We've been busy lately, or maybe it's just seemed busier than usual because I've been flirting with what I think is a head cold that can't make up its mind. Galen's confidence in writing his number is growing, and the number he fought us the hardest on is actually the one he does the best (3s). I think the large light grey numbers I printed out for him to trace made a big difference, and he actually likes doing them, so I'll be making more of those (and probably doing it for his letters too, once we start basic penmanship. I still need to order the Handwriting Without tears curriculum, but I have a couple questions and I keep forgetting to call during their business hours. The occupational therapist could probably answer one of them for me, but the others are definitely a sales office issue.
On Labor Day, I took Galen to Toys 'R Us, but told him before we left the house that we were looking for something very specific, and if they didn't have it we wouldn't be buying any toys. He was okay with that, or at least accepted that was the way it was going to be. As suspected, they didn't have what I was looking for (Target carries the brand I was looking for, but not in stores, and I didn't want to order them online without getting a closer look). However, I ran into an amazing sale on Thomas Wooden Railway items, including several items I wanted pick up for Galen. Luckily, Toys 'R Us maintains a train table display the kids can actually play with, and Galen was so involved in his play that he never even noticed as I flagged down an employee, who then got a shopping cart and helped me fill it before bringing it to the front of the store for me. He never even looked up from his play. Because I needed to distract him while I paid for the stuff I let him pick out a small LEGO box, and he was so excited about his new LEGOs he never even thought to ask me why we were leaving with an entire shopping cart full of bags. He's mentioned several times how much he would like a shed for his trains and a turntable (he watches Chuggington, which has a setup like that), so he's going to be a very happy boy come Christmas, because one of the items I picked up was Tidmouth Shed with a turntable. Ironic much? He also got Cranky the Crane, the Mine Tunnel, an Over-the-Track signal, and a Water Tower. Right now he pretends his Stop and Go station is a water tower, so he'll be thrilled to see that, and he was playing with the mine tunnel in the display set. Sometimes it's good to be a sneak - now if I can contain my excitement over his excitement long enough to save them for Christmas we're good.
The weekend after that my husband basically gave me a day to myself - I had asked for a couple hours to run an errand I really couldn't run with Galen in tow. When something else came up later, he told me to just go do what I needed to do - I actually felt guilty leaving him on his own with Galen again, but he was in such a good mood after having passed his certification exam the day before, and he knew I needed a break, that he told me not to worry about it because he was enjoying having a day where he had nothing else on his mind except playing with his son. It didn't dawn on me until later than it was September 11, and I probably needed some time to myself more than I realized. For anyone that doesn't already know, I suffer from PTSD as a result of 9-11, and this was a major factor in the depression I've been in treatment for since shortly after my son was born. Don't ever assume that you're better now just because the worst of the immediate symptoms have faded - I could have avoided most of the stress of the last four years if I'd sought treatment when I first realized I was having an abnormally bad time of things. My boss figured it out before I did, actually, and I still didn't seek treatment, even though I knew he was right the minute he brought it up.
Anyway, the day was a good one for me in spite of the sad thoughts that came with it. I think a part of me is still in shock after all this time, but the saddest thing for me is the way we've reacted. I won't say any more about that here.
Yesterday, we attended a birthday party for the next-door neighbor's son. We don't know them very well, but in many ways they are a lot like us. They keep to themselves, they teach their kids to be respectful and polite, and they don't make a lot of noise. In fact, we hardly ever hear them. On occasion their dog barks in the back yard, but not often, and we sometimes hear him listening to some sports event on the radio (or perhaps a portable TV) on the back porch, but otherwise we wave and say hello when we see each other out front. The party was a blast for the kids, and I'm pretty sure the adults had a good time as well. They have a trampoline, and they rented one of those huge blow-up bouncy slides with a pool at the bottom, so the kids, including Galen, were in heaven. Galen was one of the smallest ones there, and I was impressed with how well the older boys watched out for him. Especially on the trampoline after they realized he was a little intimidated with them all jumping around him. This was particularly impressive to me since about a dozen of these boys were on the junior football team the neighbor's son is on (he just turned 8). Some of those boys were pretty solidly built, and they were all bigger than Galen, but they took him in hand and showed him how to jump with them so no one got bounced around too much. One of those boys turned out to be the son of a local politician - we had been talking about the kids with him and his wife for a while before he mentioned that he was our local city councilman. Turns out he's also modest, because he's actually the Vice Mayor. Seems like a nice guy, and his wife is charming as well. I hope I'll run into them again.
That's all for today. Galen is napping, Richard is napping, and my Facebook games are calling me.
No comments:
Post a Comment