Well well well... I've heard some rumors that i haven't been writing much and... this is true.
I think I laid out my conundrum previously. But since it's been so long, here's a recap: Allan's now a preteen. Previously she didn't much give a bunny's fluffy tail whether I talked about her or not, but she's gotten more aware of privacy recently and I want to respect that. Anything printed about her has to go through approval, of course. That adds extra layers that slow the process down. And even then, it's still a lot of information about the diva written by somebody other than the diva and I've been wrestling with how much of her story is really mine to tell.
And the kicker of it all is that Allan is my life! We spend almost every hour of the day together for various reasons, so it's really rather difficult to say anything humorous and delightful about my experience without dragging the diva along with me through narrative ebbs and flows.
But lemme see if I can skate gently through these matters and catch y'all a little bit up?
Buckle in!
SO... child...
Currently, I can tell you that Easter was "the best Easter" and this was probably going to be the peak of her entire life, because Easter is the best holiday. And honestly, I might as well just stop trying because I won't be living up to it. Ever.
Except after a few months "MY BIRTHDAY" then emerged on the horizon and completely absolutely overshadowed Easter. MY BIRTHDAY was gonna be lit, guys! It was going to have bunnies (we're back on the original bunny SpIn after two years of ALL CATS ALL THE TIME). At least as decorations, but possibly real bunnies. It would have gifts. It would have besties. It would... quite possibly be a disaster because the hype was huge. But there we are.
There were sleepless nights, let me tell you. Mostly in excitement. Sometimes in anxiety. Guessing games about exactly how "my best friend" was going to like Inside Out 2, the movie that would be the birthday adventure. And plenty and plenty of buzz. Taylor Swift's tours aint' got nothin' on an Allan birthday event!
I'm glad to report that:
1. The birthday was not a disaster, despite an entire week of mounting panic that something might go wrong. It was executed with extreme competence by yours truly and blessed with the fortune of generally good moods in the key players of BIRTHDAYness. She took her bestie to Inside Out 2. They came back here. I had hidden all of her presents around the house. Sheer chaos ensued as they scoured the area for gifts, tore the wrapping like bacchantes, and occasionally stopped to admire the gifts inside. They ate frosting and sprinkles (because honestly, who actually likes the cake part anyways) and played Mad Libs. They got into all Andrew's sports gear downstairs and emerged with his climbing rope about five or six hours in. This was the beginning of the end and there were tears and admonishments and hiding in the tent, but ... for a kid's birthday part, I'd call it mild.
2. Allan seems to have rebounded from her post birthday malaise and total lack of purpose. I believe we're now looking forward to October because October has the best candy. And costumes. And and and. Something something best friend... get ready to get excited again!!
Anyways, needless to say my bithday was a bathetic little aftershock, but... it had its perks
For my birthday, Allan declared that we would go to Dairy Queen first for "lunch" (blizzards and misties) and come back home for cupcakes. Also, the inimitable Aunt Rachel (like mommy if mommy were cool instead of dumb), who was so fun that Allan pretty much refused to sleep for four days and - while it is not something impending enough to look forward to in any official capacity - whose promise to return with the cousins next year was received with rousing excitement.
Now, we just have to make it to September. There was a day camp at Allan's old OT's place, but it was mysteriously cancelled so the nothingness stretches out before us! I might even have to drag her out of the house, which is not an easy feat, seeing as she has self identified as "an indoor child". Which is appropriate because this time of year - what with allergies and the occasional smoke bomb - I'm typically more "cloistered" than woodsy! But sometimes we make it anyways!
But then it'll be September and the air will be crisper and, and, and...
We'll be homeschooling again. So that's a bit of a change! Long story. Also short story. You can't really learn at school if you won't/can't go.
Medium story involves being the kind of learner who learns best while jumping up and down and making cat-bunny hissing noises, AND who needs ongoing flexibility to follow the focus and capacity of the day, with a ton of available coregulation on tap. The public school version of dealing with this seems to be putting up with the child sitting under her desk instead of doing group work, and/or sending her to a calm room type place called the Restore to Success room, which apparently is basically the fourteenth circle of hell due exclusively to it being marginally related to "being in trouble" (from what I can tell it basically involves sitting in a comfy chair coloring and reading however you choose, and which seemed plenty enjoyable by the end of day accounts of all the books read and whatnot). But it became kind of a focus of dread just as the "red chair" (our attempt at time ins back in the day) once was.
Also, apparently, if Allan is to ever go back to public school she will need "perfect sleep" and I can't say this seems accomplishable (I would take... sleep?), so... just polish me an apple and wish me luck!
Honestly it's easier than I expected, mostly because we were already pretty much there anyways. Though honestly, there is no longer any personal space going on in this house or my life. We are basically reabsorbing each other and becoming a single entity again! If the fact that this entry about me is actually just about, well, Allanella? Any time you wanna hear about my latest allergic reaction to air, just lemme know. I like to think I keep it a little distinct, anyways!
