My Kids’ Family

Avi went to the neurologist today and we are going to try to up his Adderall doesage.  We’ll do that for a few weeks and see what happens.  I hope it helps, as Avi i starting to shut down in many ways.  When he gets in a situation where he cannot control what is happening, or he is feeling frustrated he either lashes out or he just shuts down.  So at school he is beginning to just refuse to do some things.

He has always loved working on the computers at school.  Out school as a great program where they do some learning on the computers.  The system is somewhat adaptive so it gets more challenging as the kids go farther.  Now that Avi has hit a point where it is more difficult for him, he just does not want to use the computers anymore.  There are lot of other examples.

We know that the meds are not a cure.  He is not going to just turn around and start doing the things he has stopped doing.  But hopefully he will be better able to focus on everything around him and then he might be able to start tolerating the things that frustrate him.

Sometimes it seems like a vicious circle, I hope we find an off ramp soon.

I did not want to go two days without writing in my blog so here is a quick post. The past few days have been difficult for Avi. On Friday, Monday and Tuesday he caused enough trouble in class that his teacher called us on Tuesday afternoon. On Saturday in Synagogue he threw a ball at someone and today he was sent to the principal’s office for biting someone.

We had a meeting on Monday with Avi’s therapist and we have the beginnings of a plan and direction, but I know that it will take time. I wish I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, but who knows. We will be speaking with the neurologist soon to discuss his meds and maybe that will help?

Only time will tell.

Avi had a very difficult day on Saturday.  We went to Synagogue like we do every Saturday morning.  Usually Avi, Shayna and I go earlier and mkm and Noam come a bit later.  Our Synagogue has a lot of age appropriate programs for kids on Saturday morning as we have a lot of young families, but Avi has never really wanted to go.  We have learned to let him be in this case, and generally he either sits with me in services, or he just plays by himself nicely (or sometimes not so nicely) in the hallyway.  This time, though, he had brought a ball with him and at some point started throwing it around and he hit a couple of people.

In the end, as soon as mkm got there, I had to take Avi home.  I think it was the first time I had to take him home from Synagogue, but it does remind us that the medication is not a cure-all.  It helps him to focus and cope better, but it does not make him a different person.

From now on, I cannot leave him unsupervised no matter what I or mkm have to give up and we will have to work with this for now.

Sunday came along, and here was a totally different Avi.  We were back at our Synagogue for our Purim Carnival.  Unfortunately due to the fire last year, the carnival was in a different room from usual and Avi did not want to go downstairs to the room.  So he stayed upstairs helping different people doing some things in the Synagogue.  He was such a good boy and in no way resembled the Avi from Saturday.

We just have to take it day by day and hope that the good days outnumber the difficult ones.

No time to really write today. The megillah reading last night was a lot of fun. Probably close to 75 kids (plus adults)! Very noisy but a great time. Today I am cooking for guests coming for lunch tomorrow, so I will just post photos of the kids in their costumes. Sorry no song of the day. Maybe I will make it up somehow next week.

I did not get to make the rest of the Hamentashen on Tuesday night like I had hoped. So last night I made another 5 dozen. I had also planned on helping Avi finish his costume, but that did not happen either. arrrggggh! Nothing went right.

The pack meeting was ok but then when we got home it was right to bath and bed for the kids. Avi then did not fall asleep, despite his having his melatonin. He kept calling down to me and I think he finally drifted off around 10 pm. We were going to make rice crispy treats to add to the Mishloach Manot, but that never happened either.

What a night!

Tonight is the Megillah (Book of Esther) reading at my synagogue. Hopefully mkm will be able to finish up Avi’s costume with him late, and find Noam’s Mickey Mouse costume! I am sure it will all come together, but it will probably all be last minute. Shayna is going to be a Disney Princess. At least we know where her costume is!

Thank God I am off on Friday (although I am giving some of my time to the Rutgers Hillel so I can begin to install their new file server). The kids come home just after noon from school tomorrow and then we have guests for lunch on Shabbat (saturday afternoon)!

When do we get a vacation?

Yesterday was kind of slow, but today, at least tonight will be a bit busier. Tonight will be my first pack meeting as the new cubmaster for my son’s cub scout pack. I am a bit nervous, but I am sure everything will work out ok. Avi love the cub scouts and I hope that he will continue in scouting all the way to Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts. Below is a photo of Avi in his Cub uniform.

After scouts, we have to put the finishing touches on Avi’s Purim costume (photo on Friday). I discussed some about Purim the other day, but we get dressed up in costume the kids usually have some sort of costume parade before or after the public reading of the book of Esther at our Synagogue (Thursday night). It is a lot of fun and the kids also get goody bags. This will be the first time we have Purim in our Synagogue building since the fire last August, so hopefully it will be even more fun!

Then on Friday the kids will have a carnival at school and I even have off that day, being that the calendar has been nice enough to put Good Friday on the same day as Purim.

So I am looking forward to a fun few days and a nice little vacation from work.

Here are some fun Purim videos.

This next one requires a few definitions. A Gmach is a communal organization where someone will have a bunch of a particular item that people use a lot and loan them out to other members of the community. A good example is a one in my community that has artificial flowers that can be borrowed for different events. A Purim Shpeil is a funny skit that is traditional to do on Purim. And finally many families who have moved from the US to Israel have kept some part of their business or work life in America, so the husbands often fly back to the US for short trips.

Now the video