notes and blessings

Notes and Blessings for Friday

- My husband passed an important computer certification exam last weekend!  No time to relax around here though--he has another one next week.  The exams are very difficult and most people barely pass.  Students are nervous going into the exams and much relieved after passing.

- I had a good heart to heart with my pediatrician about the psychiatry visit.  He said he gets this same diagnosis a lot from this particular psychiatrist, and he is always skeptical.  However, recently he learned that one of his patients, who had autistic-like symptoms, really benefited from the vision and occupational therapies he received on the advice of this psychiatrist.  Since autistic kids have a lot of sensory issues, it made sense to me that these therapies would prove beneficial to them, or to a child whose symptoms were borderline autistic.

That aside, the pediatrician said he tended to agree with me--that Peter has ADHD.  He offered to refer me to a different psychiatrist.  At first that seemed appealing, so that we could get a second opinion on the auditory and visual processing disorders that were mentioned.  But after researching both disorders, I'm convinced they don't match up with how I see Peter perform.  So, we're leaning toward dealing with Peter's ADHD and anxiety without help--just using our instincts. We'll reevaluate it when he's about ten.  That can be a turning point for ADHD symptoms, with sufferers becoming more aggressive and manipulative.

- My 14 month-old Beth has dropped down to one nap a day--about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  My 38 month-old Mary has dropped her nap, making it prudent and convenient to put the two girls down at 7 p.m., giving me plenty of time to read chapter books to the boys, until their bedtime at 8:30 p.m.  This is going to be so much easier, as long as I can get dinner on the table earlier--like 5 p.m.  I'll still try to get Beth to settle down for an afternoon nursing though.  I don't want her to drop that feeding entirely.

- We will no longer try to get Peter to go to children's church.  Instead, we'll allow him to stay with us in the sanctuary.  He'll get bored eventually, and may come up with the courage to go to class without a parent.  The goal of therapy is to face one's fears.  If we sit outside the class so that he gets the teaching and social interaction, he isn't having to face his fears.  Better to let him decide when he's ready to do that, so that the entire family is less impacted by the weekly anxiety struggle.  Just dealing with the ADHD thing can be draining enough.  And besides, children's church is a new phenomena.  Kids used to always attend church with their parents.  I'm sure Peter will glean something from being in the sanctuary, even though Pastor is on the intellectual side, delivering rather complicated (but good) sermons.

- Like many others in snow-covered, cloudy states, I've got a bit of the winter blues.  I can't think of a single thing to say, beyond these updates.

So....time to sign off.  Have a great weekend!