Just popping by

Busy time of it on Planet JustGoodEnough of late – been away for two weeks in lovely sunny Hampshire, and it’s taken most of this week to recuperate from the journey back. Or so it seems to M, who has taken to some annoying (to the rest of us) behaviour. There have been lots of refusals to do even the simplest tasks, lots of screaming, punching and hitting, and a definite backslide into comfort habits like watching baby programmes on TV and the computer.

I know she is struggling – the holiday itself prompted a lot of changes that she had to process – for her “just” visiting a new town is anything but simple due to the anxieties it provokes – and we compounded the issue by stopping overnight on the way home, but her behaviour is very wearing. I have tried non stop to get her outside to bounce on the huge trampoline in the garden but she is fixated on using the small indoor one, which is lovely in one way because when she’s bouncing she isn’t hitting out or screaming BUT very annoying if you are trying to read quietly and all you get is squeaks and boi-i-i-ings.

I hope that she will start to calm soon, there have been signs today as she willingly got dressed this morning (a nice surprise) and has been somewhat less confrontational to B. I found out today who her teacher will be next year (we were away the last week of term) and she seems pleased as she knows the person in question, so that’s one potential problem dealt with before it kicks off.

Now we just need to get through the next four and a half weeks in one piece. Wish us luck!

Sensory hangover

We didn’t have a bad weekend, we just didn’t have a good one.

From the moment M exploded out the school doors on Friday afternoon I had a “feeling” As it was sunny I let her race around the school playing field with her brother and some of the other children for half an hour (we are allowed to use the pitch out of school hours which is very handy as there is a lovely bench right in the strongest sunlight) and then we headed home for some quiet time.

M could not settle to anything. She was more of my shadow than she normally is, to the point that it was unsettling me too. She wasn’t spoiling for a fight, or particularly jumpy but I could tell she was “not right.” It almost seemed as though any second she was likely to burst into tears. So I stuck her in the bath for an hour – all by herself – and it helped a bit. Although I realised when I told her to choose as many toys as she wanted and she just looked at me helplessly and said “but how many Mumma?” that I was right to be concerned.

The entire weekend continued much along the same lines. Uber-clingy, on the verge of meltdown but luckily never getting there, and totally unsettled. I gave out as many super-hugs as I could, but I think it was a relief to both of us when the evening came and the melatonin kicked in. As dd2 and I had finished the trampoline it was lovely to be able to send M outside for some welcome bouncing. She must get one heck of a feedback from bouncing, but I love it as it’s in the fresh air and it’s healthy.

Hubby and I discussed the issue and came to the same conclusion. We think that M has been suffering from a sensory hangover. She has expended too much effort in spending more time in the classroom, interacting with her peers, and socialising at breaks, without having enough of the compensating quiet times. We did think that maybe her eagerness to join in the group work for more than our suggested 10 – 15 minutes was too much too soon but it is very hard to say “no” when M was clearly happy to be more involved.

I wrote in her home-school diary and had a word with her PSA and the head teacher this afternoon. They are happy to be guided by me as to what we cut back on, so we decided that I would speak to M and try to explain, and then any group activities that have been started in the last week would continue but with a strict time limit of 15 minutes; M will then return to her separate desk outside the classroom. Maybe the short walk and the change of seating will be enough to reset her system that little bit it seems to need. 

The idea is that I will update the staff again next Monday and we’ll see how this week has gone. It’s such a fine line, and without M’s input it’s educated guesswork, but she is only six. She has no idea how things unsettle her, just that sometimes they do. 

It just goes to show after my positive posts last week just how fine the line is between getting it right and not quite managing, but hopefully we can tweak M’s situation to make this week a great one including the weekend.

Boi-i-i-ng!

Third attempt now to upload the same post – the broadband connection up here really sucks some days! Serves me right for not pressing the save button – we live and learn.

M had a great day yesterday at school. She loves PE, and Golden Time, so it’s usually a very happy little girl I leave at the school doors on a Friday morning. B was also more than happy as he was looking forward to his lunch-time football coaching.

I spent most of the day occupied with mundane housework tasks followed by some sorting and clearing of things to go to the charity shop, a task that always makes me feel so much better when I’ve done it. After picking up the wee ones and ensuring they had their after-school snack (seriously where do they put all the food they scoff?) I borrowed L, aka dd2, and we set about erecting the remainder of the new trampoline. Hubby had done the base last weekend but had to give up with the rest as it was a 2 person job,

What a workout we had! I felt like I burned about a zillion calories wrestling all the poles, clips and clamps, and then the net, but after about an hour and a half’s hard graft the whole thing was assembled. L had the inaugural bounce, and then I called the wee ones outside. They were absolutely delighted. M loves to bounce more than anything else, and our wee indoor trampoline has avoided many a meltdown, but this is so much bigger that hopefully she can get some time on it every day.

We find it helps her to calm down, regulate her system, and obviously it gives her plenty of exercise without even leaving home. It is hopefully going to be used by all the family (might even have a shot myself) and we can build turn-taking in as an exercise too, which is always a sticky issue for M. She really struggles at times to understand that it’s not all about her first.

Anyway, here are a couple of not terribly good photos (I’m blaming the poor light and the net) that show you just how much B and M enjoyed themselves yesterday evening.