Mission Statement

To provide a place for parents and family members to meet and share experience, strength, give hope and awareness, to other families who have similar experiences raising children with ADD/ADHD, SPD, Anxiety, ASD, mental health diagnosis, developmental and behavioral challenges. Through sharing in this experience of raising these hard to raise kids, we grow stronger and more resilient.

Easy to Love is a 501 (C) (3) Non-Profit Organization

Friday, August 24, 2012

Changes...


Things have been a little crazy around here lately and there are changes a comin' to add to the craziness! Emma has been off kilter the last couple months. Her anxiety has been up and she is not sleeping well, we have a 9pm summer bedtime & she is staying up until the 1130-1230 range. Em is averaging about 7 hours of sleep a night with the occasional "catch up" night that she sleeps in. I am sure part of her issue is that she is not getting enough sleep. 
Of course not all days are bad, we have days or parts of the day that things run pretty smoothly. The major problem is that she is set off SO easily which, going from playful & happy to screaming, raging and attacking.  After meeting with her pediatrician we looked at her medication. It has made very little difference so her primary care suggested weaning her off the medication over the next month. She will be medication free for the first time in years.
**  Just a little history- our PC is amazing and knows & understands all of Emma's little quirks. She has been there from the beginning and I 110% trust her and her recommendations.**
When Emma was put on this new medication by her Med Manager a few months ago, her other medications were stopped. This included her sleeping medication with the goal being that this med would help all of the struggles in one little pill. Unfortunately that did not happen.
The next suggestion by our PC was changing from the Children's Center to Primary Children's. While Em's therapist at the Children's Center is absolutely amazing, I have not been thrilled with med management and developmental assessment end of things. There has not been great communication, differences in diagnosis & it feels like Emma has been falling through the cracks. We kept going because I didn't want to bounce her around and I really wasn't sure what direction to go if we left. Now that we have been referred to PCMC I really do feel like this is the right choice for Emma. I need her somewhere that everyone will be on the same page & will communicate not only with me, but Emma's pediatrician.  That all being said, I am still very appreciative for the positives the Children's Center has had on Emma. Their preschool program made a huge difference & like I said we really do love the therapist.  Our first appointment at PCMC is in the middle of September, we are keeping Emma off medication until that appointment so the doctor can see what her baseline is and can make decisions from there.
So those are our medication struggles. We are taking things day by day, hoping things get better and really not knowing what the next few months are going to look like. Anyone who has been here? Ideas welcome!!

Emma is starting school the week of Labor day, I decided not to put her in our local district special needs class. Emma was in that class from Jan-May of last year after graduating from the Children's Centers preschool. All I can say is YEASH. It was ran terribly, there was no communication with parents & virtually nothing that was remotely academic. This year Emma is going to a home run preschool with a woman I have known for many years. Miss Lizzy owned a preschool/daycare before taking some time off to go and finish her degree, she now has a degree and is starting up again. I am nervous though, it is going to be a lot more of an "uncontrolled" environment than she is used too. Realistically most kids don't get overloaded by normal noise, some toys & bright colors so that is not an accommodation a regular preschool needs to think about. But along with the scary unknowns, I do know that Miss Lizzy is so sweet, hands on and FUN! There is great communication (If you can't tell I have a MAJOR ISSUE when I am not communicated with!!) I have already received Emma's school calendar &  daily schedule, and Emma got a Welcome card in the mail. Liz already knows that Emma has some special needs and seems more than happy to help make this a successful school year for my little bug.


Our Major To Do's

Get Emma settled in school
PCMC appointment with accompanied behavior log & stack of paperwork
Put together a list of realistic goals for Emma to meet this fall (I come up with goals every season)
  ** HERE is our summer goals.
Get Emma back on a structured schedule - Our summer schedule has been super lax & it shows big time!
Put together our visual schedules
Get my Home Management Binder back in order 

So this is where we are. Things feel a little upside down. I am feeling a little overwhelmed and frustrated.  I am hoping that once we get into our routines things will settle down. Fingers crossed!



Lindsay


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Big Thank You's!

Photo: Had a successful weighted lap pad class!! Thank you shauna donating your time & home for this project!!
We wanted to post a few Thank You's to those who made our first Weighted Lap Pad class happen.

A Big Thank you to Brooks Fabric for donating adorable fabric & to Ben Franklin Crafts for donating the filling. We were able to get a good start of putting together weighted lap pads for local school OT's. We are excited to get them done and out into the community!!

Also a HUGE BIG Can't Say enough Thank you to Shauna who welcomed us so generously in her home sewing classroom and helped us make this happen. She was so sweet and helpful, and willing to do it again! :)

We are so excited about the places the group is going, there are a lot of fun things coming up and having partners from the community supporting us makes it so we can reach more and more families.

THANK YOU!!!

220 North Main Street  Bountiful, UT 84010
(801) 295-2941


354 North Main Street  
Kaysville, UT 84037

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Meet Chrissy....


Chrissy is our new Davis County Chair, she will be doing most of the logistical work for Easy to Love's Davis County groups. Jen & I will still be actively involved but will probably alternate coming. This will make running and managing Easy to Love as a whole much more manageable! Chrissy is going to be a wonderful fit and asset to the group. She is spunky, fun and energetic, and has already done so much to help our group grow!
Here is a little more about her!! 

Chrissy Young has been married for 18 years and is a mother of 3 boys ages 12, 9 & almost 5! Family is her number 1 priority and she loves them so much.
Discovering her oldest son had ADD, Anxiety, Depression & some OCD six years ago really frightened her. She just wanted to be able to give him the world and have the world love him as much as she does. She would lie awake many nights wondering what to do?... Medicate or don't medicate? Strict diet or not? Therapy or no therapy? Label my child in school as different or not? The list goes on & on.
Chrissy decided to educate herself on everything to help her son cope & exist with others. She learned to listen to the very important mommy voice that truly does direct moms to know what is the best for their child.
She has learned so much from so many good friends who are going through similar situations. They have loved & supported her through many hard days, nights, & cries. 
Chrissy loves people! She is passionate about being an advocate for her children, building a better community for them to live in, & giving back or paying forward all that so many have done for her & her family.
Chrissy is excited to help the Easy to Love, Hard to Raise parent support group in Davis County. "I Love that it is a support group for any parent struggling with a difficult child whether diagnosed or not. Parents need other parents to help figure out & support one another. I am a true believer that it takes a town to raise a child. What a great way to help others & be helped in return."



So along with Chrissy being Davis County Chair, we are also moving the location of our Davis group. While we are very grateful that DBH so willingly accommodated our group, we feel like our new location will be a better fit. It is only about 5 minutes away from our previous location & still in Layton. 
Learning Solutions
347 West Gordon Ave. #2 Layton
Groups will still be help the 3rd Wednesday of the month 7-8pm
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns!