Holiday Greetings & Such

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday. I’ve been busy trying to stay sane while the kids are out of school. Today, I spent all afternoon pretending to be domestic. I made 8 or 9 dozen chocolate chip cookies…from scratch. I also finished up a half completed batch of Buckeyes I started last week. I had made the peanut butter ball middles, but ran out of chocolate for the shell, so I just left them in the freezer for later. Today was later. I also made another half-batch to use up the chocolate coating I made today.

This batch of peanut butter balls seemed WAY easier for me to make…probably since it was my 3rd batch. I also think I figured out a little trick that my mother-in-law left off her recipe, which made it easier also. I’m sure she would have taught me the trick if she were still with us.

Another thing that I tried today that I hadn’t done with the first 2 batches of Buckeyes is I used my fondue pot to keep the chocolate warm instead of plunking the bowl in the microwave after every few buckeyes.

So, now all I have to do as far as “baking” goes is prep the sausage swirls I make every Christmas for breakfast. They’re pretty easy to make, just a pain to prep. In case you’re wondering, it’s just crescent roll dough rolled out a little bit with a layer of ground sausage smeared all over it then rolled into a log & sliced about a half inch thick (like cinnamon rolls, except not as thick). I figured out a long time ago that it’s much easier to “cut” them if the “log” is firm – otherwise it just squishes & the pieces are all funky shaped. So, after I roll the “log” I put a layer of wax paper around it & stick it in the freezer for an hour or so, then I cut it up & put it back in the freezer until I’m ready to bake them. Yummy Christmas breakfast that cooks while we’re opening gifts.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season no matter which winter holiday you celebrate!

Things That Parents of ADHD Children Wished Every Teacher Knew

I found this while looking for something else online today. It pretty much sums it up.

  • Having an ADHD child is very challenging and we need all the help we can get. Teachers play a vital role in the way that our child feels about himself and we hope that you will do whatever you can to help our child learn and maintain his self-esteem.
  • Just like a blind person needs to learn coping strategies so that he can lead an independent life, our goal for our ADHD child is that together with his teachers and his medical professionals, we will help him to learn the special ways that he can be successful in all areas of his life. These special strategies include things like developing ways to keep organized, be on time, control behaviour, plan and complete work, make and keep friends. This requires consistent effort on the part of his support team, of which you are vital part.
  • All current research emphatically shows that ADHD is not caused by bad parenting. Please be assured that we are doing everything we can to learn and use effective strategies for managing ADHD at home. Research also shows that the more consistent we are in the ways we manage ADHD in the home and school environment, the greater chances for success.
  • Children with ADHD have many talents and strengths: creative minds, curiosity, boundless energy, humour, courage, leadership abilities, physical abilities, stamina and often show amazing gifts in specialized areas like computers, math, music, etc. Sometimes as parents and teachers we tend to focus on the weaknesses rather than the strengths in our aim to change behaviours. As parents and teachers we need to seek out these strengths and utilize them to help this child be successful in their own way.
  • Unfortunately, our highly structured, standardized education system which requires all students to sit quietly at a desk, listen and do independent work for several hours a day can be the worst possible environment for ADHD children. Although, we understand that we cannot change the system, from or own experiences we recognize the value of learning to understand this condition and how it effects these children. We would be more than willing to work with you to develop strategies, reward systems and any other problem-solving that is required.
  • Please feel free to contact us as frequently and as often as you need to and don’t wait until issues get to a crisis stage. And remember that we would love to hear about positive developments and not just the negative stuff.
  • In turn,we may need to contact you frequently, but rest assured that we will not take advantage of the situation. Please help us by giving us a way to do that. Email could be very helpful for this.
  • Because ADHD children often misunderstand social interactions, they quite regularly report events inaccurately. It’s important for you and us to remember that what he tells us about what happened at school or at home may need to be verified to make sure that it is correct before we take any action.
  • A daily communication tool is often helpful but we need it to record progress towards desired behaviours and not report on negative behaviours. Our children will work very hard for much-needed positive reinforcement but will shut down cooperation and effort if they only receive negative feedback. They will not cooperate with either of us if they feel we are only joining forces to share negative information on their behaviour.
  • ADHD is not an excuse for poor behaviour – but it is an explanation. Our child is expected to act appropriately but will need your help and encouragement to learn and practice it. Immediate feedback is important – positive and constructive. Our child needs specific instruction and modeling in this area. If he acts inappropriately, take him aside and tell him that his behaviour was not appropriate, explain why (tell him how it effected the person it was directed at) and show him what he should do instead. Then make sure that you praise him whenever you notice improvement.
  • Homework is an enormous challenge for our child and also for us because he has challenges with organization. Please work with us to develop strategies to help him learn better organization skills. We expect him to work on improving his organization skills and will not accept his ADHD as an excuse for not doing his homework.
  • Short term memory deficits can be an inherent problem of ADHD. Insisting that the student needs to take responsibility for remembering things without giving him strategies and tools to do this only sets him up for failure and frustrates all of us.
  • When our children arrive home without the necessary books and materials to complete homework, it causes enormous stress for our child and us. Please help him to develop a strategy which ensures that he has everything he needs before he leaves school. Having a second set of books at home is helpful.
  • Our child has trouble remembering multiple instructions. Please provide written instructions so that we can ensure that assignments are being done correctly and completely. Unfortunately, without assistance, our child may then forget the instructions at school. Emailing instructions home or providing the phone number of a classmate would be helpful.
  • We will do our best to ensure that our child completes all homework on time but we may need your help with deadline extensions if our child legitimately needs more time. We will help our child to plan out larger assignments by breaking them into smaller pieces and setting deadlines and then ensuring that the deadlines are met, but any assistance that you can give him at school would be most helpful.
  • We will not do our child’s homework for him. It is important that he do the work and earn the marks himself. Doing his work for him will only rob him of his self-confidence and self-esteem and will not give you an accurate picture of his progress.
  • We will develop and maintain a system to ensure that all assignments come back to school. Please create a consistent routine and place for him to hand his work in. If any assignments are missed, please contact us immediately.
  • When our child has a teacher who understands how extremely difficult and frustrating it is to have ADHD, he has the potential of having a wonderful school experience where he can grow, learn and feel proud and successful. However, when his ADHD is not understood, he often feels like a failure and we run the risk that he will give up on school and himself and turn his fantastic energy and gifts to unproductive and possibly destructive activities. I hope that we can work together to to nurture the wonderful qualities of our special child.

