Last Day

Emme had her final day at her therapeutic school today.  She's been going there five days a week for a year and a half.  Boy, have we had our ups and downs while she's attended.  She is not the same girl she was when she started.  The program is amazing and I am so thankful we live close to it. I know our moving to where we live was not by chance.  We will still see her therapist and psychologist there until she's six so I'm thankful for that.  Let's just move on before I start to cry.

Here is a list of things I will miss.  Eeerrr....something like that.

---Walking Emme into school looking like I just crawled out of the gutter.  ---Ok bed, but it might as well be the gutter for how awesome I looked.  I could put those "only at Walmart people" to shame.  When she first started I would put a little cover up on my face and maybe some jeans.  Today I went with greasy hair, sticking up bangs, a brown hoodie, no bra or undershirt, black exercise pants, and gray Toms.  Most days I just threw boots on over my pajama pants and left.  My face alone is a force to be reckoned with right now.  Acne is the new black right? Ya'll I just don't care.  Emme got to school looking pretty darn cute most days, so kudos to me!

---The dude holding the sign for the oil changing car place.---  On a cold winter day I almost gave you my gloves.  You were holding the special of the day (which never actually changed) with gloveless hands and I just couldn't bare the thought of you going all winter like that.  I pulled up really close and right as I was rolling down my window you stomped out your cigarette and dragged your gloves out of your pocket.  If cars could do an awkward moon walk out of a parking lot, then I nailed it that day.  To be very serious though, you impressed me with your dedication and endurance.  No matter the weather, you were out doing your job.  We could all learn a lot from you.

---The back and forth drive.  I won't miss you.

---Sonic.  Thanks for being close by.  I think we all know how I feel about that place.

---Emme's teachers/angels.  You are rockstars. You truly love those kids.  Thanks for throwing Emme a Last Day party and going out of your way to buy her gifts.  I have a feeling there will be a meltdown come Monday morning when she finally understands she won't be seeing you anymore.

---The cop that sat at the same spot every day.  Dude, find a new trap already.

---Being able to shower.  Goodbye nice smelling Lacey.

Emme with her teachers.  For real, I love them.  The one on the left has been crying all week about Emme leaving.

Sanity

We are officially counting down the days until Gregg is done with school. If I could relate this to anything it would be like running a race. A really long hilly race. One that you don't really care to win, you just want to finish. We are in the part of the run where you can see the finish line, but every inch of your body wants to quit due to the 100s of miles behind you. Yes, 100s.   Point is, we are done. So freaking done. 3 months feel like 3 years. I'm tired of not being together as a family.  I hate that every moment is so busy and relationships have been put on hold. 

I admit that I have moments of panic of what's to come, but most of me wants/needs to believe that things will calm down and become a little simpler. Until then, I'm relying on my good ol' coping skills. 

Jimmy Johns. Thank you for being so fast and so close to my home. Your delivery service and lettuce wrapped sandwiches have become one of my best friends on these many lonely nights. 

Sonic, Straws, and Swig. Or S cubed...as I like to call you, thank you for your Dirty Diet Cokes, for not judging me when I pull up to the window to pay and realize I forgot my wallet, and your beautiful sugar cookies. You...complete....me. I hope we don't break up in three months, but I may be seeing less of you. Who am I kidding? I will still love you. 

Photography. You get me.  You've saved me. 

Understanding friends. Thanks for not judging my lack of social skills, but supporting me completely. I KNOW I've survived because of you. 

Instagram. I'm addicted. We should probably tone it down a bit. 

Professional geniuses who get our family. I heart you.  

Super Nanny 911

Several months ago Emme's therapist referred us to a program that would help us specifically in our home since we were still having some major issues at the time.

It's an eight week program that's essentially like the show Super Nanny.  A lady observes us for a week and then teaches us all new skills for the next 7 weeks.  She spends about 8-10 hours with us every week so it's pretty intense.

I forgot all about it until I got a phone call recently saying we could start the next day.  I was a bit nervous to have someone in our home for such an extensive amount of time.  I mean, who can keep their house clean for that long?!  Not to mention every weakness I have would be on display and scrutinized extensively.  For real...no one needs to know that I rarely cook dinner and drink 44oz Dirty Diet Cokes on the daily.  Did I say that out loud?

We started a few weeks ago and just got done with the observation stage.  I just learned my first new skill on Friday and Emme will start working on her's this coming week.  I was pretty skeptical at first, but now I can't say enough how grateful I am to be a part of this program.  Our helper was very complimentary of me and even started me a few steps ahead since I was somewhat doing what they teach already.  Let me just toot my own horn here...toot toot.

Everything they teach is written down in a binder and put in steps which is exactly how my brain works.  I love that we have somewhat of a plan and have someone right there to help us implement the new tools.  Will it fix Emme's ADHD?  Not necessarily, but it will help her to learn how to deal with frustrations and how to cope in situations that are difficult for her.  It will also give us as parents the keys to support her now and in the future.  

I'm so proud of Emme and the hard work she has done to get to where she is.  She has to overcome so much every day just to accomplish simple tasks that other kids her age just know naturally.  So many people mention how they don't know how we handle Emme's intensity every day, but Emme is the one with the disability.  She is the one that has to struggle and try to retrain her brain all day every day.  She is a fighter.