First Team Sport Since Residential

Caroline's first basketball game with her school team on Friday night went relatively well. She got kind of over-heated over one opposing player's attitude, and had to sit out most of the second half to cool off, but she wasn't too fazed over it and continued to happily cheer for her team. We are just thankful she can play on a team and have fun doing it, so unlike the attempt last spring at club lacrosse when she was too unstable to deal with the pressure. She is looking forward to spring lacrosse again, and hopefully this time she will be able to hang with it. I remember telling her third grade school PE coach who saw her amazing athletic ability that she would never be able to play a team sport because her bipolar disorder made her so intense that every competition was seen as war to the death, and she would have horrible sportsmanship. So much has changed and we are seeing her not only able to play on a team, but being a great team player. Again, thank you God.

Oops! I accidentally deleted some comments!

Sorry, Meg, if your last comment did not appear. I was trying to manage comments from my blackberry and I pushed the wrong button! Caroline has been a tough gal to keep stable, and yes she does tend towards very bad depression. We used to see much more of the mixed states, but I think she is outgrowing that manifestation. It is amazing that you can manage your child's bipolar disorder without medication. Is he on any all natural substances?

Caroline Gets Creative Writing Recognition

This is truly wonderful because this is the girl who nearly failed the sixth grade last year, refusing to write anything. She was assigned in English to write several pages of an alternate ending for a historical fiction novel. Her book was "Anacaona" from the The Royal Diaries series. Her teachers said that her piece was the best they had seen in years. They published it in the school newspaper, the only one out of the middle school! Here is a sample:

"Filled with fury and terror, my mind whirling faster than the strongest hurricane, we fled from our stronghold, Maguana, my home. We have run quietly, but swiftly, all through the night. I fear for my people more than myself. We have not made camp because of the wolf-like pack of pale-skinned men and their lightning metal rods, firing every now and then, jarring us back from our excruciating pain and weariness from this long journey. Even I am beginning to tire."

I just had to brag on her, because she has come so very far. We have to thank Meridell again for restoring her academic confidence.

Extended Release Lithium Works Better

We were right about needing the extended release Lithium, and Caroline is getting through the afternoon and evening much more smoothly since switching. This is good because the afternoon and evening are when everyone is trying to do homework, get ready for some activity, etc., and having a hypomanic Caroline isn't helpful. She has her first basketball game this Friday, and is pretty excited.

"I'm the Only Normal One, I Guess"

This is what Jane, my twelve year old said to me the other day, noting that she is the only child in our home not taking any medications. Well, normal is relative, and truthfully, I often think she needs to take something for her OCD problem, maybe an anti-depressant or the like. I am holding out because she is certainly functional, just really annoying when she cleans up everything while you are still trying to use it, or continually asks if the kitchen is still clean, or dumps out your coffee when you were still drinking it, or when she melts down, crying and stomping around, when you place something foreign on her perfectly made-up bed. Yes, she is just a little obsessive. We talked to the psychologist about it yesterday, about her need for control because life has felt so out of control for so long. She sees it but doesn't really know how to stop freaking out over everything when things don't go her way. Teaching her to be flexible and to be okay with imperfection is going to take some time. She will be very unhappy in life if she doesn't learn that life doesn't go the way you plan it most of the time. God has a way of interrupting our plans with His.

Intuniv Continues to Make a Big Difference

Mae's general disposition continues to improve dramatically. The Intuniv ADHD med is a miracle drug, I've decided! I don't think we had a single meltdown yesterday, which is a record. She wakes up pleasant and happy, gets dressed without being told, packs her bag for school, and when I pick her up from school she is again pleasant and happy, so unlike what these two scenarios were like for years, when she has been snappy and ugly, yelling at the drop of a hat. Her brain is obviously getting what it needs now to function. I feel myself relaxing more around her. Hopefully this will have the desired effect on all of us, instead of that walking-on-eggshells feeling. Thank you, God.

(I have put the link to this med website in my "Great Resources" tab below)

Christmas Cards

Do you send Christmas cards, with an annual letter, maybe including a family photo every year? We used to, until our lives became so chaotic starting back around the time Caroline was four years old or so that I would start the task, and never finish it. I have several boxes upstairs of hundreds of prints of annual family photos, in envelopes, never addressed, some with stamps, some with the family letter, but all never sent. My dear friend Wendy who also has a bipolar/Aspergers child said she has the same stack of years of Christmas cards and photos, also never sent. We laughed and said we should send them all out this year with each of the old photos so everyone could see our good intentions. Last year I finally had it with my own lack of communication with my close friends of years past and individually wrote to each of them, with the most recent family photo enclosed. It felt SO GOOD to finally accomplish something that had been just too hard to do. And honestly, I was reaching out because we had experienced one nightmare after another regarding Caroline that year, and I was at such a low point. I received some wonderful replies and was thankful that my friends were forgiving of my silence over the last seven years. I wonder if I will be able to accomplish this task this year. We still need that family photo, which no one ever thinks is a good picture of them. Who cares, it is just a way of saying "Hey, look, we are still alive, the kids are growing, and we love you!"