M was happy this morning as she knew I would be collecting her from school early – just before lunch break in fact – for an appointment with the paediatrician. Her whole mood was buoyant before school which made a very pleasant change.
I have hired someone to help hack a path through the worst parts of the garden before the house disappears under the invading foliage and he turned up and set to work with zeal well before 10 o’clock. As I know his parents and about ten other mutual friends I felt more than happy to leave him when I had to go out, and trust that he will be honest about how long he was working for.
M’s appointment was a routine catch-up, and also a request for more melatonin. For some bizarre reason it is up to the individual surgeries as to whether they will prescribe it or not. We have two practices that share one building; Sod’s Law dictates that I am with the practice that won’t, so it’s a convoluted system of the paediatrician putting in the request to the main hospital, then to the hospital pharmacy, and then by NHS van to the health centre. This can take up to a fortnight. Bearing in mind the local chemist could fill any melatonin prescription within 48 hours this is rather frustrating. And a very good reason to know other parents whose kids also use melatonin for the inevitable time that you run out!
Anyway, we had time to grab a quick bowl of soup at a wee cafe, then as a friend had kindly agreed to collect B from school for me, I was able to take M into Inverness for her monthly special needs drama class. It’s run at the theatre and is usually a very small group of children, which is manageable for her. The theme this term has been Dreams, and this month was billed as Dream Crafts. M was keen to go – she does love a bit of cutting and sticking.
I am also keen for her to go! I get one whole hour to sit with other mums and drink Eden Court’s finest cappuccino whilst we chat about anything and nothing. It’s a win win situation.
I really should not have been so surprised with what she made. It does rather stand to reason when the subject is dreams – she was very pleased with herself and rightly so:
The gods of traffic were on our side tonight and we drove home in good time. B had been dropped back at home after Big Sis was home from high school and was in a calm happy mood too. Tea and the pyjama routine were done with minimal fuss, although the two little ‘uns were somewhat on the hyper side of cheerful for some reason and needed some full strength sofa snuggles before getting tucked up.
It will be interesting to note the anxiety levels of M tomorrow when she knows she has a full day of school ahead of her. Maybe the afternoon session really is too much for her to handle? But I am not yet sure I want to commit to a split school/home placement. Is it psychological or is there a sensory issue? All questions I am still trying to work out.
Autism – often challenging, never dull.
justgoodenoughparent 
Love that dream catcher, D would be very impressed!
We have a melatonin review appointment coming up soon and I’m dreading it, they’re very keen to wean her off completely (due to cost, me thinks) by age 16 and think we should start now, with 7 years to go.
Hope M enjoys her full day, you know her best so don’t let anyone talk her into anything you’re not comfortable with (I know you won’t) x
Yikes! Just the thought of M off the melatonin brings me out in hives. I do think it’s worth trying the odd break of a week here and there to see if it makes a difference, but I am still stealing myself to cope with it. It probably is a cost issue, but I will just tell you that R my teenager has found that his sleep is no better or worse 90% of the time whether he takes it or not now, so basically unless he has an exam the next day he now doesn’t take it. But he is nearly 16. Nine is a bit young to be thinking of removing it, especially in such an anxious wee poppet. Hope D can carry on as usual for the time being x