Shari
IsItFridayYet?
So, obviously, today is not Christmas. However, it was for us.
We only have easy child 2 for a few hours on Christmas afternoon, and we try to make the main point of our Christmas celebration to be together as a family. Two Brooms won't back off having Christmas at her house on Christmas day, and she plans it for smack in the middle of the time we have easy child 2, so we either open gifts here and run, or fight to keep wee difficult child awake to open gifts here after.
So I said to heck with it, I want to ENJOY Christmas this year, so we planned to celebrate today (wee difficult child did not know this).
Wee difficult child's school called me at 1pm to pick him up. He was off his rocker again, and has been every day the past 2 weeks except one. I've upped the Risperdal in an attempt to counter it, but its not working.
So I pick him up and bring him home. We received a box in the mail from difficult child 1 with a gift in it for wee difficult child. Once we got home and he saw that, it was all over (still unaware we are opening gifts tonight). He became obsessed over that gift and he!! came thru the floor. All attempts to redirect were laughable. In the course of 45 minutes, I was hit with a flying shoe, several tinker toys, x-box remote, a tweed pillow, kicked 4 times, and hit with a fist 6 times. Mostly while attempting to lock him in his room. When the worst of that wore off and he came out, instantly, it started again. He would fluctuate between hitting me and then immediately hugging and apologizing. He knew he shouldn't, but couldn't stop himself. Occassionally he would pull back to strike and stop himself and then say "I want to hit you so bad".
Poor kid.
Poor mom. (If I'm allowed).
Three hours of this ensued. I didn't want to knock him down with the PRN because of Christmas, but I was getting close to beyond desperate. I finally unhooked the diesel and took him for a cruise (something about that truck sometimes calms him, but its a bear to start in the winter and it was hooked to a trailer....so it wasn't handy by any stretch). I told him we were looking for a pine tree for decorations (there are few pines around here). We drove for an hour and a half and added an additional 1.5mg of Risperdal before he was stable.
We came home 30 minutes before gifts. He still was not aware we were doing it, which was russian roulette, but it wasn't a big to-do, it was just the immediate family coming. Still had the prn option.
easy child 2 got here and we opened gifts, and I guess all in all it turned out ok, but I'm beyond beat and very defeated. He's playing now; I should be happy. Instead, all I seem able to do is pray that tomorrow is better.
His Christmas concert for school is Sunday, and even tho he wants to go, I am seriously considering skipping it. Don't need to chance all those parents seeing this display...
I visited with the other teacher at his school that really tries with him today. She sent him on an errand to talk with me without him hearing, and turns out she had a brother much like him. It took them years to get him directed, but she says he is absolutely brilliant, and beleives wee difficult child is, as well; his mind is just on overload. A bright spot in the day, for sure.
To add annoyance icing to the carp cake, tho, easy child 2, who is grounded from tv for forging signatures on failed work and lying about homework, showed up tonight proclaiming she could watch tv. We called her mom. This is probably the 15th time she's forged a signature and G*d only knows how many times she's lied about homework, but this is the first time there's really been some inkling of a punishment - except that "grounded from tv", according to her mom, means she can't chose the program or watch tv in her room by herself. But she can sit in the living room or family room and watch whatever is being watched in there.
And last night was the last day they'd have Iron Giant so they let her watch it so they could send it back to Netflix.
Tuesday, they were out of school due to snow, and since she couldn't watch tv, grandma took her shopping.
Gee, guys, I'd hate for her to actually do without something because she's grounded.
I'm really close to ceasing all extra efforts to help that child. With "support" like that, I can't see how we'll ever get anywhere. So sad, because I really believe all she needs is a little extra attention.
On a brighter note, tho, wee difficult child has been playing appropriately for a record hour and a half now. Its past bed time and I am not even about to approach that battle. Not today.
Update 10 minutes after post - I didn't allow him to start a science experiment he received as a gift. So much for the calm - tis over and I've been hit again.
