Sleepless Nights

Sooo, did I mention I have VERY poor sleeping habits? I do. I've tried many, many home remedies and such, and finally had to cave a few months ago to go to the doctor and talk to them about it. It was beginning to impede on my abilities as a wife, mother, and writer. In case you can't tell by the fact I'm posting this at three o'clock in the morning; the medicine they prescribed me doesn't work. I'm weary about going back to the doctor. With Cowboy being military, and Bug's sleeping problems, it's hard to worry about my own sleeping problems and ensure if in the middle of the night one of my boys needs me, if I can be there for them. So, for now, it's time to combine the natural methods I know with the medication. *Sigh* I don't have high hopes for this, but I have hope!

Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Today was my youngest, female cousin Mickey's birthday! Woohoo!
We went out for ice cream to celebrate, even though it was cold outside, and it was a blast!
It was a long day overall, though, and now I'm tired, so away to bed!

Devon Shanor Photography Hosted ME!

Friday our family photographer, and wonderful friend, had me over to guest blog!

Professional Photography & My “Super Hyped-Up, Seems-Like-A-Sugar-Rush” Child

Yes, that's me! Devon approached me and asked if I would be willing to come on over and talk about having professional pictures done with a child like Aiden. So I did! Check it out, look at her work, you won't be disappointed!

If I Wasn't Already a WAHM

Last week I featured bullying on Thursday, but I forgot to mention a very important progression for us:
We finally got a steady set of appointments with the psychologist, and Bug has steady appointments with her.
If I weren't already a WAHM (Work-At-Home-Mom), I would have to consider doing so. Wednesdays feature Occupational Therapy for an hour, and now Psychology will be every other Thursday. Both of these are for undetermined periods of time.
I don't know how Bug feels after these, but I always feel so drained after these appointments. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's that knowledge we don't have to fight quite as hard anymore? Don't get me wrong, we're still fighting, but it's not quite as difficult.
Also, Bug read his first short story (mostly) by himself. Beaming from ear to ear? You bet I was.
Anyways! We have many an errand to run, so we're off to do that! See y'all next week! (Maybe the weekend, but bank on next week.)

Don't Talk, SING!

Bug took forever to talk. It's just a fact. He could talk, he just didn't. Sometimes he would to me, but not usually.
He may not have talked, but he could sing, and sing he did. All the time. It was wonderful.
He still does it, and that's one thing I'll always hold on to, and I hope he continues to do as he gets older.
That's all for this post, we've got things to do! Biiig things!
Okay, we have laundry. We have laundry to do.

My Boy... the Bully

*Knock* *Knock*
*Opens front door*
Little Girl: (sobbing) Bug smacked me. (sob, sob, sob)

Oh, Lord. I thought with taking him out of school to homeschool we were past this. Damn, damn, damn, damn.

Me: Okay, honey, I'll take care of it. BUG!
Bug: (with total look of guilt runs past and into the house)
Me: Why'd you hit her?
Bug: She tried to kiss me.

Trying my hardest not to smack myself in the head, I tell him to go sit upstairs and think about why it's not nice to hit. Impulsiveness is one of the hardest challenges we face with Bug. He gets the urge to do something, and he does it. That's the end of the discussion.

Does he feel bad afterwards? Not really. Does he know he should? Yes. He will apologize, too, but this has led Bug to be labeled a "bully", and one of the main reasons why we had to pull him from the private school he attended at the beginning of the school year.

Here are things we've tried:
Lecturing
Rewards for good behavior
Grounding
A pop on the butt
More lectures
Avoidance

Here are the things that haven't worked:
Lecturing
Rewards for good behavior
Ground
A pop on the butt
More lectures

Most of the time, avoidance is the only choice that we have. No, I'm not trying to make Bug a shut-in, but "normal" interaction with other children just isn't in the cards for him right now. For the most part, he just hangs out with Gnat. Listen, you've got to start somewhere.

It's awful. You get the phone call from the school saying that your child is being suspended the third week into KINDERGARTEN and you don't know what to do. Keep your head held high, and KEEP TRYING.

Also, lecture. It's droning, and it sucks, but up til we did pull him out of school, our morning drive consisted of the following conversation. It helped some, but not a lot:

Me: What is okay at school?
Bug: Playing quietly, sitting in our desk, not touching people...
Me: What isn't okay at school?
Bug: Hitting, kicking, biting, punching, pinching, throwing our pencil box, being mean...

It was a long list, that's only part of it. Keep it up. It gets better, I promise.

Happy Birthday Aunt Britt!

Today is Aunt Britt's birthday! Aunt Lissa and I are taking her out for dinner, since she doesn't usually get to celebrate.
Keep tuned in, though, Thursday I'll be featuring a post about bullying... No, not about what to do when your kid is bullied. I've found thousands of posts on that. This post will be about the "forbidden" what to do when your kid IS the bully. Not just that, but when your special needs child is the bully. Yikes.