Gimmie Gimmie Shock Treatment

Woke Tuesday near 530a, but because I have the bedroom clock set 4 hours and 12 minutes fast, the real time didn’t immediately register. For some reason I thought that I was about ten minutes late. Slightly discouraged, I raced off to the bathroom to brush my teeth, grab my running clothes, and quickly heading downstairs.

I was surprised to see that it was only 532a when I got to the kitchen. What happened? It quickly donned on me that I forgot to calculate in the extra 12 minutes. I glanced out back to a partly cloudy sky then quickly got into my exercise shoes and whipped out sit-ups then curls.

I enjoyed coffee at the PC until 6am. I was happy to see that two of the three tax returns I e-filed the night before were already accepted by the government entities. That was fast. I headed in for meditation around 603am and went for about ten minutes. Did stretching ahead of delivering Mindy’s coffee. She hasn’t been getting out of any sooner than 620a these days anyhow.

Mindy seemed in better spirits when I finally delivered her coffee around 620am. I felt good and was eager to get on with my run. With a temperature at or near freezing, I dressed in full winter attire even though the day’s high was forecasted to reach into the mid 50s. There was a completely clear sky immediately out the door. It was already daybreak too. This will be the last week I can say that. Next week we spring forward. It’ll be another 5-6 weeks before the sun catches up.

I ran the full 4.1 miles strong. Felt really good. I headed inside to get Mindy’s keys then started the Pilot. Afterwards I headed back inside to get the pug, who was already standing at the top of the stairs. I’ve learned that if I simply sit on the lower steps with my back to her she’ll come down on her own without coaxing. We’ll see how long that works.

We walked up the street to the west with her taking care of business quickly. Mindy asked if I still planned to meet her for Bella’s appointment in Worthington at 330p. I did. She was still a bit cold in her interactions, obviously still disappointed with the way her b-day turned out.  Bella picked up on it too and promptly asked. Mindy opened up that it wasn't her in any way. Rather, it was me who made completing our taxes a priority over spending quality time together on her b-day. I let her vent without defending myself.

Mindy left for work reminding Bella that she’d be there to pick her up right after school for the appointment, and then she reminded Jacob that grandpa would be there to get him after catapult practice. Right after Mindy left Bella gave me a rash of crap about doing taxes on her momma’s birthday. Please!  I finished my eggs then headed up for a shower.

I was quick with my shower and back downstairs by 757am where I spent the next five minutes throwing together my lunch. Jacob headed out through the garage so he could carry out the catapult. I put the garage door down on my way out. I started the Accord on my way to the bus stop. It was still quite chilly, though the sunshine felt great.

Kenny was out with the girls and even chatted some with Jacob about his catapult. I was happy for that. I don’t want Jacob to feel ostracized over the touching issue. The bus was a few minutes late. This being the third time Jacob’s had to carry the catapult on board, he’s finally got it down to a science. Didn’t take nearly as long for him to get it on the bus and back to his seat. It’s quite the albatross.

 I wasn’t too long back at the house before heading off to work. It was close to 825a when I left for the office. I stopped at Thonton’s for a fill-up along the way. The Accord took something close to 15.2 gallons, as low as I’ve let it get yet. In fact, the fuel warning light came on for the first time just as I pulled up at the pump. I got little more than 20 mpg last tank. Not sure why it’s gone down the last few tanks when I was actually expecting it to go up. The advertised MPG is 20mpg city – 30mpg highway. It took a little more than 15 minutes to get to work,  driveway to parking spot. Not bad especially considering the fuel stop. I made all the lights without a stop.

I was covering for my boss all day while he took a well-deserved vacation day. Admittedly, I was more than a little concerned for what might come across my plate, but nothing really did. I am not delusional, though. I know his job can be really crazy. I was just fortunate. I had plenty of my own stuff to keep me busy, however. That’s never an issue.

In the back of my mind was Bella’s 330p appointment in Worthington. I worried that an escalation would come in during my time away. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Mindy and I talked midday. I think she called when she was leaving school to pick-up Bella. I advised her then that I would be meeting her there in Worthington.

I had a conference call I needed to join at 230p that lasted until right at 3pm. As soon as it was over I packed up my things and made a beeline for Worthington. I was smart enough to Google map the address from home before leaving for work that morning. It’s right off route 23 about 2 miles north of 270 on the east side of the road. I made excellent time arriving as much as ten minutes early.

I was certain that I beat Mindy and Bella, but noticed Jimaken already there just sitting in his car. Just as I was getting out of my car I noticed Mindy’s Pilot already there too. Mindy and Bella were presumably already inside. Wow, they made excellent time. Meanwhile, the weather was incredibly nice. It was 60 degrees and sunny. Felt like mid spring.

