Hi everyone!!!! I have been so shockingly bad at doing blogs and harking on about what I'm up to. Much like many other humans, the last few years have been challenging in many ways. I'm not going to bore with all that though, it's depressing enough going through it, let alone repeating ourselves about how crappy it's been.
What have I ACTUALLY been up to.......?
Well.... This blog will comprise of children and pets lol! In March of 2022, I started to help supporting one of my twin nieces who was struggling with her home family life, and in turn, her own life. The initial plan was for her to come and stay with me so she could attend school, then stay at my mum and dads (her grandparents). However, she found that she could be a little more herself at mine, so we extended the time staying at mine (she had only stayed at my parents for one weekend!) and just reviewed it after another month or so. Close to her 16th birthday, she was finally diagnosed as Autistic, and borderline ADHD, not quite reaching the threshold (but my word, I'm sure has ADHD highlights!!) This was quite a surprise for her and it paved the rollercoaster ahead for her to deal with this new diagnosis and likely about 90% of why she was the way she was. We saw her psychiatrist in the November who then added on PTSD, Emotion Dysregulation and Attachment Issues and started on some Sertraline to see if we could try to level out her rage engine to reduce going from 0-109 mph in 0.7 seconds. She was also put forward for some focused therapy to help with a few situations that led to her PTSD symptoms which helped her quite a bit. The Sertraline was increased and is now working quite well along with occasional Circadin to help with sleep.
We have had some hairy moments in our journey and expect there may be more, but this young lady has come quite far from where she was and her journey is hopefully going to be less bumpy as she laughs her way into "adulthood". Amongst the known blips which arise and are expected with her brain wiring, being a teenager and trying to find coping mechanisms until she is better able to regulate herself (if that ever comes), she is managing to mostly attend her college course, deal with some issues much better than she used to be able to and continues to live with me and my daughter. In October 2023, I was finally awarded Special Guardianship of her so that I can support her in other ways too. My neurospicy niece :)
My daughter moved back home from Moulton College almost a year ago as they felt isolated there. They've just about dragged themselves through the last bit of their Animal Management course, they have a new partner who they adore and is adored back. I love having them at home (I'm trying hard to use their preferred pronouns, but I struggle!) and I am not looking forward to the day they move out waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! I got them a Bearded Dragon for their birthday, Magma, and I love it (I say it because my daughter sexed it as a male due to its size when I got it, and now, they can't see any obvious signs that Magma is a boy, so Magma is likely a girl! Either way, Magma is cute, gorgeous and has a lush range of colours.
In May 2022, I was coerced into getting 2 Guinea Pigs. 'They aren't expensive Mum......, just the initial set-up is but then it's OK Mum......'
It was absolutely expensive and ongoing expenses with fresh grub, but I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!! We got Kiko (black and tan Abyssinian) and Frank (White and Grey English Crested piggie) and my daughter thinks they were quite young too. They started off outside as the weather was fairly OK, but by the time it got colder, I decided to bring them inside and set their C&C cage up in my kitchen/dining room area. This worked for a while, but not long after, I moved them into my living room. They both had their own personalities (as all animals do) and they loved being out of their cage, having free run of the living room. Unfortunately Frank became unwell out of the blue. It was November 2023 not long before my birthday. I picked him up and realised he had lost quite a bit of weight, he deteriorated over the next few days and when he passed away, I was heartbroken. Then Kiko went to him. I thought he was going to tread on him and walk over him. He used both front legs to see if he could rouse him - that was it. I was in pieces and absolutely sobbed my heart out. I couldn't afford to have him cremated, so we buried him in the garden. I couldn't bring myself to do it. So my daughter and her friends did it. This horrible loss came only 3 months after losing one of my other fur babies. Congo, the bengal cat I had been gifted. He ended up being quite dominant to 2 of my other cats which meant they started avoiding coming into the house. I made the heartbreaking decision to rehome him. He was such a loving, feisty, demanding little boy. But after being with his new family for little over a month, he had been knocked over on the very same road her last cat had been taken. I was devastated.
In December 2023, we bought a rescue piggie - Chino and he very quickly settled in, with Kiko accepting him. Poor Kiko is currently being chased by Chino, sometimes for fun, other times for attempted humping!! They both try to be dominant but neither win lol. But in general, they are well suited. January came and that month saw us lose Jabba, our eldest female cat. She had some multiple seizures which just worsened, and by the time we got her to the vet, we thought she might be OK, but then started seizing on the assessment table. We had to make the gut wrenching, soul smashing decision to put her to sleep there and then. It was awful :(
I love being an animal momma but it is heartbreaking when they pass away....... I am now left with Kiana, my 13yr old (probably with Dementia) Japanese (Diva) Shiba Inu, Solomon, Salem & Shirley (all siblings, almost 5yrs old), and Kiko & Chino (both about 2 now). Magma is about 4-5 mths old and she belongs to Skye (my daughter) and will go with Skye if/when she moves out.
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