Why mint?

Really.

Why mint?

I love mint. I enjoy its smell. It reminds me of winter kisses.

I love its taste. The cool feeling as it rushes over my tongue.


I love to chew mint gum.

I LOVE candy canes.  I love to buy them just to stir hot drinks.

Why mint?

Why is it the one thing my dear daughter cannot handle?

Really.... 

I cannot open a piece of gum, a candy cane, or even sneak a cup of peppermint mocha coffee without that nose sounding off to her brain stem that there is danger.

 Mint is not dangerous. It is soothing and wondeful. 

Well, at least to me...

Ugh!

Wait a minute.....

These moments are not meant for me to put away

the things I enjoy. 

They are for me to help that snarling growling crying monster 

to relax and COPE with life.

I try breathing, and get told, "Really, Mom, that is soo annoying." But, we work together, and she can get through it.

It is called compromise. 

I do try to limit my mint intake, and she is trying to accept it.

But, there are still moments when

I have to ask "Why?"

oops is just not a strong enough word

It has been a long while since Ruth has had a melt down. 

So long in fact, I cannot name the last one. 

That is until yesterday morning. 

UGH!!

I let Jackson out, like I do every morning before I head out to work. Ruth began to cry like the dog died.

I yelled.

I mean, YELLED!

I told if she didn't knock it off, I was going to have unpleasant consequences for her. 

Like my screaming wasn't unpleasant. (enter derisive snort)

I realized my mistake as she slunk down the hall to her room.

The dog came back in, and followed me to her bedside.

I have to go to work, and she is crying still.

I ask if she wants me to lay with her a bit.

I get a sound, which indicated that probably I missed my opportunity.

I lifted my bag to leave, and heard a pat on the bed. 

I figured it was for Jackson. 

It wasn't.

It was for me.

I crawled onto the bed beside her. 

She let me wipe the tears from her face.

No apologies. 

But, forgiveness was there.

Forgiveness for her, as I realized it was not her desire to have an outburst. 

It was her anxiety getting the best of her.

Forgiveness for me, as I held her close, and sang softly to her as she began to doze.

I left her there, quietly dreaming. 

Science for free

Last Friday I took a day off. It was supposed to be about packing for our camp trip, but it was a bit more.

I spent some time cleaning the front of the house, which has desperately needed it. Ruth joined me, but only to keep me company. Eventually she lost interest, and wandered back inside. I plugged along, and picked up an old vinyl table cloth from under the window near our front steps. I tossed it aside, and saw a single yellow jacket emerge from the wrinkles. As it landed, I noticed the nest attached to the underside. I left it 'be' and kept on plugging along.
A bit later, Ruth came out again. She was chattering away about this or that, mostly her newest interest, "The Hunger Games". All of a sudden she shrieked, "Mom, Look at those bees!" Over where the tablecloth used to 'be' (hehehe, I am having a bit of fun with that), there was a small swarm of yellow jackets. They were just flying around. "Why are they doing that?" Ruth asked. My response was to say something about the missing nest, and I showed it to her. There were no adults near by, so we poked it with a stick. (No, we could not leave it "be'. hehe)
There were yellow bulges in the holes of the nest, and we picked at them. How cool to 'be' able to check out the different levels of bee morphing? So, I encouraged Ruth to bring the nest inside and poke around to see what she could find. She took several photos, which I will have to attempt to upload at another point in time. She ended her project by lining up the different stages, and adding two more. (The last two stages included stingers and wings.)
Free, Fun, This is why I have ALWAYS wanted to home school!

YESSSSSS

I have no doubt that home schooling was the best choice for RuthE.
Today, she began to use her new curriculum. We decided to stay eclectic in style. So, we use a variety of materials to entice her. I like how they are set up so that it doesn't take a Master's Degree to teach. But, I digress from the YESSS.

I came home tonight after a very long day which ended with a meeting at church. It was near 8 PM. I was tired to say the least. Ruth had her work done and on the table. It is a good start. But, I was not amazed by it. Though, I must say it was a huge and wonderful change to hear "I can learn from my mistakes" come from her mouth when I pointed out some issues with math. 

I was amazed by some sculpting she did using clay purchased for her pottery wheel. AMAZED! Several reasons:
1) They looked like an adult made them. Details, with precision. Okay, maybe not perfection, but still so wonderful!
2) She did them instead of watching television. This has been a long battle in my home. I get it, but I don't always like it.
3) Ruth accepted the compliments, and the critiquing. (After I was settled in, she made several other critters that needed some tweaking.) 
These critters are both gifts, and for sale. Ruth has  4H goal to raise money for her cat sanctuary of choice. I believe she can do it. Most importantly, so does she.

