Ramblings

Adam still gets hung up on the word "do." He can figure out the usage if he *really* thinks about it, but he usually isn't patient enough to do so. We feel like the "'Do' Word Police" because we try to catch him and make him re-say it whenever he uses it the wrong way. Aside from that, however, his speech is becoming much clearer than it has ever been, and he has been able to express himself better than ever. If he takes his time, he doesn't even stutter anymore! But, if he's stressed, well, that's different. Along with pronunciation and stutter, he has been expressing himself with a deeper understanding of English. Like last night John asked the three kids what the word "depth" meant. Adam was the only one to have a clue, though instead of articulating a lengthy definition, he said something like, "Depths of the sea," which showed us that he was at least familiar with the word and usage.

He is finally being careful enough with his speech that his "L's" are nice and clear. Still struggles with his R's, but he can do it if he concentrates really hard. I'm planning on getting a few rolls of nickels at the bank on Saturday and give him one whenever he says "do" or his "r's" correctly. He's just so on the verge of "getting it" that I think this would really helping him a lot... or at leasts take some of the annoyance out of having to try!

We're still asking a ton of "questions" in our discipline/discussion times... We try to ask the kids as many questions as we can to get them to understand what they are doing wrong. Not that we don't just come out and say "Knock it off" here and there (we're human, afterall!), but usually we try to get the kids to counsel themselves into doing the right thing. I think John and I have asked every imaginable question known to mankind by now - (especially where Liana is concerned, *cough, cough*. But ya know, it's paying off... Another tool in our parenting box has been when we notice that Liana or Aleksa are getting too big for their britches and trying to boss eachother/Adam around, or otherwise trying to be in charge of things they shouldn't, I sigh and say something like, "Oh, it is sure exhausting doing the job of being an 8yo AND doing the job of a mama. That's even more work than I do! You must be sooooo tired by now. I guess you'd better go take a nap for a while." And then I send them to bed. I don't have to use that one very often, but it sure does the trick when I do! I have to be careful though, in how I say that, or it will provoke them to get mad... Not what I want to do. It has also taken a long time to be ABLE to use that one... It used to be that Leksa was scared to death to be in a room by herself at all. And Liana was soooooooooo scared of being rejected that we just plain couldn't send her "away" from us, as in being sent to a corner or to her room. She'd literally fall apart with anger, fear, etc. It would have been cruel to do that to them back then.

If we would send Adam to his room, we could be sure that something would be destroyed in there... That doesn't happen anymore. He still likes to dismantle things, but it isn't the same. For Christmas he got a lava lamp... John and I commented last night that if he'd had a lava lamp when he first came home, that lamp would have been broken apart and slime would have been smeared all over the place by the next morning. Adam laughed when we told him that, in a sort of "yeah, you're probably right" sort of a way. He's relaxing enough to ENJOY his stuff now, instead of destroying everything. He still functions better on little clutter in his room, and lately I've been really trying to pare down his "stuff" so it isn't quite so overwhelming for him. (With his help and approval, of course.) Just went through his closet yesterday, and I was shocked to see that there were clothes that are outgrown right now, that he had been wearing just weeks ago. So, out they went. He's got the nicest room in the house right now! Wish OUR room were as tidy and organized!

Ok, that's all the rambling I have time to do right now... Not easy to write these days while doing school and all the other stuff that needs to be done around here! Just had some thoughts running through my head that I wanted to get down somewhere before they got completely lost, so here ya go!