One Week of School

   Madd's first week of school is done and dusted.
She has been made to feel so welcome, it's amazing how well she's adapted to the new school. She went around and met all the teachers. She's made friends.
     At her old school, she was told that she "wasn't allowed" to join the choir. Within a few days of being at the new school, she's joined their school choir. She is loving every second of school. If she doesn't finish her work, the teacher doesn't push her to finish it - because she knows that it totally stresses Madd out. As long as she knows that Madd knows how to do the work, it's no big deal. And the teacher can send work home if it really does need to be finished.

I'm super-happy at how the teacher just.... gets her. Without having to be educated, and without having to try. I'm super-happy that I don't have to stress about how her day has been, the teacher always makes time to speak to me about any issues or achievements that Madd has had during the day. She's more than happy to spend a few minutes chatting. She MAKES TIME for the kids in her class... and she's only the substitute teacher! I've heard great things about her regular teacher as well, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how her second week will go.

     She has her first school swimming lesson with the new school on Monday (must remember to pack her swimming gear!!!). With the way her behaviour was spiralling out of control at the old school, I wouldn't let her do the school swimming lessons this year. But now that she's totally settled and happy, I'm sure that there won't be any problems.

I had a great time catching up with a friend today (who, unfortunately wasn't very well), had a fantastic time - she's one of those people that you can go years and years without seeing and yet still find yourself slipping into a zone of comfort - you can talk about everything and anything, and laugh and joke. I'm hoping she'll come and stay for the weekend in a couple of weeks (she can't drive for medical reasons, so I'll go pick her up and bring her down for a couple of days). Hopefully she's feeling better soon.

Anyways, I better stop rabbiting on about stuff, and get to bed! Good night all :)

Psychologists and Confirmation

      Madd had her first psychologist appointment today. There's a few more before we receive her official diagnosis, but the psychologist says she DEFINITELY falls somewhere on the autism spectrum.
I wouldn't say that I'm happy that she has a disability, but I am very very glad that it's not all in my head. Not that I thought that there was a chance of that, but there was always doubt that they'd be able to see what I see.

The signs of autism in Madd can be very very subtle to other people. So I'm relieved that after only 45 minutes the psych could see the real Madd.

Unfortunately we still have another 5 weeks til diagnosis. Now that I know for SURE that she's on the spectrum, it's just a matter of time until we find out exactly where she is and what she'll need support with. Oh, and she has ADHD too - apparently she's very very hyperactive.

So we are now one giant leap closer to D-Day ... diagnosis day.

Autism Playdate

    Today I did something that was completely out of my comfort zone. I went to a place I've never been before to see people I'd never met, in a group. A LONG way out of my comfort zone.

I had a great time. It was at a fully-fenced primary school with 12-ft fences and high locks. The kids had an absolute ball - it's the first time Cooper's been able to go off and play without me worrying and keeping my eyes on him all the time. I spent the first hour being paranoid because I couldn't see him, and after I'd done a full lap of the school, I stopped worrying and started enjoying myself.

I met a few lovely ladies, and some awesome kids too. Madd didn't get into any fights or arguments, and really enjoyed herself. She was exhausted and happy to leave by the end of it, but she was in a happy mood for the entire afternoon and night, AND went to bed when she was asked!!! Miracles all round.
For once, there were no mean kids picking on her, or telling her that she's weird. She fit right in, and had a great time. All the kids were lovely to her, and I'm really really grateful. VERY glad that we went.

I enjoyed having a chat to the mums, especially L who had a boy and a girl, and P who had a boy and two girls, and M who had 2 girls. All the kids were lovely, and amazing kids.
The day went without a hitch - only a few minor meltdowns from the kids, which is pretty darn good! My kid went the entire day without a single meltdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *happy dance*
Although, when we got home she spent 3 hours straight watching TV (her anti-social chillax-time, which was well deserved after she was so fantastic today). I can't remember the last time her anxiety was so low - it's a nice feeling to be accepted and have nice kids around, I guess.

I'm super-glad that we went - it's nice to have a chat to other parents who "get it". Who don't judge your kid and say "Are you sure she's autistic?" or "But she seems so normal"... people who get that what they see isn't the whole picture. And all the ladies were lovely and down-to-earth. I've never felt more at ease around people. I felt comfortable, which NEVER happens around people I don't know!!

Can't wait for the next get-together.

Yet Another Surprising Day

    The last few days have been full-on.
It was my birthday on Tuesday, so I went out shopping with Mum for the day, and then went down to Mum's until late this morning. The kids were a nightmare; Cooper is teething, Madd's being challenging, and I have had bugger-all sleep. Coop decided, on Wednesday morning, that it was a great idea to get up at 4:45am, and refused to go back to sleep until around 11am - he then slept for 3 1/2 hours straight. Fortunately this morning it was a 7am start.

     Coop has been on Nurofen the last few days - he started hitting himself in the head and screaming, so I took that to mean that he had a pretty bad headache. He seemed so much better after Nurofen, but then he was extremely hyperactive and moody. He was hitting, kicking, and being generally difficult. So I'm kinda glad to be home where he's more comfortable (not to mention Ash being here too!).

     Madd's been pretty quiet since we got back, but happy. We took the kids and the dog to the park today - Madd rode her bike (the way-too-small one that she's comfortable riding, she won't ride anything bigger), Cooper ran (and I mean RAN the entire lap of the huge park).  We got back, had dinner, and then the kids went off to Madd's room to play.

B I G    mistake.

