About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Homeschooling

So far, so good. I am enjoying the more relaxed atmosphere in our home without worrying about Caroline's behavior in school. She is a little freaked out by her Algebra I class at the homeschool co-op. I don't like the text at all, and I can see why she is stressed out. There are so many other truly wonderful and easy to understand math texts out there, so why the teacher chose this one, I don't know. The book is jammed packed with superfluous information, in my opinion. I may pull her out and allow her to just do the math on the computer using Teaching Textbooks. The class is a two hour session once a week covering five lessons at a time, so the pace is quite challenging. Maybe she just needs to work at her own speed. There is a lab science at the same time as the math class so I could switch her over.

I am trying to balance working Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday afternoons, and Saturdays at the ballet shop at Mae's studio with all of my responsibilities at home. The small paycheck is very helpful right now with my husband out of work. This has been such an expensive few weeks with all of the school supplies, back to school shoes and clothes (considerably less than what we would normally buy) and start up costs for various classes and sports.

My husband is still looking hard for a job that will meet our needs both financially and lifestyle-wise. He doesn't want to travel away from us for long periods of time or commute a long distance. I hate the not-knowing.



3 comments:

Fighting for my Children said...

I will pray that your husband finds a job that meets your needs.

Anonymous said...

We too are in a position of not knowing our future, I really hate feeling out of control!

My husband always tells me, his favorite quote:
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you’re doing tomorrow."

He’s right about that, but I like to feel like I know what lays ahead.

Anonymous said...

We too are in a position of not knowing our future, I really hate feeling out of control!

My husband always tells me, his favorite quote:
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you’re doing tomorrow."

He’s right about that, but I like to feel like I know what lays ahead.