Sticker charts, new car and eye twitching...

Yes, I know this is the most random title, but I didn't know what else to call it.  We've had a few crazy things going on around here.  I'll start with the most annoying:

The Eye Twitch

I almost can't stand being awake.  It all started a few weeks into my treatment on coumadin (which was the end of July).  I know this because I actually Googled "Coumadin and eye twitching" to see if there was anything out there that might make me feel justified that this was an actual side affect of the medication.  I think there was a few articles, but nothing earth shattering.  The twitch would come and go throughout the summer and it was kind of annoying but never lasted that long.  Fast forward to last Sunday.  My right eye started twitching the moment I woke up and continued even as I was trying to fall asleep that night.  My eye was getting irritated because I kept rubbing it every time it would twitch.  Of course it wouldn't really help, but I guess it was reactionary.  By Monday, I was in tears about it.  I know there are worse things and I feel bad complaining but it made me so crabby and I felt like I was going insane.  After a trip to the eye doctor, he told me it was really caused by stress or anything that could cause me to feel run down.  It's called Eyelid Myokymia and the only thing that may or may not work is antihistamine eye drops twice a day.  And he said they really don't even know why this works, but sometimes it does.  So for the past week I have been using the drops .  The twitch is still there but it is not as constant.  It gets worse when I am really tired or screaming at my kids.  Seriously. 

Which brings me to the most stressful part of the title:

Sticker Charts

Our sassy little 3 year old is, again, posing some really big challenges for us lately so Gerry and I decided we needed to take action. Obviously yelling and screaming doesn't work, neither do time outs.  So I guess positive reinforcement was worth a try. 

There are 3 main areas of concern: 

1) Her behavior during meal times -which is an extension of her EXTREMELY picking eating...she doesn't want to eat what's on her plate, so she acts out at the table...makes sense, right?

2) Her willingness to go potty all by herself -she makes no initiative to go on her own and when we ask her to go, it's a big fight.  However, she hasn't had an accident in months and will always tell us when she has to go #2... I can't figure it out.  I think know she just wants to be in control....all.the.time!

3) Her behavior towards Naomi- This poor child gets bopped on the head, kicked, pushed and tackled all day long.  Maria has a VERY hard time NOT hitting Naomi and it is ridiculous.  We are still trying to stick to a sensory routine, but even that doesn't always work.

So, the sticker chart.  She gets a sticker if she is good during each meal (no whining, complaining, banging fork, throwing food, etc.) one for every time she goes potty (this includes wiping, flushing, and washing hands all by herself) and then she gets one huge glittery puffy sticker at the end of the day if she doesn't hit, kick or push Naomi.  The deal was if she gets 3 of these big fancy stickers in a row (that's 3 days of NOT hitting Naomi) then she gets to pick a prize. I knew it would be difficult, but you know what?  She only needs one more sticker and she will get a prize. We shall see!

It is working so far but I don't know how realistic it is to think it will last forever. Something else I learned was that really cool stickers are expensive.  Damn stickers...you get 4 of them for like $5.  Oh well...if it all works out, it's worth the price.

Now for the coolest part of the post:

The new car.

Gerry finally got a a new car.  I am so excited for him because ever since I've known him, he's driven cars that were used, older and not always reliable.  It's been kind of a running joke that ever since we've been together, we've had nothing but bad luck with cars.  We owe so much to our many family members who have driven out to give us a jump, dropped us off or picked us up at the car repair shop, or let us borrow their car for a period of time. And for the past 2 years, Gerry has been driving a car without air conditioning or radio. (And summers in St. Louis are not mild...they are brutal)  So he definitely deserves this.  We are now the proud owners of a Honda Civic Si that looks something like this:

Only it's the darker gray color.

Hooray!  I hope Maria likes it because she will be driving it in 13 years!!!