     Ash went in to get Cooper to put him to bed.
"Jen, can you come here?" I hear him yell down the hallway. Uh oh.

I go in, and Madd has decided to run her Blustik (glue stick that's blue) over every inch of her desk AND her desk chair. Crap crap crap.
I knew that telling her off would do absolutely nothing. So I did the only thing I could think of doing - I reached for the toys I spotted first - her Barbies... I snapped 3 of her Barbies in half, saying "If you treat your things like crap, we will too." I picked the not-real-Barbie ones, since the Barbie ones are better quality.
She burst into tears - REAL tears, not the hysterical ones of frustration. I think I may have actually got through to her this time.

I set her up with a bowl of warm water and a Chux, she's now scrubbing the glue off the desk. I don't really care if it takes her all night - she needs to feel the consequences of what she does.

Thank you, readers

    Tonight I received some feedback about my blog - I've had a few people say they really enjoy reading it. I'm glad. I never know whether my blog is interesting or not, so it's nice to hear that at least a few people are reading it.

Writing a blog takes a lot of guts - anything that you blog about can be used in the real world against you. Everything I write on here can change people's views about me. I write about my depression, about Madd's issues and provisional diagnosis of Aspergers and ADHD. About any issues or challenges I'm facing, as well as the happy times. I only write when I really feel like it, if I don't write every day it's because I don't feel I have anything to say.

I write about things that most people wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with everyone. I feel that depression is something that needs to be talked about, because if there's a stigma against it no one will seek help when they really do need it. I have been condemned for needing medication, I've been told that it's "evil", and that I shouldn't take it. It doesn't work for everyone, but it does work wonders for me. I'm more rational, and less manic (no big ups and downs). I recently wrote about menstrual cups, a topic that VERY few people would want to talk about! But I believe that more women should know about how amazing they are.

I'm going to do a blog entry on hair removal next, I think (shaving, waxing, sanding, etc), which will hopefully be informative and helpful for some.

So for those who have given me feedback, thank you. Good or bad, it's all appreciated.

 xxx

Jen

Pimples in the nose HURT!

   So Madd has been complaining about a sore nose for a few days. She's been going on and on about it, and we looked and couldn't see anything on the outside or inside. So we just put it down to her being a pain.
WRONG.

Today I looked in her nose, and nearly fell over - MASSIVE pimple in her nose. It was the biggest pimple I've ever seen, and I've had a lot of pimples in my nearly-29 (next Tuesday!) years. So I said to Madd that we needed to pop it. The easiest and least painful way is to prick the white tip with a pin, and drain out the pus and blood. That releases the pressure and stops it from hurting. So naturally, Madd being Madd, completely flipped out.

I said we could do it gently without the pin, but she would NOT let me near it. And so I figured, instead of waiting for it to pop by itself and having her in pain with it for a few more days, that I'd pin her down and pop it. I don't know what I'm going to do with her when she's older, because she's very very strong. Fortunately, I'm very stubborn and there was no way I was going to let her get away without me popping it. So I pinned her down on the floor and popped it with the pin. She was screaming the whole time, but stopped when she realised I'd popped it without her feeling a thing.

The bad part? So much pus!!! I didn't realise that much pus could come out of one pimple. I really didn't want it going down the back of her nose, so I tried to use a tissue (while pinning her arms down and her head still) to drain the rest out.4 tissues later, the pus was finally out. It didn't bleed all that much, but there was so much pus!! Really really gross, and not what I'd planned on doing today. But, it was all worth it because now she's calm and happy and her nose doesn't hurt any more.

Another fun day in the House of Little Horrors :)

Hello to new school, goodbye to old school

    Madd had her orientation at the new school yesterday morning from 8:45am until 11:15am. She got to meet some really nice kids in her class, one girl in particular. She keeps talking about this one kid like she's known her for years. So it's nice to see that she's made a friend already.

     I took Madd for a McDonalds lunch between visiting the new school and her last afternoon at the old school. When I dropped her off to the old school, the teacher's first comment was "Oh, she's out of uniform". I didn't want to alienate her at the new school by having her old uniform on, and the new school had an out of uniform day. And I didn't see the point in getting her changed for 2 1/2 hours of old-school. So she went out of uniform. Her teacher has always been very condescending toward me, and it frustrates the hell out of me. I'm sorry that this teacher was her last experience at the old school - unfortunately Madd's changing schools happened while her regular teacher was away on holiday. I'll have to make sure I take her back to the old school to say goodbye to her regular teacher.

     Madd's new teacher is very nice - she seemed quite interested in everything I could tell her about Madd. So I'm really happy about the new school, and I really feel like we've made the right decision. I'm very glad that she's so happy to go to the new school, after so many months of school refusal at the old school.

Today we went out to Ballarat to visit my youngest sister and her 3 kids. The kids had a great time playing together, and it was nice to see her and the kids again. I don't see them as often as I'd like, and we only stayed for a few hours - but I knew Madd wouldn't last much longer than that without having a meltdown. We managed to survive the whole day without a major meltdown, only one little tantrum that was easily averted.

On the down-side, when we got back home I realised she has another stye in the same eye but the top eyelid this time. It burst with her rubbing it so much, so hopefully it'll stay gone. Lots of blood and pus, and her eye is very swollen. I'm hoping it goes away on its own, because she's staying with Mum the next few days. Tuesday night I pick her up, and then Wednesday taking Madd and Kayla to the Royal Melbourne Show.

Should be a good school holidays :)