Category Archives: Problem Solving

Staying Sane While Raising a Bipolar Child

She stomps out of the room, each firmly-planted step shaking the floor. Tear-stained, she plunges her face into the pillows on her bed, where she screams and cries. As she starts to calm down, I feel the adrenaline retreating into the places from which it flooded my body. Breathing, relaxing myself, I tend to her…

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learning…

Learning…I’ve not written about homeschooling yet so I thought maybe this would be a good time. Homeschooling isn’t so typical for us, we have many challenges to get over. We do use therapies as part of our daily routine (even if we are still on sabbatical from professional therapies at our local hospital). We do…

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Botox Dip

My son had his Botox treatment this week. I knew about 2 weeks ago it was needed. It’s funny how that works. At first you think, is it worth it? Am I doing it for him or for me? Actually, both. I do it for him. His spasticity is so severe, he could curl into a…

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Is that too much to ask?

This week my husband’s grandmother passed away. She was 93 year old, never took more than a multi-vitamin in her life. She did however, several years back, begin her journey with Alzheimer’s Disease. It was a long journey, spending 10 years in a nursing home. She had 5 children, 12 grandchildren…and so many great grand…

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Learning her ABC’s

This winter, Precious was seen by a new occupational therapist (OT) after going almost 18 months without seeing one. She had four different OT’s during the first four years of life and they focused on self-care skills like teaching her to put on her shoes, do up her zippers, feed herself and use the toilet….

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Science Fair

Tomorrow is our school’s science fair. With my career background (Ph.D. in organic chemistry) I love encouraging anything with science. It is a nostalgia piece for me anyway. When and where I was a kid you were not supposed to do a science project until 5th grade. However, when I hit 4th grade and saw…

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I was desperate for sleep

Define Sleep:   A natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body, in which the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially lost, so that there is a decrease in bodily movement and responsiveness to external stimuli. During sleep the brain in humans and other mammals undergoes a characteristic cycle of brain-wave…

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It’s a Puzzle…

My kids each received a jigsaw puzzle as one of their Christmas gifts. I gave the littles a couple of “preschool” puzzles – the ones with a couple of dozen pieces. The oldest can now do these with ease and I didn’t see many options in between those and the 100 piece jigsaw I got…

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Tube Wars

For the past 20 years my daughter Melissa has used a NG tube as her primary method of feeding. There has always been much controversy about the use of NG vs. G-Tubes. My story offers our experiences.

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