Thanksgiving, etc.

We have had a very good Thanksgiving.  It's surprising.  One of my friends called and was shocked to hear that Dee is able to handle a holiday.  It has been pleasant, and there's been many opportunities for things to go wrong:

1.  I have loosened the bedtime and sugar consumption because of the time off.  I expect that with the return of waking up on time and going to bed on time, we will have some problems.

2.  She was forced to go ring bells for the Salvation Army when she didn't want to leave her All-TV All-of-the Time.  She did it.  Was pleasant.

3.  She did sneak some sweets and ate all 25 days of her advent calendar chocolate, but I just counted it as a loss to her.

4.  She received a letter from her birth brother.  I told her the Wednesday before Thanksgiving it was coming as a means to prepare her.  She woke up at 9:00 on Thanksgiving and checked the mail.  It was very emotional for her to read something from her actual sibling.  She has had not contact with any birth family member for more than three years.  She commented on his poor writing skills.  I told her that she wrote exactly like him when she came.  We could see her progress through his letter.

5.  She has played with that cell phone non-stop.  How long can 120 minutes actually last?  I keep adding rules.  The main one is that the phone must sleep with me every night.  She never misses.  I also got to give her some texting advice in response to her friend.  I tried to teach her to ignore some messages, change the topic and see herself in the "poor me" texts her friend sent.

6.  She has been earning Christmas money when she isn't glued to the TV. 

7.  We have a foster dog, and she is not helping much with him though she really wanted him.

She is not an adventurous kid.  Although we were at a mall that we have only been to once, she asked if we could go to McDonald's after our bell ringing.  She asked if we could see the same movie she saw last week with a friend instead of one of the many Thanksgiving releases.  And...she likes the control to watch TV.  She asks for computer time, and I have been holding back because her Christmas gift could be deciphered on it.

All in all a good holiday weekend.  I expect next week not to be so good.  But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.