I've been meaning to post but don't have much to say. We had our first ever non-wellness doctor's visit this week. E. has an ear infection, and isn't it apropos that it would show up on the day the twins were supposed to start their much-anticipated swimming lessons.
Iz started gymnastics at a "real gym". She spends 6-8 hours a day working on cartwheels, handstands, and making sure she has "sharp toes" and "strong tummy muscles". She begs me to watch gymnastics videos on youtube, and then practices even harder. She is absolutely distraught that we don't have a proper bar in our house so that she can practice her swing.
We're still dealing with a lot of really exhausting behaviours. I love my kids, but I really wish they came with "off" buttons. I definitely enjoy them a whole lot more when we're out and about, so we've been taking advantage of the lovely weather the past few days and hanging out outside as often as possible!
We've been working on our yard, and I'm feeling really envious of anyone who has more to work with than a bunch of mud that serves as the dog's toilet. I long for grass. or greenery of some sort. At this point, however, I'll settle for even ground. I have no idea how we're going to transform our backyard space into the sort of yard I'm dreaming of, but somehow it'll get done!
This month's challenge kinda stinks (and I'm kinda stinking at sticking to it). I have no energy, and no motivation. I have been lifting weights every day (and the kids make pretty good weights too!) and we've been going for long walks most days. Walking with two kids and a dog has proven more difficult than anticipated. (Especially when one child decides to throw a temper tantrum and refuse to move and the other child is running ahead to see if there's a train coming and you're half a mile from home with a dog who's terrified of other dogs.)
I am, however, extremely excited about next month's immersion experience. I have all sorts of ideas about how I'd like to approach it. Is anyone else planning to join us?
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Frazzled
This week has been rough. The kids have been getting on my last nerve, and it's all I can do to just get through the days with them. Ugh!
Revisiting this post from a few weeks back, after lots of observation in a number of different circumstances and after having several conversations with individuals who see the twins in different contexts, I think that it's pretty likely that my child has ADHD. This child simply cannot self-calm, and violently opposes any calming techniques that others attempt with them. There is constant activity, constant talking, constant noise making, constant energy. Just making it through the days is absolutely exhausting for me, and then this child has a really, really, really difficult time going to sleep at night.
For a long time, I had been thinking that it was just me. My interpretation of this child. My own "stuff" that I'm projecting onto my child that's been physically and emotionally wiping me out. But as I've talked to other people who know my kids, they see these things too. My child is the hardest one to manage in gymnastics class. My child is the last to follow instructions at school and the last to join the group for quieter activities. It's begun to cause problems socially, as the other kids are forced to wait while my child "gets it together". When I question my child about it, the response is "well, you see, everyone's always telling me to stand in a straight line, not a curvy line, or look over here, or stop talking. I don't want to do that."
It's not a question of intelligence. This kid is super smart and understands things on levels that even I sometimes don't. It's not so much that my child isn't paying attention. Moreso that s/he's paying attention to every single minute detail and stimulus that can possibly be perceived. This kid notices *everything* (and needs to talk about *everything* s/he notices).
I have been feeling really powerless lately because I want so desperately to help this child find balance and peace, but I have no idea where to begin. I didn't start writing this as a means to complain, but I would *love* advice from anyone out there who may be experiencing / has experienced something similar. Nothing's official at this point, but even if it were, I'm not sure how that would change anything. I don't really like labels, though I do understand the need for them as it relates to obtaining specialized services, and I *definitely* don't like the over-reliance on medications to solve all "problems". I really just want ideas on how I can help this child harness the energy and channel it into more positive endeavours. Well, that, and a little bit of quiet time!
Revisiting this post from a few weeks back, after lots of observation in a number of different circumstances and after having several conversations with individuals who see the twins in different contexts, I think that it's pretty likely that my child has ADHD. This child simply cannot self-calm, and violently opposes any calming techniques that others attempt with them. There is constant activity, constant talking, constant noise making, constant energy. Just making it through the days is absolutely exhausting for me, and then this child has a really, really, really difficult time going to sleep at night.