First things first

No, I am not discussing evolution.

More like eating dessert before dinner.

We went off to the CT Science Center on Saturday.

With the way are choosing to home school, this works for us.

Ruth and I went to see the dinosaurs before they disappeared. Literally, the exhibit ended on Sunday. :o)

What an awesome place to visit. I am glad we went without a group. Ruth was excited to go, and was rocking my shoulder at 7 AM to get a move on. Nope. See lessons below. We got there later than she hoped, and the place was hopping. But, it was not crowded. No concerns for her there. The lines were short for the exhibits. She was able to go from thing to thing and learn at her leisure. We took as much or as little time as she needed. We even stayed in one spot for me to sit and relax at the roof top garden.

 Lesson 1:

 Mom would like to sleep in on Saturday mornings as long as she can. Not a great idea to wake her before then without a cup of tea.

Lesson 2:

Follow your instincts for best learning. If you are beginning to feel anxious, move on. If a headache is forming, find a quieter exhibit. This works for all of us, and we both have things that we need. Give breaks when asked for, and voila', we want to stay longer.

Lesson 3:

Dinosaurs of my day were dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs today are big bird lizards.

(no, they were not yellow)

T-Rex babies are thought to have feathers like baby chickens.

Imagine that.

Lesson 4:

Learning with hands on is a great way to learn!

We can work on writing skills, and we will.

To start off the school year, field trips rock!

Why do schools wait until the end of the year to do this stuff?

Fall is a beginning

It is odd to consider that fall is a beginning of a cycle.

We often place it at the end, like the moments before the climax in a good book.

 

This week, I see it differently.

We are getting ready to begin our first full year of homeschooling.  I have struggled with what to bring before my girl. Why? I want the best for her. I want to meet her needs, and still meet the mandates of what other children her age will learn.

 

I have wasted time worrying about that stuff. I am done, and will look forward with eagerness. I realize that Ruth already is beginning to show eagerness to learn. She would rather go to the science center than anywhere else. Hmm, sounds like membership there would be a good thing. We go tomorrow.

 

Structure is what Ruth struggles with.

That brings about anxiety, and tears. Sunday school and church are the places where she is learning to deal with those issues. I fear that it maybe will work against me. But, I PRAY that I will be more honest and open with others that care about her, and she will develop those skills in a place that is as loving and supportive as her first home.

 

I have hopes and dreams for this year.

That is why I think of this fall as a beginning, not an end.

Looking forward is not looking back.

Chchchchanges

Last post I spoke of the turmoil my daughter was going through. That was about 18 months ago. The whirlwind of tears and tummy aches continued all year. The outcome, November 2011, Ruth became so sick, she could hardly move. Doctors, specialists, Mayo Clinic contacted. By the end of December, she had only attended school about 5 times over the course of 6 weeks. The specialist gave us a note for her to be schooled at home, if she needed to be. In our town, that means tutoring. I was so tired of fighting with the school system. My daughter needed something different. My husband and I chose to follow our guts.
We took the PLUNGE!
Homeschooling began on the day that the school finally decided that our family might need some help. Take it easy, the resources say. 6 weeks to 6 months of decompression. Our instincts are that she needs 'school', but we began slow and easy. The hardest assignment the first week was to write thank you notes to family members.
We tried some curriculum assessments. They are 'go at your pace' and we chose not to use the publisher. The results showed us where to start. Back in the third grade level of math. We shook our heads, but we figured, better to start slow and easy.
Sentences, and single digit multiplication. Therapist appointments spent on how to build confidence.
Jump ahead to the end of January. Recheck at the specialist. The final outcome: by following our gut, the doctor said we did the BEST thing for our daughter. We can expect it to take much longer than 6 months for her to recover from the trauma of what she experienced in public school. Not that the teachers were awful, but there was no support for her there. Our sensory kids struggle with feeling safe in their own body. Anxiety reeks havoc in their minds.
This month, Ruth has started 2 different 4H clubs, is volunteering at a local cat shelter, began a "Girl's Circle" group in a nearby town. She attends Sunday school and church with limited struggle. And she is looking forward to her pottery classes that begin in March.
Tummy aches? Rare, and obvious to anxiety. Tears, well, they are more than I would like. But, she is changing from little girl to young woman.
I couldn't be more pleased with her progress, and hope to begin to track more here. Especially since we are still Sensing the Differences.