Getting Past the Sentence

My son takes Adderall for school.   He doesn't particularly like taking it, but it helps him focus for school and he absolutely wants to take it then, although that's the only time. One thing that happens to him is he has a very low appetite.   He eats very little for lunch at school.   Usually, he's ravenous when he gets out of school but this year so far he hasn't been hungry until dinnertime. 

One of the other things that happen is the thought process, while very focused, is not straightforward when he verbalizes his thoughts.   My son is articulate, speaks clearly, and is very easy to listen to.   He has complete thoughts he can explain easily and without difficulty.  However, when he's first out of school and the Adderall hasn't worn off for the day, he has a challenging time getting his thoughts out without repeating himself.  

It's as though he's thinking at a different rate than he's speaking.   Sometimes you want to just finish the sentence for him.   He knows what's happening and it frustrates him just as much.   It's worth it for him to be able to focus at school to get his work done—which he is excelling at. 

Today in the car on the way home, my son was trying to explain something and he couldn't get the sentence out.   He said, and I thought this was a very good way to explain it, "I'm sorry, I just can't get past this sentence."  

The Big Boy Update:  As we rode home from school today my son said, "I'm in a very good mood.   For some reason I want to give a hundred dollars to charity...and then buy a new gaming mouse."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Shelia, the massage therapist, came to the house today.   My daugher has been really enjoying it and looks forward to her coming.  Today, after my son had had a turn she said if I didn't want to have a turn, could she take some more of the time?   I said sure. 

Fidgets, Again

My husband is watching a show on Flat Earthers and as much as I try, I continue to be distracted by the things being said around the corner of the room from where I'm typing.   But let's see if I can get this post written. 

My daughter has a neighborhood friend, Ashley, with who she loves to play.   She asked if she could come over and play today.   She had a lot of reading to do, so she set to work, well reading with her fingers, and got done in time for Ashley to come over in the afternoon.  

She asked if Ashley could bring her collection of Fidgets over, something that's all the rage.  The two girls had a huge amount of fun today, despite my son's attempts to intervene, and at the end of the day, my daughter had an entirely new collection of Fidgets.  

What had happened, I asked her?   She said they had traded.   She was happy to have let go of some of her items and had gained some new things.   Next weekend, they want to meet again.  And of course, my daughter would like to get some new fidgets in preparation with her saved money. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son spent the entire weekend in pajamas I believe.   I can't say as I blame him, I like spending the majority of the weekend in my pajamas too.   COVID-19 has been bad on so many levels, but it has brought back pajamas as primary clothing that's acceptable, even in the yard. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter just might finish reading her book in time to write her report before presenting on Friday.   I hope so because the last project she was behind on upset her very much.  

Stomach Troubles

My son vomited yesterday morning.   Any type of illness these days, even if the symptoms aren't common for COVID-19, is suspect.   My husband took my son for a test but we had little to fear because, within the span of two hours he was not only fine, he was eating ravenously and had no additional symptoms at all.   

We chalked it up as a fluke, possibly food-related.   Today after dinner though, just after devouring a bowl of Mexican food, suddenly my stomach went nuts as I was eating dessert.   I'm still feeling bad an hour later, but not overly nauseated.   With COVID-19, not an issue, what illness takes two hours to run its course?

Hopefully, the Mexican and ice cream just weren't playing together well in my stomach.   I'm heading to bed anyway.

The Big Boy Update:  My son is 100% fine.  He's just glad he can spend time with his friends again outside. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I got three hours of sleep last night.  My daughter wanted to show me how she made her bed and when I lay down with her and the dog, she tried to let me fall asleep because she knew I was tired.   And I did.   She was very sweet. 

The Visits

My children went to visit my parents, Mimi and Gramps, recently.   My mother made sure each of their trips was packed with fun things to do.   When they returned she sent me a summary of all the things they did over the four days each of them spent with their grandparents.   Here's a list, so that someday when my children are older, they can look back and remember all the fun they had in the mountains with Mimi and Gramps during the summer of 2021 as written by my mother.

My Son's Adventures:

Tuesday

- Arrive in Blowing Rock at lunch time

- Roast Beef Sandwiches and corn on the cob for Lunch

- Mystery Hill with dad

- Mississippi Roast for dinner

- Heavy rain. Stayed inside, played Scrabble and read

Wednesday

- Shoppes on the Parkway to get school outfit.

- Ate Kilwin's ice cream.

