A Week, Briefly (7/5/21)

 We had a lovely 4th of July with church in the morning and a family campfire and celebration in the driveway.  Kids ran around catching fireflies, playing with sparklers given to us by friends, singing songs around the fire (a couple of neighbors joined us!), and stuffing themselves with s'mores.  When it got dark enough, the kids ran up to the field to watch the fireworks along the skyline in all directions.

 

 Monday morning early Sir Walter Scott took Belle, Nature Angel, and Little Princess with him to pick up 8 more girls from church and drive in the caravan to Girls' Camp.

During which time, Brother broke down completely and tried to kill his brother, me, and eventually an older sister with a shovel.

We're all fine.

We're good at evasive action.

The day was lost in all of the medical/psychiatric mess that always follows such violence.

Sir Walter Scott broke many speed limits to get back home to us.

Brother did not have to be admitted to in-patient psych--it's a complicated story, but everyone involved in the decision-making (and that included Sir Walter Scott and me) agreed it was good to send him home.

We were right, he was best served at home, but it is ever more clear that Brother needs help getting through his current trauma which is that Mr. S--, our absolute favorite RBT, has been transferred off Brother's team.  He had been with us, in our home, for over a year, and he became just about the kids' favorite human being ever.

 

On his last day, Mr. S-- brought his ukeleles and let the kids play

He played us a song--one of his original compositions

The group hugs were pretty fun, but the tears as we waved goodbye were real.  We will miss him fiercely.

Brother's BCBA agrees with me that his current needs are outside the scope of ABA therapy, and she's supportive of  our current efforts to get play and EMDR therapies started again.  She's also supportive of when we break ABA protocol to meet Brother where his is right now.

I notified the parents of our daycare babies about Brother's current situation.  They all responded with concern for Brother and astonishing trust in our family to continue to care for their babies.

How grateful I am!!!

The babies bring out the best in Brother.  Having them to nurture is a huge part of his healing, and I believe they contribute to his daily well-being.

They help the other kids, too.

We've all felt a little fragile this week.  

We've all worked hard to help one another.

Getting outside to play and observe has also been part of the kids' healing.

Our school this week was limited to Morning Meetings and Evening Reading with our final 3 geography read alouds during lunch--The Day of Ahmed's Secret (Egypt), Wangari Maathai (Kenya), Emmanuel's Dream (Ghana).  We had an awesome discussion about the many people around the world we've learned about who contributed to the goodness of humanity.  All of the kids were able to participate, and we ended our conversation with the question, "What will you do to make the world a more beautiful place?"

We finished Bambi.  I'd forgotten just how odd a book it is, but the kids really liked the conversations between the animals, and they were completely delighted when Bambi took over as the Old Stag of the forest.

The kids have engaged in a lot of costume play this week (it's raining again!!).  When one costume ripped, Mister Man got an impromptu sewing lesson.

And our darling big sisters came home from camp on Friday afternoon!!!

The babies (and the rest of us) were so happy to see them!

I've made significant progress in cleaning out our craft cupboards.  The next steps include donating what we're not keeping and organizing what we are.

I've made a few curriculum purchases, and I have a few to go . . . I think I just realized that a new school year is close upon us!