In Which Spring Break is the Middle (for some)

Well, since we got such a late start on our school year (Dad in the hospital most all summer, his funeral, recovery from that) and started after Labor Day, we are JUST NOW half-way through with the school year. Well, Little Bit is anyway. She would be a little further but we accomplished exactly one week of school before her tics reared their ugly head.

We went to a psychologist for the first time for her a few weeks ago. She's seen a neurologist twice, but the neurologist heard she had been dealing with anxiety and said the psychologist could help with that as well as the Tourette Syndrome. I was very unimpressed with the clinic, but the doctor herself was great. She said she would give grief at least a year before she would worry about treating the anxiety (which has since gone away) so that was reassuring.

Climbing on the rhino that sticks out of the building at the zoo.

The other good news is Little Bit will being doing some training this summer to learn a method which the name escapes me right now but basically it is learning to re-train the brain to ignore the tics. She said we will have to go to about 6 sessions, with homework and then we should be good. That is good news as well.

While we were at the psychologist's office, we got into a brief discussion about Sweetheart and her ADD. We had tried meds last year but they didn't work. I was telling the doctor how the doc who prescribed the meds wouldn't put her on a stimulant due to her sister having TS. She said that was ridiculous and she absolutely could have stimulants. So....to medicate or not to medicate?

OK, maybe Sweetheart can help Little Bit.

Well, earlier this week Sweetheart was going to make mac-n-cheese to go with our supper. She messed up and put the milk, butter, and noodles all in the boiling water. OK. Read the directions, slow down and think about what you are doing. Certainly not her first time to make mac-n-cheese! Then she messed it up again! That's two boxes of food down the drain if you are keeping count. The next day she messed up something else she was cooking. I made it for her the next time. That's five boxes of food we went through for 2 side dishes. She's 16 and she's pretty comfortable in the kitchen. She can make a lot of things. This really concerned me. For goodness sake one day this child may need to feed herself! If she can't even concentrate long enough to make something as simple as noodles, that's a problem! Not to mention how behind in school she is or how long it takes her to get something done. Not to mention her room.

SERIOUSLY I'm not going to mention those things!!!!!

They aren't good for my blood pressure.

Hang on, Bee. You seem to be backwards.

For now I shall concentrate on the fact that my 6th grader is half-way through with school. And I will rejoice in that.
We're gonna give "year round school" a whole new meaning this year, that's for sure.

Whew. There were about 25 other pictures in this series. They crack me up.

In the Absence of Peer Pressure

I have so many things to share with you, including pictures of our camping trip and what's going on in our homeschool, etc.

But today my thoughts are on teenagers. You know, I have one of those. We like to refer to her as a "young lady" instead of a "teen" and I think she kind of likes that too. She knows that the word "teenager" was invented quite recently in history and that throughout most of time, people her age were called/treated as "young men and women."

But she's just on the edge of all that. She only turned 13 two months ago. She's still on the edge of childhood, really. Still content to play with her little sister (as they are doing right now), and yet able to take on a lot more responsibilities.

I worry sometimes about her maturity. I don't know why. I'll see a Facebook page of a girl around Sweetheart's age, and I'll flip through their pictures. They just seem so much more grown up than her.

But actually, I don't WANT my daughter to spend her time taking pictures of herself in the bathroom mirror with the caption, "wat y'all think?". I really don't.

So I'll think about how she still seems like such a little girl, and then I realize a few things:

1. This is what 13 looks like for her.
2. In 6 months, she'll be different.
3. I wonder what other 13 year olds would be like if they didn't have peer pressure causing them to act like they do.
4. I'd rather have a daughter who reads her Bible than posts pictures of herself on Facebook making stupid faces and spelling everything wrong.
5. Children today REALLY can't spell. I know a lot of it is on purpose, but not all of it!
6. Like, for example, the picture of food I saw today with the caption, "This is my favorite snake."
7. See what I mean?

Sorry, got off-topic there. The point is, Sweetheart is in transition mode. She's moving from childhood to young womanhood and it isn't an overnight change. Nor is it supposed to be.

Example? Last night we were walking out the door to go to church and she came around the corner carrying Bee and her American Girl doll. At the same time. That is just a perfect picture of where she is.

And like the morning that I needed to sleep in and Sweetheart came and got Bee from my room. When I got up, Sweetheart had Bee laying on her activity mat in the living room, while she made pancakes in the kitchen, while playing with Little Bit....all at the same time. She had everything in perfect control when I walked in.

This transition is interesting. And from what I see on Facebook and around me...I know we need to spend more time on Bible and less time worrying about what other "teens" are doing/wearing/talking about.

Oh, and definitely more time on spelling.