Rating your child

I've noticed a pattern of a few specific things that I've been procrastinating on, all related to my Mommy duties. They revolve around doctors - appointments and tests. If I take a moment to look back, I think I really got burned out on all that stuff when we were going thru Kirsten's nose surgeries. (See the page about her if you want to read prior history on this.) I mean, outside of the nose issue, we still had so many little medical issues and such that really added up. Most of it was related to her being a preemie, too. I'd say for the first solid four years of her life it was busy. Then it trickled down to a few, the main one being her nose. Now that we've taken a hiatus from treating that, I see that I've kinda put the brakes on everything! I decided to get my fanny in gear a bit and took her to the genetics doctor that she's seen since birth. (The visits are somewhat related to her nose issue.) Anyway, two years ago at our last visit, I was supposed to take her down to the lab for a blood draw, which I didn't do. So after our appointment on Wednesday, I did it. Took her down for the draw, and didn't even tell her until we got into the little cubicle. Well, I had a quick flashback to some blood draws from when she was younger... that girl's got a good set of lungs, Niagra Falls hidden in her tear ducts, and the strength of... well... let me just say that it takes several adults to try holding that girlie still! It was like that when she was young, and it's like that still! Cute thing - as soon as the needle left her arm, the tears quit and she said "I'm not crying anymore!" Awwww! Needless to say, she was over-emotional and sensitive the rest of the day, which messed up some plans we had. Part of the joys of parenting!

One of the other issues I've put off with Kirsten is testing for ADD/ADHD. Part of me is quite hesitant about this, but I know I need to at least follow through and then we'll process whatever the doctors recommend. The hard part has been finding a doctor that does the thourough testing. Example: Last February I put our name on a waiting list for this department at Children's Hospital. They just called back during the holidays! I did find a doctor out in Ann Arbor, and we have a 4 hour appointment next Tuesday. I have to bring with me some forms that I and Matt and Kirsten's teacher need to complete. It's called the "Connors' Rating Scale" and it asks a bunch of questions. I'm having a hard time committing to these answers! "Does not seem to listen to what is being said to him/her" - well, I often have to repeat myself to Kirsten and get in front of her face to know she's listening, but... she is listening! So how do I answer that? Then there's so many that apply to her quite often - "Excitable, impulsive" - "Restless or overactive" - "Talks excessively" -YES! That girl's mouth rarely closes!!! I'm nervous about locking into these answers that could be negative things, but... I suppose it is necessary for the doctor to understand more of Kirsten outside of her office. I'll just suck it up and do it... maybe Monday night!