Ready for a Vacation!

Oh, my. It has been a crazy couple weeks. I will try to keep it to short updates, otherwise I just know I will start to ramble.

1. After Butterfly stole the teacher's candy the week before Halloween, I thought we could move on. Hahaha. The following week she stole more candy from the school social worker, stole makeup and hairspray at home, and stole candy off her teacher's desk that apparently was hers. AHHHH. We've found some ways to deal with it at school. Fortunately, the principal isn't suspending her because she meets with our therapist and knows it isn't any help. They've been doing some other things though, that seem to be working.

2. Halloween she actually did quite well. I only allowed her one piece of candy that night, and she handled it with no breakdowns. Granted my mom had so much other food that night, I'm sure B didn't feel too deprived.

3. We met with the chiropractor on Thursday. We didn't really accomplish much that day. They took a hair sample and sent it off for an analysis. Apparently, in RAD kids they find a lot of metals in their systems which are causing issues in their brain cells. Dr. Dinkelmann has found that once this is addressed through supplements, then RAD kids show vast improvements. I'm so willing to try anything. We have our next appointment on November 30. They should have the results from the analysis at that time. I'm excited to see what they find. He also looked at her eyes and said that if there are toxins in the body you will see a black line around the eye. B has one. My mom and I were checking ourselves out in the car, but didn't notice anything... :)

4. B and I spent all day together on Saturday running errands. She actually did a great job. We went to Home Depot for the kid's workshop, and she made a trivet for Thanksgiving dinner. We also went grocery shopping, clothes shopping for me, to lunch and to the bookstore so I could get some homework done. We were trying to steer clear of the house so my husband could have some quiet to get all of his homework finished. B only had a small almost not even an issue when we got lunch at Chick-fil-a. We had never eaten there, and she thought they were cheating her on chicken nuggets because she had decided they were too small. But she got it back and check and was lovely to spend the rest of the day with. When we got home, it was time to rake leaves in the front yard. We have two huge oak trees in our front yard - they are at least 60 years old. Anyways, our entire yard was covered, and only 1/3 of the leaves have fallen already. Super. Luckily, my dad let me borrow the leaf blower, so I blew the leaves while Patrick burned them in the street, and B had a blast jumping in the gigantic piles.

5. Sunday was Patrick's birthday. We went to church, then breakfast while B was at Sunday School. Afterwards we went home to finish burning the leaves. B had a meltdown because she didn't want to help pick up sticks while we were working in the yard. I put her inside and had her rest and take a nap. I knew she had to be tired from being good the entire day on Saturday, but I also wasn't letting her ruin her dad's birthday. Later we went to a movie and out for ice cream. Then after that, to my parent's house for a birthday dinner. We all had a nice evening, and B did a good job of holding it together. She shot me a few dirty looks through dinner, but stopped after I addressed each one and explained how unnecessary and inappropriate it was. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

6. I also called my dear MIL on Friday night. She wanted suggestions for Christmas gifts for B. We decided we just mostly want them to give her money to go towards supplements for B. It turned into a 1 hour conversation where I told my MIL everything she didn't want to hear. And as always, I know she didn't hear a word of anything, but I just don't think it's fair that she lives her happy life in denial about what is wrong with her granddaughter. So she got an earful. Even my mom was surprised by some of the things I said. Anyways, she is trying really hard to think of ways that she can help Patrick and I but she just can't think of anything to do to help. She will try to remember to pray for us. Oh, and when they finally called to wish their son a happy birthday, my MIL blamed Patrick for being too stressed and causing all of B's issues and problems these last couple weeks. Happy Birthday!

7. Finally, honestly the reason we NEED to have consequences for homework is I don't know. We've tried not to have consequences, and we can't do it. Some days we do it okay, and some days seeing her not doing her work just sends us over the edge and we end up yelling which is counterproductive. So, this way we don't have to get worked up because we can just look at our rules and we all know how homework is supposed to go. It actually has taken a lot of the stress off for all of us. As always, I have no idea how long it will last, but I'll enjoy it for as long as it does!!