Wednesday, January 4, 2023

 Wednesday, January 4, 2023

   I got up after eight am this morning. Holy cow! I woke up around 4 am, did some in-bed exercises, and then dozed until eight. I added the toe stretching exercise that the chiropractor recommended. I move each toe in a figure-eight pattern, five times one way and five times the other. I fed Elsa before we went out on our morning walk. It was too late to expect her to wait until after we got back. We went out after she finished eating. 

  I called my friend Jean, who is in town from Arizona, visiting her daughter and her grandkids. She has two wonderful grandkids. They Facetime her regularly. She is one lucky grandma. We may be able to get together tomorrow. 

  I was tired most of the day. I have no idea why I get tired so easily. When I was young, I thought of myself as someone who never got tired. Looking back on it, I was always tired. I was just good at powering through. I lived on adrenaline. 

  I started reading the chapters Shivani sent me. I had trouble downloading it and didn’t have time to read it with all the sessions I had over the vacation. I did some work on the updates and blog, finally got around to treating the stains from Elsa’s pooping on the lanai rug, and then napped for at least an hour. I fall into a deep sleep.

  At 2 pm., I had Adolescent D. I always ask him what he wants to work on. His choices these days are 1) getting rid of that knot in his stomach, which unpleasantly expands when he has to think about his reading problems, 3) practicing reading, or 3) spelling. He has been choosing to work on reducing that knot. I use a meditation approach I learned with some adaptations. I find it effective for myself. It’s the best strategy I know to ease physical and psychological pain.

  I reminded him of what had happened a year ago. He read the word paint as plant. As we decoded the word paint, I asked him what sound the ai made, reminding him, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” “Which is the first vowel? He said, “I. I’m not stupid.” Ow! The good news is he recognized the error. The bad news is reminding him of what he did hurt. Maybe too much. I asked him how he would feel if his sister was in pain like that. How would he comfort her? The exercise wasn’t as effective as I had hoped. I was a little worried. 

    D says he’s afraid of change because he fears losing himself. I argue that it is impossible to lose oneself. No matter what form I take, I am always my version of it. The Buddhists claim this sense of a core self is an illusion. It may be, but it gives me comfort.

   When I had Mama K’s crew, I started with Twin A. She made progress over the winter break because we met every day. The work we did on automatic processing paid off.

    Today I heard her make an unusual grammatical error when she spoke. Her mother told me both girls have problems and receive speech therapy. She’s agrammatic. These girls need a lot of help. Fortunately, they’re gorgeous and sweet. They will make it through life. 

  Twin E has also progressed, but not compared to Twin A. The more you have, the more you get. Twin A being ahead of Twin E is an unfair trick of nature.

  I met with fourth-grade K. I reviewed addition and subtraction with regrouping. He aced it. Then I gave him four-digit problems, with some places requiring regrouping and some not. Once I reminded him he had to pay attention, he aced that, too. I wrote his teacher that I had addressed all the standards he had missed according to his iReady math evaluation and to keep me posted on what else he needed.

  I sent a Zoom link to ninth-grade K. His mother reminded me that we were only meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don’t think I am suitable for this boy. His problems are out of my reach. He is not comfortable with my approach. He may not be able to do the work. I’m not sure. I think he should have a complete evaluation and work with someone with a more structured, less cognitive, and psychological approach than I use.