Perpetual bad moods

When I became a parent, I never knew a useful skill would be managing a rollercoaster ride.  One day Elle is having a bad day and she is at the bottom, but Bunny is riding at the top.  Twenty-four hours later, Bunny is scraping the bottom and Elle is flying high. But, it’s not only the ups and downs of one child versus the other; it’s the pendulum swing back and forth in a single child.  For seven years, we’ve dealt with RAD’s effect on Elle.  There were times that we were so far down on the bottom of the rollercoaster; I thought we had permanently derailed.  There was a time I was convinced we would only see her during weekly visits to… [more]

Dora had the best day yesterday that she has had in a long while. As I mentioned previously, she was much more relaxed after purging her feelings while moving manure. We had a good talk during our rocking time that evening, and apparently, she listened. Among other things, I told her there was no way around the pain … only through it. Face it, deal with it, move past it … or live indefinitely with it unsuccessfully buried somewhere within. I also told her for every day she considered her options but did nothing, it was another day wasted … a day that could never be recaptured. She awoke yesterday morning in a much more relaxed state and a much better mood. She simply exploded with… [more]

Continuing with some of the ideas mentioned in the article The correlation between sense of humor and mental health, the following paragraph really grabbed my attention: People with great mental health have a high self-esteem, strong sociable encouragement, and are members of warm, compassionate families (Zeman, 2003). Maintaining mental health over time is extremely important; however, risk factors exist for mental illnesses. Preserving mental health can be accomplished by three characteristics. First, having a low risk of disease or disability; second, functioning well, both mentally and physically; and finally, being fully engaged with life (Qualls, 2002). There are three main categories of risk factors for mental illness. Genetics can influence mental health by delaying development, causing physical illness, or producing a low IQ, which may result… [more]

Did you know that a sense of humor is a sign of good mental health? Amy has NO sense of humor. She doesn’t get jokes; she doesn’t make jokes. An article entitled The correlation between sense of humor and mental health. states that: Individuals with a greater sense of humor are more motivated, cheerful, trustworthy, and have a higher self-esteem. They are also more likely to develop close, social relationships (Kelly, 2002). … humor corresponds with positive emotional states (Martin, 2001) and is known to be an indicator of mental health. Beth and Dora have a great sense of humor. Consider the following “Beth stories”: “Guess what, Mom? Last night I saw Hunter at swimming. I didn’t know he swam for the Blazers. I got out of… [more]