Here are the current plans: He has the opportunity to participate in occupational rehabilitation which will help guide him to a job that utilizes his various talents, which he will then either enjoy or have to swallow the tangy pill of realization that when you're upset at your ideal job it's time to buck up and get over it. He seems to be hopeful, which is nice.
So, part of the occupational therapy is training in the field of his choosing. Yes, more school. He is, even now, enrolled in an online college where he's taking the one capstone class he needs to graduate with a Bachelor's degree in liberal arts. I was a little upset by that, seeing as he could quintuple major in Chinese, Music, German, Computer Crap, and National Defense. Whatevs. At any rate, he's doing this online class in ethics, which has brought up some lively debate regarding euthanasia and the fundamentals of morals themselves. He'll be getting his degree some time in the spring at which point I'll be throwing a party to which you all are invited. Details to follow.
So, we'll be moving at some nebulous point in the future. The idea is that we'll move to where the job is. Failing a decent job, we'll move to Kansas which is where my people are. Now he wants to move to Colorado because the houses seem to be about $100k cheaper due to the tanking of the housing market out here which he says will make up for the difference in living expenses. Right, says I, but it's still far from my family. Well, replies he, at least it's way closer than any other place we've lived the past 4 years. Whatever, sigh I, living that far away has taught me longing and appreciation. Closer is better, but I'll go to CO if the job is good. A day's drive is much better than a full days' drive (9 hours vs almost 24 if you factor in hourly potty breaks for little people), but I've got this pit in my stomach over it that says "I don't wanna and you're not the boss of me!" That's the same pit that sometimes wins when I do my own menu planning and contemplate scrubbing behind the toilet.
The problem with moving where the job is that he won't be getting a job while doing the occupational rehabilitation. Really? Really. Makes me nervous? You bet your sweet Sosa. Which means that there isn't likely to be the sweet job in CO that'll make it ok for me to be far from home. All of this is still in the incubation/theoretical stage which means that
Anyway, looking at the price difference on these houses has got me thinking. In real life, cheaper isn't always a good thing. A decent rule of thumb can be to determine the level of quality you want to go for, often associated with a brand, and then find the cheapest price on that exact item. Houses don't often have brands. When they do, they're out of my price range in any case. How do you know what the true value of a house is? How do you know it won't be a money pit? How do you know if you can afford it even if the price is great? Do I have to learn a new level of home maintenance when we buy a house? Dude, it's a headache.
In the mean time, Tag's teacher called in a tizzy the other day. Apparently he's still refusing to do his work in class so I've gone all Mr. Monk on him with checklists and consequences with if-then statements and loud lectures which (bless the little guy) he took with humility and resignation. It breaks my heart. It's looking like a strong possibility that he'll fail the 9 weeks, which could lead to failing the year, No Child Left Behind notwithstanding. He will, however, get an IEP which might help somewhat. Yes, ADHD is finally official, diagnosed, on the record, and snickering at us as we glare at it and frantically research our eyeballs out and work with at least four entities besides his normal doctor to come up with a way to get this child some academic and behavioral success. I don't want him to fail the second grade especially if it's because of frustration as opposed to a real intellectual deficiency. I wouldn't mind a dumb kid. Someone's gotta have them. But he isn't dumb by any stretch and my sense of justice is not ok with a failure of this nature when something could be done about it. Yes, I'm taking it personally. He really is trying, sits (mostly) nicely to do his homework at home and finishes it in reasonable time with only occasional intervention. The problem is primarily in the classroom and I'm not there to see it. All I have is the teacher's word against his and that poor lady has 28 kids who are all precious snowflakes wilting under the burden of his squeaky-wheel-ness.
I love my boy. He doesn't hurt anyone at school, doesn't break stuff, doesn't vandalize the bathroom, I've heard no reports of name calling or bullying. All he does is refuse to do academic work while his teacher hovers over him. I strongly suspect that we have a serious case of bad behavior cycle. Once again, whatevs.
Two classes have come back with A's, just waiting on one class to see if the GPA stays at a 4.0. I should know by this afternoon.
That's all from H land at the moment. Happy holidays, Reader!
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