My son and husband went bowling before school started at my son’s school last week. My daughter, already in school for the year, missed out and was unhappy because she wanted to have a chance to knock down all the pins and get this thing my son was talking about, called a “turkey”. Today we planned to bowl and take her with us.
There was a bit of a scheduling calamity involving things not being put on the calendar in conjunction with us forgetting we’d told my daughter we’d go bowling, but we’d promised, so we made it happen.
Leagues were happing all day long, but all forty lanes would be open after five o’clock so we headed over at five-thirty, meeting my husband there as he came back in town from playing golf.
I don’t know what my daughter expected, but I think she had a good time. She was most interested in the ball return, which ball was “hers” even though her and her brother’s balls were the same color and style.
Things of note that happened: my son knocked down the side rails two times in his exuberance, my daughter got a spare, and my husbands bowling shoes—which he hadn’t used in years—both fell completely apart in the first half-game.
No one got a turkey.
The Big Boy Tiny Girl Labor Day Update: Both children are going to rock climbing camp today. To prepare for this, we went and got donuts (with sprinkles) after lunch for tomorrow’s breakfast. My son is excited about going but my daughter, for the first time ever, isn’t interested in rock climbing. We’ll see if she changes her mind when she arrives tomorrow.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Saturday, September 1, 2018
A Lot of Movies
It’s been twelve days since I’ve taken any Lyrica and I’m hoping I’m through the worst of it by now. I don’t have the nerve rebound pain I was having at first but I’m having a second side-effect that’s plagued me for over a week now—no appetite. Worse than that, I get mildly nauseated whenever I eat something so I have to try and eat fairly quickly before I’m forced to quit eating. The result is I’ve lost weight and I have low energy all the time.
I’ve been so low energy I’ve spent more time in bed than I probably needed to be in bed for a whole month. It’s been a process. I think that’s the most positive thing I can say about it right now. Staying in bed has been challenging because I can’t get comfortable with the spine complications I have going. Lying on my right side and my right shoulder muscles cramp up badly, lying on my left side causes muscular problems in my right lower ribs and lying on my back without the pillow at just the right height and my arms fall asleep while my neck cramps.
I’ve spent some time in the basement in the reclining chairs my husband frequently falls asleep in at night, which has been helpful some. And I’ve gone through more ice packs than I would typically use in six months. But I have accomplished something—I’ve watched a lot of movies and television.
I don’t watch much television or movies. We have movie night here on Friday’s and there is a joke that I only watch one movie per year, that being on my birthday week. I don’t go to movies much either at typically two per year. So I suppose I’ve been catching up.
I’ve been watching all the Marvel movies. There are a lot of Marvel movies. There are several I still haven’t seen so we’re watching Captain America: Winter Soldier tonight. My son is most excited. My daughter, less so.
I also got in some good documentaries on space and the space missions. I love a good documentary. And now I must go, because my son has just run in the room to tell me it’s time to start the movie. As far as things go with the stupid withdrawals, I’ve been able to eat more today than I have in a single day for over a week now, which should help with the low energy. I am really looking forward to being back to normal. Or normal-ish. I don’t know what my normal really is at this point.
The Big Boy Update: My son wants to see the third Avengers movie and needs to see (so my husband tells us) the second Captain America movie to keep the interwoven timeline straight. I’ve seen all the Avengers movies. I think he’ll like it when he does see it.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: There are movies that have a special audio track for the visually impaired. It’s called Descriptive Audio and is available in movie theaters on select movies and even Netflix has a whole collection of titles with the capability. This afternoon I put on Captain Underpants with descriptive audio for my daughter. It’s done very well. Hopefully she can watch (listen to) movies like it more frequently. It would enable us to have family movie night where she could enjoy the time too.
I’ve been so low energy I’ve spent more time in bed than I probably needed to be in bed for a whole month. It’s been a process. I think that’s the most positive thing I can say about it right now. Staying in bed has been challenging because I can’t get comfortable with the spine complications I have going. Lying on my right side and my right shoulder muscles cramp up badly, lying on my left side causes muscular problems in my right lower ribs and lying on my back without the pillow at just the right height and my arms fall asleep while my neck cramps.
