Three-and-a-bit years ago, Mr 3 was “born” by elective C-section. On this day, back in 1974, I came into the world the very same way. It’s funny, hey?!
Have a great day, dear readers!
Tag: Family
There’s no doubt about it, Mr 3 can get focussed. Very, very focussed. For the past couple of days it’s been our Thomas the Tank Engine set that’s captured his attention. Prior to this, it was the PS2, and before these, it was my iPod.
When he focusses, he gets absorbed. Completely consumed by the task before him.
Train in each hand, puzzling out his next move, that’s my boy! And yes, that sounds about right for any 3 year old boy too, right? Well, yes. And I love that.
The trouble is, just five minutes after this photo was taken, we had to head out shopping. And it was his reaction to this turn of events that wasn’t ‘about right’ for any 3 year old boy. Yes, he had a tantrum. Yes, he screamed in frustration and kicked his train track and broke it into several pieces. Yes, he thrashed against me, who had picked him up and was attempting to hold him tight and calm him down.
Yes, all of which (it could be argued) is also fairly typical for any 3 year old boy. But it was the sheer strength (and length!) of such reactions that, had anyone who didn’t know my little cherub, been within earshot of my house at that time, they would have thought, “That’s not normal. There’s something wrong with that kid.” And it’s that, which concerns me. Not their thoughts – but the fact that they had them. The fact that he has such huge tantrums which are out of character for what society says is ‘normal’ – but completely in character for a little autistic boy who sees the world differently to ‘normal’. And when circumstances occur that cause a mismatch between our view of the wold and his, then he’s going to let you know about it, darn it!
You see, he was happy playing with Thomas. Figuring out his next move, train in each hand. Completely and utterly absorbed. And he wanted to remain this way until *he* had finished; until *he* had decided that it was time to take a break. Having parents come and tell him that no, it was time to go *now* just didn’t fit with his view of ‘the way the world should work’. So he communicated his frustrations the only way that he knew how. Helping him to see that wrecking his train track wasn’t the best choice to make – because we wouldn’t be gone forever, and he could keep playing once we got back – was difficult. But I managed it, and once he understood that we’d be back fairly soon, he was more than happy to go and put on his sandals (and hat! Don’t forget the hat!) and hop into the car. It was just that initial lack of understanding that caused the problem.
And that’s my concern. Because at the moment, he’s three. But ‘turn around twice’ and he’ll be five, ready to head to school, and how on earth is his Prep teacher meant to handle such tantrums?
The way I see it, I have a small window of opportunity – just eighteen months, or thereabouts – to teach him resilience. To teach him that his view of the world, although completely valid, is not the only one; and that others are equally valid. To teach him how to react – how to behave – when his viewpoint collides with others. To teach him the protocols which the world considers ‘acceptable’; ‘normal’ even – although I’ve come to realise that there really *isn’t* any such thing as ‘normal’.
And at the same time; I want to enjoy his ability to focus whole-heartedly. Have a great day, dear readers!
Categories
The weekend that was
One of my Facebook updates yesterday afternoon spoke of how this Easter long weekend has been by far the best I’ve had in years. And I don’t really know why, but then again, I don’t really care why either. I’m just pretty stoked that it was so darn great!
Thursday (yes, I know, Thursday wasn’t part of the weekend, but hey – it’s my story, and I want to start on Thursday, okay?!! LOL) I took the kids to Pioneer Park at Landsborough for the morning. For those of you who don’t know about Pioneer Park, it’s probably the best kids playground (free, outdoor) on the southern half of the Sunshine Coast. It’s fenced (a huge plus for a mum of an escape artist son – apparently quite a few autistic kids are like this!) and its playground equipment is specifically designed as ‘all ability’ ie. those with wheelchairs / specific physical needs can use the equipment too.
But I hadn’t just taken the kids there for something to do; I’d arranged to meet Richard Bruinsma there too. I’d met him a couple of times before, in his role as Media Adviser to Peter Slipper MP, but this was different. This was an appointment with a purpose. And I’m excited to report that Bloxham Marketing has acquired the expertise of a extremely experienced journo (he was several years with Channel Seven prior to working for Mr Slipper) – and I’m ecstatic about that!!!
Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday was also awesome. Time with Hubby and the kids at Kings Beach Pool, then Kings Beach itself, playing ‘Where’s my Water’ with all three kids at the same time, church with Miss 4 who wandered up onto the stage while I was playing violin in the worship team, playing in the cubbyhouse with Mr 3, jumping on the trampoline with Miss 7, gardening, more gardening, baking cookies, watching movies, making curtains and yet more gardening, and exploring the worlds of tumblr, paper.li and google plus (again). Oh! And I also created my first ever A4 flyer -in Russian! And organized its printing and collection on Easter weekend (the manager of CCC’s international program was flying out at 3am this morning, and only got the translation of his text back, late Thursday! MASSIVE kudos to John Sherrard-Smith of Middleton’s Printing, Morayfield!) so that was pretty cool too…
All in all, a brilliant weekend. Now it’s back into what will hopefully be an even more brilliant week… Full of appointments that will hopefully get me (and my family) the outcomes that we need…!
Categories
Paradise
I am a very, very, very blessed person. I live in a free country, and in a very beautiful part of it. I have a wonderful husband and three gorgeous kids. I have a house to protect me from the elements, a vehicle to transport me and my family, a brilliant and fulfilling (although exhausting) job that helps to pay the mortgage and keep food in the fridge, and best of all I have a Saviour who considered me worth dying for.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing me so abundantly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
(Photo taken this morning, at Kings Beach Pool, Caloundra)
Categories
Innocent pleasures
There was a time, a week or so ago, when it stopped raining long enough for the kids and I to venture outside. We have a pretty tiny house, so having a large backyard is wonderful. Especially when it’s dry enough to enjoy it!
Being weary (as is my seemingly permanent state) I decided on this day to pull out the hammock dear Hubby bought me for a not-so-distant birthday. So I hung it up and jumped in, ready to laze – and then Miss 4 piped up with a “Jump on the trampoline with me, Mummy!”
I had just gotten comfortable, so said ‘no’ (Yes, I know. Yet one more example of how much of a #badmummy I am…!) but suggested that she place a ball on the trampoline and jump with that. Unfortunately though, she must have inherited some of my laziness (or is catching it via osmosis? You be the judge!) so rather than get off the trampoline to fetch the ball, she decided to use one of her boots as a jumping companion instead. And added one of her brother’s boots for good measure.
‘Twas very cute. See for yourself! (And yes, I know. The orientation’s wrong. D’Oh!)
[flickr video=6997116357 secret=1209f5a162 w=320 h=240]
Squashed. Like a bug that’s been steamrolled. That’s how I’m feeling after this week. I mean, I knew it was going to be a biggie, going into it, but didn’t really expect to be feeling like this at its conclusion…
Monday was work day. Head down, bum up, get-a-heap-of-things-done day, because the rest of the week would be drive-around-like-crazy day. It didn’t help that I had negative-gig left in my data quota due to a mix-up with Telstra this time last month. But, I had to get it done, so done it got.
Tuesday morning I spent at St Paul’s, getting stuff done on campus – stuff which would have been nigh-on impossible to do remotely, then it was pick-up-the-kids-from-care-and-drive-up-to-Minyama for my last (sob) Speech Therapy session with Suzanne at Sunshine Coast Speech Therapists. Lovely lady. Truly lovely. And even though that nodule on my right vocal cord isn’t gone yet, at least now I have some techniques to speak properly without exacerbating it – and hopefully it will go over time. Then I taught that evening.
Wednesday morning was meant to be playgroup-before-podiatirist, but Miss 4 and Mr 2 weren’t going to cope too well with that, so we ended up just visiting our neighbour in the morning, then heading out to collect Miss 7 early form school and driving down to Brisbane for her Podiatry appointment, then driving back to Caboolture for her swimming lesson, before driving to Morayfield for a *fun* time grocery shopping, then finally back up the Coast to home.
