Catharsis...

OK, Kristina, here's some of the origami I folded using printouts of flowers :) (some of those on the edges are regular origami paper) These forms are called "tatos" & they are paper wrappers, known as つつむ ("tsutsumu"), used for wrapping money & notes. The book in the picture is the one I used to make them, by my favourite origami author Tomoko Fuse.

I had a mission this morning when B & I got to school... teach B's consultant teacher, Cherie, how to use the mac computers in their classroom. At B's school most of the computer equipment has been donated over the years, so they've been organised with most of the pc-types on the 2nd floor & all of the macs on the 3rd floor. B's teachers both moved upstairs with the 5th-graders, & neither Cherie nor Jen has worked with macs before. They have been frustrated by not knowing how you do certain things on the macs, like work with the dock, so they asked me to show them. The first thing I noticed was that every mac had at least 4 applications up & running- so I explained that you just can't click the little red button to close applications because it just closes the window, not the application, & if you have so many applications running simultaneously the computers become sluggish (the 3 in B's room are all oldish imacs). We worked with opening & closing documents & saving things to the networked files... then I discovered that no-one has been emptying the trash on any of the computers, so I showed her how to do that, too :) After about 1/2 hour Cherie was much more comfortable with how they worked. I'd been so caught-up in what we were doing I never saw B leave for OT & thought I'd missed kissing him goodbye, but when I left his classroom I found he & his OT sitting on a Twister mat in the big space. B was eating an apple :) B's OT had been wanting to show me a new programme they're starting with B to help him learn to self-regulate. There's a form that B fills out at different points throughout the day, indicating whether his "engine" is running high, just right, or low. After B checks his status, they discuss what he can do if he's high (do something active) or low (rest, have a snack)... They had been playing Twister because B had been running high :) It sounds like a very cool system & I'm particularly happy they've gotten him started with it because I think it'll be invaluable with the upcoming meds changes, to help B get a sense of any changes he feels. We brought a sheet home today so we can do the morning stuff at home, then he can continue filling it out at school.

When I came to get B this afternoon he was in Cherie's office wrestling with a computer file. When he saw me he put his head in his hands & moaned because he'd been so caught-up wrestling with the file he'd forgotton to do his homework... he was mad at himself for losing track of the time. He asked if he could still do the homework at school, & since it was not too involved I said ok. Cherie & I went out in the hall & she said he'd had a pretty good day, but there had been a loud altercation in the classroom that had set him on edge, & she suggested that I ask him about it (which I did on the way home). He had been a witness to one of the kids blowing-up at another, which had been upsetting, but we were both relieved that he hadn't been directly involved.

After snack B was ready to get back on the computer & play the bionicle game, so I sat & knitted some more on bathroom rug #2 (I want to have it done by next Monday, when the first one get washed :). B asked me to sit by him during a tense part of the game, but as soon as he found his way I was free to knit some more, & fold some of the origami in the pictured above. Also during the afternoon the UPS truck brought some pokemon stuff we'd been waiting for. B had earned a Skitty plushie last week & I had also ordered the newest pokemon movie "Lucario & the Mystery of Mew". B really wanted to watch it after dinner, so all 3 of us settled into the tv room after dinner (dad bugged out after a while to do some chores). "Lucario" was a very good movie, beautifully animated, & the story was about friendship & trust & forgiveness. I don't know what it is about these pokemon movies- I almost always end up crying at some point. This one was very sad, but uplifting, at the end & B & I had tears streaming down our faces, looking sheepishly at each other. The sadness was because of a sacrifice & loss at the end of the movie, but the loss resulted in 2 friends being reunited after a long time, so it was also hopeful, which was part of why we were crying. It was very cathartic for me, in light of recent events. For B... he started worrying that he might lose some of his pokemon guys or that they would die, so he was pretty distraught. C & I sat with him & told him that he took very good care of his pokemon, & that worrying about his friends was not a good way to be a friend, that it takes all of the enjoyment out of life & friendship. I told him that I worry about he & dad sometimes, but I don't get carried away with it because then I wouldn't enjoy my time with them nearly as much, if I was always afraid. This was one of those times when I can empathise with B's fears so much... & really see how he's growing up & having some un-kid-like concerns. Sharing the practical ways that we cope with these fears really helps B, I think. (It teaches me stuff I never knew about C, too :)

He finally calmed down enough to be tucked into bed for story. He started out with the whole gang of stuffies under the covers with him, but then was worried about them falling out of bed when he rolled over & their being lonely on the floor, so he decided to sleep with just Skitty & Mudkip... the rest crowding next to his pillow in relative safety :)