Koopman Kraziness

School didn't go well today. I noticed when I went to pick Kamden up that all of his classmates had come outside but he had not.  This is never a good sign.  I walked through the hall in the school against the flow of kindergarteners and first graders and tried to keep smiling and not tear up, knowing that when I got to his classroom it was probably not going to be a good scenario.  When I got close to the room, I noticed the principal standing in the doorway, somewhat blocking the door with his body.  I came around his side and glanced into the room, then back at the principal and asked, "Was it a bad day?"  He started to tell me, then stepped aside and I walked into the classroom to find Kamden sitting on the floor against the wall on one side of the room and his teacher standing on the opposite side of the room, smiling a sad smile at me.  I looked back at Kamden, and he was staring off at no one in particular, but he had a definite look of defiance on...

I've started and stopped this post two or three times now.  I got a quite lengthy post done one night and when I read it back, it seemed to just be complaining.  That's not what I want this blog to be about.  I want it to be candid and reveal all sides to special needs life, but I don't want it to ever come across as a pity party. Life has been difficult lately.  Don't get me wrong.  In many ways, life has been wonderful, but it has been extremely difficult.  Kamden's father is a member of the Texas National Guard and he was deployed to help with relief efforts following the hurricane hitting Houston.  Changes in an autism environment are never easy.  We didn't even really receive notice that his dad was going until we got a text from him at the armory while he was waiting to board the buses.  Kamden is fairly resilient, but between his dad unexpectedly going out of town and all the changes associated with starting a new school year, he's h...

It has been nine months since I took the time to write here, and I regret that.  Writing here has always been cathartic for me.  There's no excuse.  I got distracted by and busy with life and just didn't make time to do it anymore.  After going back and reading some of my old posts, I realized how much I was actually able to get out and sort out just by writing.  That being said, tonight will be a general update and then I'll get into a routine with it all again. Since the last time I wrote, there have been NUMEROUS changes in our lives. Kamden was accepted into a specialized autism program at another school in our district and was moved to attend there at the start of the spring semester last school year.   Within the first three weeks of attending, he was fully potty trained, was excelling in his classes and was showing more independence than I have ever seen him have. We moved out of my parents' home and into our own place.  I was lucky enough...

I was talking with a friend this evening and I realized something.  I have a love/hate relationship with social media.  I love being able to see what friends on the other side of the country are doing, or see that people have found true love or are expecting a new bundle of happiness, but at the same time, I hate it. I hate what social media has turned us into.  I hate that I have a hard time going 10 minutes without picking up and checking my phone.  I hate that it interrupts time with my family, friends and significant other.  I hate how easy it has become to pretend to be someone or something that we aren't simply by cropping other people out of a picture or posting only the really good (or really bad) side of a story.  I hate how easy it is to make a passive aggressive comment or share a picture that we "just agree with" when really it's supposed to be a subtle dig at someone we are secretly hoping sees that post. Social media, in many ways, has kil...

Well, sickness has hit the house again.  Kamden started with the sniffles a couple of days ago, but hadn't been showing any signs of feeling badly in general, so I opted to just watch him.  The next day we had coughing starting up, but again, nothing major.  Yesterday, his sinuses looked to be swollen and Over the course of the night last night, his cough turned very wet and he was gagging and gasping for air part of the time.  I got him comfortable and he slept through the night.   * Disclaimer - before anyone freaks out and says I should have gone to the ER, this sort of thing happens in our house like clockwork about every 6 weeks.  We have a nebulizer and medication on hand to take care of any asthma attacks or breathing troubles that may come up, so I was prepared and we were watching carefully.*  Fast forward to this morning - his sinuses seemed less inflamed, but his cough sounded terrible and it was causing him to dry heave and gag.  I o...

I always say that I need to blog more often, but it's really going to have to happen.  Things are looking like they are going to become really intense and involved over the next few months, and I have to document it all somewhere or I'll never keep track of progress. In regard to my sweet Kamden...  Where do I start?  Just before Spring Break, we started noticing some behavioral changes.  Nothing to severe, but enough to catch attention of those at home as well as school and therapy.  After returning to classes, things seemed to just keep going down hill.  Kamden has been very much not himself in regard to how he acts and reacts to those in authority, and even in how he treats his friends and classmates.  Additionally, he has started to lose his motor coordination, speech processing, and other normal functions.  The most likely cause is that he has started having complications tied to bilateral ventriculomegaly.  We were told after his MRI ...

I despise the word "normal" for a variety of reasons, but primarily simply this: Everyone has a different definition of what "normal" is.  For some, working all night and sleeping all day is normal.  For others, being shot at on a daily basis is normal.  For still others, normal involves the general stereotype - 2.5 kids, mom and dad in the same home where either dad works and mom stays home or both work. Here's what "normal" looks like for my little family. I (Mom) go to school full time.  I completed my Associates of Science in Biology this semester, but I start back full time at the end of January to work on my Bachelors in Biotechnology and a minor in Psychology.  I also work two unconventional jobs.  Currently I work for myself as a housekeeper for a handful of faithful clients and I am getting a new business as a Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay off the ground.  I'm fully aware that I need to make more money than I do ...