2004-12-16 Resident Elf

2004-12-16 Stickerman

Well, on this particular day, the gentleman giving out the stickers was very chatty and was asking Katherine what she was going to ask Santa for, if she had been a good girl etc. It was fairly obvious by the way he was talking that he was mildy handicapped in some way. Katherine didn't seem to notice though, which always makes me happy. I try to raise my children with the idea that different is ok and at the same time, it is in appropriate and in fact wrong to treat people differently based on...well based on anything.

Anyway, for the past week Katherine has been telling me to talk like the "stickerman." I had no idea what she was talking about so I finally decided to ask her who exactly this "stickerman" was. She just kept saying, "you know the stickerman, that guy" blah blah blah.

All of a sudden it occured to me that she was talking about the guy at Walmart. It was kind of funny in a weird sort of way but I did immediately have a conversation with her about how he was different than us, it isn't nice to imitate or make fun of people that are different than us etc. She understood kind of but she kept asking if he was going to "get better". It was hard to explain that he most likely would be like that forever but I did my best.

I am always afraid that she might say something like that in front of the actual person in question. Kids will be kids and most people would understand I am sure but it would be kind of embarrassing just the same.

2004-12-15 Emily

I love her to pieces, not that I think there was any ever doubt of that. Seriously, there are times when just her prescence melts my heart...and then there are the times that her prescence tears at my heart.

From birth, Emily has been a very active and too smart for her own good type of kid. When I say that absolutely nothing gets by her, I mean nothing. Seriously, sometimes I even think her hearing is super acute. She notices everything, absorbs everything, and understands concepts and thoughts better than the average adult sometimes does...myself included.

I call her type or kind of "smartness" Ryun-Smart. Not a word you can find in the dictionary, although it should be in there. It's not book smart(though they both(Ryun and Emily) are that too) and it's not a common sense type of thing either. I think what it is can only be described as "indescribable."

Ryun has said that some of the concerns we have with Emily(attention and temper control mostly) he remembers having as a child. I used to think things like that(things that really can't be "seen" by medical professionals) weren't really a medical concern at all. I was wrong obviously.

A lot of what we have been dealing with in regard to Emily will probably be improved with a little behavior modification therapy. I don't neccesarily mean in a proffesional sense...just various things we can do on our own that may help.

Although I still have not heard back from the neurologist yet, I am about 90% sure that he will be telling me that she has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: predominantly inattentive. I read the teacher's form that was filled out and of course, filled out one of my own. It doesn't take a PhD to figure out based on our answers that something is going on.

One of the main neurobehavioral conditions that are predominant in people with tuberous sclerosis is ADHD. While we don't yet know if she has tuberous sclerosis, based on what I have read, it is becoming more and more likely to me that she does. I can not tell you how forward I am looking to her appointment at Children's in January with the specialist that deals with these types of things.

As I said in the beginning of this entry , and it must just be part of being a parent, I can't help but feel guilty about this. Yes, she quite possibly has a medical condition that very well could be the underlying cause of these problems..even with that as a base though...I can't help but think that there is something more I could/should be doing.

2004-12-15 Comftabber

Or in "Katherine speak"... a Comftabber.

2004-12-15 Too much Information

To top it off, it's that time of month. Too much information I suppose but I just want to point out that it seems grossly unfair that I should have to deal with a cold and that at the same time.

Don't you think?

2004-12-15 Farenheit 911

And, at the risk of getting too political, I am just going to leave it at that.

2004-12-15 Getting Old

Me: "Nine."

Katherine: "How old will you be then?"

Me: "Let's not even talk about that."