I’ve let a little bit of time pass since my last update because I wanted to see how well Jordan did on meds and in a home situation.
It’s kind of interesting that the school psychologist seemed so concerned, yet Jordan seems so much the same. Of course, she has changed. She’s not as internalized as she used to be; she’s more open and we talk more.
Odd that when I started college, I elected to study communications. Not because it directly relates to my work as an administrative assistant/technical writer, but because it taught me so much about communicating with my children. My course of study gave me an understanding that was more than worth the student loans that I’ll be repaying for the next 10 years. Some of the classes that I took taught me not just understanding how to listen, but how to interpret, how to read body language and decipher the meaning of each intricate movement. Comprehending what is actually being conveyed with each eye roll or posture change. If these are the only lessons that I take away from my education, it all would have been worth it.
In addition to that, I’m also glad that I chose not to continue on to my master’s degree. The time it would have taken to complete a degree that I really don’t need is much better spent maintaining my relationships with my kids.
Funny, when you have a kid admitted to the hospital on a “5150” (involuntary psychiatric hold), the state gets very touchy feely. They want to make sure that you follow up with after care and that all is well with the world when in fact, it’s not. That should be obvious. Unfortunately, Jordan went into the hospital in November and I got horribly sick shortly thereafter. In fact, almost three months later, I’m still fighting a cough. Because I’ve been so freaking sick, the holidays, me suffering a lovely torn tricep, and life in general getting in the way, I didn’t get Jordan in to see a psychiatrist immediately upon release. The state of California has been sure to let me know this … three times.
Yes, yes. I know. She needs follow up.
Well, I made her an appointment with the same psychiatrist that Christian saw. He seemed to know his way around the mental health of teenagers. I took the day off in order to get her there. (If I take a day off, it must be important.) Unfortunately the day of her appointment, even after scrambling to get her there on time, she missed her appointment and I had to reschedule. Why? Because when I made the appointment, no one thought to mention to me that he had moved offices. Also, the new office address didn’t appear on any of the paperwork that I was given to pre-fill before her appointment.
Now, it’s three months after her hospitalization and she’s out of meds and I can’t get her in until next Friday. Her sleep patterns are all jacked up because of her insomnia and her mood swings are all over the place. If I were a psychiatrist, my diagnosis would be anxiety and bipolar disorder. And just for fun, lets toss in ADHD to round things out.
The good news is that the school has moved ahead with her initial IEP. They changed her school schedule–she’s not terribly impressed by that–and “downgraded” her from algebra to pre-algebra … for a third attempt; she’s already taken pre-algebra twice before. They will also be offering her a modified STAR exam next month when testing comes around. The advantage to having an IEP in place is that it will follow her all the way through college, which she fully intends on attending.
At least one of my kids is planning on going to college. Dakota is having some issues of his own, including a one day suspension for calling the detention supervisor a “fucking bitch.” Yeah, that didn’t go over well. Of the three kids, he’s by far the most intelligent, but he sure does some dumb things. He could easily pass all of his classes, but currently, according to his quarter three deficiency report, he’s failing all but PE. He even said that he does the least amount of work in that class, yet he has a B-. He’s earning a straight-up F in all of his other classes, which is funny because his testing shows that he’s either proficient or advanced in every class but English. I just don’t get it.
Because he’s been slacking and “sick” so many days, he now has to attend Saturday school for the next five weekends to make up, or offset, the missing classes. He’s also attending GearUp after school so that he actually does his homework. Because when he gets home, the backpack never leaves the car.
I’m sure I was never this much trouble. They must get it from their father.