health

Woes and Joys

My body is an a$$hole. I have never seen my rheumatologist flummoxed before today. She’s always confident and reassuring and has a plan of defense against my errant immune system. But today it all got to her, and we don’t have a good defense strategy at the moment. It’s a “wait and see if whatContinue reading “Woes and Joys”

Adoption. Is. Trauma.

I got a note from Sprout’s teacher on Friday saying Sprout had a rough week. She refused to do her work unless an adult helped her (she is in a 12:1:1 classroom so that help is thankfully available). She was sometimes uncooperative. And the work she did do was not her best. Let me startContinue reading “Adoption. Is. Trauma.”

Health Update Time

A while back I posted about my health challenges. (See here and here if you aren’t caught up). I’ve been placed on Stelara for my ulcerative colitis (“UC”), which is an immunosuppressant that is aimed at UC and at psoriatic arthritis. It’s helping with the UC though is not putting me in remission. Regardless, I’llContinue reading “Health Update Time”

Generational Trauma and our kids

Sprout These Days Sprout is doing remarkably well. I’ll start with school academics. She’s getting retested for speech and OT services but likely won’t need either going forward, and her father and I wholeheartedly agree with those services being dropped. While she continues to be in a 12:1:1 classroom, she’s thriving in it, and weContinue reading “Generational Trauma and our kids”

Self care isn’t just a cliché

My therapist introduced me to Silk + Sonder journals recently. They’re monthly journals, meaning they’re designed for people like me who lose interest in old things and get excited about new. Just as I’m losing interest in last month’s journal the next one arrives, fresh with a new theme and clean pages of possibility. ThereContinue reading “Self care isn’t just a cliché”

Sometimes Rain is Better than Sun

My house is peaceful, joyful, and fun today despite crappy rainy weather and all somewhat overtired humans. No one got enough sleep. One grownup has a migraine. But Kiddo and Sprout are playing so nicely together. No fighting. No exclusion. No meanness. I’m absolutely loving having my whole family together for the weekend. And sadly,Continue reading “Sometimes Rain is Better than Sun”

What if curiosity healed the cat?

We dropped Sunny off with her relative on Tuesday. It was uneventful. She refused to say goodbye which made it extra hard. Even though I know saying goodbye is really hard for a lot of foster kids – they’ve had to say some really goddamn hard goodbyes in their lives – it still felt yuckyContinue reading “What if curiosity healed the cat?”

The Winding Down

I took Sunny to the pediatrician this morning. She was just due for a routine checkup, but I of course informed them that she is being discharged from our county’s care and moved to a relative a few hours away. They made it a discharge appointment, where they gave her shots a little ahead ofContinue reading “The Winding Down”

Disabled, officially. For now.

I’ve written before about my health struggles (see here). In sum, I have psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis – both of which are autoimmune diseases – and fibromyalgia, which is an issue with the pain system of the body. The good news is I’ve been awarded social security disability, for now. It’s been a twoContinue reading “Disabled, officially. For now.”

Food Insecurity Fallout

Sunny has taken to complaining that we have too much food in the house. It’s making me think about childhood food insecurity and how much it messes with people. Sunny grew up food insecure for her first 8 years. Her pantry was always absolutely bare except for bulk bags of rice. Everything else was purchasedContinue reading “Food Insecurity Fallout”