Reprinted from this source document under Creative Commons License.

Open Letter to Kershaw County School District Superintendent

The following is an email that I sent to the Kershaw County School District superintendent this evening. If you have children in Kershaw County Schools, I urge you to let the district know how you feel about this new “policy”.


Dr. Morgan,

As I know you are well aware, many of the parents who received this School Messenger message this evening are confused and more than a little upset. ( https://asp.schoolmessenger.com/m/?s=rCyxf2UHv5A ) According to this, our entire SIC, PTA & countless other volunteers have been completely wiped out. No one I’ve been in contact with this evening is willing to pay $25 for this EVERY YEAR. I admit this is complete hearsay, but I heard the staff at Doby’s Mill was asking certified police officers who were dropping off their children to leave the building because they weren’t on the SLED list. Really? They’re police officers for goodness sakes…their background checks – complete with fingerprint checks – are much more reliable than the “honor system” background checks that are required from volunteers. (“Honor system” because it assumes the person filling out the form is providing accurate information.) The same holds true for anyone in South Carolina who is a Concealed Weapons Permit holder – Concealed Weapons Permit holders must submit to a background check complete with fingerprints & a copy of a government issued ID.

Also, according to that message, this policy was voted on by the school board. I looked through school board minutes back to March 1, 2011 posted on the district’s web site & I have not been able to find any reference to this policy being discussed at any of the meetings. The only reference I found to “volunteers” at all was in the March 15, 2011 Vice Chairman’s Report: “Mrs. Jones wanted to say she has witnessed caring individuals who willingly volunteer to help in our schools. She is impressed with those who are willing to enteract [interact] with students by reading to them.  In light of what has happened in Japan, she wanted to express her appreciation not only to the teachers and school staffs around our county but also the parents and volunteers.

What does the district think is going to happen to all those wonderful volunteers if they are required to pay $25 to volunteer? Literally thousands of hours of assistance to our schools will be gone.

  • - Test monitors for state mandated testing – gone
  • - PTA & PTO members who raise funds to help teachers purchase classroom supplies so they don’t have to pay as much out of their own pockets – gone
  • - Volunteers to staff book fairs so the media centers can purchase books & other library supplies – gone
  • - Volunteers for various “Field Days” – gone
  • - Chaperones for field trips & sports trips – gone
  • - Volunteers to help out in the office when it’s short staffed – gone
  • - Volunteers to help teachers in the classroom with countless tasks – gone

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Blaney PTA alone contributed over $28,000 in expenses directly related to mentoring, academic enrichment, books & supplies for the media center, school beautification, office/classroom supplies and school outreach (not PTA outreach). The year prior that number was approximately $20,000. I’m sure the other PTO & PTAs throughout the district have similar stories.