I’ve spent some time in the basement in the reclining chairs my husband frequently falls asleep in at night, which has been helpful some. And I’ve gone through more ice packs than I would typically use in six months. But I have accomplished something—I’ve watched a lot of movies and television.
I don’t watch much television or movies. We have movie night here on Friday’s and there is a joke that I only watch one movie per year, that being on my birthday week. I don’t go to movies much either at typically two per year. So I suppose I’ve been catching up.
I’ve been watching all the Marvel movies. There are a lot of Marvel movies. There are several I still haven’t seen so we’re watching Captain America: Winter Soldier tonight. My son is most excited. My daughter, less so.
I also got in some good documentaries on space and the space missions. I love a good documentary. And now I must go, because my son has just run in the room to tell me it’s time to start the movie. As far as things go with the stupid withdrawals, I’ve been able to eat more today than I have in a single day for over a week now, which should help with the low energy. I am really looking forward to being back to normal. Or normal-ish. I don’t know what my normal really is at this point.
The Big Boy Update: My son wants to see the third Avengers movie and needs to see (so my husband tells us) the second Captain America movie to keep the interwoven timeline straight. I’ve seen all the Avengers movies. I think he’ll like it when he does see it.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: There are movies that have a special audio track for the visually impaired. It’s called Descriptive Audio and is available in movie theaters on select movies and even Netflix has a whole collection of titles with the capability. This afternoon I put on Captain Underpants with descriptive audio for my daughter. It’s done very well. Hopefully she can watch (listen to) movies like it more frequently. It would enable us to have family movie night where she could enjoy the time too.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Bad Parent
I feel like a bad parent some days. I think probably all parents do. I don’t know if it’s the whining from my daughter or my son being defiant or what, but I don’t handle situations in the way I want to. Dhruti’s said studies show you only have to get it right thirty percent of the time as a parent for your child to turn out just fine. I suppose my expectation for myself is higher than that though.
The Big Boy Update: My son isn’t interested in doing tumbling anymore. He’s asked if he can try the tricking class, which we’ll take him to next week. If that isn’t interesting to him we may look into something else like Tai Quon Do.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to type on the computer today. She’s learning keyboard layout and will type based on the location of the keys as she gets older. There’s an app called, Talking Typer, from the American Publishing House for the Blind that is target at visually impaired people. She had fun with it this afternoon for a good while.
The Big Boy Update: My son isn’t interested in doing tumbling anymore. He’s asked if he can try the tricking class, which we’ll take him to next week. If that isn’t interesting to him we may look into something else like Tai Quon Do.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to type on the computer today. She’s learning keyboard layout and will type based on the location of the keys as she gets older. There’s an app called, Talking Typer, from the American Publishing House for the Blind that is target at visually impaired people. She had fun with it this afternoon for a good while.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Fun Run
My daughter’s public school does a single fundraiser each year. The two years we’ve been at the school it’s been a fun run of thirty five laps and some education on a one or more topics during the two weeks for the students in which the fundraising occurs. My daughter is excited about this year mostly because last year she had such a good time.
We weren’t involved with the at school events last year but we came for the run portion of the event. Parents, family and friends can pledge a per lap amount for up to thirty-five laps my daughter might run. We weren’t certain how the running would play out last year so I asked one of the teachers about it before the event. She said the “laps” were short and the event was set up so all of the children could be successful at the event and make the full distance.
When we got there last year each child had a t-shirt on for the event and teachers were waiting with sharpies ready to mark off a check box for each lap as the child ran past. Today, coincidentally, for the start of this year’s boosterthon, my daughter wore her fully checked off shirt from last year’s event to school.
Last year my daughter raised enough money (thanks family!) to have the privilege of “pieing” the principal. This year she’s heard you get to silly string the principal if you raise enough and after getting a taste for victory from last year, she’s gunning for the honor again this year.
On the way home in the car this afternoon, my daughter asked if I could send her pledge page information to her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. She’s pretty excited about the whole event. She’s even planning on writing thank you notes on her braillewriter. She told me, “I just can’t wait for two weeks to be over so I can do the run with my friends.”
