Otter and Lion, getting grown up

It has been a busy few years since I lasted blogged here. The kids are 6 and 8 now, we live in our very own house (though it's mostly the bank's), the kids gathered up more diagnoses (gut and development/brain-related) than I care to count, I've gotten tenure, G is (temporarily?) unemployed, our amazing friend J is living with us, and we've we accumulated four cats. Somehow we have settled in an entirely different life from the one I envisioned for myself.

Yes, planned for: G, kids, house, teaching, library visits, Tivo, cats, iced tea.
No, unexpected surprises: IEPs, multiple meds for each kid, four pediatric therapy appointments every week (should be six) plus specialist visits, utterly cluttered house, hurricane-decimated willow in the yard, very little cooking, lots of administrative work, two great online support groups for parents of kids with special needs, one incredible friend/babysitter/nanny/live-in roommate, meat meals again to accommodate the kids' allergies, bright green kitchen, coral laundry room, intense teal back porch, me becoming a fairly fluent multi-tasker.

Goodbye for now.

My new job is too time-consuming; I'll re-open this blog when and if I get an extended chunk of time, (maybe in the summer once I stop teaching summers).

P's and Q's

We just got Otter, my older son, some chewy plastic toys (P and Q) meant to give him an endorsed alternative to chewing his clothes.

It's amazing the things I never thought I'd need to find or buy or learn about; I end up saying: "go get your P and Q, honey; stop chewing on your fingers.

The joys of modern parenting

This week we've been fighting the good fight with my younger son's gastroenterologist and allergist, both of whom feel ongoing diarrhea and recurring gut pain is not sufficient reason to modify his diet/pursue elemental formula as treatment. I am finding that I have more resources than I thought possible to push very hard for my kid when it's necessary.

My older son has some sensory issues and fine and gross motor issues, and so we're struggling to get him whatever help he needs, which first means pursuing a diagnosis.

None of this is what I envisioned.

This, to me, is one of the dilemmas of modern parenting: (collectively) we have so much more knowledge of what can make children's lives harder (and easier) and how to help, but individually, we end up having to work so hard to find where to look and figure out which pieces of that knowledge apply to our particular child. ADD, sensory issues, being on the autism spectrum, anxiety disorders, food allergies, food intolerances, immune system issues, and so on and so on. You end up working hard to find the right experts for your child and/or researching long to find out what is missing for your child. Then you have to convince the pediatrician or the teacher or the therapist to see what you're talking about and figure out if your child needs help.