Thursday, February 24, 2011

7 good days

So, it is amazing how good it is to have 7 days straight of no headaches. I feel amazing. I feel like I should be doing stuff non stop as it might end any moment. I haven't mentioned, but I am babysitting a friend's 15 month old 2 days a week for 2-3 months while their day care provider is on maternity leave. It has been going well so far, and thank the Lord, I have not had a migraine on one of the days I have had him (just tension headaches, but not in last week!).

I have forgotten how much work they are at that age. Wow. I had him today. He is a super easy fun little guy and I am so thankful for that. I really enjoy him. But I know for sure that I am not interested in adopting little ones again!

This morning was interesting. Nobody swearing at me. No fights over meds. It was almost eery. We were able to sleep in a little bit even. Very strange. Tonight, I took the kids to see a movie, something we would not usually do on a school night. But they deserved something out of the ordinary. Homework was done so we went for it. It was really fun.

It has been a really nice few days of peace and I am actually looking forward to having Akila come home tomorrow. The kids and I talked about what to expect tomorrow night. I am assuming that she is going to be tightly wound, tired and extra nutty. I told them she will probably need extra mom attention and for them to be patient and to try to stay clear if necessary. Hoping the evening goes well. Re-entry is usually difficult.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Feeling good

Today is a good day. I have not had a headache for 6 days. That is the longest stretch for the year of 2011. Praise the Lord. I think the new med is working. I am not sure, but I think it is. I am waiting to see. But whatever it is, I am thankful.

I am also thankful, really thankful, for a two day, break. Break. Hear me people. Break. Shall I say it again. BREAK. That is right. I said Break. I dropped Akila off at school this morning and she is headed up north to Deep Portage for an environmental camp with her 6th grade class for 2 nights. Comes back on Friday. Can't tell you how excited I am. My headache relief has nothing to do with this. Seriously.

I love her school. For real. They are the best. I have complete confidence in them that this trip will go well for her, and for them. There may be a few little issues, but it will be fine. And we are all ready for a break. For real. A break. Did I mention that we are ready for a break? I awoke at 5:30 which is unheard of for me, I was so excited. As I was driving her to school, I was out of tissues in the van and had a slightly runny nose. I sniffed. Akila thought I was crying. Told her I wasn't. Did it again a few minutes later. She thought I was crying again. Let her think I was.

She told some of the staff I was crying. I laughed. So did they. They knew I was doing the happy dance. Not crying.

I did have a serious talk with her this weekend. I told her that if her violent behavior continued, that we would be calling the crisis line, and that she would be going to a hospital, not Children's Hospital, but a hospital with no IV's (which she is obsessed with and loves), no TV's, no good food, etc. I told her that she would possibly not be able to continue to live with us if she continues to be so violent (she has been horrible lately, really horrible). We had this discussion in her newly decorated bedroom, which I pointed out to her looks really nice and mom and dad want her to live in forever because we love her deeply, but she cannot live there if she is violent and hurting her siblings. I told her that if she is hurting the PCA's and being really disrespectful to them (which she has been doing), she will be having her skinny jeans, UGH boots and other fav things taken away). We had a deep talk about several alarming behaviors. I know that if not this spring, this summer, we will have to make "the call" that I have been prolonging and dreading for too long.

It did seem to help. She was "going off" on Zeke later that day, and I walked into the room and she immediately stopped. Yesterday, she announced to me that she now likes one of the PCA's whom she has been hating on for about 5-6 weeks since they had an incident in a store (over an attempted theft (the sweetest PCA ever!). Maybe I just need to have this serious talk with her more often, it seemed to help a little. I will see how long it lasts. We had one last fall and it helped also. Even if it helps for a month, that is good. I have to remember, even if I need to do it once a month, that is an easy strategy!

Anyway, I am hoping to be back. If the stupid headaches would stay away it would help