OK so further to the last post..

..I called around to a few places myself to see if I could talk with a counsellor. I wanted to make sure that I was dealing with Millie properly and that I wasn't setting her back at all. I found out that we have an "ART Therapist" for children in town and I spoke with her on the phone. She seems fabulous and thinks that we/she can help Millie figure out a "plan" of what she can do when she is feeling anxious or paniced. Without seeing her, the Therapist can't tell if it's general anxiety or seperation anxiety - either way, she figures with some work we can get her back on track. Each day we try to keep things predictable, calm, and happy so that she feels secure, etc. We are on a wait list for this therapist so I am hoping that we can get in to see her sooner than later.. until then - we will continue with this.

Also, this pic was from the weekend, Oaksie was at a sleepover and Millie wanted to play a game so.. I set up this wash line and Millie played "laundry day" for about 2 hours with me. She would wash the clothes in her washer machine (she just got new batteries again so it's like a new toy!), then hang them to dry in the sushine, and spray them with "fresh linen" scented bathroom spray. Ahh what a great day... it really was so cute.. as you can see.. the sun was very bright out by the wash line.. hence the sunglasses!

I seem to have misplaced my parenting handbook ~

For the last 8-10 days Millie has really been going through and extremely rough patch. She has every single classic sign of GENERALIZED ANXIETY. She has been suffering from excessive and uncontrollable worry. She seems to worry about things like the future (where we are going to be), being on time for appointments, health, school performance, crime, change in routines, and family matters. She seems to worry when there is really no problem or any realistic circumstance to cause the worry. Mostly she's good when she's distracted but as soon as her mind relaxes - it's back to the same panic mode. It has been really hard on all of us - especially her but for us, it's horrible just having to worry about her feeling so helpless, you know? She doesn't want to be at school or daycare, or with Collin, she worries about what's happening in 20 minutes, 3 hours, tomorrow, constantly - her muscles are so tight and she is so tired. Poor thing. Usually with general anxiety, it could be any event from the last 6 months that has triggered this, not just something from last week.
I am going to see the family doc tomorrow - hoping that he can set us on the right track or confirm that we are doing the right things with her. So as I said before, where the hell is the chapter on kids and stress? *sigh*

Just a few new pics..

All is well here.. just thought you'd like another slideshow!

Art in the Park

An artist friend of mine offers kids Art classes on Saturday afternoons. Last saturday was to be an "Art in the Park" theme but since the weather was chilly -- they met up in the local Arts Unlimited building instead. The kids (and me) painted old chairs for the local library. They wanted them to be interesting and unique - the kids had a great time cause they could do anything they wanted.. it really was cute. Here's some pictures to enjoy!