For a long time, I had been thinking that it was just me. My interpretation of this child. My own "stuff" that I'm projecting onto my child that's been physically and emotionally wiping me out. But as I've talked to other people who know my kids, they see these things too. My child is the hardest one to manage in gymnastics class. My child is the last to follow instructions at school and the last to join the group for quieter activities. It's begun to cause problems socially, as the other kids are forced to wait while my child "gets it together". When I question my child about it, the response is "well, you see, everyone's always telling me to stand in a straight line, not a curvy line, or look over here, or stop talking. I don't want to do that."
It's not a question of intelligence. This kid is super smart and understands things on levels that even I sometimes don't. It's not so much that my child isn't paying attention. Moreso that s/he's paying attention to every single minute detail and stimulus that can possibly be perceived. This kid notices *everything* (and needs to talk about *everything* s/he notices).
I have been feeling really powerless lately because I want so desperately to help this child find balance and peace, but I have no idea where to begin. I didn't start writing this as a means to complain, but I would *love* advice from anyone out there who may be experiencing / has experienced something similar. Nothing's official at this point, but even if it were, I'm not sure how that would change anything. I don't really like labels, though I do understand the need for them as it relates to obtaining specialized services, and I *definitely* don't like the over-reliance on medications to solve all "problems". I really just want ideas on how I can help this child harness the energy and channel it into more positive endeavours. Well, that, and a little bit of quiet time!
Monday, March 1, 2010
MIA
I've been MIA for a couple of reasons. First, I've been traveling! I spent a fabulous long weekend visiting a friend in the bay area, and I have to say that the warmer weather and the wine tastings were the perfect remedy for the doldrums of February in Chicago.
This past weekend the kids and I went on a mini road trip to Wisconsin where we attended a camp-in at Diane's. Super cool moms + some lord-of-the-flies time for the littles = an incredibly fun time had by all (and an enormous mess for Diane. Sorry about that!)
Sadly, I cannot post pictures because my computer has gone kaput. It's old, so I have been expecting it to fall apart at any moment, but as a new computer is just not in the budget for the time being, it's a pretty inconvenient reality. ugh!
The kids are good. Isabel is completely obsessed with gymnastics and spends several hours every day honing her skills. She's practicing cartwheels and handstands, and begs me to watch youtube videos of gymnasts so that she can study their techniques (she also loves to provide commentary about their "sharp toes", "glued legs", and "strong tummy muscles".
Elijah has shifted his focus from trains to airplanes, and has been filling our house with control towers and display panels. He asks everyone to call him "Elijah Pilot" and loves talking about the process of flying an airplane. He thinks (and talks) *all the time* nonstop, and is always asking insightful and interesting questions. It's a lot of fun (and really, really exhausting) to see how his mind works.
In the meantime, we made it through whole foods month and I think it was a pretty big success. The experience has fundamentally shifted our relationship with food, and made us a whole lot more conscious of what we're actually eating and where it's coming from. Our pantry has changed pretty dramatically, and despite the amount of time I've been spending in the kitchen on food prep, I'm not burned out on the constant cooking (yet). I've used the opportunity to try out lots of new recipes (Deirdre's Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart is amazing, and Carrie's Olive and Havarti Pasta has quickly become a favourite! Keep those fabulous recipes coming ladies!!!) I've also made my own seitan sausages, granola bars, vegetable stock, bread, and so on and so forth. It's been a great challenge overall.
Going forward, we'll be trying to maintain a mostly whole foods lifestyle, buying locally whenever possible. I have really missed certain things (i.e. tortillas, blue corn chips, pretzels, etc.) and will be reintroducing them as "once in a while treats" as long as all of the ingredients are whole foods. As for the meat substitutes, we'll still be buying seitan (and experimenting with ways to make it ourselves) and I've found a couple of local producers of tofu, so I'm going to make a trip sometime this week. I'm sort of feeling like we're done with Morningstar and Boka products, but may have them on occasion. I'm still torn on the Quorn. There really is no better substitute that I've found for chicken dishes. At this point, I'm thinking we'll be keeping it, but only as an occasional meal.
I found a supplier of locally milled organic whole wheat flour, so I'm pretty excited about that. I'm already planning summer trips to various farms so that we can all see what goes into the production of our food. We'll be picking lots of berries this summer and apples in the fall. I'm planning a slightly expanded garden for our yard, and once farmer's market and CSA season starts, I'm confident that we'll have no problem at all maintaining this lifestyle change.
Today we begin 31 days of daily exercise, no excuses. My goals are pretty manageable: lifting weights every morning, at least 20 minutes of cardio with an elevated heart rate (including at least 3 days a week at the gym), and daily 1 mile walks with the entire family. It already feels daunting.
This past weekend the kids and I went on a mini road trip to Wisconsin where we attended a camp-in at Diane's. Super cool moms + some lord-of-the-flies time for the littles = an incredibly fun time had by all (and an enormous mess for Diane. Sorry about that!)
Sadly, I cannot post pictures because my computer has gone kaput. It's old, so I have been expecting it to fall apart at any moment, but as a new computer is just not in the budget for the time being, it's a pretty inconvenient reality. ugh!
The kids are good. Isabel is completely obsessed with gymnastics and spends several hours every day honing her skills. She's practicing cartwheels and handstands, and begs me to watch youtube videos of gymnasts so that she can study their techniques (she also loves to provide commentary about their "sharp toes", "glued legs", and "strong tummy muscles".
Elijah has shifted his focus from trains to airplanes, and has been filling our house with control towers and display panels. He asks everyone to call him "Elijah Pilot" and loves talking about the process of flying an airplane. He thinks (and talks) *all the time* nonstop, and is always asking insightful and interesting questions. It's a lot of fun (and really, really exhausting) to see how his mind works.
In the meantime, we made it through whole foods month and I think it was a pretty big success. The experience has fundamentally shifted our relationship with food, and made us a whole lot more conscious of what we're actually eating and where it's coming from. Our pantry has changed pretty dramatically, and despite the amount of time I've been spending in the kitchen on food prep, I'm not burned out on the constant cooking (yet). I've used the opportunity to try out lots of new recipes (Deirdre's Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart is amazing, and Carrie's Olive and Havarti Pasta has quickly become a favourite! Keep those fabulous recipes coming ladies!!!) I've also made my own seitan sausages, granola bars, vegetable stock, bread, and so on and so forth. It's been a great challenge overall.
Going forward, we'll be trying to maintain a mostly whole foods lifestyle, buying locally whenever possible. I have really missed certain things (i.e. tortillas, blue corn chips, pretzels, etc.) and will be reintroducing them as "once in a while treats" as long as all of the ingredients are whole foods. As for the meat substitutes, we'll still be buying seitan (and experimenting with ways to make it ourselves) and I've found a couple of local producers of tofu, so I'm going to make a trip sometime this week. I'm sort of feeling like we're done with Morningstar and Boka products, but may have them on occasion. I'm still torn on the Quorn. There really is no better substitute that I've found for chicken dishes. At this point, I'm thinking we'll be keeping it, but only as an occasional meal.
I found a supplier of locally milled organic whole wheat flour, so I'm pretty excited about that. I'm already planning summer trips to various farms so that we can all see what goes into the production of our food. We'll be picking lots of berries this summer and apples in the fall. I'm planning a slightly expanded garden for our yard, and once farmer's market and CSA season starts, I'm confident that we'll have no problem at all maintaining this lifestyle change.
Today we begin 31 days of daily exercise, no excuses. My goals are pretty manageable: lifting weights every morning, at least 20 minutes of cardio with an elevated heart rate (including at least 3 days a week at the gym), and daily 1 mile walks with the entire family. It already feels daunting.
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