Growing up too fast

Our eldest, Arlington, is going to be 8 soon.  I can hardly believe it.  8 seems so old to me.  Has it really be almost 8 years since I became a mother?  Why do I still feel so inadequate?

 Having an almost 8 years old has been trying at times.  She is whiny, and temperamental.  But she is also funny and witty.  She makes us crazy, and she makes us smile.  I am worried what the teenage years will bring.

Girls at this age have their own set of challenges.  The moodiness does not come without a price.  And sometimes that price leads to hurt feelings and harsh words.  Arlington is a girl who likes everyone.  She argues with us, but rarely with her friends and classmates.  She wants to be every one's friend.

But this year she is finding that not everyone has the same attitude.  There are girls who want to just have one friend, and have excluded our girl in their activities from time to time because of that.  And her feelings get hurt.  Mean words have been directed to her on more than one occasion for no reason except.....just because.

Don't get me wrong - it is typical girl stuff.  Girls at this age are caddy, and mean, and tricky.  So I am not surprised to hear that some of this is happening.  But what I need to teach Arlington is how to deal with it.  And also to make sure that she never falls into the place where she is being mean like that to others.

We got a few books to help guide us and her.  We read them together at night and talk about any question she has.  We have chosen:

and

and then one to learn about growing up:

 It is hard to believe it is time to talk about these subjects with Arlington, but she is now old enough that questions come up.  I think it is very important to be straight with kids, and use proper terminology.  And I want to make sure Arlington is comfortable coming to us with any questions she may have and know we are going to answer her the best we can.

Arlington is in a good place with her friends.  She is learning how to deal with getting her feelings hurt and letting it roll off her back.  She understands that no matter what, she needs to be nice to everyone all the time, and she knows she can talk to us about anything that happens during her day.  I am proud of her and hope she remains the open minded, open hearted girl she is.

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Monday Arlington was sick and didn't go to school.  She woke up with a fever and a headache so she and Mat stayed home for the day.  She was feeling much better by the evening, so returned to school on Tuesday.

Tuesday before she went to school she had a hearing test.  She had failed her hearing test 3 times at school - she was reversing what side she heard the sound in.  But she tested fine at the ENT, and had a normal exam.  So I was glad about that.  We don't need any more drama.

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Tuesday Finley and I had a busy day.  I took Tuesday off so I could take kids where they needed to go.  I took Arlington to her appointment and then dropped her off at school.  Then I met Finley's teacher from BESB at her Kindergarten visitation day.  Finley has been doing great in Kindergarten.  The teacher and principal have been wonderful with her and I am so glad the principal suggested her visiting each month.  This will definitely make the transition next year an easy one.  I had a chance to watch her in Gym on this day, and we are lucky because the gym teacher has a degree in adaptive PE.  So that is going to help a lot!

After the Kindergarten visit, we had a chance to sit with her principal and talk about her spring IEP and what goals there might be in there.  I think we got a lot of good information on the table, and BESB was able to ease her mind about what they would provide and what the school needed to put in her budget.  She wanted Finley to stay for two sessions of Kindergarten (both afternoon and morning), but BESB thought she would be bored because it is just a repeat of the information, and Finley already has most of the curriculum learned.  the principal said she just wanted her all to herself so she could protect her.  I thought that was really sweet.  But since it is half day, Finley will be getting on the bus and will be going to daycare in the afternoon.  Not my favorite option, but we don't have a choice.

But it was a great meeting.  We are so lucky to have this principal and this school.  We picked the right place to live!
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After Finley and I left the school, we grabbed some lunch together and then headed over to the high school that is running the telethon for her this year.  As you may remember from a past post, the high school in the district I work for has an annual Holiday Telethon that raises quite a bit of money for a non-profit each year.  Friends of ours nominated Finley and the RDH12 Fund for Sight and we were chosen as the benefactors.  It is going to be a fun month, but a lot of work goes into this telethon.

 So yesterday, Finley and I went to the high school to meet with some of the senior students that would be working on the show and the teacher who is in charge.  Finley had a lollipop on the way there, so she wasn't shy at all.  She was very chatty and being her silly self, which the kids loved.  The girls took right to her, and offered to color with her while I was interviewed.

Yes, I was interviewed.  On camera.  Without warning.  I can tell you I didn't look my best because I had no idea.  So, if by some chance you see the video - just ignore what I look like.

 The kids had come up with a list of questions they wanted to ask me.  Their studio is amazing-  definitely just as high tech as a professional studio.  And just as hot.  I made a mental note of that for the telethon - we need to dress light.  I was able to talk about Finley, our cause, our mission.  This video will be played on the local TV channel and it will also be played before all the holiday concerts to help people know what this years telethon is for.

They also video taped Finley coloring and doing her thing.  We had a good time.  We were there for about 1 hour, and it was great that they had a chance to meet Finley.  Putting a face to a cause goes a long way.  Even one of the boys went home and told his mom how fun it was to meet Finley.

So we had a full day.  We were sent home with a camera and we are filming Finley around the house - playing and reading stories, and coloring, and watching TV.  They wanted to see her in her own environment.  And they filmed her at school today as well, so that should be interesting.

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Cainan has a bad cold.  He was sick over the weekend and it progressed into a cold.  He has been fine except he washes his hands so much they are cracked and bleeding.  I am glad he is washing his hands, but it is overkill.

 Cainan has been doing awesome in his enrichment class.  We have seen a lot of growth with him over the last couple of months.  He can recognize numbers up to 30, he knows all of his letters and can write all of them.  He can write his first and last name without help.  His control with a pencil has been great, and it looks like he is going to be right handed.  He finally picked a hand and we have been working on helping him hold a pencil correctly, and he has figured it out!  So he is doing so well - we are very pleased.

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One of our other RDH12 families has their website up and running.  If you want to check it out, please go HERE.  They will be joining us the morning of the telethon as well, and we are excited to see them.  We are glad we have a family with the same diagnosis as Finley that only lives a few hours away.

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Some people have asked about donating for the telethon.  There are a couple of ways you can do it.  1) you can write checks to RDH12 Fund for Sight and send them to me.  2) you can go to www.rdh12.org and pay by credit card (Master, Visa, Discover). 3) you can wait until the day of the telethon (December 23rd) an call in and make a donation.

Our goal is $20,000.  Well - okay - my goal is $10,000, but the telethon is known to make around $25,000.  We would be happen with whatever money we get, but the faster we get to our $70,000 goal, the faster the research can start for Finley and all the RDH12 kids.  We appreciate your support.

So - I leave you with a picture of Finley with her hair in its natural state.

 She is in trouble.  See you Saturday!