We made it!

*insert nonexistent photo of me doing the 'Toyota jump'*


It has taken me two days to turn my brain back on, since the girls left on Friday evening.

This is a mish mash post, sort of echoing the state of my thoughts, here, there and every where.

One of the days Leisha was sick she painted a lot of pictures and courteously photographed them for our continued enjoyment.

She loves to paint, she usually chooses abstract style.  She has often wondered if there is such a job as a painter who paints and sells pictures which were drawn by someone else.  This wondering comes from her belief that while she is an excellent painter, her drawing skills are lacking. She doesn't know where else to look for a career due to the fact that she cannot fathom loving anything as much as she loves painting.
 Except maybe owning a horse ranch with Jaala....where Jaala does all the chores.

 Leisha was flagged early in kindergarten as a kid who could possibly need academic intervention.  Her fine motor skills development has been lagging, and she does speak with a lisp.  It is slight now, though she was one of those early speakers who no one but big sister could understand until she was about 4.
 A couple of weeks ago, just after parent-teacher interviews, Leisha's teacher asked permission to refer Lei for an Education Assessment.
 It had been noted that Leisha knows and understands a lot more than what she is able to show on written production versions of testing (so pretty much all of it).  She seems to struggle so hard to print or hand write and spell the words she is thinking of , that by the time she gets some down on paper, she forgets where the heck she was going with it, then her answers end up being simple, mono syllabic responses which appear to indicate a lack of understanding.

 If that sounds familiar, it is similar to the struggles Jaala was having in Grade Three when she was diagnosed with a non verbal learning issue.
 
 For Leishabeth, the struggle is slightly different, and yet an offshoot of the same type of learning preference.
 The Resource Teacher at Leisha's school has finished the testing, and has recommended Lei for a more complete Education Assessment, by the Educational Psychologist in our District.
 The level B tests done clearly indicate a need for a more in depth look at Lei's learner profile.
She scored low average in the written and math literacy portions, above average on the math reasoning and language reasoning portions of the tests and superior in the oral portions of the test.  This seems to indicate that there is not an IQ issue, rather a learning disability issue.
 Her classroom teacher is so amazing.  We are so very thankful for Mrs. Loonstra.  She has already begun adapting Leisha's work to suit her ASSUMED learning profile! This makes Leisha feel a much greater sense of success.  Leisha is a dedicated student and has achieved mostly B's by her hard work and anal attention to details and rules.  She has often felt frustrated with the work she puts in and the grade she receives, feeling as though she did all that work for nothing.  Now, she is able to put in that hard work and be assessed in a way that validly measures what she knows, instead of merely measuring what she can write down.  I love, love the "TA DA!!" moment she had on Friday when she brought home 3 assigments on which she earned 100%!!!!  She marched up to Faron.  Flung her work at him and said "Six dollars please!"  He said "WHAT?!" She replied that she had gotten 3, 100%'s and would like her 3, 100% prizes.

 I don't want to be the mom of the kids who struggle in school. GAWD it is fucking heart-wringing.  Every struggle is so magnified.  My whole body feels needles of sharp pain when I consider the grade of incline my girls' hill has. 
 The learning issues the girls have do not only manifest themselves in academia, in social life also.  For Jaala, it is the lagging skill of reading people's intentions via body language,  tone of voice or demeanor.  She is creative, dramatic, a skilled imitator, she has a gorgeous singing voice, not only that but she has a beautiful performance style, at home, where she feels loved and accepted and safe and doesn't feel like people are "watching" her...translation, looking at her with what she perceives as judgment or measuring.
She has recently mastered the art of sarcasm and the retort.  This is forcing Mama to develop new skills in shutting down the sarcasm and retorts .....without the use of foul language and threats.
For Leishabeth, it is clinically significant social anxiety, generalized anxiety and latent separation anxiety.
 I don't think I need to describe those.  She is the pale faced, pinched looking, wide eyed, tiny blonde who looks like she'll burst into tears any moment.
 I sometimes wonder if the worlds  where my child resides most often can see the amazing character that she is.
 She is an imp, a ham, she is funny, she loves puns, oh flaming christ she loves puns.  She loves hyperbole and uses it with relish! Her sarcasm knows no boundaries, none self imposed nor parent imposed.  She has a wild laughter inciting giggle and a wicked sense of humor.  Love, love love her to bits and pieces.  That side of her only peaks out when she feels extremely settled, comfortable and secure.


 Moving right along.
 My puppy sure had a confusing week.  After having some or all of us home for many days last week, Thyme was messed up having some of all of us gone THIS week.
 Dogs (perhaps other animals also, but my expertise is on dogs, as is my commentary so for these purposes we'll narrow the narrative to include dogs only) are creatures of habit.  They observe routines and begin to expect certain events to coincide with certain times of day.  My dog, being an extremely brilliant animal, knows when to expect us home from work/school and insists that Faron let her out front to wait for us.

Tomorrow is my work place's christmas dinner party.  We're having a secret santa gift exchange.  My person is a Shift Supervisor who is tattooed all up and down, black stubble on his mostly shaved head, black stubble on his mostly shaved face, wears heavy, black framed glasses, and whose wardrobe consists mostly of monochromatic colors

This is what I made him......

HE HE hehehe!  I feel gleeful about it because it is going to make him feel awkward and uncomfortable until he reads the card, which says :

"Your obsession with vivid and bold colours has been noted.  I got you these to complement your wardrobe's wildly varied colour pallette"

DELIGHTFUL!

  Since it is an institutional school, all my students, co teachers and institution staff will be there.
It is such a great time to be relaxed and not in charge of the kids, making our interactions so much fun!
One of my students asked if I would make him a pair of mittens, like mine.  He had seen my mittens and asked to wear them.  I let him and when he was finished, he said he'd really like a pair like them and it would be cool to have a pair that a teacher made just for him.
 *melt*
 Of course, I'm making him a pair.  He is with us until the end of January, barring any unforeseen circumstances, so I have time.

 I am blessed to work with amazing, dedicated and skilled people.  They are part of what makes my job awesome.  One co worker and the school staff have had a running practical joke exchange since I first started working there, three years ago!

The end.

 Happy Holidays!