This morning I played this song for Annabel:
She loved it, of course. Who wouldn't? She also likes the 12 Days of Christmas. And Rudolph. And Santa Claus is Coming to Town. And Jingle Bells. (I believe you now get the drift.)
She's starting to worry that without snow, there won't be Christmas. It was the first thing she asked this morning when she woke up -- "did it snow outside?" I reassured her that Christmas and Santa come whether there's snow or not, but I'm not sure she believed me. And what the heck, Michigan? Why do we bother to live this far north when there's not going to be snow at Christmas?
We went to see Santa yesterday at the mall. Otto, of course, was pretty calm about it. He told Santa he wants LEGOs and more LEGOs for his gift. Bel talked to him too, nervous but excited, and she told him she wants a "dancing belly-button dolly." Santa's eyebrows quirked, but he agreed. I'm wondering where Santa finds something like that (if you have any hints for Santa, send them my way -- I'll forward them along).
When we walked away from Santa, Bel chattered happily to her daddy, "I talked to Santa! And he liked me! And he was nice!" Sweet girl - as if anyone wouldn't like her! We ran errands together Saturday and she made all sorts of random people smile.
The pics turned out pretty well (to be released on Christmas!). Annabel is happy that she's not crying, Otto is happy that he looks cool.
He's counting the days to winter break - has been for a couple of weeks now. First grade has not been easy, not at all. In fact we're working through having him evaluated right now to see if we can pinpoint what sort of trouble he's having. Academically (that means when tested) he's doing well, but as far as following directions, fitting into class, and getting his work done he's having issues. The specter of ADD has already raised its head, but we'll go through the diagnosis process with our pediatrician before jumping to any conclusions.
As part of the process, I went to a parent-teacher conference a month ago that included several specialists from around the school. The social worker. The reading specialist. His teacher. The principal was in and out. In total there were probably 6 other people at the table with me, all sharing their opinions about how he's learning (or not, as the case may be). As it was a brainstorming session, all sorts of ideas were tossed around, from epilepsy to being gifted. It was a little surreal to have these experts telling me there's something not-quite-right about my oldest's behavior, while at the same time encouraging me to remember that the high school has a partership with a local college that allows students to start their college career before leaving high school.
Whiplash much?
The most important thing here is that Otto thinks he needs help, too. He gets discouraged and worried sometimes. Freely admits when he's overreacted to something. Says he has trouble focusing. It doesn't help to tell him everything's OK when he knows it's not, so what I'm telling him is that we'll find ways to help him do better.
Lucky for him, he lives with two parents who love him to bits, has health insurance and a good pediatrician, a caring, committed school staff, and supportive family and friends. Whatever's going on, we'll figure it out and work on it.
In the meanwhile, there's SANTA! And cookies, and Christmas music, and too much eating out because we're busy running around. Life is good, and winter break starts after school lets out on Thursday. Hooray!
