January 2013

I thought I'd write about this month since it's been so long.  I've been busy studying for my certification exam.  Even though Dee advise me to "wing it," I studied for four months, with the last five weeks intensively studying.  I passed, so it was worth the effort.

Dee has been doing OK.  She continues with the attitude.  But she is showing herself to be more mature.  I was thinking earlier today how I miss the little girl she use to be...not the raging part...the other part!  She would describe herself as an extroverted tomboy.  She is actually a lot less extroverted than she was before puberty began.  She is friendly but reticent, and the other extreme of tomboy.

She is not doing as well in school.  She pushes me away for help.  We have agreed that grades will speak for themselves.  If she gets a poor grade, then there are consequences.  She loses her electronics until the grade is brought up.  She expects that to happen this week.  It might be the push she needs.

Dee is getting a $11.50 a week for allowance.  It's her age 11 1/2.   She can lose money for disrespect, and not completing her list of predefine chores.  She has to load and unload the dishwasher, take out the recyclables, clean the downstairs bathroom, vacuum the living room and clean her room.  She hasn't gotten the full $11.50 yet, but she has gotten $10.50 twice and $8.50 once.  She used her own money to buy a blouse. 

She wants to take a babysitting course.  It costs $100.  I told her I would pay $67, if she will pay $33.  I guess that is on hold.

I had told her in the fall about a letter her birth mom had sent.  She mentioned it in therapy.  So I finally gave it to her.  I told her it wasn't as big a deal as she was making it, so I didn't want her to obsess over it.  She is pleased to have it.  She has been wanting to see her birth mom's signature for a while.  I'm sure she has been searching for it.  She asked me where I had kept it.  I told her I needed my own secrets.

She told me that they were talking in Sunday School about the two big problems they see in middle school:  cutting and bullying.  She mentioned that some the kids cutting need therapy.  Someone said, "That's mean."  She said, "I go to therapy and it has helped me a lot."  She then told me that she wasn't ashamed.  I'm sure she will be now.  She has become more self-conscious about taking medication too.

All in all...things are going well.

Chloe is getting sicker with her congestive heart failure.  But she seems happy.  Rox is her normal depressed self.