I'm happy to report that while Kelly's teeth have been coming in unexpectedly fast, crowding out her baby teeth, she is in good shape. This according to a dentist who specializes in kids' teeth development. He assured Jean that he doesn't like to pull teeth, and thinks that he can save all her adult teeth. She's going into braces soon, and will be in braces or retainers for three years or so. I'll report further when she gets fitted. On the bright side, at least two leading female cartoon characters that she watches regularly wear braces!
Behaviorally she's a bit on the deficit side. We had a conference with her teachers yesterday, and while I'm sure they tend to overemphasize conformance, they seemed genuinely concerned that Kelly isn't bonding with her classmates, and is given to arguing everything.
I'm joining the dreaded line of soccer moms on Monday and dropping her off at the crosswalk (which I find very annoying). This is because her school counselor wants Kelly to come in with her fellow students instead of being escorted by Dad.
In addition, Kelly is going to see a kid counselor to help her work on being more of a 'team player'. Come Fall, we'll be having another meeting with the teachers to set measurable goals.
Another light note: Kelly cleaned out enough of the junk pile in her room to make space for the old Powermac 8500 that's been displaced from my room. I spent the better part of the day moving hardware around, vacuuming dusty corners, and rearranging furniture. The den looks a bit tidier, and Kelly has a computer of her own.
I dismantled some modular wire shelves in the den, and Kelly put them back together herself for her room. Of course, there's really no place to put it, so she put it in front of another shelf in her room. There's now approximately one postage stamp's worth of standing room in her bedroom.
Finally, I took a second shower to get all the grunge off. When I took off my shirt, all I smelled was dust! Ugghhh!
And I did all this lowly sysadmin crap with a strained back. Am I a moron or what?
Just a quick question: do you think Kelly would be described as having a behavior "deficit" if she were a boy?
ReplyDeleteI ask, because I got whacked into conformity in high school for behavior that wouldn't have been sniffed at twice in a boy. It had a miserable effect on me, and has taken me a long time to recover from.
Obviously I don't know Kelly, and you're her Dad and are in a much better position to judge...