I am... hopefully not gonna burn out. Because typically I need and seek out a fair amount of down time. And down time means alone time and... there's not a lot of that. But at least we're finding rhythms. And I find rhythms soothing.
It's really early. I'm curious how this will evolve.
SO far we've got a few tools in hand:
Miacademy... Is interesting. It claims to be a complete fully accredited homeschool curriculum, which I suppose is possible, but definitely not for us. Allan has clicked with some things and not with others. Math, english language, and the like have not necessarily been consistent. Which, I know, you're thinking, "so, the core of homeschool?" True. But she loves plenty of things as well.
Namely:
1: Justin. Basically. He's a teacher who does a ton of the learning videos and has a bit of a cult following in the Miacademy families from what I've observed. For reasons. He's funny, cute, and charming. And he ends most of his sessions with a few dad-jokes. Ok fine, I love Justin. But Allan does too. I'm pumped that they just released a new third grade math unit with him in it. Maybe... maybe math will be less of a thing now?
2. Social studies and Science. These are, not coincidentally, led by Justin. They also come with a pdf packet with a decent number of coloring sheets, experiments, recipes, and games. Which makes it more fun. And, since Allan has great reading/listening/viewing comprehension, it's pretty easy for her to sail through those quizzes and tests.
3. The social community. Miacademy has replicated a very safe and contained version of a social network. There is a weekly Gazette that students can write articles for. There is a section for videos (you can share one a week and bonus points if it's educational). You add friends. There are teams. There are a few games where you can do review of your materials for points, dragon eggs, or other swag. And kids can message each other. Mostly it seems to involve Allan adding friends and then never talking to them other than to mass email them all begging them to buy something at her shop. So... Facebook, pretty much. But Allan's been writing stories for the Gazette. She willingly does review in the guise of "dragon races" and "egg school" (or something like that). Seems like a positive.
4. The design studios. Kids can operate their own shops with furniture, clothing, etc designed by them in their studios. They also can create their own castles and put the pets that they hatch from doing lessons and whatnot in them.
5. The pets! You hatch a ton of pets over time and can take care of them, tamagotchi style. Or let them waste away and check in on them every several weeks without feeling too guilty, because they mostly just look sad instead of dying when they're neglected.
So some days Allan is super excited about Mia and seems to get a lot from it. Other times, not so much. I think being flexible is surprisingly hard, because - ack - anomie! But, some days Allan really just needs to dig her hands into some slime or playdough and listen to several hours of podcasts or some Numberblocks.
Then there's Outschool. We have a long and happy history with Outschool. Allan was very into some of her classes during the pandemic shut down and the summer after kindie. She has, in fact, returned to two of them: Kity Kat Detective Club and Dogman Reading Comprehension Club.
It's hard to do it justice through brief descriptions. But largely, the first is a cat themed escape room type series of games the kids all play together in a largely "social club" environment. I don't even fully understand it. I just know that it is the best class ever and Allan looks forward to it every week.
And the second, well, they read Dogman together. Which is the best book series of all time ever. And the teacher has the voice you'd expect of a smooth listening radio DJ. I enjoy hearing him in the background.
She's also done a Mario themed multiplication game class and tried a "fun math" class that's very ND friendly and as diverting as the title implies. We've added a Social Group for Autistic Children, which is very sweet, and which Allan seems to love so far. The kinetic energy of 6 or 7 happy autistic kids socializing and stimming in their own unique ways is something worth harnessing. I think it could save the planet!
We also have Night Zookeeper, which is a writing program that Allan has spent hours on before. But once I bought the annual subscription, she declared that off program for the summer, so we've done nothing much with it recently. It is fun, though, and it basically motivated her to figure out how to type, so she could write essays. I'm calling that a win.
And then there's Scratch. Programming platform for kids. It is a source of summer obsession and I pretend that it's a weekend and special occasions thing, but seems educational to me.
And the odd field trip, but those get pricey fast!
I'd like to do more, but I'm trying to balance things like "money" (classes add up) and time. Allan tends to prefer a lot of freetime and only wants her structure to apply. So, while she's loving her current classes, I don't want to overload her.
Especially because with the school IEP kicking together finally, she also was rocking: private OT, school OT, school SLP, school counseling, private counseling, a session with the special education teacher, and - briefly - a fairly disastrous attempt at a social group at school. I'm not even 100% sure how to get all those things started again, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.
And we'll probably get enough information to know whether we should go with the OT who does house calls but is kind of in and out of contact or the OT who's available by telehealth but made me fill out about 3 hours of paperwork before i heard back from the OT who makes housecalls!!!
It's exciting here.
Allan has approved this article and would like to add: House OT while previewing this!
So there we are
Happy August all! I'm now the age of Life, The Universe, and Everything and still as clueless as ever. Ah well. Hoping you've all had a fantastic half a year and nice to emerge from the vortex a bit!
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