Ive been having lateness and absence problems, since dd(5) started school .
She has autism and possibly adhd too, she's had sleep problems pretty much since birth , waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep until the early hours,
I've tried putting her to bed both later and earlier, giving a snack before bed , not giving a snack
Making sure she's been to the toilet, making sure the room is the right temperature blah blah blah it doesn't change anything
I have to stay awake with her, try and get her back to sleep ,
her behaviour has been badly effected by the lack of sleep and I've been constantly stressed and exhausted
Its also a struggle to get her to eat breakfast in a timely manner, sometimes it takes her 40 minutes, she hates cereal because of the mushy texture , so I've stopped giving it as it just wastes time and she doesn't ever eat it
Sometimes she will eat beans on toast , a yoghurt or
I let her bring a toasted sandwich and fruit to eat on the way to school
Sometimes she has meltdown behaviours crying, lying on the bed and screaming if I try to get her up,
screaming if I touch her hair, wanting to stop and hug me and kiss me every 5 minutes (which I love but not when we are on a time limit!)
Sometimes she is more co operative, it is a surprise how she's going to behave on any day
Usually I drop her to school 10-15minutes late, the walk of shame,
I've spent alot of money on cabs to save us time, but I would prefer us to walk for the fresh air and exercise, we used to be able to use the scooter
She has other health issues which may or may not be related to the autism, which are all managed with medications and plans.
Chronic constipation
Allergies to milk eggs and nuts
Eczema
Asthma
Viral wheeze
And all the symptoms that go with it,
these have also made it difficult in the mornings
Sometimes she may be abit wheezy, even the walk to school and cold air would make her cough , sometimes the coughing led to vomiting
The constipation would cause soiling issues Or belly aches in the morning,despite being on movicol.. doesn't seem to be working right
She has been absent alot , her attendance is usually around 80 something%, because she was catching every bug and virus out there
And often her colds would turn into viral wheeze requiring hospital stays
I have record for alot of the absences like doctor appointments , all her hospital admissions are recorded on the NHS system
But with D+V bugs its less likely to have a record of it because the advice is to stay home and give dioralyte, I've even gone as far to take picture of the vomit, just to protect myself
I've already talked to the doctor about why she is sick so often,
I give her vitamins to make up for her allergy diet,
I hide vegetables in her food and always put some on the plate ( she has food issues due to the autism but she does try to eat some veg lately even if its one bite)
I've cut down on sugar, and try to make the diet nutritious but she doesn't always eat what I cook
The doctor said that since I'm giving her the multivitamin , there's nothing else they can do
I've considered that maybe because she's autistic her hygiene might not be perfect, she puts her hands in her mouth and on her face and sometimes pick things off the floor , lick the bus window, which can make her sick, i can't always stop her in time
And I dont think she really knows she's doing it, she's impulsive to touch things
So the school doesn't give an f about my "excuses" for absence,
even though they know her medical conditions are genuine
I've told them about the sleep issues and everything but it doesn't make a difference
They send me letters of warnings about attendance, say they are "watching me" closely and I really do try my best but its not good enough and things have all come to a head recently
For the past few years I have had health issues, chronic fatigue, falling asleep in the middle of the day, blurry vision, headaches, mood swings that leave me feeling exhausted, miserable and then ok again a week later,
I thought it may be because I am overweight and the lack of sleep staying up with dd, may have turned to insomnia
I was also prediabetic,
But recently the past few months, I was really struggling to wake up on time for the school run (later than the usual )
It was such a heavy tiredness, and I was going toilet at least 10 times a night and drinking litres of water
I was taking dd in an hour late and then passing out at home and then waking up to get her
One day I felt very unwell and took myself to A+e and they said its diabetes and my blood sugar was off the scale high, they put me on a drip and gave me metformin
The tablets are slowly working , I think but I'm still dog tired
Twice I was an hour late to collect dd from school, once because I thought her dad was collecting her (I've also been very confused recently and leaving things open like the fridge and microwave door)
And yesterday I was in a heavy sleep, hadn't eaten all day so maybe my sugars were low?
