Monday, January 2, 2012

Winter Vacation: Torture or Bliss...

Ah the time of year when parents either dread or are so excited to get their children back for two to three weeks, dependent on the school.  I, personally, cannot stand winter break.  And here's why: my son is a routine-based kid.  Well heck, so am I.  I like my routines, I create routines for this family and we thrive off of them.  And then here comes winter break to mess it all up.  What does winter break bring?  Meltdown city!!!

 Usually we try and take a trip back home to see family and that also results in more chaos.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my family and my husband does too.  But the poor kids are so off schedule and moody by the time we head back that we're all a bunch of crab sandwiches by the time we make it back home.

Also back home is our developmental pediatrician and our psychologist.  I usually am very apprehensive about those visits, because they can mean a few things.  1.  Your kid is regressing and needs major medication changes.  2.  He's doing great.  This trip was a #2.  AHA...lol ok.  Forgive me, I'm about to start potty training child number 3, so my mind is full of potty slang right now.  Caleb is doing great.  He only needed a minor adjustment with his medication and his growth is off the chart.  He's already over 5'0...gasp... Dear GOD, save me from puberty...how tall is this kid going to be???  I mean really??  I don't want to look up to him quite yet.

Winter vacation is almost over and I'm ready to get back into our routines.  The kids back in school, dad back to work, and me slaving over schoolwork.  Yep I'm a creature of habit. :)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Chronicling a week in our life: Monday-Friday...school, therapy, and work

So, I've been thinking.  I do a lot of talking about what life is like.  I've not actually said what we really do.  So, here is my week-long chronicle.  This was before the school year ended.  You might want to take a nap afterwards, because after writing this, I know I sure wanted too.

Monday: 5:45 The alarm goes off.  Scott is already gone for work or PT.  I either drag myself out of bed or wait for the second alarm to go off.  I usually set two alarms for the days I feel lazy.  That way, I never oversleep.  By 6:00am I am up and getting dressed.  I don't usually have time to take a shower, so I throw on some clothes, casual for hanging around the house or business casual if I'm going into school to work with students with special needs.  I am dressed and ready within 5 mins.  I don't usually put on my makeup until after dropping the kids off at a school.  I run downstairs, make Caleb's lunch, start prepping breakfast (I nearly cook breakfast everyday for my kids), get out all medication needed for everyone (which is quite substantial in the morning), and make sure shoes and jackets/coats and hats are out and ready.  At 6:30 if the kids are not already up, I get them up for school.  Christian, Mr. Fashion man, usually picks out all his own clothes and looks pretty good in them.  Cole doesn't get up until I can coax Caleb into his clothes, which can take between 15-25 minutes.  By the time I get Caleb into his clothes, I'm tired already.  Cole is bouncing in his bed, demanding to be picked up by the time I get to his room.  I quickly get him ready and then herd the kids downstairs, where we frantically take medication, eat breakfast, and wait for my friend to come to the house and give us a ride to school.  (When Scott wrecked his car, not his fault, by semi in October...they didn't give us nearly enough for a car to replace it.  We're saving and saving, but it's taking a bit.)  We head to school and make it to Caleb's school by 7:20-7:25.  I tell his para about his morning and how the weekend went, so they're prepared for anything that they may need to know.  Then I run back to the car and we head to Fort Carson to pick up my car or back to my house depending on the shift my husband is on.  If he's on morning shift, I get to see him in the afternoon and spend more of the day.  If he's on late, he's gone til 7-8.  After I have a car, I thank my friend and spend some time doing laundry or cleaning.  After that, I spend some time studying, while I wait for my 10 am meeting phone call with my boss who will give me the run down of what he wants me to work on over the week.  Around 11:30 I prep lunch for the younger two boys and myself, always having some studying going on with me.  We play and I study randomly.  I alternately let them play with each other, that's the lovely thing about siblings!  Built in playmate! :)  Around 12, I put Cole down for his nap and have Christian lay down with some books for rest time.  I am either working or studying on whatever needs to be ready for my class, which is at 4:30 pm.  At 2:05, I get Cole up and prepare to pick Caleb up from school.  We get our bag of stuff ready to take with us, because we won't be home until around 4.  I pick Caleb up from school and head to our first therapy of the week: physical therapy.  We spend quite a lot of time at this clinic, 4 out of 5 days, soon to be upped to 6 days.  Therapy is wrapped up at 3:30 and I run home in time to meet my friend, who is babysitting for me.  (Or if Scott is on early shift, I pick him up before I pick Caleb up.) I grab my class stuff and am back out the door and am in class from 4:30-7:00.  I get home and then spend what I have left with the kids.  Usually Cole is already in bed and Christian is headed that way shortly as well.  Caleb and I spend some time hanging out, either reading or talking about his day.  After Caleb takes his last round of medication for the end of the day, it's off to bed and I get to spend some time with Scott and work on more homework.  Around 10-11 we both turn in.
Tuesday: This day has a similar routine, except that Christian goes to school.  Caleb goes to school at 7:30 and he goes at 7:45, so it works perfectly for us.  This is the day where I usually go work with the kids with special needs down the street from me.  I usually go in right after Christian goes to school and stay there until around 9:30-9:45.  I pick Christian up at 10:40 from preschool.  I get lunch ready at 11 and try and get Cole to take a fast nap as on Tuesdays I have to pull Caleb out of school early to take him to Occupational therapy.  Around 1:15, we pick Caleb up from school and head over to the therapy clinic.  Around 3-3:15 we get home.  Dependent upon what shift my husband is on, I pick him up right after therapy or before, dependent upon Cole's mood.  At 3:30-4:00 the ABA therapist arrives at our house.  Caleb does ABA therapy for 1 1/2-2 hours.  It is a very intensive therapy and causes Caleb to have some pretty intense meltdowns.  Around 6:30 I leave for class.  I am in class til 10:00 at night.  I don't usually get home until around 10:30 from that, where most of the house is in bed.  Scott is the only one up or if he has early shift he's already in bed.  I usually work on an assignment, because I'm too wired to sleep and then head to bed right after.
Wednesday: