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Note to Universe:

I just finished organizing and event managing a Halloween carnival for 200+ people. I am excused from everything else for the rest of the weekend.

Thanks,
me

(I doubt it will work, but I can try.)

Yesterday was long and full of things to think about. Today was long and full of things to think about with the added bonus of a trip to the emergency room to take pictures of the bones in Patch’s arm, which is thankfully not broken. I’m a bit wrung out. Here’s hoping that tomorrow can be less full.

At the beginning of the school year I made some adjustments to our family diet with the primary aim of reducing Gleek’s sugar intake. The core of plan was effective, we all eat less sugar now. The structure of the plan has taken a beating, so we’ve adjusted. Instead of having sugar free days we’ve shifted to limiting sweet treats to afternoon hours. This week I made another adjustment, I’ve started requiring Gleek to eat protein at breakfast and first thing after school. The idea is to help her have a steady supply of energy rather than a spike and crash. A side benefit of the plan is that my attention to food has us all eating healthier.

A huge stumbling block in my sugar-reduction plan looms on the horizon. Halloween is the most massive sugar-fest of the year. My kids love Halloween. I love Halloween. We will not be abstaining, but I believe that there are many things I can do to alleviate the net sugar impact. We’ll be giving out small prizes instead of candy this year. This will prevent us from having a bowl full of temptation in the front room. I’ll also be instituting the candy buy back where I trade money for sugar. Beyond that, we’ll just weather whatever cranky storms come our way. The holiday is worth the ride I think.

I knew when I entered the building that kickboxing is probably not the right class for me, but Howard knew the instructor and he used the excuse of introducing us to maneuver me into going. Howard loves the gym. It makes him sad that my membership has been mostly unused for quite a long time.

Introductions were performed and I stood in the class wearing a borrowed set of gloves and feeling sorely out of place. Then the music started and I also got to be confused and out of step. By half way through the class I had figured out some of the movement patterns which made it possible for me to enjoy the sensations of active moment. The physicality of the activity was something my body has been craving for awhile. So Howard’s plot has succeeded in that I’ll probably go to more classes. I’ll pick something dance based though. Punching and kicking hold no joy for me.

As I summed it up for Howard, the things I did not like about today’s class are all easy to adjust. The exercise itself felt really good. I was very pleased that I had the endurance and muscle strength to keep up. I did not like feeling like a newbie even though I was one. This was exacerbated by my awareness of my baggy clothes and ratty old shoes among all the shiny, slim, new gear. I don’t think anyone was judging me, but I had a really hard time pushing down negative thoughts about my own appearance. This was particularly true since I last used my tennis shoes for mowing the lawn so they were stained green and shed dried grass clippings on the hardwood floor. I feel bad about that part.

Exercise is supposed to be one of those things where adding it into your schedule makes things better. I shall try and see.

The last round of IEP (Individual Education Plan) and SEP (Student Education Plan) meetings are now done. I have met with various educators to speak about my children and mostly the educators think my kids are great. This last round of meetings was filled with smiling and nothing at all to be concerned about. This is good news. It means that the set up work for this school year is finally complete. Now we can get on with steady sailing.

And on that thought, I’m taking the rest of the evening off.

Tis the season for costumes. My kids persist in being creative. It is a trait I really enjoy. Often they can put together thoroughly entertaining ensembles from the supplies they have on hand. But sometimes they have a very clear picture of what they want and it is highly complicated. Then we have to negotiate. Some years are easy, only requiring me to locate appropriate props. This year is not looking easy.

Kiki wants a Zero Suit Samus costume. This video game character wears a skin-tight body suit, which is not something I am comfortable having my 15 year old wear in public. We have created a compromise which looks less like the character than Kiki would have preferred but which won’t get her harassed unpleasantly at school. To increase the level of difficulty, Kiki needs her costume complete by Friday because she has an event to attend on Saturday. I am sewing like lightning this week.

The presence of the sewing machine in the kitchen has all the other kids hovering and spilling over with ideas about what they want to be. Mostly I am letting them ramble to see if the same idea surfaces more than once. Also I am listening for the cool ideas which are also easy so that I can encourage those. Thus far I have not succeeded in this. Link’s current plan is to be one of the Halo characters in full body armor. He wore something similar a few years back. We cobbled it together out of spray-painted sports equipment. It looked enough like the costume to pass for a young child, but it is not something that would be acceptable for junior high. Also it doesn’t fit anymore. Armor is a costume that my sewing machine can not really help create. There will be negotiation.

Before this week is over I need to make them all choose. I have to have time to figure it all out. Simultaneously I need to be arranging all the details for the church Halloween Carnival. I’m in charge this year. Halloween looks to take over the entire month of October.

I stood in the kitchen at 11 pm with tasks churning through my head, each clamoring to sit in the front of my brain and be resolved. I leaned on the counter as though it would help me carry the weight of my thoughts. The day had made clear that we needed to restructure some things for Gleek. The plan floated in my brain waiting for implementation on the morrow. It swirled around with Kiki’s incomplete math assignment and Link’s despised history sentences. Then there was the unending stream of holed socks because Patch persists in going outdoors without shoes. Thoughts of clothes led to the need to go shopping for things outgrown. Which leads to thoughts of funding the shopping and the stack of library books to return. The day was not particularly difficult, it was a pounding of small things. My calmness and confidence fell to the siege. I needed to be in bed, but the morning would bring a new pounding and I did not feel I could weather it.

But I did sleep and the morning brought with it new reserves of energy. The impossibilities of the day before became the new day’s task list. The swirling mess of thoughts jotted down in a neat row ready to be checked off.

I have spent far too many hours this afternoon being a psychologist. I have diagnosed. I have researched. I have planned a behavioral modification structures. I have listened to many meandering thoughts as my children unloaded their woes, joys, and random thoughts. When I took psychology in high school it was because the class sounded like fun. I use the knowledge I gained in that class almost every day.

It is the fourth Thursday of the school year and it is the first Thursday which has ended without a massive meltdown from some member of our family. I regard this as hopeful progress. It does leave me with the dilemma of figuring out what to write when I have no drama to report. I’ve pretty much covered all the possible landmines I fear for the school year and I’m pretty tired of trying to predict them. Also I wrote that nice post yesterday in which I tried to convince myself not to stress about things so much and it would be good if I could follow through on that.

So I shall make a list of cheerful things:

After spending months dreading the work of fixing the kidputer, Howard had it wiped and Windows 7 installed in a mere 20 minutes. It was shockingly painless. Since then we’ve spent a couple of hours installing other software and doing configuration, but it has all gone very smoothly thus far.

Our wireless router has been quirky. This morning I downloaded new firmware on to the device and it also is working smoothly.

My front room is filled with stacks of books which I checked out from the library for my kids. Each stack is tailored to the needs of a particular child. For some reason the existence of the stacks makes me happy.

I got to sit out front and visit with my neighbor for awhile. As a result of our conversation both of us has new ideas about how to handle our schedules.

The weather has been beautiful.

I had lunch with a friend and she did not mind when I was late. I wish I hadn’t been, there was more talking to do.

It is Grandparents day at the kids’ school next week and for the first time my parents will be in town for it. Gleek and Patch are both quite excited.