May 15, 2005~~6:34 p.m.
Shoe, Shoe, Shoe... it's all I have time to do.

We spent nearly three hours today helping Shoe with Friday's homework... I'm guessing that if I expressed my displeasure with the teacher about her lack of instructions, she'd tell me that she spent half an hour explaining the assignment to the kids and that they had another forty minutes to write in class. Shoe says it was just written on the board as homework and that she explained nothing. Would it be so hard to put something in writing? Honestly, I don't send anything home with oral instructions alone and expect I'm going to get what I wanted.

Two weeks. In two weeks it will be summer vacation for him and I'll have three months off from being the homework police. If I can make it that long without killing someone, I deserve to be nominated for sainthood.

I'm trying really hard not to put too much hope on the success of the Strattera. At the same time... GOD, I hope this stuff works.

So far we're not seeing the main negative short-term side-effect we were crossing our fingers to get around... nausea. It seems to be one of the main things that prevents patients from staying on the drug long enough to see if it's going to work for them.

Tonight will be dose number three...

I'm still not sure how we're going to share this with the husband's parents or with my aunt. I have no idea what their reactions will be. I also have to write a note to Shoe's teacher as we're trying to keep a close eye on any changes in his behavior. She knew we were considering this; I had to tell her so that I could get him out of the PROLONGED punishment she had planned for the incident with the torn agenda pages and the sealed envelope.

Other than the teacher, I told Shoe this isn't something to discuss at school at this point. He's a pretty unique kid and he really doesn't need anything else to make him appear different.

I'm tired. Tired of thinking and hoping and helping and advocating and arguing and writing notes and having discussions and organizing and managing and... and... and...

I need a vacation...

On the up-side, we leave for Hawaii six weeks from yesterday.

~Alice