Samuel has taken to teasing his "baby" sister! Well, I guess she's not really a baby anymore, she's almost three years old. Just about every time he sees her he gets this devious grin on his face and either says her name (also in a devious fashion), or he reaches out to her with his hand kind of like a "claw" and "growls" at her. The whole time he does it he's just grinning and giggling away. Why? Because he is "rewarded" with shrieks and screams from her!
I'm trying to make her understand that her reaction is what he is really after, it's not so much that he wants to physically go after her. However, in her defense, he has pulled her hair and pushed her down enough times that she does see the need to fight back. How do I convince her that the best way for her to "fight back" to his teasing is just to ignore him?! So far it's not working. Instead, she screams bloody murder and then one of her other two big brothers plays knight in shining armor and some kind of wrestling match or brawl ensues!
We're having countless outbursts of this throughout our days at home right now!
Showing posts with label Family life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family life. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Time to Polish the Social Skills a Bit!
Just when I think it is not possible to feel any busier than I already have been, I reach a new pinnacle! Recently this has come about because two of my sons started playing soccer and I actually have had a few social events to attend (after a rather sparse past year of socializing). I suppose the water pouring out of my living room ceiling (from a poorly built shower above it) and the resulting needed repairs have contributed to this as well.
Anyways, my 10 year old and 5 year old sons are playing soccer. They participate in a league of children educated at home and, thankfully, they only have practise once a week, both at the same time, and there are only a minimal number of games that involve travel. For the first time, well, ever (!!!), I have been able to take Samuel along to the practise field where I hang around for the 2 hours his brothers practise. I had to do this a few weeks ago because my in-home helper was not able to make it that afternoon and my husband could not take the boys because of obligations at work.
I made up a visual schedule of what we would do during practise. It wasn't really anything all that special, I just made sure we moved to a new location every 30 to 45 minutes. Part of the time we walked down to see his older brother play, we spent some time in the car and had a snack, and then we spent some time on a playset (swings, slide, "fort"). Yes, nine year old Samuel stood out a bit on the playset, but he was content so I didn't mind! While we walked from field to field Samuel kicked around his own soccer ball and tried talking to EVERYONE!
On the subject of talking to EVERYONE, I realize that we need take a step forward in conversation social skills! Here is one example: People that Samuel does not know come sit behind us at church, Samuel turns around and says, "Hello, are you old?" Or, "Hello, are you a man? " (This to a woman with short hair!) Does anyone have any suggestions for social skills lessons that are just a bit beyond the basics? I have a Carol Gray book about Social Stories (pictured here )and will look at her site to see if she might have anything more advanced, but I want to see if there is anything else.
Anyways, my 10 year old and 5 year old sons are playing soccer. They participate in a league of children educated at home and, thankfully, they only have practise once a week, both at the same time, and there are only a minimal number of games that involve travel. For the first time, well, ever (!!!), I have been able to take Samuel along to the practise field where I hang around for the 2 hours his brothers practise. I had to do this a few weeks ago because my in-home helper was not able to make it that afternoon and my husband could not take the boys because of obligations at work.
I made up a visual schedule of what we would do during practise. It wasn't really anything all that special, I just made sure we moved to a new location every 30 to 45 minutes. Part of the time we walked down to see his older brother play, we spent some time in the car and had a snack, and then we spent some time on a playset (swings, slide, "fort"). Yes, nine year old Samuel stood out a bit on the playset, but he was content so I didn't mind! While we walked from field to field Samuel kicked around his own soccer ball and tried talking to EVERYONE!
On the subject of talking to EVERYONE, I realize that we need take a step forward in conversation social skills! Here is one example: People that Samuel does not know come sit behind us at church, Samuel turns around and says, "Hello, are you old?" Or, "Hello, are you a man? " (This to a woman with short hair!) Does anyone have any suggestions for social skills lessons that are just a bit beyond the basics? I have a Carol Gray book about Social Stories (pictured here )and will look at her site to see if she might have anything more advanced, but I want to see if there is anything else.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Our Family - What A Difference A Year Makes
Estee, at The Joy of Autism, recently posted about how far both she and her son have come in the past year. She invited readers to comment about what their year has been like. Since I just passed the one-year anniversary of blogging at the end of January I feel like I have a lot to say about this topic. I didn't want to "overload" her comments so I decided to do my own post about this.
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Lazy Sunday
I have a billion things I could be doing today, but I'm trying to make today a day of rest, like Sunday should really be! My husband and oldest son are away this weekend. They have a racing event up in Sodus, New York. This is relatively close to where my husband grew up, so he invited a bunch of friends and relatives to come watch. This is a different type of event than they participate in. They have been away a little longer, and when I have talked to my husband on the phone it sounds like it has been a lot of work. They are very tired.
