The Holidays are Officially Over

Image via WikipediaToday is the official last day of the holiday season.  Tomorrow, the work place will return to normal.  For me, that means no holidays until President's Day in February.  We actually have a choice between Martin Luther King's Birthday or President's Day, but to me, King's Birthday is just too close to the New Year holiday.  After President's Day, the next official holiday that my office has off is Memorial Day in May.  It is just another reason for me to pick President's Day as my flex holiday.

In addition to the work place returning to normal, it is also the day that kids return to school.  For most parents, that is a day of relief, but for me it is a day of dread.  I have documented on this blog some of the challenges that my wife and I have faced in the transition of our son to a residential education program.  The two most recent examples of which can be found here and here. 

Originally, my son was supposed to come home for the Christmas break on December 23rd.  Due to a particularly bad weekend, the head of the program decided to send a few kids home early.  Instead of being home for a 10 day Christmas break, he was home for a full three weeks.  While it was great to have him home, it is just going to make it that much harder to get him to return to school tomorrow morning.  In essence, the whole process has to begin again.

Since the day we brought him home for his early Christmas break, he has been telling us "no school tomorrow."  It is his way of telling us he doesn't want us he doesn't want to go to school.  Part of the problem for him is that he doesn't get to do a lot of the things he likes to do at home.  They requested that we not leave anything of value at the school.  Consequently he doesn't have his computer, DVD player, or video games.  The only thing he has from home is a portable CD player.

He keeps his CD player with him constantly.  It is one of the things that gives him a great deal of pleasure.  When we picked him up three weeks ago, the batteries in his CD player were dead.  We had left a large quantity of batteries with the school for him because we know how much of them he uses.  Unfortunately, the batteries were kept locked up in the residential director's office, and nobody had access to get him fresh batteries.  It made me wonder how long the batteries had been dead and if that contributed to his behavior issues.

I understand the decision to want to keep the batteries in a place where they would be safe.  I do not understand them putting them in a place where nobody else in authority would be able to get them for my son.  I also understand the school not wanting us to leave anything of great value at the school.  We have been very hesitant to let him keep his Nintendo DS or his portable DVD player at school.  Though I do have to wonder if his transition would be easier if he had one or both of those things.

The dorm area seems to be the area where he has the most difficulty.  When in class, the majority of the reports that we get are positive.  They do have some after class activities that he enjoys.  They have weekly socials with music and dancing that he really enjoys.  On the night before he left, they had a karaoke party that he had a great time at.  In fact, he told me he danced with one girl in his class.  He has mentioned her a couple times since he has been home, but he still doesn't seem to like or miss her enough to go back to school.

I am still torn on whether or not we should let him take his DVD player to school.  The dorms have one television that all of the residents use.  Aside from when they put a sporting event on the television, I do not think he ever gets to watch any of the things he likes when he is home.  Things like Wheel of Fortune, Maya & Miguel, and of all things, believe it or not, infomercials.  He has DVDs that I have made for him of all of those things.  Having those to watch in the dorm might help him while he is there, but I would also hate for anything to happen to the DVD player while there.  What would you do?

A Cure for What Ails You

Image by skampy via FlickrIt wouldn't be the holiday season unless somebody in the house was sick.  It seems that this time of year, somebody is always sick.  Even when I was growing up, one of my siblings or I or all of us, came down with something.  The worst was when we all came down with the chicken pox around the same time.

This year has been no exception.  It started off with my son.  About a week or so before Christmas, he came down with a bad cold.  Those are difficult for him because he doesn't understand the concept of blowing his nose, and frequently wipes his nose on his sleeve.  Also, he has a difficult time coughing up flem.  He usually ends up gagging and throwing up.  We can never seem to get him to move to spit in the sink or toilet.

The worst of his cold was over shortly before Christmas.  Unfortunately, about two days before Christmas it hit my wife pretty hard.  With her, these things frequently turn into bronchitis.  She has been so bad off for the past four days, that she passed on going to my sister's house on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas day, we were supposed to go to her parent's house, but she stayed home.

I have been fighting the beast for a few days now.  It has not hit me quite as hard as the rest of them, but I am still having some of the effects.  First thing in the morning has been the worst for me.  I wake up completely clogged up. So, last night I decided to see if I could knock this thing out of my system by fixing myself a good old fashioned hot toddy.

For those that don't know, a hot toddy is an alcoholic beverage that is supposed to help cure your cold.  There are many different varieties, but most consist of a liquor such as whiskey or rum, honey, lemon, and hot water.  I made mine with Captain Morgan spiced rum, lemon, and honey.  It was quite tasty, warmed me up, and while drinking it helped clear my nasal passages.

Unfortunately, while it cleared my sinuses and helped me get to sleep a little more readily, I still woke up pretty clogged up this morning.  Though I do have to say that the cold didn't bother me as much during the day as in previous days.  I think before I turn in tonight, I will have to fix myself another hot toddy.  Maybe two. 

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And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Image via WikipediaAlthough we still officially have one more week to the "holiday season," I am returning to my regular style of posting personal thoughts, news of the day, and the occasional rant.  I hope that everybody enjoyed the "12 Days of Christmas" theme of the past two weeks.  It was a lot of fun for me to put it together.

The day after Christmas is a day most noted for everybody heading back out to the malls to exchange all those gifts that either were the wrong size or were just plain not liked.  It is also a day for people to go out and use those gift cards that they received as well.  Thankfully, I was not one of those folks venturing out to the malls today.  The only presents that I received were cash, a gift card to a restaurant, and a few bottles of wine, one of which I am enjoying as I type this.

