Heh

Well, it's been a long couple of months. I want to talk about something that I think I need to... talk about. I have depression. I take medication for it and the medication helps a lot. It doesn't completely take away all of my depression... if things get too stressfull for me, I end up becoming very disorganized and have a hard time focusing. Recently, in the past few months, a lot has happened.

My daughter started school in January. In January also, I was recovering (with the help of my parents) from a very bad financial situation. My husband and I have finally got things working on that end (again with help from my parents).

I'm glad my daughter started school, but at first, it made me feel like I hadn't been a very good mother! Why? Well, at school, she started to make real progress! My daughter, who at this point has been diagnosed with "moderate autism" by the school shrink, didn't speak except to say a few words. She was impossible to work with. All of my efforts towards her resulted in temper tantrums. But I could tell the teachers were working wonders with her! It made me feel inadequate. Now I realize that it's foolish that I felt that way! Rei's teachers are trained to work with autistic children. I wasn't even trained to raise a "normal" child. It's a learning process. I have adapted many of the things they do at school to home. It has really worked! Now I can have Rei sit at the table and eat dinner with us. She can take her own empty plate to the sink. She can ask for what she wants by name. She goes to bed and stays in bed at bedtime (previously, I had to sit in her room until she fell asleep!). She is finally being potty trained. So much good has come from Rei going to school. I am very proud of her.

Eh... I wanted to write more today, but I guess I'll write more later. It is good to write about the things that are on my mind. I really want to do it more often.