I’ve never been this excited about fundraising. I’m glad she is.
The Big Boy Update: My husband taught my son some workout activities tonight. My son and he wrote up a full regime for the coming week, including: burpees, wall squats, planks…and the worm. Not sure about that last one being a typical fitness exercise, but it is tiring.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Remember when my daughter climbed the door frames so much it made her hands bleed? She doesn’t do that at all anymore—she has a new obsession: her purple ball. It’s a purple yoga ball and she won’t go anywhere without it. And it’s annoying because she wants to eat on it, brush her teeth on it, do eye drops on it and has even asked to have it in her bed at night. She just lost it apparently due to behavior because I hear her wailing over and over, “purple ball! purple ball!” in their bedroom while my husband works on getting them calmed down for bed.
We weren’t involved with the at school events last year but we came for the run portion of the event. Parents, family and friends can pledge a per lap amount for up to thirty-five laps my daughter might run. We weren’t certain how the running would play out last year so I asked one of the teachers about it before the event. She said the “laps” were short and the event was set up so all of the children could be successful at the event and make the full distance.
When we got there last year each child had a t-shirt on for the event and teachers were waiting with sharpies ready to mark off a check box for each lap as the child ran past. Today, coincidentally, for the start of this year’s boosterthon, my daughter wore her fully checked off shirt from last year’s event to school.
Last year my daughter raised enough money (thanks family!) to have the privilege of “pieing” the principal. This year she’s heard you get to silly string the principal if you raise enough and after getting a taste for victory from last year, she’s gunning for the honor again this year.
On the way home in the car this afternoon, my daughter asked if I could send her pledge page information to her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. She’s pretty excited about the whole event. She’s even planning on writing thank you notes on her braillewriter. She told me, “I just can’t wait for two weeks to be over so I can do the run with my friends.”
I’ve never been this excited about fundraising. I’m glad she is.
The Big Boy Update: My husband taught my son some workout activities tonight. My son and he wrote up a full regime for the coming week, including: burpees, wall squats, planks…and the worm. Not sure about that last one being a typical fitness exercise, but it is tiring.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Remember when my daughter climbed the door frames so much it made her hands bleed? She doesn’t do that at all anymore—she has a new obsession: her purple ball. It’s a purple yoga ball and she won’t go anywhere without it. And it’s annoying because she wants to eat on it, brush her teeth on it, do eye drops on it and has even asked to have it in her bed at night. She just lost it apparently due to behavior because I hear her wailing over and over, “purple ball! purple ball!” in their bedroom while my husband works on getting them calmed down for bed.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Lazy
I haven’t felt this lazy in a long time. I’m off the medication but I have very little energy and no appetite. When I eat I get nauseated. But things are getting better. I feel sort of depressed because this is a mess to go through. I can’t give up now though. It’s getting better.
What’s bothering me more than anything is I’m not helping with the children as much as I would normally. My husband and I split things even for the most part, but he’s been doing more than I have it feels like for a week now. He doesn’t seem to mind. He’s really something.
The Big Boy Update: My son and I went to McDonald’s before school this morning. I was taking him and I had to eat something and I was hopeful I could get a whole biscuit down. We had a nice breakfast together. He’s fun.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter had her school picture taken yesterday. And she was unhappy about it. I didn’t know this, but as much as she wants pictures taken of things, she doesn’t want pictures taken of her.
What’s bothering me more than anything is I’m not helping with the children as much as I would normally. My husband and I split things even for the most part, but he’s been doing more than I have it feels like for a week now. He doesn’t seem to mind. He’s really something.
The Big Boy Update: My son and I went to McDonald’s before school this morning. I was taking him and I had to eat something and I was hopeful I could get a whole biscuit down. We had a nice breakfast together. He’s fun.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter had her school picture taken yesterday. And she was unhappy about it. I didn’t know this, but as much as she wants pictures taken of things, she doesn’t want pictures taken of her.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Bleh
I think the worst of the nerve medication withdrawals are over. But it’s hard to say. What I can say is this isn’t anything like going through opioid detox. That’s nasty. Very nasty. I’ve done that twice before and it takes weeks and weeks for your system to reset after being on sustained doses of narcotics for over a year. But even so, this isn’t fun.