For many of us, it’s not so much the $25 (although yes, we are a bit put-off by that). But consider this – you’ve just paid an Incident Fee of $30 per student just to attend this “free” public education institution, an additional $25 per student if you have children in SEAGUL, $25 per student per sport in Middle school ($50/student cap), $50 per student per sport in high school ($100/student cap) and $60 if your student parks at the high school AND you know you’re still going to have to pay possibly $100 or more in field trip fees during the year so your student isn’t left out of learning opportunities (and yes, my child actually DOES learn on her field trips), well, that $25 is essentially a slap in the face to those of us who do volunteer 100+ hours AT the schools (I’ve put in hundreds more outside the school in PTO/PTA related volunteer time). AND WE HAD NO WARNING THAT THIS REQUIREMENT WAS COMING.

Let’s also consider that according to the SLED web site, background checks for 501(c)3 organizations is only $8. There are TWO (that I know of) 501(c)3 organizations associated with Kershaw County schools that COULD apply for the Charitable Organization Exemption through SLED to get background checks for $8 each instead of $25. I do not know about the Doby’s Mill PTA, but the Blaney Elementary PTA was not approached to request assistance with this.

Please understand, I am all for protecting our children, but sometimes things that are done with the intent of “protection” begin to border on absurd.

Thank you for your time,

Sherra Scott
Concerned Blaney Elementary parent & PTA member

I Miss You

There are times when you wish you hadn’t been left alone with your own thoughts. This afternoon is one of those times. I “think” a lot when I’m hyper-focused on “mundane” tasks. Today I’m hyper-focused on cleaning the baseboards & door jambs. The girls are pretty much staying to themselves today & JR is out motorcycle riding with a friend, so, I’m basically left alone, in the quiet with myself.

Being left alone with my thoughts isn’t always a bad thing. I’ve come to some realizations about several things today … why I feel the way I do about certain people & time periods in my past.

But then I get to thinking about other people who have been in my life and I realize just how much I miss them. Not because they are no longer in my life because they have died, but because for one reason or another, they are no longer in my life – generally due to some sort of falling out between us. Some of those people I do not “miss,” others I realize I miss terribly – mostly the “flesh & blood” relations I was very close to before the falling out.

I do not know if those people will ever read this. Hopefully we will be able to patch things back together at some point…because I miss you.

2011 NASP National Archery Tournament – Day 1

It’s the end of day 1 of Blaney Elementary Archery Team’s trip to the NASP National Tournament. We left the school a little after 7 this morning and got to the hotel at 5 PM…10 hours on a charter bus with a bunch of 10-12 year-olds. We unloaded and then headed out to dinner at 6 and got back to the hotel again at 9 PM. Now it’s lights-out at 10. All the archers will be shooting tomorrow.

Here are some of the pictures from the trip. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2038644130598.122137.1379126407&l=cb9bc90a9c

I’ll try to remember to write more tomorrow after the kids have shot.

Days Like Today Could Drive Me To Drinkin’

It’s days like today that might drive me to drinkin’! UGH. The kitchen sink sprayer lever broke after breakfast. I had a replacement sprayer under the sink from a repair we ended up not having to do, so I brought it out and replaced the sprayer. Perfect fit. Great. Unfortunately, THAT sprayer lever broke also!

Moving on to this afternoon. The clutch cable I bought for the lawn tractor last weekend had come in earlier this week. So, off I went to switch out the clutch cable. I get the mower deck removed (with a little help from J.R. for some muscle), clutch cable replaced, mower deck re-installed & started the tractor to test out the mower deck. Yay, the blades turn! But, alas, they do not stop when the attachment lever is disengaged (which is why I replaced the clutch cable – a $30+ part plus shipping…(stupid internet told me to replace it). So, back to the tractor manual and exploded parts diagrams. What is this? I don’t recall seeing this spring in the diagram on my mower deck! An idler spring appears to be missing. Great, super, awesome, sigh. I look up the price from Sears…sweet…only $2.91…plus shipping of $7.99. So, I call around to some small engine places thinking they may have one since, according to the Sears web site, this spring is used on 474 mower models. Nope…no one local has one in stock. BUT, one cool dude told me if I can find the size of the spring I should be able to use a general use spring from the hardware store of the same size. Wonderful…the parts diagram and the Sears parts site do not HAVE the spring size. Fortunately, another search of the ‘net using slightly different search terms nets me dimensions!

