Hodge Podge
[October 2009--No October pics this year yet! Can't believe how much Taevy's hair has grown since then!]I'm in a bit of a blogging slump. I'm a bit too busy to post about lots of the light-hearted day to day things (or take pics!) but I'm not feeling "deep" enough to write long-winded posts about the more serious stuff. So, I've just got hodge podge!
Bright: So proud of my little man lately. He's a big 5 year old now, and seems to be embracing his big boy status. Bright deals with a lot of anxiety, poor guy. That anxiety manifests itself in poor or out-of-control behaviors. Whatever label a doctor might put on Bright, at the bottom of it, I think, is anxiety. I've decided to stop trying to find a name and start focusing more on helping Bright to learn skills to stop some of the behavior. This is a little thing, but Bright was coming up to me constantly and kiss-attacking me. He would start kissing all over me, forcefully (arm, face, neck, leg). Sounds cute, but it really started to feel violating to me. After dealing with this for months I finally said, "Bright, you're stealing kisses. You can't steal kisses. You need to ask mommy." We practiced a few times. And he got it! Can't believe it took me months to figure out how to express to Bright why that was bugging me. It is so sweet now when he comes up and says, "Mommy, can I have a kiss?" I've never once said (or wanted to say) no. Being asked is nice. Whew! Anyway, that's just one example of the "training" we're doing, and he seems to be coping pretty well.
Kendi: Kendi could have a blog all on her own, just for her funny out takes. I think she is going to be the comedian of the Gillispie Fam! I've never had the class clown before, so this will be interesting! She is always trying to do something to entertain us. Tonight she came down acting like the troll on Dora and said, "You can't cross my bridge!" in this very troll-ish voice. I need to video-tape it.
Samren: Samren was having a HUGE struggle with laziness about a month ago. My husband is the hardest worker you will ever meet, so you can imagine how much it grates on him to have a son that doesn't have the same work ethic. I was wracking my brain trying to come up with SOMETHING to help Samren. We ended up getting into a major power struggle over him cleaning his room. He fought it for 11 days! Finally he accepted that we weren't giving in and helping him. And he did it. And since then we've seen a huge difference in his work ethic. The kids get merits each day if they meet our expectations in the area of being a good student, and good sibling, and a good worker. Samren didn't get merits today so when he asked if he could have computer time tonight I told him no--no merits equals on extras. He didn't do the typical Samren thing and cry for 15 minutes. He went into the hall, was sad for a minute, and then started doing all sorts of extra chores without asking. Better yet, he never did check to see if we noticed what he was doing or ask something like, "Mommy, do you see I'm doing a good job." He just did it. After I was sure he was doing the chores ONLY to redeem himself I was so happy to compliment him on a job well done!
Taevy: I know I compliment Taevy a lot on the blog but by-golly--there is a lot to compliment her on! I so wish for her that ADHD didn't make things in her mind so hectic. When she is able to focus there is no stopping my daughter! Her latest efforts have been to make and sell things so that she can give money some of her favorite charities. She's also doing odd jobs for donations. She has something like $11.57 cents. I told her she needs to get to $20 before making her first donation. One of her goals is to learn how to properly crochet so that she can sell those items. Poor child has a left-handed mama that has been very unsuccessful! Plus, I think the ADHD really affects her in this area. Taevy is the type that, if she doesn't get it the first try, she will quit. She can't stand to fail. But I'm so proud of her because with crochet she continues to try--and she's getting better! One of these days maybe she be a master fiber artist--all because she didn't give up. I'm proud of my girl.
Branson: If you're still reading you must really like me! LOL! The last weekend in October we are heading to Branson for a long weekend. Eric's parents have gifted us with lodging. We hope to go with them, but we may be heading over on our own. If you've ever been to Branson, MO (or are from the area) I'd love to hear of your favorite things to do! We're splurging one day for Silver Dollar City but the rest of the time we'd like to do things that are fun AND low cost.
Anita
P.S. It's going to be in the mid-80's this weekend here in Tulsa. Yeah...I'm OVER IT!
3 comments:
I have been to branson many times. There is a winery tour you can do that is free. They give samples to the adults and grape juice to the kids. We have done it many times. We are NOT big drinkers or anything, but it is neat to see how they make the wine and stuff. Make sure you get the coupon books that are out there. They really do save, most of the time family passes are the way to go. We always do time shares to help with tickets. If you were going to do one money thing and can swing it, the dixie stampeded is the best. NOTE: beware of the acrobats of china show. We all fell asleep lol. It's awesome but the music lulls you! There is an indoor water park, the coupon book will have coupons in it. If I was on a limited budget, it would be the one thing I would do. The first 3 times I went I skipped it cuz I didn't want to spend the money. If I had known the kids would love it so much I would have done it sooner. BTW I bought my last few coupon books on ebay. Some I got doing time shares. Like I said I always do timeshare presentations. They dont last me 2 hours either. Sometimes I'm out in 45 mins, but that is how we always did the dixie stampede HAHA
Hi, just an anonymous reader but just a thought for your children that struggle with anxiety and ADHD, have you considered diet changes and supplements? There is a lot of info out there now, but a good naturopath can be worth the money for their wealth of knowledge in this area. My brother struggles with ADHD and has for over 20yrs and diet changes made a world of difference.
http://www.naturopathic.org/
Shea, thanks for your thoughts on Branson! Well noted!
Christi, thanks for your thoughts on ADHD and diet! YES, diet is a big part of it. For Taevy, there are certain preservatives and dyes that cause her to have much more of a hard time. Unfortunately, we aren't able to control it with diet alone, but diet is a part of our plan with her. =-)
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