A Week, Briefly (9/6/21)

Monday
Brother was released from the hospital.  He was thrilled to come home and be able to use our shower.  We took a 3 mile hike in the evening.
 





 If you look at the group photo above, you'll notice that Brother is missing.  That's because he got angry with me, tried to hit me with a stick, tried to run away, and we walked in two groups for the second half of the hike--me with 7 happy kids, Sir Walter Scott with 1 angry kid.

Tuesday
We did yoga, math, walked, and celebrated a birthday.

We also got a call from a residential treatment center with questions to clarify some of Brother's needs.
 
Brother had a psych appointment with a new psychiatrist--Dr. H.  She specializes in kids with Autism as well as other behavioral disorders, and she had a lot of good counsel for us.  She also prescribed 2 new meds for Brother.

Wednesday
We planned to do yoga, math, and walk.

What we did was paperwork for 8 straight hours when our morning routine was happily interrupted by a call from the residential treatment center we'd talked to on Tuesday offering him a bed immediately!
 
I also got a call from the nurse on Brother's wrap-around services team.  It seems services were about to begin.  I told her about his getting a bed for residential treatment, and she said she'd notify the team for his discharge and my request for their services as part of his return-to-home plan in the unknown future.

It was a stressful, hopeful day.

Thursday
We woke up to an email informing us that some bureaucrat in the state foster/adoption system denied Brother the bed he was offered and told us to first take several steps that we've already taken, that have already failed, and that we have documented.

Our adoption subsidy worker is livid and is trying to find Brother a new bed.  (No news yet.)
 
I called the wrap-around services agency and asked if it was possible to undo the discharge.  They said yes!!
 
Brother taught his siblings how to make origami frogs--a skill he learned in art therapy at the hospital.
 

We went to dance, where the kids rehearsed the large group numbers a lot!  Then we came home and celebrated another birthday!  
 
Cake baking and decorating were a major theme of the week.

Friday
We took a walk with the 4 older babies, leaving Nature Angel at home with 2 infants under 6 months.  She did schoolwork while they slept--not that they slept as much as she'd hoped!





That's Nature Angel with Stretch--Li'l K's baby brother.  He's only with us occasionally.

Saturday
We had a chance to try one of the new meds--the one prescribed PRN for extreme agitation.  However, I could not get Brother to take it.  

Sir Walter Scott could.

It seemed to work.

I should be grateful, but I feel angry instead.  We need a solution that allows Sir Walter Scott to go back to work instead of having to be the authority and care-giver.  Brother is constantly ready to fight me, and the only way we're surviving is because Sir Walter Scott takes brother outside for work, on errands with him, and talks him down from his rages.

As I write, it would make sense for Sir Walter Scott to stay home and care for the kids while I work, but it's just about killing Sir Walter Scott to be home.  He loves our kids, but running our home is not a joy for him at all.  I'm watching him sag under the pressure and confinement.  I want him to be able to return to work . . . and I want to be the care-giver at home!

*We successfully had Morning Meeting every day.
*We read some dinosaur science, and the kids had access to about a bajillion library books about dinosaurs.
*We read a bit more of Pedro's Journal for American History and a bit more of Three Brothers of Ur for Ancient History.

Our walks totaled 7.4 miles for the week.  

I forgot to add in  4.8 miles for last week.

So our new walk total is:  7.4 + 4.8 + 41.8 = 54 miles

I also failed to include last week that Sir Walter Scott took the older girls to the temple.  They were so happy to go serve in that holy way!



Comments

  1. DawnSeptember 12, 2021 at 8:30 AM

    The truth is that Brother would start fighting Sir Walter if he became the main care giver. We have seen that happen time and time again as Katie has moved through homes. I am so sorry about the mess up on the state level. It often feels like the system works against us more that anything else.
    Praying for you all!
    Blessings, Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  2. JenniferSeptember 12, 2021 at 3:04 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JenniferSeptember 12, 2021 at 3:05 PM

    I hope you guys are hanging in there and will have easier times ahead. The bureaucracy sounds exhausting.

    ReplyDelete

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