Anyone else like "Fiddler on the Roof"? I got to play the role of Hodel in a production of the show in Valencia (CA--not Spain!) several years ago. One of my favorite songs is "Sunrise, Sunset." It's almost haunting in its repetitive cadence, rising and falling, beginning and ending and beginning again--and it sounds exactly like raising a family feels.
School has started again. The kids are less than exuberant, though Izzy has cheerfully embraced her first few days as a junior high student. I think she really likes the greater sense of autonomy and responsibility that secondary school offers. She was advanced past pre-Algebra and placed straight into Algebra 1 with the 8th grade students, and I think she feels pretty good about that. Except for the 11:00 p.m. text that appeared on my phone a couple nights ago which read, "I'm going to fail Algebra!" I called her downstairs and she appeared, in tears, with a pre-Algebra worksheet in hand that she had been trying to review so that she'd be ready for her class the next day. We went over a few rules for solving linear equations, graphing, working with decimals and fractions, and then she sighed a breath of relief and went to bed. She's going to be just fine--she just doesn't know it yet.
Joey thumped into the car after his second day of school, slammed the car door, and announced that his teacher is "really mean." What? I asked him to tell me why he thought so, and he described a couple times during the day when he had been "asking" her a question and she had "yelled" at him. [Editorial note: "yelling" to Joey means any tone of voice that is raised slightly above the volume of a gentle lilt.] I reminded him that on the second day of school last year, he had told me exactly the same thing about his 3rd grade teacher--the one he wept inconsolably about when 3rd grade came to an end and he just couldn't stand the thought of not being in her class anymore. We discussed timing and context, and Joey slowly came to understand that maybe he just needs to learn the new system. He also mentioned several incidences during the day when his teacher had been extremely nice to him--going the extra mile to make sure a class treat was safe for him given his peanut allergy, and assuring him that everything was OK when he accidentally spilled some juice on a paper they were filling out in class. Joey's a sensitive soul and this year will be as great for him as last year was. Sunrise, sunset.
I can't weigh in yet on Zach's upcoming year. He's less enthusiastic this year than he was last year, and his only response to the "How was school today?" query was, "OK." I think I got a "fine" out of him one day, too. So, we'll see. And if you're following Ben's separate blog (http://adventureswithautism.blogspot.com/) you already know that Ben's second day wasn't too great. But we're trying a few new things starting tomorrow; I'll update his blog in a day or two.
I also will start teaching at UVU on Thursday. The course curriculum is much like what I taught at BYU; still, I'm a little nervous to start over again. Chris didn't get the promotion at work, but his transition care company, Redwood Grove, seems to be picking up a little bit. As it's done before. Rise and fall, begin and end and begin again...
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Starting Place
Well, I have set up a separate blog to document our experiences with Ben; you can follow that blog at http://adventureswithautism.blogspot.com. But the rest of the kids matter, too--they're very insistent about this--and so I needed to create a forum where I could equally celebrate their successes and individuality. That's what this blog will be all about.
So here's a quick rundown of our current statuses. Er...statii. How about...statum? Moosen in the woodsenises...(that's a Brian Regan joke; if you don't follow him, you should start):
Ben: Recently diagnosed with Autism and starting 1st grade in three days. Ben's favorite t.v. show is "How It's Made" on the science channel--we tape this regularly and he watches every episode. Ben loves to visit Lori next door and get cookies and brownies from her; surprisingly, she always has some! Lori puts my domestic skills to shame. Ben recently greeted two complete strangers by plunging his fingers into their stomachs and giggling, "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" One stranger was the guy changing the oil on the car; the other was a teenager who had come to the door selling "Viking" cards as a football team fundraiser. Neither quite knew what to do about this unexpected invasion of their physical space; Chris (to the the oil guy) and I (to the teenager) just issued the customary apology and pulled Ben away. He's a funny, funny kid. Follow Ben's school progress on the other blog.
Joey: Moving into 4th grade, and madly in love with "Peach." Peach (not her real name, but it's what everyone calls her) has fluttered his tender little heart since the first grade. Joey was desperately disappointed to discover that yet again, Peach was placed in a different class from his. But we have assured him that he will still see her at recess, lunch, assemblies--really, whenever she doesn't run away from him, which reflects the current status of their relationship. Joey played baseball this summer and hopes to never do it again (but he will). He continues to pursue his obsession with the Titanic, having recently grilled Grandma Morrill about the status of the custom Titanic quilt she is making for him, and watched the movie "Into the Abyss"--a documentary taking us deep into the Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the sea.
