Adventures in Bathtime

A few weeks ago I told Dad that I thought we needed to buy a bath chair for Kimmie.

Since her scoliosis surgery, she has just not been comfortable sitting in the bathtub. Sitting with her legs straight out in front of her is uncomfortable.

Getting her sat down and back up is another issue. When you sit down in a bathtub, you curl your back forward to balance yourself. That's something Kimmie cannot do with the rods in her back. I would have to hang onto her when she's sitting down so she doesn't fall backwards. And then getting her stood back up when everythings wet . . . challenging.

To solve all those problems, we bought her a bath stool. The first time we used it I wondered if she would balk at sitting on it, but she plopped herself right down and sat there like it was her royal throne. She loved it and said it was more comfortable.

The bath stool has made bathtimes more of an adventure for me. The adventure is in trying to keep the water IN the bathtub and not on me and the floor. I've tried positioning the chair different ways, but there always seems to be a body part the water runs off of and onto me and the floor. Elbows. Knees. Shoulders.

But, all in all, the bath stool has been a huge success . . . much less strain for both of us. One of the best purchases we have ever made.

Only problem is what to do with her collection of plastic ducks. The ones she used to play with in the bathtub. Especially those special plastic ducks she picked out from the dentist's treasure box!

--Mom

A New School Year

Today is day 14 of this school year, so we almost have three weeks under our belt.

We expected it would be a rather smooth transition. After all, this is the beginning of Kimmie's fourth year of high school, her fourth year with the same teacher and her third year with the same signing aide. Many of her classmates are probably the same.

Of course, she did have a new bus driver and bus aide to break in.

However, there was one little difference this year. Kimmie's sister, for the first time ever, leaves for school before Kimmie.

For some reason, seeing her sister leave each morning really upset Kimmie. Bethany tried sneaking out of the house, but Kimmie would look around and know that Bethany was "all gone" and still be upset. Kimmie would be "mad, mad, mad" getting on her bus. At school, she would remember, and fuss because Bethany was "all gone, school."

Kimmie is very attached to her sister, but we really weren't sure why she was so upset.

Did she not realize that Bethany went to school?
Was she worried that Bethany would not be home when she arrived home?
Did she think that Bethany was at home all day waiting for her bus to return?
Was she worried no one would be home when her bus returned?

We really don't know, but for the first 10 days of school she cried and was mad every morning when she climbed on her bus. She would bring it up at school and would fuss.

But, on Day 11, she was happy when she climbed on her bus, and she had a great day at school. She has been happy ever since and has had good days at school. Whew!

We only have a 4-day streak going, and it could snap at any moment, but we'll take it for now. The bus driver and bus aide seem to have relaxed this week, and they seem to be smiling more.

Kimmie's sister wonders, "What will Kimmie do when I go off to college?"

--Mom