Off to Lowe’s we go in search of a spring and a kitchen sink sprayer.

After some searching, we found a 2-pack of springs I think will probably work. If not, it was only 3 1/2 bucks for 2 springs, plus I can take them back. We also found a replacement sink sprayer that says it’s universal and fits all faucet brands. Excellent. Cool, let’s go eat dinner and go home to fix the sprayer.

Kids are in bed, remove the broken sprayer and attempt to install the universal-fits-all-faucet-brands-sprayer. Hmmm…doesn’t fit. I try all sorts of different ways to get the darn thing to work, but it simply doesn’t fit. So, I think maybe I can just swap out the existing hose since I WAS able to get the sprayer to install on the replacement hose that went with the replacement sprayer that was under the sink from this morning. After some fumbling around under the sink trying to see what the heck I was doing & figuring out how to disconnect a hose that doesn’t screw on I finally got the hose off. Great…awesome…NOT! The replacement hose screws on, the original is a Delta quick-connect hose and the piece it attaches to under the sink doesn’t have ANY threads, so there’s no way to screw the replacement hose onto it. GAH!!!!!!

So, I have to re-attach the original hose and broken sprayer just so we’re able to use the kitchen sink.

You’d think I’d have learned by now that if the original plumbing fixture is a DELTA that NOTHING that says UNIVERSAL will fit. I’ve run into issues with sink stoppers, sprayers, and various other items throughout the years.

Yep, if I were a big drinker I’d probably have a drink. I guess chocolate will just have to do.

Poor Working Memory & ADHD

When many people hear that someone has ADHD (ADD) they immediately think of physical hyperactivity. I must admit, until I was diagnosed and began educating myself on the subject, I also thought that’s all that it was and that it was “outgrown”. Boy was I wrong!

I was doing some reading today, and ran across this list of abilities that are affected by the working memory difficulties experienced by people affected by ADHD.

  • Remembering and following instructions (especially verbal instructions) (I’m sorry, I don’t remember you saying anything about needing to do that part!)

  • Memorizing information (math facts, spelling words, dates, etc.) (Probably why although I enjoyed “learning” about history I couldn’t “memorize” the dates to save my life, which, of course, resulted in lower than usual grades on “memorization related” tests! Countries & Capitals, States & Capitals, what year did So-And-So discover Such-And-Such?)

  • Performing mental computation (doing math “in your head”) (Someone please give me some scrap paper!)

  • Completing complex math problems (algebra) (No wonder I DESPISED algebra & math!)

  • Remembering one part of an assignment or project while working on another segment

  • Paraphrasing or summarizing (Um, yeah, I’m not exactly known for being brief.)

  • Organizing and writing essays (Don’t get me started on my hatred of organized reports & essays…Can’t I just let it flow as it comes out of my brain?)

  • Learning from past behavior (No comment…)

  • Judging the passage of time accurately (and therefore not allowing enough time to complete tasks such as homework, projects, etc.) (I swear it only takes me 30 minutes to get ready to walk out the door, but if you ask my husband, it takes me about 2 hours.)

  • Examining or changing your own behavior (possibly leading to behaviors that may alienate friends, co-workers, etc. “Self awareness”) (I shudder to think what people “really” think about me. I know “tactful” probably won’t be found on any lists most people would make of descriptive words for me. BUT, I believe I’ve gotten better at keeping my big mouth shut compared to how I was up until a couple of years ago. Not perfect, but better.)

  • Planning ahead (Weekly dinner menu? HA HA HA HA!!! I’m doing great if I can decided at lunchtime what I’m going to make for dinner…which reminds me…it’s almost lunch time.)

  • No matter how high a person’s IQ is, if they are affected by ADHD, they WILL have more difficulty with their “working memory” (if not then they don’t have ADHD) than a person without ADHD. Fortunately, there have been great strides in ADHD research & treatment/management in the past decade. As I find resources on the ‘net I try to bookmark them in my Delicious bookmarks. Please feel free to check out (or subscribe to) my ADHD related bookmarks.

    I’d love to hear about your ADHD experiences! Feel free to comment below.

