Thursday, October 14, 2010

Sol was very difficult today getting out of bed. When he finally did get out of bed, he was very reluctant to take his morning medications. At one point I told him that his "attitude has to change, and it has to change starting right now!"
He replied with, "You have anger issues!"
From there we were able to communicate more calmly. I was able to explain to him why I was angry and what he does that makes me happy. He was open to communicating with me about what he was angry about as well. His bus came sooner, rather than later, and he wasn't totally ready for school, but was able to get on the bus and eat most of his cereal for breakfast.
When thinking back on his statement about my "anger issues," its hard not to laugh a little bit. It's hard not to take seriously such a statement from someone who acts out in anger on a daily basis and expects everything to be good and fine at the drop of a hat. But that doesn't mean there isn't any truth to it. I'm glad that him and I are able to point out to each other honestly and truthfully what we see/feel is fair or not fair when communicating. I'm so thankful that even when we do criticize each other, we both have the ability to keep trying and working to communicate better.

I went to school and worked on some American Radicalism homework. In the library, I did the HRTB Chapter 3/4Quiz and submitted my Team Mid-Term Review.

After American Radicalism, I ate lunch and had an appointment with my therapist. (I've been in therapy for over two years to help me through my separation, divorce, custody battle and unemployment. It started off as a weekly thing, but for the past eight or nine months, I've been seeing my therapist less frequently- about every six-eight weeks). My session was very helpful (as usual) and I set up a follow up appointment for December 9th. It will probably be my final session.

I spent the next couple of hours commuting home and picking up odds and ends needed around the house (Walgreens, Target, two different hardware stores.)

When I got home, Sol had shown signs of having a good day with his PCA. They (for the first time since Jessica and I have tried implementing this) actually wrote down his scheduled activities for the day and completed them (It's something that the directory from the company that provides Sol's PCAs suggested we start doing with Sol on a daily basis to encourage and practice doing activities that are both fun and healthy on a consistent/daily basis.)

Sol and I spent a part of the evening drafting our fantasy basketball teams together. He has a team and I have a team. I haven't followed NBA basketball very closely for over five years, so it'll be interesting to see how either of us do. It is Sol's first Fantasy League. He's been expressing interest in Fantasy Football, but it's too late to sign up for any leagues. I thought it would be cool for us to join a basketball league together because he likes basketball a lot (His uncles play a lot of basketball still). My goal while playing with Sol is to teach him the "in's and out's" of fantasy sports, but also to focus on playing for fun. Each week he'll either win a game or lose a game, and it will be a good opportunity for him to learn how to win and lose with class..... It's an extension of the "good sportsmanship" I tried focusing on when he played team baseball over the past summer.