Seriously, he was misunderstood....we think. The situation is really not clear at all.

    So, Nixon has always had issues playing with (and not just around) other kids. He'll start running away and just expect them to chase him because....well it's what he thinks should happen. He doesn't feel the need to seek out his peers approval, which is probably why he is unfazed when his classmates react negatively to his behaviors when he's acting "inappropriate" in the classroom. He doesn't understand that he should be bothered so he isn't bothered.

   This all brings me to today:
Mac and I were out running errands while Nixon was in school. Around 12:20 Mac's phone rang and it was the Vice Principal to "share with you Nixon's behaviors today", which is code for "Your kid's been an asshole and we need to tell you about it" in Mac and I's eyes because that's the feeling we end up with at the end of these phone calls from school.

    Apparently, Nixon was playing in the classroom with scissors. He was telling a classmate he was going to be the barber and cut hair. He had scissors in his hand as he said this, but from what we've been told, did not actually cut anything.
    To Mac and I, this was Nixon's pretend play.
    To the school, Nixon was a threat to other children and was removed from the classroom. For the day. Only to see his classmates at lunch.
    We asked if he was going to rejoin his class at some point during the day, and we were told "Not likely. We need Nixon to understand that this is not appropriate behavior and being away from his class for the day is, hopefully, going to make that point very clear." I get that. I know the other kids didn't realize Nixon was playing pretend, and we don't even know that he was, but the impression we were given was he was smiling and laughing when saying he was the barber.

    When we picked him up from school, I approached the teacher's aide and asked her about the situation. Unfortunately, this happened before she was back in the school from directing traffic. Which means this happened before the school day even officially started!

    I've sent his teacher an email about the incident, hoping to get a little more info about the entire situation. It just seems to us that, if he didn't actually hurt anyone, then keeping him outside of the class for the entire day is excessive. Nixon came home very sad and subdued.

I wanted to cheer him up after school Silly faces in the back seat seemed the ticket!

   In other news, I think we were getting a phone call today regardless of Nixon's behavior. There's some concern, among the administrators, about Nixon's reaction to Friday's Halloween events. So much so, we were asked for ways to "ease Nixon's anxiety or stress" so everyone can enjoy the day. Translation?: We're expecting him to ruin it by getting to overstimulated and you must have an answer to this, right?
    We didn't. The only suggestion I'd come up with was giving Nixon permission to call us if he felt overwhelmed. Friday's going to be a low-structure day. Lots of activities very little academics and a parade.
    The Vice Principal called tonight and asked if one of us (Mac or myself) would be available *side note I can never spell that word correctly!, like never!!* to come to the school and walk with Nixon during the parade. It eventually turned into "How long would Mrs. Ball be able to stay?", which eventually became: I'll be with Nixon for the entire (short day, they have 2-hour early dismissal) school day. I'll sign in and be with him for the day. The administration seems to think this will be a big help. I'm not so certain. This is going to go one of two ways: really, really good or really, really, really bad.  

It's not all rainbows and butterflies, sometimes its shit piles and flies

Just when things at home start looking up, things for friends of ours take a giant nosedive south. It's nearly impossible not to sit down and cry just thinking about (a) how incredibly lucky I am these days, in my marriage and my family's health and (b) how cruel and unfair life is to the most wonderful people. It's hard not to be angry and pissed off at a deity I don't name because I've lost what little faith I may have had left all over again.

For a little background, you can check out this page (just enter your email address and create a password). It's a journal created to follow the journey of my friend's son as he fights SJS, Steven Johnson's Syndrome. He's Nixon's age, born the same month as Nixon. But Kai is a little extra special, he's got an extra chromosome, more commonly known as Down Syndrome. He's had open heart surgery as an infant and his mom has become a champion for the Down Syndrome community. He is her cause!
We're connected through a private forum on babycenter.com, with over 20 other women who all have November 08 babies.
It's been hard to read the updates and see the pictures that Kai's mom is posting of Kai fighting this illness from his hospital room. It's hard to not be able to find the words to support a good friend.

Weren't things supposed to be better when we were back in the states??

As if that wasn't bad enough, one of Mac's closest friends, one of the first friends of his I met as his "girlfriend", was facing a family crisis of her own. Her mother had a horse riding accident and was in a coma. She and her mother are incredibly close, so it was another painful, no right words to say, moment.
After a few weeks there was another CT scan and it was determined, the brain damage was too severe she wouldn't recover from it. The family had to honor her wishes and take her off the machines. As much as I've discussed my choices with Mac on this subject, I've never had to be in the position to make the choice. My heart broke in a million pieces for her, when I read that update on the facebook support page created for her mom.
Her mom passed away a few days later. Her mom had an amazing spirit that she passed onto her daughter, son and grandsons. She has a large circle of friends that will miss her dearly.

All this happened in a one week time span. Kai's hospital admission, his downgraded case from SJS to TENS (please read the journal in the link posted,, it's the best place for info) and our friend's mother's passing. Added in there is another friend's son having iffy blood tests.There's just not enough good news to go around these days.