Today is a beautiful day. It's nearly 75 degrees and feels wonderful. I took the kids for a picnic in the park. We made sandwiches, took a bag of Doritos, and snack bags of animal crackers. When we were done eating, they got to play on the equipment. For a little bit they were the only kids there - I like it that way because I don't have to worry about Deklan (or bullies). At least I'm not cranky today like I was on Thursday. :)

Before school yesterday I took Deklan to McDonald's so he could play in the playplace - his new favorite place/thing to do. We ran into a classmate of Deklan's while there. The mother and I started talking and found that we both have a lot in common with our little ones. Her son is on the list to be tested for Asperger's. She's been fighting her way through the school system for the past several months. My son was diagnosed Autistic Disorder Spectrum in September. I've been fighting with the school system since then to get Deklan's evaluations and IEP into place. I've filled out paperwork and had meetings and finally I told the psychologist that I was tired of pushing the issue. Deklan is in 1/2 day kindergarten - averages to about 3 hours and 15 minutes a day. I told her,
"I'm done pushing the issue for this year. His teacher sees him 3 hours a day. Next year, he'll be in school full day and by two months into the year his teacher will be pulling her hair out. She'll be begging you to do an evaluation and you'll see what I've been talking about all year. So, do whatever you want this year because next year he'll be a problem and you'll have to take care of it then."
Probably not the best attitude to have but, considering she had the paperwork/diagnosis in her office three days after seeing the psychologist (KU Med center in Kansas City) and we still haven't really seen any results, I am tired. Guess what? She decided that we should go ahead and do the evaluation and see about an IEP before the end of this year. There's so much to this that I'll have to blog about that later. Anyway, our official IEP evaluation is scheduled for Monday morning. I'm wondering what they'll decide. I'll post Monday afternoon or Tuesday to keep you up to date on that situation.

I talked to my mom yesterday on the phone. She lives in Oklahoma and, ok, I talk to her nearly everyday but yesterday was different. I must have talked to her for nearly an hour and we laughed nearly the whole time. I am so sarcastic and yesterday I was on a roll. I started by telling her about how cranky I was on Thursday. And told her about being aggravated at my hubby. A little back ground here... I have an aunt that believed that something would happen to her son while he was sleeping unless he slept with her and my uncle. Understandable - for someone under the age of 10. Once he hit teenage age you'd think that would just be weird. Anyway... on Thursday, after letting my little one sleep with me, I was not in a good mood for lack of sleep. I told my husband the next time I decide to do that to move Deklan to his own bed anyway. His comment was, "Whatever... Aunt Mary." I was so mad at him for that because he knows how I feel about that situation. Then he got onto the girls for not cleaning the extra bed in their room because the bug guy was spraying that day. Which, again, aggravated me because I told them to just make sure there was a clear spot so the bug guy could reach the window. Finally, as he was headed out the door I told him to please go and spread his good cheer to someone else. I thought we'd had as much as we could take. So, I'm telling my mom all about this. She thought it was so funny for both the comment about Aunt and the comment about spreading cheer. Then we moved on to the kids. Next she told me some jokes she read in a magazine and I told some from my email. Anyway, this went on for about an hour. I love my mom.