Thank you for all of the input and responses to yesterday’s post. I will be commenting on many of them individually. In the end, Tucker chose not to go to theater camp yesterday. He was so sick with worry he threw up twice before we left. Once he knew he did not have to go, he had a great day. In the evening, I sat with him alone, and he let me know he is afraid some will happen to me. That is why he is afraid to let me out of his sight. The people at Beads of Courage were so kind. When I ordered the beads for Tucker I left a note about the anxiety and how I hoped he would get the beads before the August 27 surgery, and the woman responded to let me know she would be sending them out today! I will also be looking into local resources for him, since we live 100 miles from the Children’s Hospital.
Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, dropping off the kids, grocery shopping, taking Judah to an appointment, then finally meeting with friends for a sock knitting lesson. While we moms knit, the kids splashed happily in the pool. Unfortunately, we could only stay an hour because I needed to pick the kids up from theater camp, but we had a fabulous time nonetheless. And I started a lovely new sock! Now Marie, wake up and check Facebook, I’m stuck…
Just a few weeks left of summer vacation. I was planning to use Monday to do some intense school planning, but ended up spending the day unexpectedly at Missoula Children’s Theater. So I hope to get a significant chunk of the school planning done today. I am working on a blog post full of links and resources for planning the homeschool year that I hope will be helpful to you. 
Judah was thrilled to arrive home from his trip to discover he has a much coveted part-time job as parking monitor at the Community College! He and Tilly are gearing up for a busy year of Community College, Tilly’s first and Judah’s second (and last).
Here to a new day!
Glad things are moving forward, bless the bead people!!! Anxiety is a hard and heavy burden to carry, but it can be overcome!! He can and will move past it with the right tools and help. Praying hard!!
You just jogged my memory. When my Bella was eight her father was working in NY and we live in TN. He was gone for more than three months. During that time I was lawn mowing and taking care of things he normally would. I had a very unexpected allergy induced asthma attack. The next week she and her sister had overnight camp. I was called on Tuesday to come get her due to homesickness. She was so upset about me being alone she couldn’t concentrate on having fun at camp. 🙁 She is still my worrier. Rescue remedy several times a day has sometimes been needed. Prayers for your boy.
I am glad he was able to tell you what is causing his anxiety. I think it’s good that he ended having a good day even if it meant staying with Mom. I am sending some prayers you are able to find the resources he needs locally.
I’m also glad he was able to express what he was really afraid of. Putting it in words is a big step forward! Poor Tucker. What a load for a little guy to carry. My oldest son’s best friend took his own life when he was only 11… it affected our then 5 year old son like Tucker…he went through crying spells, shaking and sobbing that he didn’t want to die (I remember one session in particular where he was crying he didn’t want to die because he didn’t want to miss the upcoming Halloween party!) and then this evolved into being afraid his dad or I was going to die. I’d actually forgotten all that until just now. We got through it with lots and lots of talking and praying, but our second son has always been a little more withdrawn and didn’t like to leave home much….I think it was partly just the personality he was born with, but now I wonder if some of it stemmed from the death of John? Hmmm In any case, our second son is going to start his senior year soon and is finally blooming…self confidence, lots of friends, and generally happy. So hang in there… somehow this might serve Tucker later in life…he’ll be more compassionate and caring than other kids, perhaps?
My daugther had similar signs and it ended up being post traumatic stress disorder. I’m not saying this is what’s going on with Tucker, just that I believe it’s worth making sure it isn’t.
Good luck to all of you,
Lucía
It’s possible that Tucker is angry with you, too. Not because you did anything bad, but because he needs a lot of time with you now and that is naturally hard to provide.