It Will Take 3 Months

We finally got in to see a counselor. She didn't really have much to say to me other than 'sounds like you know what you're doing.' - When really, nothing could be further from the truth. But I thought I kind of knew so I rolled with it.

We were edging up on two months at that point and I was getting anxious. C's behavior was mildly improving but it was not at all predictable. While she could keep an indoor voice at home, as soon as someone came over or we went over somewhere, she had to be the loudest. Which, I mean, it's a skill that has worked for her in the past, but it is the most irritating thing in the world to me. And even more irritating that it's something that can't be practiced without the involvement and pain of someone else. I was getting really nervous about the whole situation.

Bedtime was especially hard, with too many trips to the bathroom and too many drinks of water and too many calls of, "Jessica!" My name is used out during the day, but the time 8 o'clock comes around I am so done it is not even funny.

The counselor assured me that due to her 'mild situation' that it would take her about 3 months to fully adjust. This was heaven to me, knowing that I still had another week and a month to get this girl up to where I needed her. But as that week came and went and another week started things seemed to get progressively worse. Her tantrums and outbursts were rubbing off onto Talmage and Alaska and Talmage was beginning to scowl at anything that did not immediately please him. C would not follow directions and I was always doing a tug-of-war with her. Timeouts were useless, earning warm fuzzies was useless, taking away privileges was not even worth the effort it took to come up with them and deal with the crying and whining that ensued.

Our certifier suggested I check out a book from the library on positive discipline and my first thought was, "Discipline doesn't even work for this one! I need something more effective." It took me another week to actually get around to doing it.

It was two weeks after seeing the counselor when things weren't really progressing and it felt like we were sliding backwards. I was all up in a panic and needed answers and this is when I made a special trip to the library to grab the book the certifier has suggested.

I also messaged the caseworker at this point, explaining my concerns and asking for help. She returned me to the certifier and I figured I had better just go get the book.