And I woke up to missed calls and urgent messages
I've only done it once in the past when she was in nursery and I didn't know I was diabetic at the time
But I rarely pick dd up late, I'm always on time or early
Dd was even late today because of me , I don't understand why I can't just wake up on time and I'm so exhausted
Her dad (my ex) drove down and woke me up and took dd to school and then started ringing my door and hurling abuse at me
He's been consistently in my ear calling me weak , lazy, shit mother , bitch etc
Which is why I dont bother to communicate with him
He offers to "help" but then abuses me for it and makes me feel shit about myself
He might be right on what he's saying, that i need to better for dd but he doesn't consider all the reasons that I am like this, like my blood sugars
Despite me not eating crap , and only drinking water my blood sugars are still not good
But anyway he stood outside my house screaming abuse and texting me saying that school is involving social services for dd being late and I just told him to f off
But I am actually worried, school hasn't said anything to me but maybe they will when I collect dd today
Of course I dont want them involved but maybe I do need them?
I dont really know what they can do to help me with my medical issues,
I'm already seeing a doctor and I'm going to phone them today to talk about getting some blood tests done
I'm doing all that I can to make sure dd is in school more,
I'm even sending her in if she's sick , so they can see
I don't want to do this to her, I already feel such guilt for everything, guilty for her being sick and autistic, guilty for the diabetes, it runs in my family so I should have known, I've cut out so many foods and drink and I have one meal day
I dont smoke , drink or do drugs , food was something I used to relax with and now I can't do it anymore
I feel like I can't have anything nice, I can't even get dd to school on time, I am so pathetic
I have sucidal thoughts but would never do it, i just feel like I don't want to be here anymore because of all the pressure, and the judgment I receive from everyone
I feel like everyone thinks I'm a liar, or that I am crazy
Dds dad was very abusive to me In the relationship and continues to do it in other ways
He is very narcissistic, he blames me for "giving dd autism"
He has all of these amazing ideas on how I can be a better parent but I really feel like he wouldn't be able to handle what I go through on a daily basis
Its easy to point out someone's flaws when you are on the outside looking in
When we were together he was a shit parent himself, never changed her nappy or bathed her, never took her out by himself, he was just gone all day(cheating on me)
And when he was home he would play videos on his phone with her, something he would be critical of me for
And even now its always me that suggests he takes her to places on the weekend
He picks her up from school 3 days a week now and then drops her home
He's never had her overnight and never wI'll
I dont want him in my house because he inspects it for being messy and makes rude bitchy comments to me
He says that its my fault that he can't spend time with dd because i won't allow him to come into my house anymore?
Having to co parent with him is actual torture, having to share my vulnerability with him and my medical issues makes me so depressed, but he's literally all I have
If something happens to me like going to hospital, I have to call him to get dd
I dont have family to rely on I was adopted and I am estranged from the family
And my birth family is not reliable and dont live near me
I've been living on my own since I was 16
My mother was a drunk and that's why my siblings and i was taken into care , so I can't even talk to her for help
Even though I dont drink , i fear that I'm turning into her and I might lose my dd, the only person I love in this life
This is a pity party, i am depressed that no one cares about me,
Nobody phones me, I'm just dds mother, I feel like I'm being punished for things I can't control, I just feel like giving up
But a part of me still keeps trying for dd because she doesn't deserve this
I feel like a broken down car that keeps driving until all the wheels fall off one by one
I dont have a job, I don't have any aspirations except to be a decent mother and I can't even do that,
I wish she had a better mother and I wish I didn't even exist if there was an off button I would probably press it right now
Does anyone have any advice with lateness and social services?
What kind of help do they offer?
Or am I just going to be judged and inspected for being a shit mother?