A bit of everything

First things first. Surgery. The ear.

After seeing my ENT Tuesday this week it is clear that this grommet must be removed. The tissue in my ear has all bar grown over the top of the grommet. So the big day is March 31st, which reminds me, I must take my admission forms over to the hospital at some point tomorrow. This little grommet removing expedition is not as straight forward as one would assume. I've had multiple grommets, some removed and some fallen out on their own accord. I've never had a problem with a grommet until now. But after having a foreign piece of plastic in your ear for some 15years, it's really a surprise it hasn't reacted badly before now! (Although having said that, my ears were in a nasty state when I first saw my ENT.)

Basically the ENT will have to dig around a little to remove the grommet. The way he explained it, he made it sound like he had a huge amount of room to be "digging" and "pulling" and "removing". At this stage it looks like a day surgery and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are no hiccups, or any other unforseen findings in my ear!!

Secondly. Turtle. Behaviour. This week we are in the whiney stage. The hitting stage seems to have passed (for now) but we're left with incessant whining over every little, minute, fraction of a thing! So to combat this I now have a chart on the fridge, not just for Turtle but for everyone, and on it are times and things you should be doing. It's purely for the morning school routine but I'm hoping a bit of structure is just what this kid needs! Another reason I decided to do it is because the other morning I dared to ask him to get dressed before having breakfast (whereas normally it's the other way around) and boy didn't he put on a performance over not having had breakfast first! This lead to me think "Hmmm, routine, he's used to it, don't mess with it."

We are still no closer to an assessment date. I am being patient (and as understanding as I can be considering the ratio of caseworkers to children) and not kicking up a fuss over it yet. But let me just say that if there is no sign of a date come the end of April, then I will be very strongly asserting the disappointment in the "support" they seem to show for Turtle. Honestly, if we had a bit more support, not only from the department but also our own family members, then I think Turtle would be managable.

Thirdly. Study. Lack of. Stress. Assessment. Essay. ARGH! Let's just say that this week I've been trying to focus on a 500word 20% weighted essay for one subject. I am roughly 300words into it now and have put it away for the night because I wasn't thinking clearly enough to finish it. It is due Friday afternoon so I still have a little time on my side for fine tuning, conclusion and anything else it needs. I am almost convinced that I won't get a fantastic grade on this one. I'll be happy with a pass, hell even a conceded pass! At least I have other assessments totalling 80% I can focus on and hopefully gain decent marks in.

And in other news....

Turtle and Rhi had their Easter Hat parade today. Both of them enjoyed it and resisted the urge to eat the tiny eggs off their hats! I don't think the school could've coped with more cotton wool though! It was on just about every single hat and some hats were literally covered entirely in cotton wool!

Tayla starts netball training tomorrow. Rhi starts the following week. We've been very lucky because both of them will train on the same day at the same time. I was hoping that their training schedule would be easy to manage. I was picturing having training for one and then having to go back an hour after the first one finished. So that has worked out really well for us. The tricky part will be what time they actually play once the season officially begins.

And saving the best for last....

Ethan has 2 teeth! Both front bottom teeth have finally emerged! The first cut through last Friday and the second cut through today. He soon will have that gorgeous toothy grin happening! I think he knows he has "new" things in his mouth because he pulls funny smiles and has already bitten his fingers and shocked himself.

And with that, I am off to bed knowing that I'm just a little bit closer to completing my assignment, feeling a bit above sinking level and damn tired!