I’ve been eight days now without any nerve medication. It’s hard to tell what is nerve pain I’m stuck with and what’s rebound pain from being on nerve medication for a long time. I’ve decreased the dosage appropriately and now I’m on none. So what’s the real pain and what’s rebound pain? I don’t think I can say yet.
I feel a general sense of malaise along with pain. I deal with pain all the time, but in this case, the medication that makes the pain better is the thing I’m stopping. So I just have to tough it out and see what my baseline is on the other side. I’m dealing more with lack of appetite and lack of energy, which isn’t helpful when there are young children around who need you to be available to help them with all manner of things like, “where is my bike helmet?” and six rounds of drops per day and “get your pajamas on now, for the third time, it’s past bedtime”. That sort of thing, only all day.
Fortunately today was the first day of school for my son, so both children are not home during the day and I’ve gotten some rest. Things are better than they were though, which is a good sign for tomorrow and the next day.
The Big Boy Update: My son got dressed up in costume after school today. He decided to be a villain or something and made jagged cut marks on his face and arms in—wait for it—red sharpie. It looks pretty convincing for entry level scarification makeup. Getting it off for school tomorrow might be a trick though.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter came home saying, “WORST…DAY…EVER!” It would appear she missed her entire time in the VI room to be with her Orientation and Mobility teacher, whom she typically enjoys seeing. Her new VI teacher has made quite an impression on her and I think she loves doing work with her so much she didn’t want to miss a day. She also gets chocolate if she meets a challenge or wins a game—and my daughter is very chocolate driven. I got a note home that we need to get a 38” cane because my daughter has grown and her 36” canes are too short. This is always fun because you can order them with all sorts of colors.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Written By My Daughter
Tonight’s blog post has been written by my daughter. She didn’t know she was going to be writing it, but when she came home with what she wrote during the half-hour writing time today, I couldn’t resist. Her topic was what we did as a family yesterday.
Here’s a quiz to determine your reading comprehension of my daughter’s writing:
1) What is her brother allergic to? Cats
2) What medicine did her brother take because of his allergy? Benadryl
3) Where did we go to eat after seeing the cats at Uncle Jonathan and Margaret’s? Pizza
4) What negative behavior did her brother exhibit? He had a tantrum and sounded like a baby.
5) What items did she and her brother pick when we got home? Dessert (popsicles)
The Big Boy Update: My son said he wasn’t coming out of his room until two weeks had passed and he got screens back. He came out ten minutes later and he’s had a good day doing other things.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has had a lot of homework sent home. Doing the homework isn’t the challenging part. It’s me, figuring out how to do it. The original homework is sent that describes what to do for the sighted students. Then, there is a second version of the assignment for my daughter to accommodate for her vision. They send home the instructions translated into braille as well, which is nice, but I have to decipher it (translate it) to figure out what is just a braille copy and what I need to know to help her do the homework itself. Typically it takes very little time to do the homework and a lot of time for me to figure it out. I’m getting a lot of practice in braille, thought.
Here’s a quiz to determine your reading comprehension of my daughter’s writing:
1) What is her brother allergic to? Cats
2) What medicine did her brother take because of his allergy? Benadryl
3) Where did we go to eat after seeing the cats at Uncle Jonathan and Margaret’s? Pizza
4) What negative behavior did her brother exhibit? He had a tantrum and sounded like a baby.
5) What items did she and her brother pick when we got home? Dessert (popsicles)
The Big Boy Update: My son said he wasn’t coming out of his room until two weeks had passed and he got screens back. He came out ten minutes later and he’s had a good day doing other things.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has had a lot of homework sent home. Doing the homework isn’t the challenging part. It’s me, figuring out how to do it. The original homework is sent that describes what to do for the sighted students. Then, there is a second version of the assignment for my daughter to accommodate for her vision. They send home the instructions translated into braille as well, which is nice, but I have to decipher it (translate it) to figure out what is just a braille copy and what I need to know to help her do the homework itself. Typically it takes very little time to do the homework and a lot of time for me to figure it out. I’m getting a lot of practice in braille, thought.
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