Yesterday was the end of the Crystal Light water challenge. The goal was to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day to start a healthy habit. To aid in creating that habit I was provided with some Crystal Light and a really cool Eddie Bauer water bottle. These tools really helped! I've always loved water but it gets too boring sometimes and lately I have been choosing less healthy drinks instead of water. During the challenge I was able to give up all soda but I kept on drinking two cups of coffee a day. I was successful every day and managed at least 8 glasses of water. I have decided to keep going and challenging myself. I'm not good at much unless I'm given a challenge. So for at least the next two weeks I will keep it up and hopefully it will instill in me a new and healthy habit! Today I managed more than 8 glasses but it was close. This morning I got really sick out of nowhere and ended up throwing up most of one glass of water (TMI?) but I was able to catch up while spending most of the day resting. I still weigh 154 lbs.
I've decided that Jason needs to drink more water too (he doesn't drink ANY) so I've been giving him the Fruit Punch Crystal Light (which he really likes and I really don't like). I also picked up some green tea to-go packets for him today at the grocery store (we walked!!). Hopefully I can get him into a good habit too- with his health problems and how overweight he is, he really needs a delicious change :P
And on to other topics...
Today was Zachary's last day of second grade!!! I can't believe my little boy is going to be in third grade this fall. I can't believe he is going to be 8 soon. Time just goes by so fast. This past school year has been quite a ride for us. Zachary was disagnosed with ADHD this year and after months of research and talk we finally decided to medicate him. It was the most painful thing I've had to do as a parent and I question everything. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, if I waited too long to do the right thing. I wonder if something I did caused him to be this way, if something I gave him did it. Every day it tears me up. He, on the other hand, is coping fairly well with it all.
Before we made the decision he ended up getting kicked out of school and was placed in a behavioral school for the rest of the school year. I have to say that based on what I've been reading from others going through the same thing, our school district has been absolutely amazing at dealing with us. The teacher, the principal, all of the support staff have been wonderful. I love them so much for everything they have done for us. Zachary will be going back to his regular school in the fall and I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove of things there. The school he was going to didn't have a PTO/PTA so I'm looking forward to getting back into that (I actually missed organizing all of the fund raisers).
We are on our second medication and it seems to be going well for Zachary. I am not seeing much of an improvement in behavior at home but the teachers at school did and I saw an amazing improvement in his handwriting which has always been a challenge for him. Now his handwriting is so nice! I am having trouble figuring out how to work on behavior modification with him. It was hard for the school to work on it in the last few weeks because he has been so good during the day. Now I'm dealing with the issues but I don't really know how to. I know I'm not doing it right. We are still giving him specific vitamins and some homeopathic stuff from the health food store (we fortunately get it all free) and limit his sugar and other food items.
I am just a little nervous about him going back to school. Because of all the behavioral problems he had a lot of tests done. Based on these tests he was placed in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classroom for reading. He was in the 2nd, 3rd grade room for everything else. When he goes back I am concerned about him being placed in a classroom that will accomodate his ability. I don't know if the school has anything in place that will work for him. I know they have a gifted classroom starting either in 3rd or 4th grade but I don't know if they have to excel at everything or if one subject is enough for them to attend the gifted classroom during those classes. I will be discussing this during another meeting with the IST team before the school starts and will bring up my concerns. Until then I'll just worry as usual :)
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Comments: 10
Tomorrow is Chandler's last day of 2nd grade! I'm like you, HOW can he be in 3rd grade already? My baby will also be starting Kindergarten this fall! WHAT?!
Amara has one more year of preschool and it's just crazy to think how time flew. And when I think that I am 27...I just don't FEEL 27!
I'm just glad that there will always be parents by my side going through the same things at the same time.
27? Now I feel OLD! I'll be 34 next month!
It's great to have a place where so many others are going through what we are, that's one of the things I like most about Gather!
Oh hush both of you! LOL. I'm older and wish I was as young as you guys.
You did good. I admire you for sticking with the 8 day plan. Woo Hoo.
Thank you Lee. I wasn't trying to be a jerk with my comment in your rant. At least you looked at a few. I was hurt more by the fact that some people made comments about not being bothered to look at any of them- not even their friends and just making the assumption that there was nothing of substance in those posts. I actually spent the entire day thinking up the posts in my head and when I was at the computer writing my thoughts down. My posts were completely original with a lot of thought put into them and I saw some people on my friends list saying in your post that they felt like you, but didn't even bother with reading them. I must add that some of these same people will post the same thing...every single day. Or they'll post a lot of one-liners or really short posts. But I come back and view them whenever I see them just so they know they have friends out there that want to see what they have to say, even if I might not like what I see. As long as it isn't an obvious copy and paste or a letter game I'll at least give it a view because they are my "friend". Seems I'm not worth what they are to me, and that kind of hurts.
I shouldn't really be surprised. I will pour my heart into something and many times I will only get a few "thanks for sharing" comments and it breaks my heart to know that they never bothered to read about the tears or the pain- if they had they wouldn't have been thanking me. I know not everyone comments what they see (I comment on about 1/4 of what I read or view) and not everyone has anything to say. I'd rather someone say nothing at all than something that makes it painfully obvious that they never bothered to read it at all.
I enjoyed the challenge and reading the posts. My "baby" will be graduating second grade in three weeks (school here goes to the end of June). I can't believe where the time has gone!! Next year will be my son's last year in elementary school...makes me remember to grab every moment and enjoy it, they grow soooo fast!
I did too Stacey.
This year Zachary was moved to a behavioral school and there school was set up differently because there aren't many kids there. 2nd and 3rd grade were together and that was his main classroom and he was the youngest in there. After testing him they decided to put him in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classroom for reading. I joked that Zachary was only 7 but has already done half the grades!
He is my oldest but he is still my baby. They all are!
Congrats for getting through the challenge and deciding to keep up with it after it ends :-) You are an inspriation! Keep it up and you will see great changes :-)
Do not feel bad for having to put your son on medication sweetie. My husband has ADHD, and he is on medication for it as well. It helps him, it really does. It isn't YOUR fault that your child has ADHD. Nothing you did can cause that. Its a brain chemistry thing really. It may 'run' in one of your families and you just didn't know it. I will be faced with most likely having a child with ADHD since hubby has it so bad. Its not an easy thing to deal with and not an easy choice to make as a mom. But I believe you did the BEST thing for him - you know what he needs, you are his mom after all! If your son is reacting well to the meds and it allows him to excell, then that is what he needed. You are doing great Alex... {{{HUGS}}} to you!
The challenge really motivated me. Just like NaNoWrimo which gets me writing more in 30 days than I do the rest of the year.
Now, I think I can say that the challenge is more of a HABIT than a challenge now.
I do hope your son likes the drinks and makes healthier choices. I know Gideon has been asking for juices over koolaid for the most part lately. When he'd normally choose soda he chose oj. :)