Here it is. The obligatory "I'm talking a blog break" post. I scaled back a few months ago, but I think I need an official break.
When I started blogging three years and 731 posts ago (whoa), I was pregnant with Milo and Nolan was a one-year old who napped. We were living in an apartment in a new town, waiting for our house to be built and I had all the time in the world. Blogging has always been an outlet, something fun just for me, and I really do love it. I discovered this awesome community and "met" (and actually met) the best people, who I consider real friends. But I spend all my free time in the evenings and on weekends writing, emailing, reading, and commenting. Again, I love it, but I don't have enough time lately. Rather than constantly apologize and complain about my full reader and inbox, and staying up late to catch up, I have to force myself to just stop for a while.
This is Nolan's last week of preschool and I need to pay more attention to my two crazy boys who need fresh air, nature, and room to run. And when we're inside this summer, I want to hang out on the floor with them and get involved in big messy art, cooking, and science projects. I need to stop worrying about all the emails and blogs I haven't caught up on and all those ideas I have yet to turn into posts. These years are fleeting. Before I know it Milo will be in first grade and I'll be back to work. I also have a list of house projects that gets longer and longer without crossing anything off. I want to spend more of my evenings with Jacob. And I need to get my ass in gear and lose weight already, which means more time at the gym.
This is Nolan's last week of preschool and I need to pay more attention to my two crazy boys who need fresh air, nature, and room to run. And when we're inside this summer, I want to hang out on the floor with them and get involved in big messy art, cooking, and science projects. I need to stop worrying about all the emails and blogs I haven't caught up on and all those ideas I have yet to turn into posts. These years are fleeting. Before I know it Milo will be in first grade and I'll be back to work. I also have a list of house projects that gets longer and longer without crossing anything off. I want to spend more of my evenings with Jacob. And I need to get my ass in gear and lose weight already, which means more time at the gym.
Plus, there are some things going on with Nolan that I haven't really talked about. He's seen a few doctors and specialists the past two months trying to figure out where his attention and focus issues stem from. His teacher suggested ADD. The behavior specialist said no, he's just high energy (he totally is! just like his dad) and possibly has an auditory processing disorder. The language specialist said he's intellectually gifted and shows some signs of Asperger's. The ASD specialist said it's not Asperger's, but he possibly has anxiety (both kinds: excitability and nervousness). We have an evaluation with the school district next week, but I have a feeling he's not bad enough to qualify for any services and he's too young for the highly capable program. And it could also be that he's a typical kid with some quirks.
For a while I was beating myself up about it. Like, crying every night for a month straight. I read tons of books and did every exercise suggested by all the specialists (none of them recommended any kind of therapy). The most important thing is that Nolan is a very smart, sweet kid, who loves to learn and hates to get in trouble. He doesn't actually get in trouble (except for saying bathroom words with the other boys in his class), he just needs to be reminded to stay on certain tasks. I've spent some time at his preschool recently and found that ALL of the boys have focus and attention "problems" and Nolan isn't the worst one. But I'm going to be experimenting with his diet and paying him a lot of extra attention this summer so he'll be prepared for pre-K next year. I just want him to have all the support he needs to be successful.
Luckily Milo is the easiest kid ever. He sleeps well, eats well, has the best conversations, and is physical, funny, and so smart. He's right on the tail of where Nolan was at his age, which kind of scares me. We can't have two smartypants in the house! All I can say is thank God for Google because I don't know the answers to most of the questions these kids throw at me. We had a little scare at the dentist last week when we were told that a white spot on his tongue (I thought it was a burn from a hot french fry) would have to be biopsied. Jacob and I did our own research and figured/hoped it was a callus from thumb sucking. He only sucks his thumb at night so we weren't really worried about it yet, but the kid has some suction! So we've been weaning him from his own thumb, which was kind of heartbreaking the first few nights, but he's doing so well now. The dentist wants to take another look at the spot later this week, but it's completely gone. Yay Milo!
So yeah, I have a lot on my mind and I need to redirect my focus for a bit. I can't say if this will be a month long break, or through the summer, or if I'll start posting every once in a while fairly soon. I just know that my heart isn't in it right now. (I will post a bunch of book reviews soon thanks to NetGalley though). I'll definitely check your blogs and I'll still be present (probably more so) on Twitter and Instagram. Feel free to send me a Facebook friend request, check out my concert videos on YouTube (there will be tons, I have ten upcoming concerts to attend), and see what I'm reading on Goodreads. I'll also keep up my family blog. If you are interested in following there to see what we're up to, let me know and I'll send you an invitation. Since it's a private blog it won't show up in your reader of choice, so you'll just have to stop by every once in a while.
I'll be seeing ya. I hope not sporadically!
