WHEN does school start again?

Donna Marie’s summer school finished this last Friday and already she is in a deep funk.  She is so bored.  I tried to do some of the stuff they do in her class (some of the songs, routines, etc), but she just looks at me as if I may have lost my mind.  We try to go out but we can’t really do anything super fun (like the playground/beach) because I have her little brother (soon to 3) with us as well and they tend to take off in opposite directions. Plus I really have to stay on top of Donna because for example if she uses the slide, she will just sit at the bottom and not realize there is a whole line of kids waiting for her to move so they can go down the slide as well.  Basically we visit family or go shopping in double stroller.  Thank God I have this wonderful neighbor with a 4 year old son and sometimes we all go to the park and she helps keep an eye on my two because her son is much more independent.  I just feel bad because at times she seems to be miserably bored.  Her younger brother manages to entertain himself even though he is 14 months younger.  Any suggestions anybody?

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Eye Remedy

Like many children with DS, Donna Marie has very tiny tear ducts. Some children have surgery to correct this problem. Donna Marie’s situation does not require surgical intervention. Her opthomologist recommends massaging the corners of her eyes several times a day to facilitate drainage. Our little problem is that often Donna has what can only be described as eye “crud” around her eyes in the morning. Thus every morning began the battle between me and Donna Marie. I would be after her with wipes, wash cloths, soapy water, eye drops, even baby oil in an attempt to remove the eye crud. She in turn became the most powerful child with low tone in the universe. Her eyes would scrunch up with the strength of an olympian athlete. If there was an olympic event for keeping your eyes shut tight she would win the gold. It wouldn’t even have to be Special Olympics. I am talking the regular Olympics here. If the eye crud is not properly removed and she goes to school we run the risk of it being mistaken for conjunctivitis (pink eye) and her having to be sent home. I never thought of asking our opthomologist what to use to remove the crud. Last week, my mom went to her opthomolgist because she was is going to have cataract surgery this week. She was instructed to put a few drops of baby shampoo on a piece of gauze and wash her external eye this way daily a few days before the surgery. Hearing this, I put a blob of baby shampoo (undiluted) on a baby wipe and VOILA! the crud amazingly just glides off. It does not seem to irritate her eyes or skin at all. I just wipe with another clean wipe after all is removed. We have been doing this for several days now without any adverse problems and her eyes never looked better and our morning battles are over. I hope this will be a help for others experiencing the eye “crud” phenomenon.