Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Funk Day

I've had a blah day. Been in a funk pretty much since dawn, and it's not the funky kind of funk, either. I should put on some Parliament and turn the funk upside down. But that would ruin this perfect "depression lite" I've got going.

I know my hormones and lady bidness have something to do with it, but it's also cold, and snowy. The snow looks very nice, and cheered me up briefly when I crunched through it to get the mail, but when I got back inside to crazy boys 1 and 2, that went away. Plus, Hubby called at 4:30, and said he'd be staying late at work because the snow had fouled up the roads. Great. Another day AND night of solo parenting.

I kept Hutton home from school today, because he was throwing a hissy fit, rubbing his eyes and whining after ABA therapy this morning. I stopped the hissy fit by adjusting his eyelid for him -- all the rubbing had flipped a quarter of his eyelid inside out and he was screaming until I convinced him to let me look at it. Fun. Since we're doing the AIT this week, I've been driving Hutton to and from school, but today was not going well, already, and the AIT therapist didn't want to have to come back at 3 and risk getting stuck on the snowy roads, so I said I'd just keep Hutton home and he could come back earlier. Great. Crisis averted. A mellow day at home. Perfect.

Except when I emailed Hutton's teacher to tell her he was being very whiny and probably wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be at school, she emailed me back to say that he was whiny all the time at school and she didn't think his feeling bad really affected that. Then she went on to reiterate that Hutton doesn't need to be in her class, she'd had his previous preschool teachers out to observe and they were all "disappointed" in his behavior, she was going to have the director of special education out to observe him, and did I have any thoughts on this?

Great. So, after I burst into tears reading the email, I thought for a moment and emailed her back telling her I was fine with any placement for Hutton as long as it's not the contained class at our neighborhood school, because that class is all non-verbal kids and will not be good for Hutton at all. We'll see. With any luck, the special education director will find a better placement for Hutton, but since the transition class he's currently in was "the best place" for him before, and there's not another transition class, I'm not that positive. I just know I'm not going to lie down and take whatever crappy situation they throw at me because his teacher suggests it. Nope, his teacher is not on my "favorite person" list, probably because she's written off Hutton from day one as being too immature for her class. Hey, lady, it's KINDERGARTEN. You want maturity from a class of kindergarten kids? Well, I'm sure without Hutton it will be like an intro psych class. All the kids will explore their feelings and grow as spiritual beings once that immature brat is gone! She always tries to make me feel better about Hutton by pointing out that he's only five. Yeah, I know. Five is the age the school district assigns to KINDERGARTEN. Just because all of the other parents held their kids back, doesn't make my child too immature for kindergarten. They kick you out of the special ed preschool after two years. That's why we moved on to kindergarten. Oh well.

Back to my funk. I've been eating like a pig all day. I really need those doggy diet pills now.

And speaking of dogs, Sally is still not moving well. The vet called today and said she's a slow healer, and since so much muscle tissue was affected by the surgery, it was taking longer than they'd thought it would for her to be able to get around on her own. So Sally is still at the hospital, which is charging us daily about the price of a night at a nice hotel to feed our dog and take her out in the special doggy wheelchair cart. I can't really visit her either, because the area she's in is crowded with recovering pets and medical equipment. Imagine bringing in your two-year-old. Or better yet, your two-year-old AND your five-year-old. Yeah, they're very patient and never want to touch the expensive equipment. Since the hospital is 25 minutes away, it's not an easy little trip to do when Hubby comes home either. Sally, I love you, but the last thing I want to do after putting the boys to bed is get in the car and drive nearly half an hour.

Sigh. Time to get the boys in bed and start drinking heavily. Just kidding. Sort of.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You know, you were right about that kindergarden teacher -- she's written Hutton off from the very beginning. I almost hope he's placed elsewhere, because he doesn't need a teacher who doesn't believe in him or is willing to help him...

I'm sorry about your funk. I've been in a similar position lately. and the eating is horriffic on this end as well. I can literally FEEL my ass growing wider. Ugh...

Hugs to you!!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Laura, if his preschool teachers have seen a drop in his behavior I call that a regression, So - Kindergarten teacher needs to re-evaluate his IEP and see what ADDITIONAL services he needs so that he can climb back to his former levels of performance.

My Bella whines her way through her day and her staff pushes her to do her work and her therapies. The tell me, "Bella was whiney but we don't let her off the hook."

Let the SPED director come out and observe to decide what additional support he needs -- not whether he can stay in the class.

Good luck -- KS

Laura said...

Thanks for the support, ladies! I am hoping the SPED director will get things sorted out, but part of me is expecting bureaucracy and nothing getting done. The thing is, all of Hutton's therapists know what he can do when he's pushed, and are able to deal with his bad behaviors (most of the time). His teacher from day one has just not given him a chance, or ignored what he can do. Well, at least, that's my biased mom viewpoint! So, I won't be too sad if he's moved to a different class. I'll miss the kids in his class, because they're all very cute and fun to talk to when I drop him off, but I won't miss his teacher, that's for sure!

Anonymous said...

That teacher is such a B*tch!!! Hello!!!! Can someone say PUBLIC SCHOOL!?? You can't "kick" someone out of a public school because they are whiny or are not as mature as other kids.

And HELLO!!! I'd like to see how WHINY she gets when she is not feeling good and is coming down with something. What kind of load of crap is that!?!?! Yes being sick will make someone (more) whiny no matter who they are. The nerve of this *achem* teacher. Gee Whiz!

So did you actually talk to the preschool teachers cuz knowing this gal they did not actually say they were disappointed with Hutton's behavior. I don't know-- from what you've said before I am wondering how much of this was her and how much was them.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


LYLAL

Kristen said...

Laura, I am absolutely disgusted with that teacher's e-mail to you and her comments about Hutton. How unprofessional and inappropriate can she be? And she criticizes *Hutton's* maturity!? I am so sorry - I've heard of parents having to struggle so hard just to advocate for their kids with special needs in public schools, and your story just brings that home.

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