bec - I can't remember if I said before, but my oldest had (has, actually) a motor tic disorder. It started when he was 8, at first just a few little things, and then he developed a lot of facial tics. Unfortunately, the first tic he had was shoulder shrugging, and usually when he was stressed - so at first it seemed like a behavior. You'd be asking him something and he'd keep shrugging, so unfortunately we first tried to get him to stop it thinking he was doing it deliberately. Within a couple weeks it became obvious it was part of a whole bunch of tics. There was some speculation that his tics were strep associated, too, but we never really figured that out. They were bad for a few months, and then faded some, but he still has a few today - mostly eyebrow raising. I think folks who don't know him don't recognize them at all, but I do since he's mine! One thing I can suggest, if you haven't already, speak to her teacher(s) and make sure that they just ignore any tics and aren't trying to get her to stop. Also, make sure that she isn't getting teased by anyone else. Most of the time motor tics are transient and do go away or at least lessen in severity over time. Stress makes them worse, often, and so does the feeling that someone is watching, so do what you can to be low key about it.
ashcav - are you right in Boston? I'm coming to Boston next month for the annual family practice meeting. I'm bummed because my dh can't come, but looking forward to seeing Boston again (the last time I was there was 1992 on my honeymoon!)
So I called the school today about the awful bus driver - and no one called me back. I guess I'll be calling again tomorrow.
Today is dh's annual golf outing and boys night out with his best friend. I was proud of myself for being productive this evening even as a single parent. I saw all 14 of my nursing home patients this morning, then did a little shopping (pants shopping, which was way depressing actually.) I got home in time to drive ds to baseball practice, and then I blanched a whole bunch of tomatoes. I had to pick ds up at 5. Unfortunately, he was down in the dumps and cried most of the way home over a kid he's having trouble with. This kid is quite a bully, and is frequently criticizing ds and today took his water bottle. His dad is on the school board
. I'm not sure what to do about it - the issue has been escalating all month. Ds does not really want me to say anything to the coach, as he doesn't want to be the kid whose mom protects him. Baseball is over in a little over a week, so I think he's just going to tough it out. He only has 1 class with this kid and otherwise has no contact with him.
So, since ds was feeling sad, we cheered him up by working in the kitchen together all evening. He loves to cook and especially to cook with me. We made barbecue chicken breasts in the oven, roasted broccoli, 2 apples worth of homemade applesauce, and he made baking soda bisquits from scratch to go with supper. I finished packing tomatoes in jars and processed them and kept him company. By the end of the evening, he was considerably cheered up - and I was about ready to lose it from having him and little dd in my personal space and talking non-stop for 2 hours. I can cope with that, though, in the interest of emotional well-being for my kids!
I ran tonight, too - needed to burn a little energy. I did a program on my treadmill that I'd never tried before with both hills and speed intervals combined. I started on intensity level 9 - and had to bail after 7 min when the darn program had me running at 7.0 mph up a 5.5% grade! I finished it on level 8, which was still hard. 4 miles total - and that's 18 for the week so far!
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! I've never done anything yoga-like.
and 
: Anybody want a jar of peach sauce? I've got 8 of 'em...
it. I actually don't feel like a complete dork running errands after my workout in it, since it's cute and it covers my bike shorts. 
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