Beth’s had a restless few days. Monday night she was still wide awake after 11 when Paul finally went to bed. Tuesday I decided that we’d cut out icecream after dinner. It’s getting cooler now anyway so it’s not a big hardship. Bridie is the main one to talk around as she does love her desserts. We had apple crumble last night but she’s just as happy with a bowl of custard so we should get by with that. My friend Bree told me that ice cream gave her restless legs so I thought I’d try cutting it out and seeing if it made any difference. I’ve also told them that bedtime snacks will no longer have any chocolate. The last of the freddos were eaten last night. Once again this has not gone down well with Brides! I bought some apricot and pear treats that Bill and Beth love so she’ll just have to get used to them.
Beth went to sleep pretty well on Tuesday night, still about 10.30 but not getting up all the time. I did rub some soothing oil on her and went in each time I heard her starting to get a bit rowdy. I think it’s a man thing but Paul doesn’t seem to hear her if she’s bouncing around or making noise. I think after years of listening to me nag he has learnt to tune things out! I try to put a stop to Beth escalating and she seems to have an easier night of it. I went to sleep really early last night so don’t know how she went going to sleep. She did however get up and go out the front door which alarmed me as it was 3am. You’d think that after going to sleep after 11 she’d be exhausted and sleep all night wouldn’t you? That’s the thing, sometimes she has come into our room to go through to the toilet at 2 or 3 o’clock, wide awake. Unless I’m with her I can’t tell how much sleep she’s actually getting. I’ve asked the doctors time and time again but there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it. I’m off to see Mark next week for a script for Beth’s Lovan (anti anxiety) so will ask him again about it.
Beth’s been so moody lately and I’m not sure if it’s because she’s so tired or because she’s started to go through puberty. My friend Clare told me that she’s heard that if you chart a girl’s moods they can be in a regular pattern for up to a year before their period starts. I’m fully aware (I wish I could say prepared) that Beth probably will get her period this year as she has hair and boobs. Whenever I try to talk to her about it however she puts up her wall and stubbornly insists that she wants to be a powerpuff girl, her version of not growing up. A bit like Michael Jackson’s Peter Pan I guess!
I got my notes from our PSG, or SSG as it seems to be called now. (Student Support Group.) It’s good to see it in writing actually, it outlines Beth’s background, and any issues that school or myself have. It then details how we are going to deal with those issues. I had concerns about lunchtime being so long as Beth gets easily bored and tends to wander. There are lunchtime activities being started by the grade 6 captains and somebody would be allocated to go and get Beth and get her involved. We discussed modified homework for Beth as she does find this difficult. We agreed that she needed to do some of this though as it is important that she has something to contribute to class discussions. This was all in the report and I think we were all pleased with the outcome.