My youngest boy is playing playstation and Samuel is playing out in the back yard. I can see him out my window.
There is an awesome lineup on the History Channel later this afternoon, awesome for our family anyways. There are three "Mega Disaster" shows on in a row.. first there's "East Coast Tsunami", then "Asteroid Apocalypse", then "Yellowstone Eruption." My oldest son will be so upset that he missed these! Then after that there is an "Ice Road Trucker" episode! My husband and I really like this show. (I bet if my husband wasn't so busy with everything else in his life he'd go up to the Northwest Territories this winter to try his hand at ice road trucking! Either that or he'd be up in Alaska on one of those "Deadliest Catch" fishing boats!)
Coming soon..I have been tagged by "Bishops Wife" to share 8 random facts about myself.
My youngest boy is playing playstation and Samuel is playing out in the back yard. I can see him out my window.
There is an awesome lineup on the History Channel later this afternoon, awesome for our family anyways. There are three "Mega Disaster" shows on in a row.. first there's "East Coast Tsunami", then "Asteroid Apocalypse", then "Yellowstone Eruption." My oldest son will be so upset that he missed these! Then after that there is an "Ice Road Trucker" episode! My husband and I really like this show. (I bet if my husband wasn't so busy with everything else in his life he'd go up to the Northwest Territories this winter to try his hand at ice road trucking! Either that or he'd be up in Alaska on one of those "Deadliest Catch" fishing boats!)
Coming soon..I have been tagged by "Bishops Wife" to share 8 random facts about myself.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Settling into a Routine for the Summer
We have been back home from our vacation for a week and a half now. It's different having Samuel home all the time now. I'm relieved that we don't have to do all the driving around. I am so over the "mom's taxi" lifestyle! Here's the general pattern of our weekdays:
WAKE UP
The kids are getting to bed quite late, so I let them sleep in. I try to get up around 5:30am. Mornings are my time alone to get things done. I work in the kitchen, laundry room, and then get outside to water plants or pull weeds.
Ideally I would get the kids up at 8am but it's usually 8:30. Then we rush to have Samuel dressed by the time our in-home helper gets here at 9:00. Samuel has not been nearly as cooperative with her as I had hoped he would be. She used to come after school, and Samuel was often tired and irritable at the prospect of 3 MORE hours of work after school. I'm going to start getting Samuel up at 8am. Perhaps if he has some time to play by himself before she arrives he'll be happier.
I had thought the 3 hours his helper was here would open up all kinds of time for me to work with my other children (we have to finish 4th grade this summer for my oldest son). But it has been very hectic. The three hours go by very fast. My oldest son isn't always very agreeable to working at this time either! My baby sleeps in until 10-11 so at least things are more manageable because of that.
AFTERNOONS
We eat lunch after the in-home helper leaves. Then I give the boys some free time. After that I get my oldest son back to work. Baby girl takes her nap at 3 o-clock. I sit down with Samuel during this time and go over some work with him. He either gets to play outside after that, watch TV for a while, or play on the computer.
EVENINGS
Once 4:30 or 5:00 hits I scramble to clean up the kitchen and work on dinner. After dinner the kids and I get outside for a while. I play with Samuel a little and then I do a little gardening. If my husband is home and is working in the garage Samuel likes to "hang out" with him out there. I'm encouraging my husband to find something for Samuel to "help" him with out there!
BEDTIME
Bedtime for the boys has been around 10pm. I'd like it to be a little earlier, but by the time I bathe the 3 younger ones and we get them a snack and let them play something of their choice (an incentive for Samuel to put on his pajamas by himself), this is what time it is. Samuel hasn't been falling asleep very well since school got out. He talks to himself a lot during this time (he is doing a lot of "self talk" all the time now, this has been increasing since last fall). Often he calls me and asks me to lay down with him for a while. Sometimes he will leave his room and come find me.
My oldest son is participating in a music/art day camp in August. Other than that we have no scheduled camps or activities that we are participating in this summer. We go to the park one morning per week and that is where my oldest and youngest sons get to see their buddies on a regular basis. Samuel doesn't particularly care about seeing anyone there. Our in-home helper comes along. Ideally we'd be looking for chances to make him socialize there but we're still working over the hurdle of getting him to do anything there besides talk to himself.
