Family Update
Haven't done a general round-up of the brood in a while, so I thought I should do one today. That and my mind's a blank. I thought about doing a post about State of Origin as game 1 is tonight, but I did a post on that last year which summed it up pretty well (if I do say so myself). If you're one of my new expat readers, or a new reader in general, go and have a read so you'll understand what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately I have to work tonight, but have been assured that I can wear my 'Shut Up Gus' shirt and that the game will be on over the intercom system via the very high tech method of getting a radio and placing an open microphone next to it. If the replay is on Foxtel directly after, I may watch the second half when I get home after midnight.
Anyway, on with the update:
The Hermit: One of the very few things I self-censor on the blog concerns the Hermit's job. I can say there are a lot of changes going on and a fair bit of uncertainty what with the company being sold. He just doesn't know what's going to happen, and that makes for stress. He's doing his best to cope, but hasn't been sleeping all that well. The plus side of that is he's up to take care of little kids on the weekends - I had my first sleep-in in months last weekend - and even drive Miss Thing and Sparky in the mornings. You take your silver linings where you can find them. He's also taken on the task of teaching Miss Thing to drive a manual/standard car. It must be going well because the one time I took her to drive all I heard was "(the Hermit) says this" and "(the Hermit) said to do it like that" and "(the Hermit) says you ride the clutch". Shut up.
Miss Thing: As I just mentioned, she's got her learner's license and is learning to drive. She spends a lot of time swearing, apologizing and drifting to the left. It will be some time before I turn her loose on the main roads. School is going... well, she's still there. The AP is trying to get her into the other maths class now rather than waiting til semester 2, but there is concern Miss Thing will not finish her computer certifications if that happens. Given she handed some classwork to the Hermit over 2 weeks ago for him to help her with and still hasn't sat back down with him to go over it despite several reminders from me to do so, their concerns are justified. She has an interview with the Australian Defence Forces today concerning acceptance into the Gap Year program, and I'm praying to every deity I can think of for her to be accepted. She knows the precariousness of her position; she turned to me yesterday and asked plaintively what will she do next year if she's not accepted by the ADF. I told her we'd cross that bridge if we came to it.
Sparky: As you read every week, Sparky is enjoying his football very much this year. He'll come into the lounge room on a Friday night where I'm watching the NRL matches and talk about how he can't wait for his game on Sunday. School is going reasonably well. His teachers have told me that he needs to be refocused in class a lot; he's not one of those kids you can leave to their own devices. There have been a few issues with not getting homework done but I think I've nipped that in the bud. There was an incident a couple of weeks ago when the school called me to tell me Sparky was up at Student Services complaining about his nose burning. Um, okay? Turns out he had been involved in a cooking flour fight during break (he denies this saying he was just nearby, I ask if I look like I was born yesterday) and was feeling the after-effects. Needless to say, I did not rush out to pick him up and the school more than understood, they just had an obligation to tell me he was there. All in all, a typical 13 year old boofheaded boy.
Her Majesty: She can be a very restless sleeper, and that must have been what was going on the other night. She doesn't quite sleepwalk in the traditional sense - Sparky was one (not so much now) as was I - but she doesn't always remember being up. She has been quite clingy lately - getting upset when I go to work, not wanting to go to preschool, wanting me to walk her 5 steps to see someone she's known her entire life. I keep reminding myself it's a phase and it, too, shall pass. She still loves swimming, coming home to practice her breaststroke kicks on the couch, and is obsessed with her upcoming birthday in July. Her best friend is Harry Potter. The young wizard makes many visits to our place, teaching Her Majesty all kinds of things. Beats Miss Thing's imaginary friend at that age, a young boy who went by the name of Jerkyhead.
Clive: Our biggest concern with Clive is his speech, or lack of it. At 17 months he only has a handful of words, and they aren't words so much as sounds that we understand to mean certain things. 'ot' is 'hot', and he often purses his lips and blows after he says it, 'gah' with one hand raised over his head is 'bird', 'ah' followed by a panting sound is 'dog', and there are multiple combinations of 'dah' which mean anything from 'drink' to 'biscuit' to 'shoes'. I've gotten the rare 'mama' but not consistently. He understands what you say, and if you ask him to get something of his like his dummy or blanket or drink he'll toddle off to find it and is an exceptional mimic with movement. I tell myself the reason for his lack of proper speech - he makes all kinds of sounds and babblings - is that he manages to get his point across without it what with 5 people to translate for him, but I'm starting to be concerned. Still, he's very cheeky and will tear across shopping centres, football fields, car parks without a care in the world, often turning to laugh at me when he sees I'm following him. He's also very mechanical, loving nothing more than to close things that are open and open things that are closed. He's demanding as anything, is a bit of a bully with Her Majesty and never, ever, sits still. But his sloppy kisses where he tries to bite my lips off make up for everything.
