michael has been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder and recently, Child Onset Schizophrenia. My grandmother, who was everything to us, had passed away the year before and she also found this lack of attention, due to grief, unbearable. This was the first of many losses we would endure in the next year. 2009 into 2010 was challenging for our family on many levels.
This blog will be about our personal struggles with our family as we find our way through his mental illness and how I cope being his mother. It's not always upbeat and positive but it is real.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)