The Holidays

Insanity has struck again.  It is the holidays.  We seemed to weather the Halloween to Thanksgiving stretch pretty well this year.  It has been nothing short of a mess since.  Routines are disrupted, excitement about the holidays rising, increased excitement with holiday preparations at school, increased energy levels due to weather decreasing outdoor play opportunities = WILD times. 

We have had a really good stretch in November so it is catching me off guard.  Academically speaking we are on much better footing.  He is engaged in school, he is staying on task, he is attentive.  He is doing better with reading and with homework as well. I'm very proud of the progress he is making.

Things always seem to be 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  Don't get me wrong, I know the net is still positive but it is frustrating and challenging.  K isn't verbalizing what is going on and the problem solver in me is really struggling with it.  Is it just the regular holiday crazies?  Excitement about Santa, school programs, vacations, and the holidays in general?  Or is something else going on that we haven't figured out. 

This week we even had an instance of K swapping food with a classmate.  As an allergy kid, that is so far beyond not a good idea it is mindboggling.  He is usually so good self-regulating with potential food risks and then swapping for candy?  That can be a deadly mistake and it scares me to death.  It is hard enough relinquishing control and knowingly sending your child into an environment that can be deadly, only to then have instances like this that could literally be fatal. 

Parenting is hard, very hard.  We have fantastic automated diagnostic systems and manuals for so many things in today' society that we have gotten quite spoiled.  It is generally so easy to figure things out.  Humans are clearly so much more complex.  Intersect the human brain, emotions, hormones, external factors and OH MY! 

Thinking peaceful, calming thoughts and looking forward to a weekend of family time and a lot of hugs and snuggles.  Perhaps it will help us create a bit of a sense of calm and normalcy.  It certainly cannot hurt.  Right?