Happy New Year 2014!

My daughter has been diagnosed with OCD too.  She wants me to wash my hands after I touch fruit or vegetables. (An OCD obsession  I haven't read about, anywhere).  She will hold her breath to go into the kitchen on the chance there are fruits / veggies laying on the counter or table.  She usually takes her food plate and eats in her room.  At school she has a hard time eating her lunch if one of the other kids has fruit out on their desk, but she's managing ok.  A while ago she would not each lunch when this happened and then throw up out of hunger and be sent home.  I'd been to our local child counselling centre a few times but until Katrina started wanting me to wash my hands so she'd feel ok, everyone said she didn't have it.  Even I wondered (and hoped) that it was just her way of getting back at me for when I was in the throes of OCD and would make her wash a lot.   Now that I was better, maybe this was her way of getting rid of the pent-up anger??  No such luck. 


We've been going to a therapist with Katrina on a weekly basis now since last summer.  She was so shy and quiet that it's taken the therapist til now to be able to see her alone, to do play therapy.  We make her go to Brownies (girl scouts in Canada) to give her the exposure to new situations, hopefully giving her success and helping her speak up for herself.  The 'make' part means that she wanted to go, and went 3 times to try it, told us she liked it and then after I paid the ridiculously high fee that doesn't go to the leaders but to the Corporation ANDbought her her uniform, she told us she didn't like it anymore.  She can quit in Sept. if she wants (maybe- her counsellor says it's a good way to increase her social skills)- but will go for now.


I'm also reading books (again :P)  about OCD- this time about parents with children who have OCD.


I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle 'making' my child do ocd ERP as homework because I know how horrid it is to struggle with the OCD monster myself.  How could I do that to my daughter?  I wouldn't want my worst enemy to have OCD, never mind my own child!  So Katrina's counselor recommended I return to counselling to help me with this.  However,  the book we are working on with her, SHE is to take charge of OCD, not me 'making' her do it, like I make her do her math homework, so that helped reduce my stress level.


I still go to Toastmasters, but haven't given another speech yet; I have helped a lady  bring Toastmasters to a local homeschooling group, and given a short presentation or 2 to the teens there.


After having 2 weeks off at Christmas, getting back into my exercise routine, Toastmasters meetings, chauffeuring, taking the dogs out for their exercise all seemed overwhelming, so instead of getting frustrated and mad at myself for my lack of energy, I decided to take it slow, do the necessary things  and add in my other activities (ie Toastmaster meetings) a little at a time till I was back in the swing of things.  Our Christmas tree is still up as that hasn't been a priority- it's in a corner out of the way- better up like that, than half down with boxes all over the living room!