It's been a almost two weeks since I've last blogged. There has been a lot going on. Camp started and I think it's going well. I am glad I let her go and I feel very fortunate to find a camp with the camp counselor that can relate to her because of his issues he had as a kid. This past week was a lot better than the first week of camp. We still had some issues with her attention seeking but no major faux pas. Maybe it's going too well and she is going to have a hard time when it ends. She has a couple of friends there currently. That is a good thing. But, it will inevitably end. I'm sure that's what she is thinking too and is why she ruins it by doing something wrong. But I know it will inevitably end because she always ruins it. You try to coach her on certain social predicaments without getting too involved but at the same time, it doesn't matter. It's not like she doesn't want to ruin it, so it will happen when she wants it to. The positive perspecitive on it is that her approach to having a social life is improving. She does actually have friends right now. Not a best friend, but people that like her and enjoy her company. That's something. So we will see.. but it is a better situation than if we were just home together I think. We need that break from each other. Now that she has a bond with me, she has to see that it is still there even when we are not together. That is also the value of her going to school. We tell her it's her job. Her job is to be a kid and a kid goes to school. It's hard for her because when we do go through periods of spending a lot of time together, long weekends etc., she really really misses me when she is at school/camp. But it's a good lesson of my committment.
Another thing that is going on is tutoring. She is being tutored twice a week by Laurie who is our favorite person in the world. We love Laurie. If she wants the job, she can be the Aunt that I can't be. We already have decided, despite whatever her preferences are, that she is going to be in our lives for a long time, because she is already family. So, yes Laurie, if you are reading this, I hope you realize what your genorosity has bought you. :) Anyway, Penelope has been struggling.. not really struggling, had decided that she wasn't going to do her summer "homework." So Laurie has been having her do some cleaning during the time she would be going over her completed homework with her. She had to clean Laurie's car out one day, and then a week later, she had to clean toilets and one was supposedly nasty because it was in the basement and hardly ever used so it was dusty and old. Anyway, Penelope wasn't a happy camper. I didn't hear about any big tantrum though, which I think because Laurie, who Penelope respectfully calls her by her title and surname, commands respect with her authority as a teacher. Penelope knows not to cross her. I knew she hadn't completed her homework when I took her to Laurie's because of her mood and attitude the 2 hours before. She knew she was going to have to clean.. something. In the past, she didn't care. Now she does. It's wonderful. She was giving the homework of catchng up her reading before the next tutor session which was 48 hours away. She had to read about 60 pages to catch up. This is when reading 5 pages is a problem for her. She read 65 pages instead of just the 60 pages. I didn't have to push her either. I just dropped hints about what a perfect time it was to read since she had an hour here or there. I think she actually got into the story in the book from having to do her reading. So I'm excited for her that she had that positive experience from being strong. I'm not saying it's going to last, but she has seen that she can do it when she decides to.
She has also been working in the evening after her tutor sessions at Laurie's to earn money to pay for the damage she did to my car. Laurie offered her money to do yardwork to prepare her yard for a party she is having this weekend. It's funny that Laurie and I thought Penelope was going to be able to get it done in a couple of days. It took 5 days I think? Over a two week period. She was slow as malasses. But it is done. I did end up helping her so she got it done. I didn't want her to disappoint Laurie and to have Laurie have to do any of it when she had so much on her plate as it was. But she did it and she will get paid and it will go towards the several hundred dollars of damage she caused.
So, from that standpoint, things are going good. Intermixed in those wonderful things, we still have issues with tantrums, making sure she doesn't try to destroy her pills instead of take them, her major meltdown over the fact she isn't going to go on the camping trip with the other kids at camp, her constantly talking about her dad.. when those feelings only continue to make her feel sad, her constant picking at her skin until she bleeds and is covered in bandades, and just her still regressed mannerisms - talk, play, posture etc. But we are making progress.
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