Well, for one of my kids, anyway.  This has proven to be the challenge with 2 kids in different schools.  Their breaks are not the same.  Not even Christmas break!  I’ve put a positive spin on this…quality time with EACH kid, right? Sure!  So idyllic and perfect.  Why shouldn’t that happen?  Well,Emma started first.  Today was her first day off. We went to the gym to work out with Brandon at Premier Fitness Systems.  She likes working out with me, and it’s pretty cute to watch.  We came home, and she went right up to her room and…wait for it…got into her pajamas. Oh, and also trashed her room (I’m using the word “trashed” lightly).  It was fine.  We had a few hours to chill at home, and the girl wanted her space.  I got a bunch of chores done that had run over from Sunday when no one was home all. day. long.  Oops.

Well, 2:30 rolls around and I start talking to Emma about cleaning her room up and getting changed back into her clothes.  It’s gymnastics day, you see.  First go ’round she wouldn’t have any of it.  I tried again.  No luck.  It came to a huge melt-down on her part…and tempers all around.  Not fun.  Not how I envisioned our first day of break.  But Brett reminded me: it was her first day of break.  We broke the routine of school.  She was already thrown for a loop.  It just ended the day on more of a sour note.  I’m hoping the rest of the week runs smoothly.  Tomorrow we have plans to see Chipwrecked with her BFF from school.  Wednesday will bring us lunch with Daddy!  And Thursday will give her special time with Oma.  I’m hoping she’ll mellow out, or I’ll be wishing January 3rd to come quickly!

I’m not the only one who has this issue…I just know it!  This wasn’t the first, of course, and definitely won’t be the last.  And while it was pretty intense, it wasn’t the worst.  Can I get an “Amen”?

So school isn’t going as smoothly as I had hoped for Emma.  I was hoping for (and somewhat expecting) a smooth transition into first grade.  After all (and much to my surprise), Emma had such an easy time going into full-day Kindergarten after being in a preschool program that was 2 1/2 hours a day, 4 days a week.

I can’t say I blame her.  She has an extremely full schedule at school.  Her therapists include special ed teacher, OT, PT, and vision.  She is pulled out from her regular classroom into the special ed room for 1 hour in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon.  She sees OT and PT for 45 minutes a week.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it all adds up.  And her vision teacher sees her most days of the week, I think.  On top of that, she has her regular classroom, her specials (art, music, PE, computers) and now Spanish 2 times a week.  And when I think what we could cut back on, really I don’t know what would be of least importance.  They’re all important to me.  Of course some more than others.  But as a whole they do make up her experience at school.  And they’re all necessary.

The last time she had a really rough time adjusting to her new routine was when she went from morning preschool to afternoon preschool.  That baffled me because the only thing that changed was the time of day that she was there.  Her classroom was the same, her teachers and therapists were the same, her friends were the same.  But for whatever reason, she had a really hard time with her new school day.  When that happened, it took her 3 weeks to get used to everything.

And what is happening now?  Massive temper tantrums at home.  Talking back, yelling, and using language we don’t approve of (nothing major, but things like ‘stupid’ and ‘dumb’ and the like).  She’s being defiant and rude.  At school she’s challenging the teachers and her aides.  She’s not always following directions, sometimes talking out of turn, and she’s being difficult.  This all might not sound like a big deal, but it’s just not her.  And when the temper tantrums are seemingly non-stop, it’s grating.  It’s hard to listen to.  For me, it’s like nails down the chalkboard.

So what are we doing?  We are trying to keep a very consistent routine at home for after school and night time.  And we are putting into place a rewards system.  If she behaves well in the morning (i.e. no temper tantrums, and obeying) then she’ll earn a reward.  For example, 3 days a week school will sell ice cream or jamba juice.  And she can earn those treats by obeying us and not throwing fits.  Beyond that, I’m not sure how else to handle it.  I’m hoping this is a phase and that she’ll quickly pass through this as well.  And as we enter the third week of her new routine (4th week of school), I’m hoping this week is the week that ends it.

The “good” news is that I have heard from friends that Emma’s not the only one who is having a hard time adjusting to first grade.  Other first graders are too.  It makes me feel less alone.  And at this point, I’ll take any suggestions or advice!!

I want my sweet girl back!

What would you do?

