Foreign Objects

Today Matt took Jasmine to the doctor's office to see what his recommendations were for her in regards to her behavioral issues. But before I address that Jasmine's allergies have been a hot mess this week. She's woken up with just a snotty mess of a face and she just can't breath. So yesterday I went and bought her some Clariten to take. I knew she needed to take it in the mornings, so for bed last night I gave her some benadryl so she could sleep last night and breath, which worked. She woke up and could actually breath this morning. I gave her the Clariten this morning, and she took the pill like a champ.

So anyway, when Matt got her to the doctor he mentioned her allergy issues, and the doctor said his recommendation is to give her Clariten in the mornings since it won't make her drowsy. (Man I'm so good ;-)) He then listened to her chest to make sure there was no congestion and he said it sounded good. He then looked in her ears and said to Matt, "there's something in there." Matt asked if it was just ear wax that we missed, because we do clean their ears every night, and the doctor said no there was actually something in there. So he turned to Jasmine and asked her if she knew why there would be anything in her ear. She said, yeah I do. He said do you know what it could be? She said yeah, I stuck a piece of paper in my ear when I was still at Murray Elementary! Can you believe it!? As Matt was telling me this I just kept laughing because he said she was just so matter-of-fact about it. So the doctor proceeded to get it out. Matt said he just pulled out of ton of ear wax (sorry for the gross factor) and then finally pulled out this little piece of paper. It was about the size of half a thumbnail. Jasmine looked at it and said Hmm, mommy must not have gotten it all. And that was it!! haha! She also said that must have been why my ears were hurting at Nana and Grandpa's house. She makes me laugh so hard sometimes.

The doctor then said he's going to call and get us into a counselor for her to go and see. He said her lack of feeling and remorse for things could have a lot to do with the separation anxiety and other such issues. So we're just waiting on a phone call from them to see when/where they are going to get her into.

Both of us are very pleased with this doctor and really felt like he was very thorough. Hopefully we'll see some good come out of this, and maybe Jasmine will start listening better since there are no blockages in her ear anymore. :)

Our week

This has not been such a hot week for good behavior in our house. Monday and Tuesday were AWESOME days for Jasmine. Wednesday, not so much. I got a phone call from the principal telling me that Jasmine was not going to be suspended this time, but she was going to have to be in ISS (in-school-suspension) the following day. Why, do you ask? While at recess she was looking at one of the teacher's turtles and kicked one of them! When Ms Hannah the assistant teacher asked her why she did it she just laughed hysterically. I'm not going to lie when I say this has really bothered Matt and I. Granted, it is just a tad funny when you say she kicked a turtle. (just say it to yourself in your head :)) But it is absolutely not okay. So, when she got home from school we asked her why she did it and she couldn't give us a reason. Then I asked her how she would feel if the turtle had died because she kicked it and she told me nothing. I told her that I really didn't think I could trust her around Macy and Brutus now because she kicked a very innocent and defenseless animal. None of this really even bothered her. She didn't and still doesn't feel sorry for kicking the turtle.

So, Thursday comes and goes and I get home from work and ask her how her day was. She was so excited because she had a great day. I had to explain that since she was in ISS it didn't count towards her weekly goal of being good.

Well, today I got another call from school. Ms Hannah called me on her way home from school on her personal cell phone. That should tell you how much this situation bothered her. She said that to make a long story short, she was in the back of the class and she stuck her middle finger up in the air. This is the second time this has happened. Ms Hannah told her to come to the front of the class to apologize to the class for doing that. She came up and said sorry, and Ms Hannah told her she needed to say I apologize. And Jasmine yelled I already said I'm sorry!! So, she was told to go stand in the corner and as she was walking to the corner she kicked a filing cabinet and I think she said hit a wall. Ms Hannah said it was the end of the day so she didn't send her to the Principal's office, but she took her into the bathroom and told her she wouldn't be disrespectful to anyone in the classroom.

This week just stunk. Matt and I are really trying to be consistent with her punishments, but boy is it getting difficult. I really wanted to come home on Wednesday and beat her, but of course I didn't, but it doesn't mean I didn't want to. :) I think one of the most difficult things about the whole situation is the fact that she is truly one of the most lovable, sweetest children you'll ever meet. She's such a snuggler and just loves to be hugged and kissed on. I'm hoping I get a return call from the counselor next week so we can get her in, because obviously, there are some deep rooted issues here that Matt and I are not capable of handling. I know that things are going to get better and I know that in some ways, Jasmine just can't help herself. We just want to help her so that she can be able to enjoy her time with us and her time at school.