    Conversation With Delaney: Kitties & Zombies

    Today’s interesting conversation…all in the span of about 30 seconds…

    Are we going to Tyler & Chase’s house today? Me: No, not today. They have lots of dogs & a kitty. I like kitties. Kitties are not zombies. I did not see zombies around here. There are no zombies at our house. But spiders are zombies. Mom, are spiders zombies? Spiders eat people.

    I would like to thank my neighbor, Mike, for introducing my daughter to the wonderful world of zombies. <Insert sarcasm>

    And just a little more background info – Tyler & Chase are her cousins who live in Ohio (JR’s brother’s kids). When we visited them this past Christmas they were dog sitting their grandma’s dogs (JR’s brother’s wife’s mom) plus they have a couple of dogs of their own, so there WERE a house full of critters.

    As for the zombies…zombies are not a scary thing for Mike (or his 3-year-old daughter, who is one of Delaney’s favorite playmates), they are more of a fascination, so Delaney’s not scared of zombies either.

    Conversations with Delaney: The Shadows That Live In Her Window

    Most nights I sit next to each girl on their respective beds and spend a minute or two (sometimes 10 or 20) talking about their day and whatever else they want to talk about. Stink turned 4 a week and a half ago and her imagination has been growing by leaps and bounds these past several months. Lately she’s been mentioning The Shadow during our evening chats, and sometimes at nap time. I’ve been encouraging her to talk about The Shadow so I can try to understand more about what’s going through that head of hers.

    Last night we had a particularly interesting conversation about The Shadow. Some of the things we talked about I already knew, others were revelations for me. It turns out, there is not 1 shadow, but 2. Here’s what I now know about The Shadows:

    • Originally, the stories consisted of 1 shadow with 1 eye.
    • There are now apparently 2 shadows that live in her window – well, actually they live in her blinds. (Her words, “not in the window, actually they’re in the blinds”.)
    • The Shadows’ names are 1 Eye and 2 Eyes.
    • 1 Eye is mean.
    • The reason 1 Eye is mean is “2 Eyes ate his other eye”. (My suspicion is that she really means 1 Eye is mad, not mean, but I’m not sure she understands the difference yet.)
    • The Shadows don’t sleep – they just close their eyes a little bit (emphasized by the pinching together of the thumb and forefinger along with squinting of her eyes).
    • The Shadows wake her up at  night, especially if there’s thunder.
    • Mostly they leave her alone. They don’t really scare her, they just “bother” her.

    I find this stage of childhood development absolutely fascinating. You know they’re forming interesting thoughts and trying to figure things out but can’t quite find the right words to express themselves. When Stink doesn’t know (or forgot) the right word to express what she means she gets this quizzical look on her face, tilts her head a little and says, “What dat word again?” or “How you say dat word?” There are times I don’t have the slightest idea WHAT she’s trying to express, so I have to guess. Sometimes I guess right, sometimes I don’t. Her choice of phrases can be quite entertaining, such as, “Mommy, I very want to [insert activity - eat, watch TV, play, etc.].”

    Cardiologist Visit 06-10-10

    I saw the cardiologist today. It was rather anticlimactic. I didn’t really hear anything I didn’t expect. I’ve got 3 choices for dealing with the PSVT: do nothing, continue with the meds, cardiac ablation.

    I can do nothing & just live with it. It’s not “life threatening” – I won’t die from the PSVT episodes, but it’s very annoying at the least and can be quite inconvenient depending on when, where & how long they last.

    I can continue with the meds for a while to see if there seems to be any difference. (I got an app for my iPod today to track symptoms since I can’t remember from one day to the next & it’s a pain in the butt to write them down – I’d much rather just tap a couple of things & let the iPod time stamp it for me!)

    I can opt for a cardiac ablation procedure. At this point I wasn’t too thrilled with some of the statistics that were discusses, so I’ll definitely need to do more reading & pondering before making a decision on that.

    Otherwise, I’m not restricted on anything. I can continue with my Adderall. The doc said that he hasn’t seen any problems in his patients who take both Adderall & Toprol/Metoprolol. The Adderall did not cause the PSVT (that has been going on for the past 18 years – at least – and I’ve only been taking the Adderall since November and I hadn’t taken the Adderall for 4 days prior to this last major episode). He said if I have an SVT event that lasts for more than 2 hours I should go ahead and go to the ER to have it stopped, but otherwise,

    I’ve got a follow-up appointment with the doc in 3 months. He wants to do an echocardiogram at that appointment to take a look at the structure of my heart, but he said the EKG today looked fine. At this point I’m just going to continue with the Toprol & do my best to remember to record my symptoms. Boring stuff…