Wow.  I can’t believe I haven’t written about this.  Emma’s on a new medication!  It’s kind of big news around here.  Well, you know how she’s swallowing pills now (another milestone that deserved its own post, by the way).  Since she started swallowing pills, we decided to try a medication that we once tried about a year and a half ago.  This medication was wonderful.  It gave her the focus and clarity she lacked( by the way I’m talking about an ADHD med), and it didn’t cause her to act (or feel) drugged or lethargic.  I. Loved. It.  Problem was, she didn’t love it.  This pill came in a capsule form, so back in the day (you know, pre-swallowing-pills), we would empty the capsule and dissolve it with her other pills into Sunny D (which is, by far, the sweetest tasting juice I have found).  This pill was so bitter, she refused to take it.  She wouldn’t swallow the syringe with the dissolved medicine.  Brett and I tried it.  We didn’t blame her.  The stuff was horrid.  The most bitter and metalic tasting medicine you could imagine. Which begs the question, if you’re gonna make a kid’s medicine, please make it palatable.  Am I right?  Whatever.  That’s another story.

Okay, so back to the present.  The girl is swallowing pills!  We thought, “hey, let’s give this old medication another try!”  And we had precious few days before school started to get this medication in her system.  So we tried.  We waited for a few days.  We increased the dosage (yes, this is all under her psychiatrist’s supervision). It started working better.  In the first week of school, we had her taking it in the morning.  She took it in the morning last time, though the doc warned us that this could cause drowsiness.  Duly noted. After getting up every morning last week around 5:30, and falling asleep every chance she got in the car, we decided to switch to a night time dosage.  She slept in longer.  She wasn’t falling asleep in the car.  She didn’t want to watch TV all day.  She’s got more energy.  And….(drumroll please)…she’s got that focus that we’ve been waiting to see.  Hallelujah!!  Now, we’re not holding our breaths here.  She’s still getting acquainted with the school schedule.  Things could change.  But, so far so good!  I only hope this is the beginning of a successful year in 1st grade!!

Okay, not really done…there are perks to this season.  But really what I miss is the routine and schedule.  I thrive off of that, and so do my kids.  It’s fun to be spur-of-the-moment once in awhile.  But can’t I plan to be spontaneous?  What?  Spontaneity doesn’t work that way?  The biggest challenge I’m having is finding the time to work out.  Yes, I have the gym.  But all the classes I like are in the morning when we have swim lessons.  And I am such a wimp when it comes to running outside.  I think I’d have to get up at like 4:00am for it to be cool enough.  And then it still may be too warm for me!  Yes, I have the gym.  But I feel guilty bringing the kids because after it’s all said and done, it costs $8 an hour for childcare.  Ridiculous!!

However, I have an idea.  We have an elliptical in our bedroom.  And, as much as I hate stationary equipment (does anyone else get totally bored from ellipticals and treadmills), I think I might sign up for Netflix and then I can watch streamed movies or TV shows I’ve been meaning to get into (Like Office, Big Love, and Entourage).  Perfect times for an elliptical workout, and I don’t get terribly bored.  Does anyone else have Netflix?

How do you keep motivated in your workout routine?

Well, we’re off to a good start in our household!  I think we’ll have a nice rhythm and routine going…something solid enough to keep Mommy and Emma sane!  Emma has been working wonderfully with her “tutor”.  They will work together at least twice a week, and for at least one hour each time.  I think Emma enjoys working on her skills.  And her keeps things new and fresh, and will change it up when she senses Emma gets restless.  Last week we took the kids to the Phoenix Children’s Museum.  It is a place I absolutely adore.  I really do think it’s one of the best Children’s Museums out there…and I’ve been to a lot of them!  I’m so bummed I didn’t bring my camera that day, but there’s a good chance we’ll go again this summer. I think that Tuesdays will be our outing day.  Weather we hit a museum, a splash pad, or the movies, we’ll try to do something fun and exciting for them (and, really, for all of us).  It’s so nice to have an extra adult on hand when the kids want to go in opposite directions!  We’re very lucky to have her (we’ll call her J for now!).

The weather has been getting pretty warm here, too.  We finally hit 100 last week.  But mostly we’ve been in the high 90′s.  The temperature hike keeps us indoors during the middle of the day, but they are outside in the morning and late afternoon and early evening…and I don’t want to stop them!  They are loving it!  While we don’t have a pool, we have an inflatable pool my parents got them and that’s good enough for them!  Here are some pictures from their play time outside!

Love this action shot with Emma running and Mason getting splashed in the face!

Emma's face is so funny...she's sooo excited to go down a slide of which her legs take up the entire length!

What do you guys do to keep cool during the summer months?