Regress and Stress

~ Laura

Screw it. I’m back.

What happened? Why the hasty retreat from the blogosphere?

Well, things really backed up here. We all got slammed with the flu over the holidays. All those posts about the upcoming holiday festivities? Yeah, none of that happened. Instead, all four of us camped out on the sofa watching Dumbo over and over. But only the beginning of the movie when the stork drops off Dumbo with his mother on a train, because after that the movie gets too scary for them.

It was a long illness with endless tissues and candy flavored antibiotics. It sent back Ian’s talking big time. He stopped saying or signing any words and instead just shreaked when he wanted something.

All that shreaking fried my nervous system and turned me into a hysterical drill sergeant. I was sure that I had to work with him 24/7 to get him jabbering like other two year olds. I had to spend every minute of the day practicing words, doing mouth exercises, and learning new sign. I had to increase his therapy and work things out with the insurance company. I had to stop all destractions for a few weeks in order to get Ian back on track.

For two weeks, I drove Ian crazy with my frenzied activities. Say ball, Ian. Ian, say ball. Say car. Car. Caaaar. Car. See big car. Big, red car. Caaaaar!

Ian protested. The kid needs time to chill out with his trains and music. I need time to tune out from parenting. So, I’m back to blogging.

But in a limited way for the next couple of weeks. Jonah is getting his tonsils out next week. And I’m working at getting myself out of a career rut.

I’ll probably post more personal stuff, since that’s mostly on my mind right now. Also, I’ve been thinking a lot about the “mommy” blogs this week, and I have some thoughts on the matter. After I get our home life in order, I’ll be back to writing political stuff.

During this time of high stress, it is good to have a blog to purge some of these worries.

Published by Laura

13 thoughts on “Regress and Stress”

  1. Welcome back; I hope it’s rewarding for you to post. Best of luck with the upcoming tonsillectomy.

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  2. Glad to see you posting again, and I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the mommy blogs. Hope things are going more smoothly in your house…

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  3. Intense times, sounds like. Glad to see you writing again, in whatever capacity fits your life right now. Best,

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  4. Sorry to hear about the illness, etc! Pretty much the same exact flu scenario happened at our house, right down to the multiple airings of Dumbo. Eerie. Hope all of you are better and that the new year starts looking up.

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  6. Best wishes for Ian–and for everyone else around the McKenna household–for the new year. Thanks for making us a part of it; it’s always good to hear what you’re up to. Blog when you can, however much or little you think best; we won’t be going anywhere.
    (ADM: Really? Some of the classic Disney really is rather intense–Snow White, for example–but Dumbo? Though I guess the Pink Elephants number is pretty weird.)

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  7. My older son was also very slow in developing talking. He progressed just enough that we weren’t panicked, but not enough that we weren’t concerned. At about 2 3/4, he literally had only about a hundred words, and most of them were monosyllables that only my husband and I could understand. (For example, depending on context, “fa” could be either “car” or “waffle.”)
    We had him assessed by the local child find, and he did qualify for services through the school system. While we were waiting for his plan to start, his speech started to improve and then it really toook after he started doing speech therapy twice a week. I still don’t know how much credit to give the therapy, and how much he was just a late bloomer who hit the milestones when HE was ready, but just over a year later, you wouldn’t believe that we were ever concerned. (He’s about to be retested, and I’m sure they’re going to tell us he no longer qualifies for services.)
    So go ahead and work it out with your insurance company, check out your local early intervention program, but don’t panic. Feel free to email if you want to talk about it.

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  8. Are you aware of Thomas Sowell’s work on late-talking children? I know politically he probably couldn’t be farther from you, but I believe he had a son who was a delayed speaker, and that prompted him to do research with other families experiencing the same thing. Don’t know how scholarly his research was, but I believe his conclusions were a comforting, “Don’t worry!”

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  10. Dumbo is a deeply disturbing movie on many levels. I don’t remember watching it as a child, but watching it as an adult has certainly scarred me.
    I didn’t talk until very late, but have since made up for lost time with a vengeance. My mom thought that since I was so verbally challenged, I’d have to go work for the government or something. Not sure what she meant by that (file clerk in some bureacratic govt department?), but thanks, mom.

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  11. My kids don’t like it when everybody starts teasing Dumbo and his mother is taken away in chains. I don’t blame them. Dumbo spends most of the movie either crying or having hallucinations. Bad trip, man.
    Ian only has about twenty words, right now. He hasn’t acquired any new words in quite some time, though he has really taken to signing. We’re watching the Signing Times videos and the kids love them. Both my kids know about fifty signs now.
    Ian will be okay. Some day that talking switch will get clicked in his brain. But on occasion, I do get rattled by his slow progress. His therapist drives me crazy having me buy him vibrating toothbrushes and special straws and pushing me to dose him with fish oil. My mom frets that he’ll never speak French and complains that he doesn’t say “thank you.” Thanks mom.
    I’m ready to start working more, but I’m afraid to put him in a daycare that doesn’t use sign language.
    I haven’t checked out that Sowell book yet, but someone else suggested it as well, so I’m off to Amazon it.

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  12. Okay. Sowell. Yes, I’m sure it’s very comforting to read, but his analysis of why school districts classify kids could not be more skewed: somehow or other he thinks this works out to more money for the school districts, when in reality the federal gov’t. has never coughed up its share of money to pay for federally mandated services under the Individuals with Disabiities Education Act.
    I’ll say what I’d say to any parent whose kid is experiencing a language delay: Get. Services. Here’s what happens if the problem would have corrected itself. It stays corrected, possibly more quickly. Here’s what happens if you don’t get services: you’ve wasted time for your child, and when it comes to neuroplasticity and intervention, earlier is better.

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