Merf

I need to go back to writing my posts through the day and not just at the end when I’m too bloody knackered to do it.

I will therefore categorise our days:

Tuesday:

• Around 3am I was woken by a bookcase falling on my leg.  Hard.  I currently have a very fetching bruise on my left thigh.  We suspect feline sabotage.
• 7am we decide that we will walk to school rather than take the car to establish the route and how long it will take.  We leave at 07:30.  #1 Son was not happy about it.  Before we got to school he was tired, cranky and we knew he was not going to have a good day.  It took 45 minutes and he was exhausted.
• 08:05 I handed him over to his teacher, who commented that he looked tired.

This is NOT sustainable long term.  It just isn’t.  A five year old cannot be expected to walk over three miles a day (and at least half of it uphill) long term. And certainly not as the snow starts to fall. 
The hus-creature requires no convincing, so we are looking into our other options.  Until the house is sold we have no capital for a car beyond a rust bucket and I want and need some lessons on USA driving before I take the kids anywhere solo.  Which I can’t get, because I cannot take my theory.  Because I do not have an SSN.  Which I can’t apply for until my work permit is processed.  Which will take a further 4-6 months.  So that’s out.

Cycling might work.  Except I cannot cycle.  And don’t have time to learn beyond weekends.  Oh and there’s the impending snow.  So that’s out until spring when I’m hoping to learn.

 

So we are currently looking for someone who will pick him up and drop him off.  It’s not an ideal solution, but it’s better than the other alternatives – taxi or walking.

 

See, when I went to pick him up, the SENCO was waiting for me.  Because his day had been that bad.  Mostly the usual, but seriously exacerbated by sheer exhaustion. We therefore had an impromptu meeting where the following was covered:

 

• They want to start their own assessments – it’s not that they don’t trust the NHS but they want their own experts, both scholastic and medical, to assess him.  I do not have a problem with this.
• She gave us details of PPS (Parent-Pupil Services)  She thinks its ridiculous that we have been placed so far away, and given his needs, they might be able to help us with transport.  This would help immensely but doesn’t solve the immediate issues.
• She recommended that we enquire about, and apply for, any programmes that #1 Son qualifies for.  I thought about it for a nano-second, then jumped on it with both hands outstretched. Pride be damned, it’s clear he needs support.  Also, if it helps us to help him I don’t see a downside.

So I sent some emails with relevant attached documentation.

Unpacking progressed a little.  It is however being more than a little hampered by the feline overlord – who keeps finding brilliant but awkward places to hide:

 

Wednesday:

The walk to and from school went better.  A judicious use of playing ‘I Spy’ and application of water bottles helped keep him on an even keel  Enough that when I picked him up there was only a small meeting with his teacher.  And that was only to tell me that they’ve devised a separate school-home journal for them and us, and also come up with a pictorial daily schedule for him with the day broken up into tasks that are either ticked or crossed accordingly.  It helps.

She missed her brother yesterday 💗💕💗💕💗💕 

Hus creature returned the car.  He left the car seats in it.  We have reported them as lost and are waiting to see if they turn up.  They will be a pain in the proverbial to replace.  Also expensive.  Does mean that we cannot go to the zoo this weekend as previously planned.

 

Having said that, the Melrose Victorian Fair is this Sunday and it’s the 35th Annual one and it seems to be a big deal here, so we are planning to attend that and try and meet some local people and join in some community stuff.

Not to be outdone on the stupidity front, I decided that I would cook the kidlets their tea.  Set the oven for what I believed to be 8 minutes and went back to pottering.  Only to wonder 10+ minutes later, why I hadn’t heard bleeping.  I wandered in to realise I had set it for eight HOURS!!!  Thank all the gods that I noticed!!!  One adjusted time later and all good.

 

TT still appears to be on hunger strike.  I’ve pretty much given up at this point and she just eats what is on the table or she doesn’t.  She has however finished cutting those remaining three molars more or less.

 

TEETHING IS OVER!!!!!!

🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊

 

So now what is her excuse?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

Which leads us to…

 

Today:

School run was uneventful.  He’s already improved immeasurably.  And, I can get there and back from memory and without the use of Google Maps!!!!

 

For me this is a major achievement.

 

As previously documented earlier today, his teacher didn’t want to see me today beyond telling me he had done awesomely.  So his reward was ice cream  Honestly this daily walk is so obscene that he needs all the positivism and reward that we can muster.  And, after a yummy snack, a re-hydrate and perhaps most importantly, a rest, he asked if we could stop at the park we pass on the way home.

 

Well I wasn’t going to say no was I?

 

Both children had a whale of a time, though I did catch him doing a country wee – which worried me somewhat given where we are now.  But to give him credit he took himself off behind a tree away from the park proper to do it.  Sadly he peed facing the road but he tried!

 

I also had an email back from the PPS woman confirming that they will be doing assessments with #1 Son and asking to arrange a meeting with me at school, so as soon as we can arrange it (as daddy will need to watch Tiny Tyrant) I’ll do that – I’ll do anything I need to do to make this work.

 

Right, I’m tired.  Going to sleep now.

 

I’ve been too tired to knit or crochet all week!!!!