I headed inside, waving to Jimaken along the way. Mindy and Bella were waiting in the lobby. I greeted both cordially. Jimaken soon joined us too. Erin came out and asked to see Bella real quick. Needed to complete one more quick exercise.  Erin soon returned with another one of those questionnaires for Jimaken to complete. Apparently, he didn’t complete all three like Mindy and I.

At the outset, I wasn’t really sure what the goal of this meeting was. Erin came to fetch all of us just at about 340pm. We headed back to her office to talk. My first impression was that she’s a bit hyper but happy. She’s a tall, slender woman with an almost constant smile, and very, very chatty. She likes to agree and say yes, and sometimes even before realizing what she’s agreeing to. However, when she really didn’t agree, she would always circle back and explain, or seek input as to why we felt the way we did.

Turns out, the goal of the meeting was to share the roll-up of all the assessments and then a plan to perhaps help Bella be more successful in school. The first thing we reviewed was an overall score sheet broken down into about 12 categories, including verbal and non verbal IQ scores. There was a section for reading, math, processing too. The graph plotted dots under each category showing how Bella compares with other girls her same age/grade.

Her verbal IQ score was first, which was pretty darn high - 120 to be exact. That puts her in the 93^rd percentile. Her nonverbal IQ was somewhat lower and in the upper tier of the median range with others her age/grade. Interesting.

With her noted struggles in math and reading, I think all of us expected her math and reading scores to be somewhat below normal, but they weren’t. Instead, she was typically right on par with others her age/grade. However, the one glaring area that testing pointed out issues was processing speed. She is slower to process numbers, questions, data etc. It’s not that she doesn’t understand. Rather, just takes her longer to grasp.

The cumulative scores from all the forms that we (teacher and parents) completed tracked similarly. There was one glaring area needing addressed, and that was  centered around focus/attention. Give Bella a list of five things to complete, you’re lucky to get the first one or maybe two finisdhed.

The long and short was that Bella meets the criteria for ADD. Erin feels strongly that the only reason that Bella does as well as she has in school is because of her higher than normal IQ. Said that if the ADD isn’t addressed, she’ll likely fall further and further behind as the school years roll on once the visual stuff becomes less prevalent in the instruction. Made sense. Bella is a very visual person.

I found the testing and all the data fascinating. For the first time, I felt we had a complete picture of our Bella and what makes her tick. I’ve always felt that she was a very, very bright kid, dating as far back as before kindergarten when she would solve verbal math problems, not to mention often using big words in their proper context even if she mispronounced them. But her shine is more in the non-traditional areas. For example, she’s very creative and definitely into the earth sciences. Both are things I absolutely love about her.

Erin feels strongly that by addressing the ADD tendencies, we can very likely improve her math and reading scores/results. Believes her issues all center around focus, which is a classic problem with ADD kids. They treat ADD with stimulants. And according to Erin, you should see results almost immediately.

We didn’t finish the appointment until almost 515pm, the entire time, Bella waiting for us out in the lobby. She was sitting, rocking, staring out the window; the telltale sign of a young woman gone mad. J Not really! Said she was board just like you’d expect any nine year old to be. She opted to ride home with her mom. In the parking lot, Jimaken, Mindy & I discussed the pros and cons of this being a Jimaken night. I agreed with Jim that it made little sense for him to drive all the way to our house to get Jacob and then take the kids. I suggested we skip it this week. We all agreed and headed our separate ways, me just a couple car lengths behind Richard Petty, or, I mean Mindy, all the way home. Mindy celled me right out of the lot. I let her know that the left brake light was out. Need to have that addressed soon. Arrived home around 545pm, or about the same time I would've arrived home on a normal work day. Dad was there with Jacob, but napping in the big chair. Jacob was on the sofa watching TV.

Dad didn't hang around long at all. Was soon up and ready to go. I opted for Chipotle leftovers for dinner while Mindy & Jacob had Mindy's famous salmon patties (canned salmon). No thanks! Bella had an individual-sized frozen pizza.

Mindy called her brother Craig to discuss the outcome of Bella' appointment. While she did that, I spent time reading my new book, The Purpose-Guided Universe, Believing in Einstein, Darwin, & God, Bernard Haisch. I must've read for a good 30 minutes or so before ultimately falling asleep. I was out only briefly, however. I'm guessing no more than ten minutes. Felt great!  Now approaching 730pm, Mindy, Eiknarf and Bella joined me in the livingroom. By then I was playing on my PC. I didn't do that for too long before I was overcome by the urge to stretch out on the livingroom floor. Next thing I knew it was 805pm. I stumbled to my feet, grabbed a glass of water and declared that I was heading off to bed. Good night all!