How is this compared to the past few summers we've had? Well, I'm relieved to not have to drive Samuel in town for summer school. That lasted 4 or 5 weeks and meant getting him there by 8:30am and then picking him up at 11:30. Since I have been still doing school work for my oldest son during the summer for the past few years, that was tough because there wasn't enough time to get much of anything done in the 2 hours we could be home. Then, last summer Samuel would get home from school and have 3 hours of in-home help! Two summers ago I was pregnant with my baby girl and didn't feel like doing much of anything! Last summer she was not walking yet, so my activity was restricted somewhat by having her around. This summer I can get around and do things a little easier since the baby is mobile. However, she wants to stick to me like glue and wants to "help" with everything! If she is not "helping" then she is inevitably tearing something apart around the house!
WAKE UP
The kids are getting to bed quite late, so I let them sleep in. I try to get up around 5:30am. Mornings are my time alone to get things done. I work in the kitchen, laundry room, and then get outside to water plants or pull weeds.
Ideally I would get the kids up at 8am but it's usually 8:30. Then we rush to have Samuel dressed by the time our in-home helper gets here at 9:00. Samuel has not been nearly as cooperative with her as I had hoped he would be. She used to come after school, and Samuel was often tired and irritable at the prospect of 3 MORE hours of work after school. I'm going to start getting Samuel up at 8am. Perhaps if he has some time to play by himself before she arrives he'll be happier.
I had thought the 3 hours his helper was here would open up all kinds of time for me to work with my other children (we have to finish 4th grade this summer for my oldest son). But it has been very hectic. The three hours go by very fast. My oldest son isn't always very agreeable to working at this time either! My baby sleeps in until 10-11 so at least things are more manageable because of that.
AFTERNOONS
We eat lunch after the in-home helper leaves. Then I give the boys some free time. After that I get my oldest son back to work. Baby girl takes her nap at 3 o-clock. I sit down with Samuel during this time and go over some work with him. He either gets to play outside after that, watch TV for a while, or play on the computer.
EVENINGS
Once 4:30 or 5:00 hits I scramble to clean up the kitchen and work on dinner. After dinner the kids and I get outside for a while. I play with Samuel a little and then I do a little gardening. If my husband is home and is working in the garage Samuel likes to "hang out" with him out there. I'm encouraging my husband to find something for Samuel to "help" him with out there!
BEDTIME
Bedtime for the boys has been around 10pm. I'd like it to be a little earlier, but by the time I bathe the 3 younger ones and we get them a snack and let them play something of their choice (an incentive for Samuel to put on his pajamas by himself), this is what time it is. Samuel hasn't been falling asleep very well since school got out. He talks to himself a lot during this time (he is doing a lot of "self talk" all the time now, this has been increasing since last fall). Often he calls me and asks me to lay down with him for a while. Sometimes he will leave his room and come find me.
My oldest son is participating in a music/art day camp in August. Other than that we have no scheduled camps or activities that we are participating in this summer. We go to the park one morning per week and that is where my oldest and youngest sons get to see their buddies on a regular basis. Samuel doesn't particularly care about seeing anyone there. Our in-home helper comes along. Ideally we'd be looking for chances to make him socialize there but we're still working over the hurdle of getting him to do anything there besides talk to himself.
How is this compared to the past few summers we've had? Well, I'm relieved to not have to drive Samuel in town for summer school. That lasted 4 or 5 weeks and meant getting him there by 8:30am and then picking him up at 11:30. Since I have been still doing school work for my oldest son during the summer for the past few years, that was tough because there wasn't enough time to get much of anything done in the 2 hours we could be home. Then, last summer Samuel would get home from school and have 3 hours of in-home help! Two summers ago I was pregnant with my baby girl and didn't feel like doing much of anything! Last summer she was not walking yet, so my activity was restricted somewhat by having her around. This summer I can get around and do things a little easier since the baby is mobile. However, she wants to stick to me like glue and wants to "help" with everything! If she is not "helping" then she is inevitably tearing something apart around the house!
Monday, April 9, 2007
The best-laid plans of Moms and Dads often....
...get blown out of the water!
We all planned to go to Easter morning mass together. I carefully laid out everyone's clothes the night before (including the adorable pastel-floral flouncy dress for the baby, with her new white shoes and cardigan, along with my now 3 year old outfit - I refuse to buy myself any new church clothes until I lose some weight!). All children were bathed and put to bed at a decent hour. My husband awoke about 15 minutes before my alarm clock was due to ring (I wouldn't have to wake him up, unimaginable happiness on my part!). I woke the boys up and dressed them. Samuel was a bit unhappy that we were ALL going to mass. He has gotten used to just the two of us going. After a few minutes, however, he was okay with the idea.
