I don't know what to do

[tiredmommy]

Duckie had a difficult day today. She and another girl "B" had been library helpers yesterday at the end of the day. The library aide called them back this morning and wanted to know what they knew about the letters on a bulletin board being rearranged to spell the word "p-o-o-p". Duckie says it was B, but she was afraid to tell because B said she would blame it on Duckie. She later relented and let the aide know it was B. Now, that's all fine and dandy except that I've been on her for the last few weeks to stop repeatedly saying the very same word. She may not have actually moved the letters but I'm certain she was in on the word choice. Grrr.

Then, she was told to stop talking several times by one of the teachers during handwriting instruction. Finally, she was sent back to her home-base classroom for being a distraction (instruction was taking place in a neighboring classroom). She insists the teacher was mistaken because she wasn't taking. This is after she gave me a killer headache last night with her non-stop talking. She even talked through a shower!

And finally, she was loud & obnoxious at girl scouts tonight. Interrupting, constant motion, argumentative, bossy. She was a major distraction to everyone.

She's been sick this week and her asthma has kicked up but I gave her a nebulizer treatment and her peak flow numbers have perked up 40 points. I don't know if I should keep her home tomorrow, she's really not sick enough but she's having a hard time controlling herself and behaving appropriately. Normally, I'd call it a mental health day but she's already missed 11 days between my mother's death and her being very sick last fall. I'm really on the fence.

What would you do?

 

[flutterby]

I'd keep her home.

Is she on steroids at the moment?

The non-stop talking used to be my difficult child. She. never. stopped. talking. It didn't matter if there was an audience or not. You have my sympathies.

 

[klmno]

Honestly TM, it might not be the most popular answer but I really believe the asthma medications and medications kids with health problems like this end up getting contribute (if not completely cause) to this kind of stuff. I'd either keep her home if she still needs more or let the teachers and admin at school know that this is the kind of reaction it causes in her and let them choose- unless you feel sure in your mommy heart that this is not causing it.

 

[tiredmommy]

She's not on prednisolone so far but her maintenance medication has been doubled as of last night. Trouble is that the excessive talking started before the medication was doubled (yesterday afternoon). I do think she is overtired because she doesn't sleep well when she's sick but I don't think this particular day of difficult behavior can be attributed to her medication.

 

[Wiped Out]

TM,
The non stop talking-ugh! Tough decision on whether to keep her home or not. If you get the feeling tomorrow is going to be the same kind of day it might not be a bad idea. Hugs.

 

[flutterby]

I'd give her a day to try to catch up on some sleep. She needs it anyway since she's sick.

 

[slsh]

TM - it's a hard call. You don't want her to learn that she gets out of school when she's wound up (I get the impression Duckie likes school, but... you always have to worry about setting a precedent), but then you don't want to have bad days pile on bad days.

I don't know. If I had to do it over, I would've kept thank you home on the days that I knew were going to be impossible. Hindsight being 20/20, it might have defused the situation.

Academically, missing a day isn't going to hurt her - I'm sure you've kept her current on her school work.

Where's the difficult child manual???? I guess I'd see how her emotional temperature is this morning and go from there. If she's already revved up at 7 a.m. (and you're feeling strong, LOL), I'd lean towards keeping her home.

 

[tiredmommy]

Well... I've made my decision. She's to stay home. She was sniffling and coughing quite a bit throughout the night. She'll be home with husband (he's working from home) while I do fish fry prep and work a half day. The kicker? She got up to use the bahroom and I sent her back to bed afterward... she started arguing with me about staying home.

I think I made the right decision.

 

[JJJ]

I'm glad you are keeping her home. I do that with Tigger and insist he rest, etc. so it isn't a "fun" day. But why set them up to fail?

 

[totoro]

For us when K is unstable, to the point if it being abnormal... LOL We would keep her home if the School didn't have safeguards and a plan set up for her.
Otherwise we send her, but K is like this 24/7!

Ducky is more stable so this not the norm for her and I think she does need a day to recoup. If she seemed to be milking it I think you would know. Her body is out of whack.

K wants to be at School even when she is manic, so I let the School call the shots on when to send her home.
It is one of those tough calls that we don't get a manual for, but Duckies issues are more of a Health and letting her body catch up thing right now.
She still needs to be lectured on the POOP! LOL

 

[gcvmom]

You absolutely made the right decision. I know when my kids were younger I agonized over them missing school, but now that my oldest is in highschool, I've learned that it's not the end of the world when they're out due to illness. Sure, it's tough to play catch-up, but if they're miserable, there's no sense in putting them in a no-win situation. SO many elementary schools put pressure on families to send kids to school for funding issues... but if they're sick, they're sick and it's not worth jeapordizing their health further for the sake of attendance numbers. In the grand scheme of things, it's just not that important.

Hope she improves over the weekend. And I hope she doesn't wear you out!

(((Hugs)))

 

[tiredmommy]

Thanks everyone. I'm doubly glad that I kept her home today: her teacher had a sub and there was an assembly. That's way too much opportunity for trouble. Her peak flow numbers were low again (170) so she's been nebulized again. She had a low key day... she read some and laid around watching tv. She didn't nap but that's because she refuses to. So I gave her a massage and put her to bed a little early. She's still pale and obviously sick.

 

[klmno]

yep, right decision. On top of what's already been said, it sounds like she could have ended up with the physical illness getting worse if she'd gone.