And So It Goes...: Five On Friday

1) We are almost into the full swing of our fall routine. Miss K has been doing phenomenally with Kindergarten and taking the bus…it was a little tough for Mama on that first day. How would she find her door to go in? How would she find her classroom? How would she find the right bus after school? My fears were laid to rest when I found out the kindergarten teachers walk the kids to the bus…hooray!

2) Andrew starts preschool on Monday. That day is just an orientation day where I stay with him and we just meet with the teachers and go over the year plan. This is old hat for me now :) His first official day will be Wednesday. I can't even begin to voice my worries over Andrew going to preschool. He doesn't listen to directions very well and I worry about how he'll do transitioning from one activity to the next. Plus, he sometimes naps in the afternoon and he's scheduled to be in the P.M. class. Will he freak out wanting his soother and blanket and to sleep? Will he have meltdowns? How will the teachers handle him (I know the answer to that one…with tender, loving guidance)? Will the teachers get frustrated with Andrew's inability to pay attention? Worry worry worry…a mother never stops!

3) I am loving my new tattoo…I got a butterfly with a semi-colon in honour of mental illness. The semi-colon represents a pause…not the end. When I look at my wrist, it will remind me that there is so much of my story left…so much left to be written. Yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day. I am thankful I haven't struggled with overdosing for several months now. June was the last time I was in hospital. It is such a difficult thing to deal with when the dark thoughts come…wanting to end my life. Depression is a lying bastard and I hope this new tattoo helps me remember that during my dark days. Tapping has certainly been helping with anxiety (when I went to Boston back in June, I learned about tapping on acu-pressure points to help relieve stress as well as "cure" a number of other things). I tap when I'm sitting in the chair in K's room, waiting for her to fall asleep at night. This paragraph has sure gotten off track. Tattoo. Love it. Done.

4) I'm done with True Hope and on a new med (Prozac). Again, I want to have all my ducks in a row before winter settles in. Winter is such a tough time for me, mental health wise. We have a ways to go before I am at max dose and, right now, I'm doing okay on the 20 mg. We'll see as time passes whether we need to up that. For now, my anxiety is low and I have motivation. Let's ~~run~~ waddle with that for now.

5) I subbed my first day yesterday in a grade three classroom. I've realized that I like either the really little kids (pre-K/K) or the mid grades (gr.3-6). I do NOT like grade one. I find myself talking over the din of the crowd for most of the day and that really frustrates me. That being said, I'm set to sub in a K/gr.1 classroom on Tuesday. We'll see how that goes. I'm guessing it's set up as a classroom with desks, more gr.1 than Kindergarten. Side note: I wore new shoes yesterday and that was a BIG mistake. I'm paying for it today with two huge blisters on each of my feet. Ouchie.