We were now down to 15 minutes before departure time. All I had to do was wake the baby up, feed her, and dress her. When I opened the door to her room I noticed a strange odor. She had thrown up in her crib the night before! After a quick re-strategizing session with my husband ("Honey, looks like you'll be going to church without baby girl, Samuel, and me"), I had to explain to Samuel that our plans had changed.
Once again, I was thankful that I had EWTN, on which I could watch Easter mass. It certainly is not the same thing as being at mass, but it is the next best thing when you cannot go. What was awesome was that the priest celebrating mass, Fr. Francis Mary, started off his homily (sermon) by remembering everyone who was home-bound that day. That made me feel a bit better!
The baby threw up 3 more times that morning and I was so afraid that I had made a big mistake in letting the rest of my family go to church, thinking they would either get sick or spread whatever was probably going to go around the rest of the family. My husband and I didn't feel particularly well, but nobody else got sick the rest of the day. I wonder if perhaps the baby just had a bad reaction to the strange combination of foods she had eaten while we were travelling the day before.
I spent much of my day doing laundry to clean up the messes the baby had made. I never did cook our Easter dinner, and we didn't get around to doing our family Easter Egg Hunt until early in the evening. Baby girl is my first baby that we did not have to teach egg hunting to! As soon as we put her in the room we had "hidden" her eggs she went right to them! Then as the boys did their hunting she busily followed them around trying to find more eggs as well!
We watched a wonderful show on the Discovery Channel which, I believe, started airing in just the past few weeks. It's an 11-part mini-series called Planet Earth. We watched the "Shallow Seas" and "Great Plains" episodes last night. It's on a bit late for all my children to stay up, but I let my oldest son watch it. I highly recommend checking it out, the footage of animal life is amazing, I've never seen anything like it!
I have changed my "display name," so when I visit you I will now be "LAA and Family." I have made this change because I have started helping my oldest son post a blog of his interests. After we completed the first post I saw "posted by Mom Embracing Autism" and that sounds a bit strange for a boy to be signing with. Besides, although "embracing autism" is a term that very much defines my life right now, there is a lot more to me than that. "Mom Embracing Autism" is a good title for this blog, my "identity" needs to cover a bit more than that!
Baby girl will have to make her debut in her new dress another day!
We all planned to go to Easter morning mass together. I carefully laid out everyone's clothes the night before (including the adorable pastel-floral flouncy dress for the baby, with her new white shoes and cardigan, along with my now 3 year old outfit - I refuse to buy myself any new church clothes until I lose some weight!). All children were bathed and put to bed at a decent hour. My husband awoke about 15 minutes before my alarm clock was due to ring (I wouldn't have to wake him up, unimaginable happiness on my part!). I woke the boys up and dressed them. Samuel was a bit unhappy that we were ALL going to mass. He has gotten used to just the two of us going. After a few minutes, however, he was okay with the idea.
We were now down to 15 minutes before departure time. All I had to do was wake the baby up, feed her, and dress her. When I opened the door to her room I noticed a strange odor. She had thrown up in her crib the night before! After a quick re-strategizing session with my husband ("Honey, looks like you'll be going to church without baby girl, Samuel, and me"), I had to explain to Samuel that our plans had changed.
Once again, I was thankful that I had EWTN, on which I could watch Easter mass. It certainly is not the same thing as being at mass, but it is the next best thing when you cannot go. What was awesome was that the priest celebrating mass, Fr. Francis Mary, started off his homily (sermon) by remembering everyone who was home-bound that day. That made me feel a bit better!
The baby threw up 3 more times that morning and I was so afraid that I had made a big mistake in letting the rest of my family go to church, thinking they would either get sick or spread whatever was probably going to go around the rest of the family. My husband and I didn't feel particularly well, but nobody else got sick the rest of the day. I wonder if perhaps the baby just had a bad reaction to the strange combination of foods she had eaten while we were travelling the day before.
I spent much of my day doing laundry to clean up the messes the baby had made. I never did cook our Easter dinner, and we didn't get around to doing our family Easter Egg Hunt until early in the evening. Baby girl is my first baby that we did not have to teach egg hunting to! As soon as we put her in the room we had "hidden" her eggs she went right to them! Then as the boys did their hunting she busily followed them around trying to find more eggs as well!
We watched a wonderful show on the Discovery Channel which, I believe, started airing in just the past few weeks. It's an 11-part mini-series called Planet Earth. We watched the "Shallow Seas" and "Great Plains" episodes last night. It's on a bit late for all my children to stay up, but I let my oldest son watch it. I highly recommend checking it out, the footage of animal life is amazing, I've never seen anything like it!
