Quiet times in the Mags household

The OG has gone to visit her grandparents, for a week. She is slated to attend golf camp for an hour and a half every day, and then will assumedly be just hanging out with them at the pool for the rest of it.

I had thought I would be glad for the relative silence, but I am feeling so anxious about how she will do with them that I am actually completely on edge. Seriously, she can be great, but she can also be mind-bogglingly hyperactive and stressful.

I feel like we've come to a good place around here, but it takes daily vigilance, with both of us constantly checking and rechecking our actions. We work at this very hard, this family does. And I get nervous when I leave her with people who may not have the most recent knowledge that we've acquired about Tourette's...no matter how well they may know her.*

I guess I have no choice but to hope that she's finally gained the ability to generalize the skills she's learned here to other situations outside of this house and this family. As we are constantly reminding ourselves; progress, not perfection.

Jesus, it is so quiet over here, though. It's kind of spooky. I can literally hear crickets.
------------------------------------------
* I did mention that she's been diagnosed with Tourette's, didn't I?

Well, she has. First by a neurologist, and then confirmed by the wacky autism doctor. (He's not really wacky; however, I am still unsold on the clinic, though I am giving some of the supplements a try. I figure DHA, Vitamin B, and acidophilus isn't going to hurt anyone.)

Yeah, Tourette's. I thought it was strange at first, but now that I've learned more about it, I am convinced they are right. There is clearly, unquestionably Tourette's on both my side and on The Man's. It is very comorbid with anxiety disorder and ADHD, along with the cognitive inflexibility that the girl has in spades. Her tics, always present, have morphed and gotten worse as she gets older, and she is completely unable to stop herself from doing them.

There's medications that can help the tics, but they are serious business...Risperdal and Abilify and Seroquel, things like those. Bad side effects, like massive weight gain. And, emotional-wise, I am totally leery of even the small dose of Zoloft that she's on. Kids kill themselves on that shit sometimes, you know? And, of course, there are many ADHD medications, but a lot of those exacerbate tic and anxiety disorders, so you have to be careful there...we're on Straterra at the moment, which is not a stimulant.

So, I shit you not, right this second, OG is taking, per day:

1 Straterra (that might go to two small doses)
1 Zoloft (small dosage)
1 Diflucan (an antifungal for itching; this is temporary)
2 acidophilus (chewables, made of strawberry yogurt, basically)
4 DHA capsules (which are HUGE; I cannot believe that she can swallow them)
1 multivitamin
1 B-complex vitamin
(Yes, I know, this looks entirely insane. Consider, though, that the vast majority of these pills don't actually do anything. I've become one of those suckers that is so desperate they'll try anything; charlatans of the world, prepare for my pocketbook to be emptied into your coffers.)

Anyway, I encourage all of you to do a cursory read-up on Tourette's. It's underdiagnosed, and really misunderstood.
------------------------------------
Mags summer obsessions, part 1:

• The Amy Winehouse CD
• Get Some Zzzs Tea from The Republic of Tea
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel
• my fresh tomatoes, ending up so far in: several meals of poached eggs and tomatoes in olive oil and garlic, one fabulous italian baguette sandwich (along with my fresh basil-pecan pesto, salami, capiciolla, and dijon mustard,) and many, many salads and sandwiches
• iPhone lust (I jones for iPhones)
• Friar, Friar, Pants on Fire toenail polish from OPI
• Shi-Tzu abuse:

"No, Mama! Not the pink bow! I didn't mean to poop over there! Or over there!"