This year, meaning from January 2007 to now, has been an enormous learning experience for us. A year ago this month, Shippen was boycotting kindergarten. He refused to get out of bed and when we tried to pull him out, he would go all limp and fall to the floor. He cried at the mention of school, he would bury his head under his pillows or lie on the floor in a puddle of boy. So instead of arguing, fighting and screaming, we said fine. He stayed at home for three days but we did mini lessons and for the first time all school year, he smiled. After three days we sent him back to school, much to his sorrow, and the rest of the year we heard various reports from his teacher, some good some not so good. When he started to write startling things in his journal, we got a call from the school counselor to go have a talk. They are the ones who first said he was gifted, but they refused to test him. School policy said to wait until third grade.  So what did we do? We read lots of books about gifted children and they all said waiting would be too late for him.

    In the meantime, we had him tested for sensory issues and sure enough, he has some. Luckily, they aren't severe and he has learned to adapt to most of them but they are enough to be a problem if they aren't watched.  Add this to a kid who "gets it" the first time something is explained to him and it can be a problem.

    In first grade he was fine until the end of September. The teacher and principal did not want to give him extra homework until they had gotten to know him better, so he did his sister's 3rd grade homework as something to do. When they finally did give him extra stuff, in the middle of October, he said it was boring because "It was the same stupid stuff over and over again, they just asked it in different ways." His words, not mine. He is amazing because when he gets it, he is right on. Teach it to him well, and he knows it. Going over and over something doesn't do anything for him except make him angry and he feels like it's a waste of time and energy. Let's move on to something new. This is a kid who learned multiplication on his own. He realized division is multiplication backwards and he can do it. At least the simple stuff they teach in elementary school. So where do we go from here? I have no clue! If I had tens of thousands of dollars, I would send him to a great private school. If I had thousands of dollars, I would send him to a private school. So we homeschool, and there lies the second biggest challenge to my life as a mom.

My brain feels like it is on overload. I bought a book today called "Beyond the Indigo Child" by P.M.H Atwater. What an eye opener. While I thought I only have two Indigos in my house, it now looks like there are four. I don't know if a child can be more or less Indigo but it would seem possible. Shippen is definately more Indigo than his sisters but then again, Annika is pretty high up on the list as well. Emma is more on the psychic level than the other two and all of them have shown they are incredibly challenging to raise and to teach. Not only do I have to acclimate to their Indigo-ness but I have to realize I am also Indigo and how to figure out how I can help myself and them without completely driving us all nuts. The only non-Indigo person seems to be George, my husband. Poor guy, thrust into a family with four highly intense people. we are now truly a House of Indigo.

I have always thought that life should come with a manual, although I have no idea how it should arrive. Should you get it when you get married or maybe as your first birthday present? I think God may have downloaded it into our brains before we were born, installed a "Help" file but sometimes I feel as though I can't find the answers I need or how to go about searching for them. The answers always seem to be "right there" yet I never seem to fully grasp what I need. I know Life is supposed to be a kind of treasure map, explore your world, look underneath and find hidden pots of gold or muck and learn from your mistakes and your winnings. When it comes to children of your own, the Life game takes on a whole new turn. My husband, George and I have three wonderful children but I am telling you, I would have LOVED to have had the manual for them before they were all born....especially with the twins.

    When Annika was born, we knew we were in trouble the first time we brought her home. That first night was a killer and we learned about Night Terrors. Don't let anyone tell you they can't happen in newborn babies. It's an inherited trait, lucky her, she got it from me and my dad. If you don't know what a Night Terror is, ask me and I will tell you.

    When Emma & Shippen were born, we learned fast about preemie babies. They were 6 weeks earlier but you never would have known it. We learned all about NICU, the behaviors of preemies, stiff baby boy, acid reflux and the joys of having three children under the age of 3.

    Now they are all school age and that has started all kinds of things that are new and different. We are now living in a household with a dad who has a rotating police schedule, three cats, a dog that is way too short to be living in the land of giants (we are tall folk), I work part time at a yarn shop, part time as a stay at home mom, part time as a chauffeur, part time as a bagpiper, the girls go to public school, my son is homeschooled, all three kids are gifted to some degree, my son, I think, is an "Indigo Child" and I think I am an "Indigo Adult" and life is CRAZY!