I have changed my "display name," so when I visit you I will now be "LAA and Family." I have made this change because I have started helping my oldest son post a blog of his interests. After we completed the first post I saw "posted by Mom Embracing Autism" and that sounds a bit strange for a boy to be signing with. Besides, although "embracing autism" is a term that very much defines my life right now, there is a lot more to me than that. "Mom Embracing Autism" is a good title for this blog, my "identity" needs to cover a bit more than that!
Baby girl will have to make her debut in her new dress another day!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Appreciating My Husband
Often overshadowed by St. Patrick's Day is the even greater feast during the month of March in the Catholic church, St. Joseph Day on March 19. St. Joseph is the patron, role model, and advocate in heaven for fathers.
In light of the occasion, I took a few minutes yesterday to think of my husband's relationship with our children. While my husband has half-siblings, he grew up as an only child in his parent's household. Because of this I think he is sometimes a bit overwhelmed having 4 children in the house as we do. I think he remembers "home" being a much quieter place than what ours has become! He seems to do best dealing with the children one-on-one, though tonight he took on all 4 while I attended a Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting for our county. He deserves a lot of credit for keeping a baby girl who thinks she is entitled to be attached to Mommy 24 hours a day and has recently discovered the joy of cookies and the ability to ask for them (that is all she says ALL DAY - "gook", rhymes with "book").
Go-kart racing has become the family hobby in the past year. So far only my husband and oldest son participate, but the plan is for this to change as the next two boys get older. It is looking as though racing will be the venue for all of us to be involved in something together. There are plans to involve Samuel this year by letting him try driving. Then next year our youngest son will start.
We don't know what to expect with Samuel. I cannot picture him following the necessary rules to participate, but he could always surprise us! Perhaps if he cannot drive then he could help with mechanical things as time goes on. I'm guessing I will eventually be the fan club and event family organizer. Maybe our baby girl will drive some day too! With any luck I'll at least get to see my oldest son in a race this year, but I don't expect the entire family to be involved for several years yet. I might be kicking and screaming when I do get involved, but I want to act according to what everyone in the family enjoys.
My husband and I bring our own strengths into the family. I sometimes complain about how we don't "work together" enough, but I am grateful for his unique personality and outlook on life. He is much better at bringing fun activity in for the boys than I am, especially as they get older. Dealing with Samuel, and two additional babies since he was diagnosed, has taken its toll on me in that regard, I'm just too tired during and at the end of the day to care about much else beyond the little world of child rearing that I live in. A short trip during Easter and a Disney World vacation are being planned and all I can think of so far is how difficult they will be! If it was up to me I'd probably just spend the next few years catching up on housework. Thank goodness my husband won't let that happen.
In light of the occasion, I took a few minutes yesterday to think of my husband's relationship with our children. While my husband has half-siblings, he grew up as an only child in his parent's household. Because of this I think he is sometimes a bit overwhelmed having 4 children in the house as we do. I think he remembers "home" being a much quieter place than what ours has become! He seems to do best dealing with the children one-on-one, though tonight he took on all 4 while I attended a Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting for our county. He deserves a lot of credit for keeping a baby girl who thinks she is entitled to be attached to Mommy 24 hours a day and has recently discovered the joy of cookies and the ability to ask for them (that is all she says ALL DAY - "gook", rhymes with "book").
Go-kart racing has become the family hobby in the past year. So far only my husband and oldest son participate, but the plan is for this to change as the next two boys get older. It is looking as though racing will be the venue for all of us to be involved in something together. There are plans to involve Samuel this year by letting him try driving. Then next year our youngest son will start.
We don't know what to expect with Samuel. I cannot picture him following the necessary rules to participate, but he could always surprise us! Perhaps if he cannot drive then he could help with mechanical things as time goes on. I'm guessing I will eventually be the fan club and event family organizer. Maybe our baby girl will drive some day too! With any luck I'll at least get to see my oldest son in a race this year, but I don't expect the entire family to be involved for several years yet. I might be kicking and screaming when I do get involved, but I want to act according to what everyone in the family enjoys.
My husband and I bring our own strengths into the family. I sometimes complain about how we don't "work together" enough, but I am grateful for his unique personality and outlook on life. He is much better at bringing fun activity in for the boys than I am, especially as they get older. Dealing with Samuel, and two additional babies since he was diagnosed, has taken its toll on me in that regard, I'm just too tired during and at the end of the day to care about much else beyond the little world of child rearing that I live in. A short trip during Easter and a Disney World vacation are being planned and all I can think of so far is how difficult they will be! If it was up to me I'd probably just spend the next few years catching up on housework. Thank goodness my husband won't let that happen.
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