Today

Before I get to anything else in this post, I want to say something really important. America, you have done the right thing. I, personally voted for Crosby Loggins on Rock the Cradle approximately 50 times last week, and clearly you've followed my lead. The right man won tonight. The right man. Had you given victory to the utterly talentless Chloe Lattanzi or the self-righteous blow hard "entertainer" Jesse Blaze Snider, I'd have lost all faith. Thank you. Although I still think Jesse Money was the best.

Anyway.

Today, a nap-less Ace and I went to a behavioral specialist/psychologist in Ridgeland to see about all those heinous tantrums nobody else believes he throws, and the utter hatred he has toward other children. She told me... a LOT of stuff, only half of which I heard because a) Ace was nap-less and cranky (perhaps for the best in this situation for demonstration purposes), b) I've had a combined 1 hour of sleep in the past week, c) it was like 90 freaking degrees in that office, and d) I had some SERIOUS gas. Wow. I got quite a few good tips from her for the short term, but the long term is lookin' kinda lame.

I was really hoping she'd be dismissive and tell me what every other mom ever has been telling me, that this is all a phase and he'd get over it. I'd be frustrated, but I could at least go back to pretending that my kid is "normal" and put on my big girl panties and deal. However, she started throwing around the terms "gross delays" and "intensive behavior therapy." Wow, this IS as serious as I thought. More serious than my gas.

However, *sigh,* remember how I was so happy that Ace was getting only a half an hour of therapy per week? Remember how happy I was to have a social life even as a stay-at-home mom? Well, kiss that goodbye. The doctor wants him to have three 1-hour behavior therapy sessions at her office per week. If you're keeping track, this is in Ridgeland, a solid half hour away from where I live. She also wants him to have a 1-hour therapy session at a different therapy center, also in Ridgeland, where one therapist works with him and 2-3 other kids, without parents, in a kind of guided social interaction program.

With the once-weekly physical therapy session at Baptist (almost as far as Ridgeland, for the non-locals) and four therapy sessions in Ridgeland per week, my schedule has suddenly closed completely up again. Not that it was especially open, but I really like to keep Ace busy with things he enjoys doing (not therapy) and keep myself busy so I don't hole up on the internet all day.

The doctor's immediate explanations for his tantrums based on what she's witnessed are as follows: attention seeking and frustration, neither of which I can especially alleviate, AND THAT KILLS ME. She thinks there's so much he wants to do, but he can't yet, and can't yet verbally express the things he wants to do, so he just gets pissed about it. Her idea of intensive therapy is bombarding him with language development training. This is different from speech therapy... somehow. Remember, I had a screaming child. You'd think HE had the gas.

The hatred of other kids is a bit more complicated, and not something I really want to go into here. I will say that she thinks it was targeted at first, and now he's generalizing on all other children.

The doctor did say within 10 minutes of meeting Ace that she was very excited to work with him because "he has a light in his eyes." She said she thinks he'll "get it" quickly and once he does, there will be no stopping him. Well duh, toots, I could've told you that and I ain't got no fancy higher learnin'.

Gonna be a long summer.