Week 26 ~ A Satisfying Week

I appreciate all of your kind words and prayers last week. This week went better than the last few weeks have gone. The adults (Dad, Grandma and I) in the family decided to make the boundaries around Goldilocks (13) smaller and tighter. We kept her out of the car more than usual this week because she spends most of her time in the car bothering her siblings. When I had to go out in the car and she didn't need to come along for an appointment, she sat on Grandma's porch when the weather was warm enough or else sat inside her home without talking. We also have truly kept her within line of sight the entire week. That means she is only a few feet from one of us ALL DAY LONG (except when she is in her bedroom). Even with these strict guidelines, she has caught me distracted several times and managed to be out of view for 3 to 4 minutes in which she has taken/eaten three donuts, destroyed every one of my tubes of chapstick, taken the special cough drops for Tom Sawyer, eaten dh's gummy supplements, sneaked two permanent markers, and gotten in a few hits here and there on her siblings. (These are only the things I've found out about.) Of course, she denies doing all of these things ... except hitting, which she insists they deserved. The crazy lying in the face of the evidence always amazes me. It would be easier to deal with her non-stop misbehavior if we knew she couldn't control herself, but she behaves almost perfectly when in respite care. Goldilocks intentionally misbehaves in our family because she wants to constantly cause chaos. This is one aspect of her mental illness. Plus, she says she does these things because she can. However, this is still better than most weeks.

This week was filled with blessings in our homeschool!

• Little Red Riding Hood discovered the love of reading. FINALLY, she is a strong enough reader to enjoy reading. I have caught her with her nose in a book dozens of times this week. 
• Tom Sawyer has entertained himself alone with his WE DO Robotics Lego set several times this week. This is a feat for him since he usually wants someone to play/be with him constantly.
• Goldilocks has written three decent one page stories for me this week. She seems to be embracing writing more and more. 
• Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood are really catching on to long division and, dare I say, liking it a bit.
• No one gave me a hard time about a single subject this week ~ AMAZING!

Tom Sawyer's WE DO Robotics creation.

Books we read or are reading ~

• The Endless Steppe
• Pup at the Palace
• Dog at the Door
• 39 Clues, book 6
• Irena's Jars of Secrets
• Chemistry Basher book
• Astronomy Basher book
• Kit Saves the Day

Little Red Riding Hood reading for pleasure!

Intake for Therapy ~ 

We decided to try getting Tom Sawyer some psychotherapy for all of his hurt feelings. Unfortunately, he is the target that Goldilocks most often harasses. He also worries a lot about some members of his family dying. (This may have been triggered by his friend's father having recently died.) We went through intake with the same intake worker who assessed Goldilocks for services. She was extremely impressed with how balanced, well mannered and stable Tom Sawyer was, especially considering the sister he lives with. She said his stability was a testament to the stable home and parenting we have been providing and that we were doing a great job containing Goldilocks. She is looking for a young and fun male therapist who can help him deal with the knowledge that his sister will always be difficult, but that he can have a life separate from her life. Her behavior and actions do not reflect on who he is as a growing young man. I look forward to the extra support for him.

Goldilocks' therapist also mentioned this week that there is a level of care which Goldilocks may qualify for in the future. She would live apart from us (for a few weeks or months) in a therapeutic setting, but we would retain custody and complete control over her future. Her therapist feels that she may need just such a wake-up call.

Our March window decoration. Goldilocks and I made it.

Blessings, Dawn