Ten on Tuesday

1. Aiden had his last day of school last week and my oldest two have one more day. Is it just me, or was this the FASTEST school year ever?!?

2. I am in the process of putting my resume together again. With Aiden heading to preschool full time next year AND the possibility of Ryan heading to a Catholic high school, it's time to go back to work. I wouldn't mind teaching again, but truly, I was busier when I taught than when I worked sales. I'm going to look into both, and am hoping to find something flexible enough to work from home. I refuse to give up being here for my kids before and after school - especially my teenager. ; )

3. For two straight days, Aiden's speech seemed jumbled. So was his walking. We go through these bouts here and there. Lo and behold, we head to Cleveland to see Dr. Don (AVT), and his speech was clear as day, including many blends!

4. Dr. Don finished up a big round of testing with him too. I was shocked at some of the words Aiden understood, but we also got a nice list of words we need to work on over the summer. A lot of synonyms - such as Aiden didn't know "different" but knew "not the same", or "alike" vs. "same" or "beneath" vs. "under" etc. He also wanted to see how Aiden did on the WIPI (Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification). This test has six pictures from which to choose, but before Aiden could see the pictures, he had to repeat what he heard. At our normal voice level, with background noise, Aiden repeated and identified 10 out of 10 words. Great listening buddy!

5. Speaking of listening in background noise, as my carpets were being professionally cleaned next to us, I checked Aiden's lings. I spoke the lings in my regular voice, about 2-3 feet away, and he repeated each one back bilaterally. Then on his own, he wanted to test each ear separately. This time he missed the /s/ and /sh/ on both ears, until I came closer and spoke a tad louder. I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed.

6. I miss Wisconsin. I miss my mom. I miss my grandparents. I'd love to meet a couple moms whom I feel like I already know through this wonderful hearing loss community. Kid's summer activities are C-R-A-Z-Y, including extra speech therapy for Aiden the school district is providing, and I'm already going to be away from my husband for a total of FIVE weeks throughout the summer. Do I skip a soccer camp and one of Aiden's speech therapies for the month for the fun?

7. In addition to the speech therapy mentioned above, Aiden's preschool teacher is also hosting a small play therapy group. This will be once a week, for three hours a day, for six weeks. We will be able to make three of them, if we go to Wisconsin, four if not.

8. Oh, and have I mentioned this awesome place we'll be at for three weeks?!? ; ) Speaking of which, I am in the process of finishing one list of preparations (all the lovely medical to dos) and about to make the packing list!! YIPEE!

9. Ok, I think I just talked myself into Wisconsin. Yes, Aiden could benefit from the extra speech therapy, but see #10 below and I think you'll agree, we ALL just need a break.

10. It' been one helluva a school year - all around - and tomorrow I'm celebrating it's end. We finally got Kailyn on an IEP just in time for the state tests (ewww) to be read out loud to her and identified things we definitely need to work on this summer. Now I have two IEPs to keep up with (yay me - did you hear that sarcasm?). It was a rough year, but thank God she had a teacher who modified for HER needs without something in writing. Imagine that! (a lil' more sarcasm). Ryan is 14. enough said. very rough year all around and I can't say how glad I am that it's over. limits were tested. He's a wonderful kid, who hit some pretty rough spots which turned my hair gray. I'm not a fan of this age, YET. BUT, I'm a fan of his and we're both learning as we move forward; definitely the hardest age to parent so far. I learned that sometimes tough love is exactly that - TOUGH - on everyone - especially mom. aiden's aiden, and truly as hard as we worked this year, he was the least of my worries, and he deserves a break right along with the rest of us. he's doing great, he's smart, and moving along on his path to success.

11. ya, I think I just wrote myself into canceling one of the extra therapies and going to Wisconsin for a bit. We could all use it. and even more fun, my grandpa will be 87 this month - and THAT'S reason enough to go, all in itself.