On a different note, Victoria is doing well. She is very enjoyable too and she's just so eager to learn anything new. She keeps me on my toes every morning, because every morning I have to come up with some new tactic to get her out of bed. The past few days I've told her to get up quick so we can beat Jasmine to the bathroom and that's got her jumping out of bed. I sure hope it keeps working! She can be an absolute bear in the morning! Mind you, on the weekends she wakes up at 6:30 which is when I wake her up during the week, but she does this on her own and is as happy as can be. :)

Positive Discipline

When I had my meeting with Jasmine's school, the guidance counselor suggested I get a book. The name of the book is Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson. I am about 15 pages into it and oh my goodness!! This book is very enlightening and I am learning a ton. So, thanks Nicholas & Casey for letting Matt & I practice on your kids. :) My, oops! I mean our, parenting skills are going to rock in no time at all!!

Bullies

Jasmine got in trouble yesterday for pushing a little girl. When Matt asked her why she did it she said that she was trying to help her. LOL! I didn't know you had to push someone to help them. She then told Matt that some fourth grade bullies came up to her and asked her if she wanted to be a bully too. She told them no. Now whether the last part is true or not, we're not sure, but when Matt told me this today I couldn't quit giggling about it. I know it's not funny that she's pushing people, but I'm just having to laugh at the story. Also, so you don't worry, we've been trying to explain to her she needs to keep her hands to herself because this is the second time she's gotten in trouble for touching someone. The first time she came home and told us she elbowed someone. When I asked her why she elbowed the person she said it was an accident. The girl was standing in her spot in line so she elbowed her to get her out of her spot! I tried to explain that didn't sound like an accident and it sounded like she did it on purpose, so then after pausing she said, yeah, I did do it on purpose. I'm afraid we're going to get a phone call that she actually hit someone one of these days. Let's hope not though!

Teeth

Today my little Brutus is going to the vet to get his teeth cleaned. They are a hot mess and his puppy insurance covers it so yeah. Matt is the one who took him and it was his first time riding in the truck. I just had to post this picture cause he just looks so happy to be in there.

Victoria

Victoria wanted her picture taken also.

Pictures

The Diva and her poses:

Glasses

Jasmine had an eye doctor's appointment last Monday and got to pick her glasses up today. She is so dang cute with them on. Matt took this picture this morning after she got them, but I'll take some more tonight so you can see the sunglasses and case.

Dinner Party

Last night we hosted our very first true, dinner party. It was super scary for me. I was reading a friend's blog who also hosted one last night and she made the comment that she cleaned her house like no other. I will say I did the same thing. It truly is amazing how we can find "a home" for things when we have people coming over, but when it's just us it becomes homeless. We had such an amazing time and truly enjoyed getting to know the two families who were there. It did make me realize that I definitely need a bigger house! But over all it was very nice and I think I just might do it again. :) (If I was really, really good I would have taken pictures of the nice spread of food, but I'm not!)

Results

Well the meeting at the school went well. We are going to look at counseling for Jasmine. The school guidance counselor suggested that she's having some separation anxiety and that she is struggling with being the child and being told what to do. It just makes me very sad. Her teacher and the staff at her school are absolutely wonderful and I really, really like them. The counselor and principal are going to start working more closely with her and meeting with her regularly. She really needs goals to work towards so they are going to establish some for her there at school and then we'll have some at home too. I really hope these things work for her. I know that she truly is miserable right now with getting in trouble so frequently and she wants to be good. She tells us all of the time that she wants to be a good girl, so we are going to try harder to help her be a good girl.

Oh my

I hate to even blog about this but Matt & I are kind of at the end of our ropes with ideas. Jasmine has been having a very difficult time at school since she got here. She is not adapting like we were hoping. Actually I don't know if that's even the right word. She's just struggling to follow the rules. She's just very disrespectful to everyone and we really don't know what to do. I'm meeting with her teacher, guidance counselor and principal today and I'm hoping we can come up with a solution to the problem. Jasmine truly is the most loving child I've met. She just wants to snuggle and be loved, but there's some what of a disconnect somewhere. It's almost like she thinks if she's bad then she'll get all of the attention she's craving. She's definitely getting it, but it's in the form of punishments, and I absolutely hate it! I know that Matt does as well. She keeps telling us things that she did before coming to our house and I have had to quit being surprised. She told Matt last night that she was bad all the time at her old school and she couldn't wait to act out because everyone liked it. How sad!! It just broke my heart when he told me that. She then told him that she couldn't wait to be 21 so she could act out on the dance floor!! Okay, I couldn't quit giggling over that one, but still. We've been throwing around different ideas of organized things we could get her in. We've talked about sports, gymnastics, dance, and karate. I really like the karate idea because it really teaches about discipline. I don't know, we'll just have to see, but I feel very sad for the things that Jasmine is going through right now. I know this hasn't been easy for her, but it's also not acceptable behaviors regardless of the situation. Anyway, depending on the meeting today, we'll see what they suggest and I may blog about it later.