Milestones in teeth

Michael just lost his first tooth, and Katy's last babytooth is loose. Sort of a bit of irony, there.

Also, Michael has been testy at school lately and having problems. His teacher just called to talk to me about it. If anything, things around here are just getting better lately, so I'm not sure what to say to her. Katy thought that the boys in his class were picking on him. I didn't know what's going on.

However, there was a fear I was having, in relation to this. Katy was seven when she was diagnosed with childhood depression and was put on Zoloft for a year... that seemed to clear up her problem, thank goodness, and she's been fine ever since. At the time, I spoke to the psychiatrist and she said that children who exhibited signs of depression and were then treated tended not to grow up into depressed adults. A little jumpstart to their brain chemistry, I guess. Knowing that with the history of moodiness and alcoholism in my family, depression is likely in our blood, I found this reassuring.

Naturally, of course, this all started me worrying about Michael and a possible bout with depression. It often shows up in kids with fits and bouts of anger. He, however, did not have the same personality issues that pointed to possible depression with Katy. She'd had long, hard fits when she was a toddler, for instance, and tended to be solitary and quiet. Also, it's not the same thing. Michael is happy, sunny and generally active during the day now, he's just getting angry with people at school. Katy was forlorn day and night. She'd come home from school and lay in bed, often crying. This was when she was diagnosed. So, while I feared it might be the same problem, I had reasons to believe otherwise.

Then, just about five minutes ago, the lightning bolt struck. Duh! It's the perfect time of year for his allergies to be in full swing. The other day, we went from the house to the car and his eyes were instantly bloodshot and watering. He's not feeling well, I'm sure. It started about a month ago, just about the time the weather started warming up. Thank goodness. I was really starting to sweat that. I've started him on his allergy medication again and will endeavor to remember to give it to him every day and see if his behavior improves.

I will also cut back on his video game playing. I've been letting him do too much of that lately and I never think it's a very good idea.