HAPPY FRIDAY! ALSO, HAPPY "House Anniversary "to us!


WHAT is on the AGENDA today?
HEE-HEE

Agenda...
get it?

Ok... so that was not as funny out loud as it was in my head, but it was what came to mind with this photo.  I am happy that schools implemented the use of Agendas and that they also provide them to the students.  I'm not sure how many students actually use them, but there is at least the idea of using them and what it is for.
This week has been busy with appointments outside of home and closing the quarter/opening a new quarter.  Annika also returned to work from her recovery post-oral surgery.  She has had minor issues following the surgery so all went very well.  Alex is settling into 2nd quarter nicely.  Of particular interest is the fact that he has initiated more socialization with friends using email, a new texting app and also gaming together now that he has his gaming privileges again.  It's nice to see him socializing, laughing and talking with/doing activities with kids his own age.  He does gaming with his nephew Evan and with his good friend Juliette.  He has a new friend Evan from his Newcomers Group on Mondays.  This was a group of kids who are Warwick residents that for whatever reason were new transfers into the 7th grade.
In Alex's case, he was a transfer from West Warwick's Deering Middle School to his new Middle School at Veterans Memorial.  Evan was at a Catholic School.  There is another boy named Daniel in that group too and the kids use GMail Messenger to maintain a group chat.  Alex also FINALLY...omg, FINALLY! Have I mentioned, finally yet? Finally reached out to 2 of his friends from Warwick who he has known from Kindergarten!  Luca is a dear friend and Luca reached out on their school email after realizing that he and Alex had the same Guidance class and Luca found his email.  These kids are resourceful!  
After Luca reached out by email, and Alex was happy to hear from him...Alex decided that since Luca could find him by email...Alex could find Dillon the same way.  After all, Dillon had shown up in one of his electives for the 2nd quarter.  So Alex reached out on email and Dill responded.  I laughed when Alex told me how different Dillon was from how he knew him before.  Alex was intimidated because as a 5, 6 and 7 year old, Dillon was VERY into basketball and little else.  Whereas Alex enjoyed basketball but was far less confident in the activity.  It turns out that Dillon is an avid Gamer, and uses PS-4, like Alex does.
SO this is a LOT of growth in socialization.  I give a bounty of credit to the Guidance Teacher who created these Newcomer Groups and nurtures the socialization by inviting the kids to talk and share and engages them in conversations as a group and encourages them to talk "outside of the group".
Today (Friday), we are experimenting with the new schedule.  Many things are different from last week and last quarter.  We are voluntarily dropping the two elective courses because the Warwick School Department has realized that the IEP students cannot carry a load of 7 courses with a Distance Learning IEP Special Education Teacher.  IT   DOES   NOT   WORK.
In Alex's case, I am here with him to offer him the needed support.  But I follow the conversations of two online Support Groups (one for the school and one for Moms with kids who have ADHD).  The parents and guardians of these children are having the same issues as I am...with the same lack of resources, lack of support and lack of clear direction.  Sadly, we parents expect our teaching team, school administration or some other miracle of nature, to solve the issue at hand:  
"How to educate these kids".
Well here is the harsh truth of it:

It 
is
up
to
us.

We must do it.  WE must advocate.  We must KNOW what the kids are learning, what they are required to do...how they were told to do it...if we are going to effectively support our special needs learners. 

Now let's be truly honest here...a lot of us do not have time for that!  It is through no one's fault.  We live in a  country, in my case...in a state...that is expensive, driven by economic needs and the costs of living are high!  This is why single parents work multiple jobs to pay for tiny apartment lifestyles and married couples cannot survive on one income alone either...especially those who, like my family, have bought into the "American Dream", and bought ourselves a house.  Now we must earn, as well as we provide.  We must earn money to pay for the house and all that goes with it, while simultaneously supporting the needs of the family- emotional needs, educational needs, mental health needs, physical health needs!
There is ZERO time for us to care about our own interests except in a limited, passing manner.
In my personal situation, I suffer from multiple health issues that slow me down a lot.  I have an auto-immune illness that makes me TIRED and it is hard to push past that.  Also, I have Severe Depressive Disorder, sustained from years of abuse and neglect.  I am MUCH healthier now emotionally and spiritually, but I could use some support being healthier physically.  My eating habits are not as good as they were before, nor is my exercise.  I enjoy gardening and biking and use these as a means to motivate myself.  My son also likes to ride bikes with me.  In fact, the whole family does!
In addition to the above health issues, I have a lot of responsibility with multiple animals, a husband with ADHD/Autism, a daughter with Generalized Anxiety Disorder- treated non medically, and with Alex and his Depression and ADHD.  These are the stories that paint the world I live in.  Then there are the goals we have- the desire to start a small personal business (my desire to start one), the need for stable work (Annika), the regular battle to manage everything social at work without it blowing up around him (Jamie), and the need for proper experience of school and friends. (Alex).  
I know that anyone reading this is also trying to strike their own balance in life.  Plug your names and challenges in to the above statement and then really give yourself credit for what you achieve given these challenges!  This is compassion for self...and you deserve that.  If you cannot give yourself compassion and understanding, do NOT expect anyone else to do it.
Here is what our week has looked like in pictures.  Alex took it upon himself to brush the dog.  I really appreciated that act of compassion and connection.  I have never seen him initiate doing it.  Usually only Jamie brushes Cloud.  Also, we baked Cupcakes and brought Chili to Aunt Jean.  Annika finally getting up and moving around again...














I will end it here for now.  This weekend, Jamie and I are going to attempt to locate and bring upstairs, all of the Christmas Decorations and then maybe even start to decorate outside for Christmas. I doubt we will get far since he has to work at Lowe's all weekend and Annika has to work at Antonio's...but maybe I can get some stuff done...we shall see!
~Namaste
Lilac

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