Izzy: Is about to embark on her Junior High journey. She is the secretary in the Beehive class at church, and is learning to play the viola in the Junior High orchestra. She moved up into Ballet 4 with Pointe, and into the second level performance company at Wasatch Ballet conservatory. She is experiencing all the wonderful, amazing, beautiful (code: INSANE) changes associated with adolescence, but for all the moods and emotion, she's an awesome sister to her three brothers and helps out a lot--especially with Ben, who can be difficult and who requires a lot of attention.
Zach: Can I really have an 8th grader?? Zach moves into the Advanced Percussion group at the junior high this year. Seriously, how do you move those drum sticks that fast? He's a member of the PALs (Peer Advisory Leadership) team at the junior high, which so far has meant that he has a really cool t-shirt and hoodie with his name embroidered on them, and he has given about a zillion tours of the school to incoming 7th graders. Zach is taking musical theater, sculpting, and metalworking this year, which tells me that he loves to create and express himself through the arts--my kind of kid!
Chris and Heather: Chris is working at the State Hospital as a psychologist, though he's interviewing today for a position as the director of psychology there. I don't know if that would be a good thing, or not...hm... I have been hired by Utah Valley University to teach English Composition part-time; I'll start at the end of August. If anything exciting or interesting happens, I'll blog it later.
It occurs to me that this post reads like the Christmas letter we haven't done for several years. Future posts will likely be less comprehensive. But it seemed important to create a "jumping off" point. There you have it!
So here's a quick rundown of our current statuses. Er...statii. How about...statum? Moosen in the woodsenises...(that's a Brian Regan joke; if you don't follow him, you should start):
Ben: Recently diagnosed with Autism and starting 1st grade in three days. Ben's favorite t.v. show is "How It's Made" on the science channel--we tape this regularly and he watches every episode. Ben loves to visit Lori next door and get cookies and brownies from her; surprisingly, she always has some! Lori puts my domestic skills to shame. Ben recently greeted two complete strangers by plunging his fingers into their stomachs and giggling, "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" One stranger was the guy changing the oil on the car; the other was a teenager who had come to the door selling "Viking" cards as a football team fundraiser. Neither quite knew what to do about this unexpected invasion of their physical space; Chris (to the the oil guy) and I (to the teenager) just issued the customary apology and pulled Ben away. He's a funny, funny kid. Follow Ben's school progress on the other blog.
Joey: Moving into 4th grade, and madly in love with "Peach." Peach (not her real name, but it's what everyone calls her) has fluttered his tender little heart since the first grade. Joey was desperately disappointed to discover that yet again, Peach was placed in a different class from his. But we have assured him that he will still see her at recess, lunch, assemblies--really, whenever she doesn't run away from him, which reflects the current status of their relationship. Joey played baseball this summer and hopes to never do it again (but he will). He continues to pursue his obsession with the Titanic, having recently grilled Grandma Morrill about the status of the custom Titanic quilt she is making for him, and watched the movie "Into the Abyss"--a documentary taking us deep into the Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the sea.
Izzy: Is about to embark on her Junior High journey. She is the secretary in the Beehive class at church, and is learning to play the viola in the Junior High orchestra. She moved up into Ballet 4 with Pointe, and into the second level performance company at Wasatch Ballet conservatory. She is experiencing all the wonderful, amazing, beautiful (code: INSANE) changes associated with adolescence, but for all the moods and emotion, she's an awesome sister to her three brothers and helps out a lot--especially with Ben, who can be difficult and who requires a lot of attention.
Zach: Can I really have an 8th grader?? Zach moves into the Advanced Percussion group at the junior high this year. Seriously, how do you move those drum sticks that fast? He's a member of the PALs (Peer Advisory Leadership) team at the junior high, which so far has meant that he has a really cool t-shirt and hoodie with his name embroidered on them, and he has given about a zillion tours of the school to incoming 7th graders. Zach is taking musical theater, sculpting, and metalworking this year, which tells me that he loves to create and express himself through the arts--my kind of kid!
Chris and Heather: Chris is working at the State Hospital as a psychologist, though he's interviewing today for a position as the director of psychology there. I don't know if that would be a good thing, or not...hm... I have been hired by Utah Valley University to teach English Composition part-time; I'll start at the end of August. If anything exciting or interesting happens, I'll blog it later.
It occurs to me that this post reads like the Christmas letter we haven't done for several years. Future posts will likely be less comprehensive. But it seemed important to create a "jumping off" point. There you have it!
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