Bud Light and the kids Dr. appointment.....

So, Eddie is on the creative arts team at Church (which he loves) and instead of waiting in the car I decided to take Tobey in to see Pastor Sam. He did pretty good turning on the coffee maker, staring at a Braveheart cutout, and managing not to break anything. But then Tobey had a meltdown, not a bad one.... just a typical one. So after he calmed down we asked him what he needed....he said "Bud light" just plain as day! Normally and with any other Pastor I would have been mortified, but Sam laughed and the world didn't come to an end!

So, the kids appointment....where do I start? Ok, we will begin with Melody. She is at a good weight and size, but she has low tone. I am not sure how to explain this except that she has no real strength and she is double jointed. Her speech is delayed and they are not saying Autism yet....but we are going to have to put her in the same special preschool Tobey was in. So, IF she turns out to be Autistic, we will have everything in place and we are at the perfect age for her to start any therapies down the road. For the time being, we are going to get a membership at the YMCA as a family and enroll her in several sports. So, we are going to keep a very close eye on her, she may just have some Autistic tendencies....not full Autism.

Alright, now on to Alison....this one I feel like a failure on. Our focus is always on the boys... With the other kids I don't let them have excuses,I push them ahead and try as we might to give the same amount of attention on all 7 kids...it is impossible. So, here is where we are at with Alison. We are waiting for a referral to see a neuro-psychiatrist, and we are checking here for ADHD, Autism and depression. Whew....Autism I know, depression is something that Eddie and I dealt with a lot before we found God, ADHD I am not well versed on even though Tobey has it. So, we are in for the long haul with Alison.

So, here is something that parents of special needs hardly even talk to each other about,and an issue that I am dealing with Alison. Alison has a low social IQ (probably Autism) and also has this great quality of being a people pleaser. This is a REALLY bad combo. Here is why, Alison can very easily be taken advantage of and does not know a stranger, she also tends to have crushes on older guys (like her Dad's age). So, because of this the Dr., Eddie and I have decided to put our 12 year old on birth control (that looks so odd in print). No matter how hard we try to be there every minute of the day with her...we can't. And Lord forbid something would happen to her....I can't even go there.

As if that wasn't a hard enough decision...I am at a loss as far as how to not let her think that this is her pass for her to have sex when she is at a dating age. We have explained to our kids over and over again that sex is to wait until marriage. Do we even tell her that she is taking birth control? Isn't she going to ask why she is getting a shot every 3 months?

I have seen what can happen when parents are not proactive about putting their special needs child on birth control and it is not a pretty picture. One of my clients was taken advantage of and she had 2 kids at a young age. She lives in assisted living and misses her kids daily. Her kids live pretty far away with a grandmother who is in failing health...and one of the kids has special needs. It is just not a good situation, and one that we want to avoid. So, there it is....life with the Holstein's. I need a vacation!

So, I have today off...thank heavens, the laundry is overwhelming! But, then I start my marathon work week. The end of the month is the worst! The paperwork alone is insane and then I have a ton of meetings this week. So, I am not sure when I will blog again...but I will try. I hope you have a great day!