- Played soccer with a family friend at Shoppes on the Parkway

- Ate lunch at Sunny Rock.

- Went to Broyhill Park.  Fed the ducks.  Found a nest.

- Lost a tooth.  Put in a plastic bag to take home.

- Read books and played Scrabble.

Thursday

- Zip Lining at Whistle Pig Sky Valley at 12:00

- Ate lunch at home.

- Marlene and John visited and brought gifts

- Dinner at Moon with JoAnn

- Read books and played Scrabble

Friday

- High Gravity with dad

- Back to Mystery Hill for Tomahawk Axe Throwing event

- Rode Bull Riding Challenge

- Departed for home, 4:30

My Daughter's Adventures:

- Broyhill Park, fed ducks

- Dinner at Egg Rollin' at Shoppes on the Parkway with JoAnn

- Horseback Riding with Tim Vines, Alex and Otoe the horse

- Lunch, Famous Toastery

- Visits by Cara, Marlene and John

- Paddle Boats, Chetola

- Zoom call with friends

- Bought headbands and belt at Shoppes on the Parkway

- Read book at beadtime re King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Gold Dragon

- Lunch at Famous Toastery with dad

- Left for home about 3:00

Thanks for such a fun and memorable trip, Mimi and Gramps.  Both children are ready to come back tomorrow or any time in the future!

A Little Crooked

I've noticed in the videos I've been making that the first joint in my index finger is bent as though I had arthritis.   I don't feel like I have arthritis, but the joint does seem rather stiff.   I don't know if it would be painful or not, I have no pain in that particular part of me.

I think it would look more natural if my finger weren't bent though, so I've been stretching it, which will be futile if it's not something that's recoverable.   I'm going to try for at least a bit to see if it's posture or degeneration though. 

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Hurt Feelings:  My son said something tonight that basically said my daughter couldn't do something, "because she might hurt it" which upset her.   For the first time that I remember, she stood up for herself and tried to compare to my son what it might feel like if someone said something to him that had the same meaning.   He didn't want to hear it, saying he didn't mean it like that (I question that statement though) but we required him to.   It's tough, not being able to do things because you can't see and then being told you're not allowed to do things simply because you might hurt something because you can't see.   I was on my daughter's side, even though I'm guilty of telling her she can't do something without, "a tour" of the thing so she won't bump into and hurt herself or also, yes, damage something.   I suppose we could all be a little more sensitive.  

So Hot

It's that time of year that seems like summer should be over and the days should be getting cooler.   Only we have a good long while before we'll see any relief if all the past years of living in the south have anything to say about it.   

The Big Boy Update:  My son hasn't been wanting to go to Code Ninjas after his favorite instructor left but after today, he's decided he wants to keep going.   He's learning Java Script now, which is pretty exciting considering he's ten-years-old.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  It was raining after school. My mother-in-law came in after dropping my daughter off.  She and I chatted for a few minutes and then we realized she was outside in the steady rain, on her bicycle.  She is fearless.   

So Strange

I always hated what I would hear my voice on the tape recordings we would make when I was young.  The recording quality of the Tandy cassette recorder may have been questionable, but at the time, it was high-tech to my friends and me.

I had heard the reason we sound so different is that we hear our voices differently inside our heads and when we hear a recording, it just sounds wrong to us.   I thought that made a lot of sense.   Only as time went on and recording devices got better and more accurate, that level of, "I don't sound like me" went away.   

Of late I know this more because I hear myself recorded a lot.  We put out three main videos each week and I'm doing other videos in-between.  For everything that gets released, likely fifty times more has been recorded—which is a lot of listening to yourself recorded. 

It's strange though, hearing my voice coming out of my husband's computer as he works on the video or his phone when he's looking at it once posted.   And when I go into the social platforms to respond to the comments I hear it from my phone.  I'm getting used to it, but it still is uncomfortable. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son had a very good first day of school.  He is looking forward to the school year with his new teacher.  He got in the car and wanted to continue the work he had in his lap that he didn't have time to finish at school.   He sat down with his snack and kept working for the next while, telling me about this first day and the work plan he was making, and his idea of doing it in code like he does at Code Ninjas.   He said he might want to be a programmer when he went to college.  Maybe.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has a large reading project she is not reading enough hours for.  The latest is it will be a shorter, different, book.   But she's still got to get working on it or she will be out of time and will be upset at herself because she didn't complete the assignment in time.