School is out for the summer and we
reluctantly book a trip to the island. I am hesitant and prepared for 3 weeks
of her anxieties away from the comforts of home.
Dr. T works with her and helps to prepare her for the trip. We promise her we will not take the ferry from the mainland to the island. So we book our favorite pilot for a private plane and spend triple the money to get there. If I count all the money we have spent on psychology, psychiatry, an anxiety clinic and airplanes instead of boats we could have our own private island by now! Anyway, we get there and I am a bit surprised to see that she is excited to be there. She seems fairly calm and ready for the adventure. She is not ready to hop on our little boat yet but I can see her constantly looking at the ocean from our deck. I can see her trying to calculate in her head how much the boat will rock if the seas look a bit wavy. Fabrizio goes fishing on the boat and we watch him with our binoculars. We have fun visiting our friends and she gets put to work babysitting our friend's children. She loves it! First time she ever gets paid for it. While she babysits, my husband and I get to go out on the boat together and have some fun.
The next day we find out that one of the kids she babysat is throwing up. Then his brother. Then another friend. No!!!! This is the last thing I need her to find out. Our friends know about her phobia and we are all messaging each other on facebook to keep it a secret. Part of me is thinking maybe she needs to get this stomach virus that is going around. Maybe throwing up again would be the cure. That is what our psychologist had mentioned in the past. But I cannot think like that yet. Not when here. Not when I have no Dr. T in case things go really wrong. So we stay away from our friends for a few days and remain thankful that none of us got sick.
She is still doing really well. We are actually able to get her on the boat. We start by staying in the harbor. Then we take a longer trip. She is doing it! She is quiet and pensive, but she is calm. I take a photo of her sitting on the bow and I am happy. I am happy that she is happy. I am happy that I am on the boat able to relax and enjoy myself and my family instead of having to distract and console and comfort her. As soon as we get back to the house I am so happy that I instantly send the photo in an email to Dr. T. I thank her for her work and let her know how happy I am that I have my child back!
We have a great few weeks and return home to enjoy the rest of summer and get ready for the start of middle school. Little did I know that middle school and all the added pressures of more homework, a new school, new friends, etc, would bring it all on again. Well, I was warned by Dr. T that it could be hard at first, but I had no idea how bad it could get...
Dr. T works with her and helps to prepare her for the trip. We promise her we will not take the ferry from the mainland to the island. So we book our favorite pilot for a private plane and spend triple the money to get there. If I count all the money we have spent on psychology, psychiatry, an anxiety clinic and airplanes instead of boats we could have our own private island by now! Anyway, we get there and I am a bit surprised to see that she is excited to be there. She seems fairly calm and ready for the adventure. She is not ready to hop on our little boat yet but I can see her constantly looking at the ocean from our deck. I can see her trying to calculate in her head how much the boat will rock if the seas look a bit wavy. Fabrizio goes fishing on the boat and we watch him with our binoculars. We have fun visiting our friends and she gets put to work babysitting our friend's children. She loves it! First time she ever gets paid for it. While she babysits, my husband and I get to go out on the boat together and have some fun.
The next day we find out that one of the kids she babysat is throwing up. Then his brother. Then another friend. No!!!! This is the last thing I need her to find out. Our friends know about her phobia and we are all messaging each other on facebook to keep it a secret. Part of me is thinking maybe she needs to get this stomach virus that is going around. Maybe throwing up again would be the cure. That is what our psychologist had mentioned in the past. But I cannot think like that yet. Not when here. Not when I have no Dr. T in case things go really wrong. So we stay away from our friends for a few days and remain thankful that none of us got sick.
She is still doing really well. We are actually able to get her on the boat. We start by staying in the harbor. Then we take a longer trip. She is doing it! She is quiet and pensive, but she is calm. I take a photo of her sitting on the bow and I am happy. I am happy that she is happy. I am happy that I am on the boat able to relax and enjoy myself and my family instead of having to distract and console and comfort her. As soon as we get back to the house I am so happy that I instantly send the photo in an email to Dr. T. I thank her for her work and let her know how happy I am that I have my child back!
We have a great few weeks and return home to enjoy the rest of summer and get ready for the start of middle school. Little did I know that middle school and all the added pressures of more homework, a new school, new friends, etc, would bring it all on again. Well, I was warned by Dr. T that it could be hard at first, but I had no idea how bad it could get...