We only have easy child 2 for a few hours on Christmas afternoon, and we try to make the main point of our Christmas celebration to be together as a family. Two Brooms won't back off having Christmas at her house on Christmas day, and she plans it for smack in the middle of the time we have easy child 2, so we either open gifts here and run, or fight to keep wee difficult child awake to open gifts here after.
So I said to heck with it, I want to ENJOY Christmas this year, so we planned to celebrate today (wee difficult child did not know this).
Wee difficult child's school called me at 1pm to pick him up. He was off his rocker again, and has been every day the past 2 weeks except one. I've upped the Risperdal in an attempt to counter it, but its not working.
So I pick him up and bring him home. We received a box in the mail from difficult child 1 with a gift in it for wee difficult child. Once we got home and he saw that, it was all over (still unaware we are opening gifts tonight). He became obsessed over that gift and he!! came thru the floor. All attempts to redirect were laughable. In the course of 45 minutes, I was hit with a flying shoe, several tinker toys, x-box remote, a tweed pillow, kicked 4 times, and hit with a fist 6 times. Mostly while attempting to lock him in his room. When the worst of that wore off and he came out, instantly, it started again. He would fluctuate between hitting me and then immediately hugging and apologizing. He knew he shouldn't, but couldn't stop himself. Occassionally he would pull back to strike and stop himself and then say "I want to hit you so bad".
Poor kid.
Poor mom. (If I'm allowed).
Three hours of this ensued. I didn't want to knock him down with the PRN because of Christmas, but I was getting close to beyond desperate. I finally unhooked the diesel and took him for a cruise (something about that truck sometimes calms him, but its a bear to start in the winter and it was hooked to a trailer....so it wasn't handy by any stretch). I told him we were looking for a pine tree for decorations (there are few pines around here). We drove for an hour and a half and added an additional 1.5mg of Risperdal before he was stable.
We came home 30 minutes before gifts. He still was not aware we were doing it, which was russian roulette, but it wasn't a big to-do, it was just the immediate family coming. Still had the prn option.
easy child 2 got here and we opened gifts, and I guess all in all it turned out ok, but I'm beyond beat and very defeated. He's playing now; I should be happy. Instead, all I seem able to do is pray that tomorrow is better.
His Christmas concert for school is Sunday, and even tho he wants to go, I am seriously considering skipping it. Don't need to chance all those parents seeing this display...
I visited with the other teacher at his school that really tries with him today. She sent him on an errand to talk with me without him hearing, and turns out she had a brother much like him. It took them years to get him directed, but she says he is absolutely brilliant, and beleives wee difficult child is, as well; his mind is just on overload. A bright spot in the day, for sure.
To add annoyance icing to the carp cake, tho, easy child 2, who is grounded from tv for forging signatures on failed work and lying about homework, showed up tonight proclaiming she could watch tv. We called her mom. This is probably the 15th time she's forged a signature and G*d only knows how many times she's lied about homework, but this is the first time there's really been some inkling of a punishment - except that "grounded from tv", according to her mom, means she can't chose the program or watch tv in her room by herself. But she can sit in the living room or family room and watch whatever is being watched in there.
And last night was the last day they'd have Iron Giant so they let her watch it so they could send it back to Netflix.
Tuesday, they were out of school due to snow, and since she couldn't watch tv, grandma took her shopping.
Gee, guys, I'd hate for her to actually do without something because she's grounded.
I'm really close to ceasing all extra efforts to help that child. With "support" like that, I can't see how we'll ever get anywhere. So sad, because I really believe all she needs is a little extra attention.
On a brighter note, tho, wee difficult child has been playing appropriately for a record hour and a half now. Its past bed time and I am not even about to approach that battle. Not today.
Update 10 minutes after post - I didn't allow him to start a science experiment he received as a gift. So much for the calm - tis over and I've been hit again.
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