Yours Truly: I mentioned in passing a few posts ago that I've been re-accepted to university to finish my nursing studies and get my BSN. This will allow me to get licensure in Queensland and resume nursing, I hope by the beginning of next year. I need to speak to someone at the university to get advice on what classes I need and to make sure I get all my clinical work done, and hope to do that tomorrow when it's just me and Clive at home. I'm really looking forward to getting it done, despite the fact I think I'll need a time machine to fit everything into my day. I'm still working at the supermarket 3 nights a week - it's not a job I'd do forever but I work with a great group of people which makes the job less tedious. Besides, I get paid a decent wage and I was just given an option to buy shares - tell me the last time a bottom-of-the-ladder worker in the US got to do that! Dealing with 4 always-on-the-go kids and a stressed out hubby gets to me sometimes but for the majority of the time I'm doing alright, thanks very much!
So there you have it. We return to shorter and pointless posts tomorrow!
5 Witty Remarks:
Hi Mooselet - yes, long time w/o responses from me but I still read up on ya regularly. With regards to Clive - the general rule of thumb for audiologists was: by age 2, you want the child to be able to say 50 words that a stranger can understand. Speechies (Speech Language Pathologists) want something absurd like 200+.
Love the posts. Keep 'em coming.
200 words??? From a boy??? They must be joking!
I'm taking comfort from several facts: that Clive comes in at the tail end of the curve with just about all his milestones, that your brother is quiet and has passed that gene onto his son (along with that classic Ives shaped head) and that my own brother didn't speak for ages either. Clive hears well enough (had that problem with Sparky and his recurrent ear infections that were damaging his hearing and therefore his speech) but seemingly can't be bothered to use words. I'm giving him til he hits the 18 month mark before I ring up the child health nurses. At least they're free to see so if I come away with "he's fine, just pokey" I'm not out-of-pocket.
Your brother was pretty late with speaking. I sat you down when he was about 18 months and asked you to stop translating everything for him, and babying him so much, because he would never learn to talk right if his big sis always did it for him. After a long discussion, you decided that you would teach him to talk. It worked. When he did finally start talking, it was in complete sentences and he used to blow people away with some of the words he knew - instead of saying "Stop it." he would come out with "This situation has to cease."
In a larger family the situation is worse. My youngest brothers and sisters were the same way. Rosie and Mark were both tested for hearing loss because they rarely spoke and when they did it was gibberish. The big kids always knew what they wanted so why should they expend the energy to learn how to say it right.
Don't worry about Clive.
And tell the Hermit not to worry about work. The merge into the new company is really a good thing. They are dying for Omni knowledge, love our front end package, and need us to get into the "large" market. Besides - the Hermit could have a better paying job with a lot less stress tomorrow if he sent his resume out to the right people - and yes he could stay in Oz and work for several American companies if he wanted.
Tell Miss Thing that I am pulling for her. If she just buckles down and does what she needs to do, things will work out. Tell Sparky Grandma sends he love and that she is very proud of him. And tell Her Majesty that I welcome her to the fish family and hope to see her and the rest of the family real soon.
And you just hang in there. You are an incredibly wonderful woman - smart, beautiful and amazingly competent. You are doing great and are well loved.
On the speech side. My Miss 10, 11 in June as she will tell you, didn't really speak until she was 3. I was very worried about her as our first born, now Master 12, spoke VERY well VERY early. I thought that was the norm. Anyway, the speech therapist said not to worry, that she just had nothing to say. Once she started there was no stopping her. Clive is the youngest of four so why speak if you don't have to?! I think it's pretty common.
Oh, and see I'm now here and commenting via my OWN computer. You're solution worked! :)
Maybe this will calm your concern some (yeah I know.. it won't but I can try)
Monkey my three year old doesn't speak willingly. He will repeat words but most of his speech when speaking to you on his own is gibberish. He just went in for a evaluation by a pathologist who informed me that due to 5 older siblings and parents who know him and pay attention to him, he doesn't feel the need to do so. Given the fact that he understands what we tell him and that he will repeat (not always correctly) what we ask him to say they didn't see a need for therapy, they told us to start making him repeat us more and eventually he will start doing it on his own. The pathologist seemed impressed that not only the parents but the siblings understood him most often and told me it's a sign of a close knit family, but one that needs to start making the Monkey sound less like one.
Sorry for the long reply (makes up for all the time I haven't been I suppose) but I would just ask the pediatrician and see what he says, like you said, why talk when he doesn't have to? He'll start eventually.
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