Originally, the weather forecast was calling for us to get about 3-6 inches of snow in my area. With the anticipated snowfall, I decided to head out to pick up a couple of items at the BJ's in my area before the snow began to fall.  I wasn't too worried about getting out tomorrow to go to work, but if we did get a good bit of snow, I didn't want my wife to have to go out if she didn't have to.  Which brings me to my rant for today.

There is nothing that frustrates me more when I am driving than to be stuck behind a slow moving driver when there is nothing but open space ahead of them.  Now by slow moving driver, I mean driving below the speed limit.  To be perfectly honest, sometimes if the driver is driving at the posted limit, and I am stuck behind them, I can get a bit frustrated.

On this particular Sunday morning, I was heading home in the left lane of a two lane road with nobody in front of me.  I was moving at a pretty good clip of 60 mph.  I think the posted speed limit on that stretch of road is 55mph though it may be 50.  So yes, I was technically speeding.  I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a car moving rapidly onto my rear end. 

I was going to try to move over to the right lane to allow the tailgater to pass, but there was another vehicle moving just as rapidly in the right lane.  After that car passed, the car behind me moved over to the right lane and passed me.  I guess I wasn't speeding fast enough for them, which to me is just as frustrating as getting stuck behind somebody driving under the limit.

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Update on School and My Son

It has been three weeks since I have written an update on my son and school.  There were a lot of things going through my mind that day as we took him to his new school.  I was concerned about how difficult it would be to try to explain to him that we would be leaving him that day and not seeing him for two weeks.  To describe his eating as picky would be a severe understatement, so there were major concerns about him eating while he was out there.

Surprisingly, getting him to the school was much easier than I anticipated.  Saying goodbye wasn't, and I don't think he understood when I told him that I would see him in two weeks for Thanksgiving.  With me being the worrier that I am, I called the school every evening to get an update on how he was doing.  The initial reports that we got that first week were encouraging.  He tried a couple new foods like hash browns and some salad.  His teacher said he was adjusting to the schedule and working well in class.

At the time, I considered writing a post about my adjusting to his being gone.  When he is here, he basically dominates the television.  It is rare that I get to watch what I want on television, when I want to watch it, and without interruption.  Then there is the issue of buying him all the food that we buy special for him.  In addition to the benefit he would get from being at the proper educational facility, there were benefits to me in terms of my personal leisure and savings on the weekly grocery bill.  Still, the bottom line was that I missed him immensely. 

His first weekend at the school was a bit more difficult for him.  He prefers to stay home on the weekends, and watch TV, play video games, and surf the internet.  The school plans a lot of weekend outings and activities, which he shows no interest in.  They do have socials where they play music and have dancing.  He really enjoys and looks forward to those.

When the second week of school started, he had a difficult time getting back into the routine, but had a another good week of classwork.  Towards the end of the week, he started to have a lot more difficulty, especially in the eating department.  By the end of the second weekend, I was extremely worried because he had basically stopped eating and drinking entirely.  It became a concern at school as well, as they had us pick him up a day earlier than the original Tuesday pick up date.

He has been home almost a week now.  As soon as we picked him up, he started drinking again, and he has been eating his usual fare since he has been home.  Tonight, he and I went out to Watkins Regional Park in PG County, MD to see the Winter Festival of Lights.  It has become something of a Thanksgiving weekend tradition for the two of us.  As we were driving home, he looked over at me and said, "No school tomorrow, Daddy."

Tomorrow is the day we are supposed to take him back to school.  They are having a Christmas party.  When we picked him up last week, he talked about coming back to school and going to the party.  However, based on his response coming back from the Festival of Lights, I have a feeling we will have a difficult time tomorrow.  More importantly though, is the eating.  This time, he is not supposed to come home until just before Christmas, almost four full weeks.

I am not sure what will happen over the next four weeks.  The one thing I know for sure, is that it will be another four weeks of worry on my part.  I am not sure what will happen if he stops eating and drinking again.  He obviously needs to drink and eat.  He also needs to adjust to his new situation.  My son, even with his disability, is a bright child.  If he thinks he can continue to manipulate the situation and get to go home by not eating and drinking, he will display those behaviors.  Pray for us.   

Holiday Mail for Heroes

We in the United States enjoy freedoms not found in most of the rest of the world.  These freedoms have been fought for and defended by the many fine men and women who have served in our armed forces here and overseas.  Many of these men and women will be away from their family and loved ones during the coming holiday season.

Once again, the Red Cross and Pitney Bowes have joined together to ask fellow citizens to perform a simple act of kindness and gratitude for those that serve this great country.  They ask that you show your thanks by the simple act of sending a holiday greeting card to our service men.  If you are grateful for the freedoms we have, please join me and my family in sending a Christmas card (or whatever holiday you celebrate) to our troops overseas.  Mail your card to the address below to arrive at the processing center by December 7, 2009.

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

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A Blogging Opportunity

Image via Wikipedia

Here is an opportunity for my fellow bloggers to be paid to blog.  Proctor & Gamble is looking for to hire five bloggers for the holiday season, November 23-December 31.  The salary for the assignment is $10000.  Not bad for five weeks work.

The assignment is for each of the bloggers to work in their Charmin Restrooms in Times Square during the holiday season.  The "Charmin Ambassadors" will greet and entertain visitors to the restrooms.  Then they will blog about their experiences on Charmin branded blogs and various social media.

If you are interested in participating, P&G will be conducting interviews on Thursday, November 5 from 10am-6pm at the Hilton Hotel at 53rd Street & 6th Avenue in NY City.  You can get more info at the Charmin Enjoy The Go website.

If I were a single man, without a steady job (or at least one flexible enough to take a month long absence) then I would have to consider this.  Of course, there is something about hanging out in the bathroom for five weeks that is a little troublesome.  After all, isn't hanging out in restrooms what got Larry Craig into trouble?

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