Post #2 For Today

I think I have done Caleb a bit of an injustice. I never saw him as a kid with special needs, I saw him as a kid who struggles with ADHD. As we met with his psychologist the other day and she had me list off what has been diagnosed and what I feel still needs to be diagnosed I had a realization as I rattled off this list:
-ADHD
-Oppositional Defiant Disorder
-Anxiety
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Severe Desire for Structure and Routine
-Rage Attacks Caused by Above
Caleb is, in fact, a child with special needs. It certainly doesn't make him a bad kid, and it doesn't even make me a bad parent for not realizing this earlier. It just means that now we're a bit better equipped to make stronger and more effective decisions regarding Caleb.

I think of things like travel, which we will be changing how we look at. His psychologist reminded me that travel in particular is going to be a very hard thing for him. It's different at my mum's. She follows any routine I ask her to, Caleb is used to travelling there every couple of months, and it's only a 2 hour trip home if things aren't working out well. Anything more than that needs to be seriously evaluated. Caleb desperately needs structure and routine in his life, and travelling really throws a wrench into that. He gets overstimulated very easily at family gatherings, which triggers a lot of difficult reactions in him. Travel that takes any more than 2 or 3 hours to get back home from, makes it very difficult if he needs to leave earlier than planned.

I'm in the process of changing how I make him aware of my expectations, of consequences and how I wind him down at the end of the day, so that these things are clear to him, become a routine and are more effective for him. We are becoming more aware of making sure his needs are met, both in making accommodations and also in making expectations and consequences easier to understand.

Oil Love

We're still super excited about doing homeschooling next year. We changed his courses a little bit. We convinced him to keep French, and he will do French and Science online through our board and then the rest of his courses for the year will be parent delivered. It will be a very big change for us, but I can see a difference in the bond between Caleb and I even just having made this decision.

We had our first appointment with his new psychologist on Tuesday. It went well, I think that she'll be a far bigger help than his last one. We've made a few parenting changes since that meeting. John no longer plays games with a rating of T or higher while the boys are awake. I am getting a 'lot' better about keep a calm voice, even when I'm upset. The bedtime routine has changed as well. The boys are not allowed to have screen time within 30 minutes of their bedtime. The TV goes off with the first time, the older boys can use their iPods until their time is up. I also dim the lights downstairs at that time and turn on some relaxing music. It made a world of difference last night! We have a few more changes coming in the next week, that will make things even better in the long run.

Caleb and I have been borrowing an oil diffuser the past few days and testing out different oils. We love it and there has only been 1 oil that we didn't like so far. I spent my Christmas money and ordered myself my own diffuser and a few oils. So Caleb now has the Scentsy warmer that was in my room before. I have one in the basement as well, and told Tyrell that I'd try it out in their room and see how that goes. I'm transitioning them to sleeping with their big light in their room off, and the Scentsy warmers help a lot with that because they are like a nightlight.

Not a lot else going on here. Just the same old stuff, ha ha. Have a good one!

A Change Is Coming, and boy are we excited

What a busy week! We had a very huge decision to make. After toying with an idea for a few years now, we seriously prayed for an answer about whether it was the right thing or not. Our answer was overwhelming to make this change. So starting in the fall Caleb will be home educated. All 3 of us (Caleb, John and myself) are excited for this adventure. We have already talked to his current teacher and the acting principal and they both are supportive of this decision. I spoke with a registrar from the willing non-resident board we will be with yesterday and was very impressed with how friendly and helpful she was. We will receive his registration package in April and we are excited to get the process started. Caleb will be aligned to Alberta's Programs of Studies, but has decided that he will drop music and art (and French as a Second Language, if possible). This means he will be taking English Language Arts (done in 3 separate time blocks), Health, Math, Phys Ed (karate class twice per week), Science and Social Studies. He was very happy that he had the option of dropping music and art. Art in particular has never been his strong suit and is clearly not something he plans on pursuing. We picked out the books we'll use for his curriculum, and will fill in anything they may lack with worksheets from some awesome websites.

I have had some pretty awesome people to talk to as we researched and were praying for our answer. My good friend/family member who has home educated since her oldest was old enough for kindergarten was a HUGE help to me. We also have some members in our ward who switched from attending public school over to home education this past fall. I was able to speak to their mom and one of the older girls about what that transition was like for them.

So that's our big news for this past week. I'm still going strong with my 2016 commitments. It's hard to believe that January is already almost half over. Caleb's initial appointment with his new psychologist is this coming Tuesday, which will be great. At least we're not in a huge rush now for a full assessment, since we no longer have to worry about rushing to have him coded before April.

A Perfect Week

I made a goal for 2016 to study my scriptures using a journal as well as have at least one good personal prayer (preferably two) every single day this year. I am happy to say that I have successfully completed that goal for the first week of the year.

Our Christmas went well, we enjoyed another quiet year at home. I was spoiled with colouring things, starter calligraphy books and tools as well as a calligraphy quill.

This month we're looking forward to Caleb having his first appointment with a new psychologist and to hopefully start the process of getting him coded for school.
I hope you've enjoyed the first week of 2016!