Thursday was diagnosis day. Miss 4 got dropped off at my mum’s at Currimundi while Mr 2 came to Nambour (Selangor Hospital) with me. Autism diagnosis confirmed, he then spent the afternoon back at my mum’s villa while I visited Tullawong Primary College, Medicare, the Family Assisstance Office, CentreLink, and finally Telstra (Yay! Got the internet working on my iPhone again!) before collecting the kids and heading home exhausted…
And Friday, I relief taught a very full-on Prep class. And Miss 4 managed to lose one sandal at care. One half of her favourite (and only!) pair of sandals. And Hubby fell victim to an unfortunate accident – our HUGE German Shepherd pup tripped him up badly in their morning run – which not only meant that a) he spent the majority of the day visiting doctors (X-ray of right wrist revealed just tissue damage thank God!) and dentists (teeth shaken about and chipped, but little other damage) and b) being laughed at because he’s limping and looks a sight – and his dog did it to him, but also that he’s completely out of action when it comes to helping with the kids because they don’t understand that they can’t jump on him anymore – plus he has zero use of his right hand / wrist anyway.
And Saturday morning was family-time. Half-great; half-tragic. I guess it’s no wonder that I spent most of Saturday afternoon yawning, if not dozing / less-than-conscious. Which is why I’m blogging now, at 3.07am Sunday morning. Nuff said?!
Phew! And it looks as though this coming week will be almost as full on…!!!
Categories
Silly me.
If you’ve been following my blog, you’d know that a week or so ago, I swapped my kids rooms around – Mr 2 is now in the girls’ old room, and vice versa. This was because his room was slightly larger (and therefore more suited to a two-child room), plus the fact that this bedroom shares a wall with the main bedroom meant that his rolling into the wall would wake us both up.
Silly me. Now we get to listen to Misses 7 and 4 talking at 5am. Which I guess is okay. But what I didn’t particularly find okay last night (or should that be ‘this morning’) was the fact that one of them had knocked their alarm clock, and set it to go off at 12.54am. Which, being directly behind my pillow, woke me up. And it was loud enough to keep me from ignoring it, and returning to my dream – but not loud enough to wake up anyone else.
Very annoying. Silly me. Perhaps I should change them back? Either that, or earn another $100K per year, so I can afford to build an extension.
Anyone got a spare $100K they no longer want? LOL
I’ve always been an early riser. In my pre-kid days, I was up and about at 6am. Since kids, it’s been an assortment of waking-or-being-woken, and at almost every variation of hour and minute possible. Now that Mr 2’s almost Mr 3 however, my night-time patterns are slowly returning to some semblance of pre-kid existence, in that the hours in between 10pm and 5am are generally kid-free. And I’m okay with that. Really. Those night-time feeds were a killer – but nothing compared to the 3am vomit cleanups. (Sorry if you’re reading this while eating or with a queasy stomach!)
But my kids are getting older – it was inevitable – and that’s good. It’s also sad. No longer does Miss 7 want to come and see me as soon as she wakes up – she hasn’t done this for years now. Miss 4 also seems to prefer talking to her sister, and playing in their room. Now it’s just Mr 2 who comes to visit Hubby and me upon waking. It’s probably the only thing that he does voluntarily to show love / affection / a desire to be close to me. So I’ll be sad to see him grow out of that.
But this morning was precious. Mr 2 didn’t just visit, he climbed into our bad at 5.32am, and then Miss 4 also decided to join us at 5.45. Miss 7 even paid us a brief visit, to ask if she could now go on the playstation, seeing as she was completely dressed in her correct school uniform (part of a deal we’d made last night) so Mr 2 accompanied her to the lounge room, and Miss 4 snuggled, giggled, and played with her Daddy and Mummy until we all got up at 6.
Precious. Oh so precious.
Categories
Freedom…
I love my kids. To bits. Deeply. And forever. But man! It’s good to get a night out occasionally!
Last night was such a night. I left the “Mummy!”; “Mummy!”, and the “Mummy!” to Daddy for a bit, and escaped with a great friend to the movies.
It was raining. I didn’t care. I got wet. I didn’t care. It was dark, and cold. Again, I didn’t care. I was out, and I was in excellent company, and I had no kids.
The movie was hilarious. “This Means War“, the latest Reese Witherspoon rom com, a little like the ‘Spy vs Spy’ of my older brother’s Mad magazines, back when I was a teenager. But funnier.
I think my taste in movies has changed over time. Although I have NEVER been able to handle horror movies – they don’t do anything for me at all – I used to quite like thrillers. Romantic comedies were alright, and I cold happily pay the money to see a kid’s movie, but my favourite were action flicks. Anything with Bruce Willis; later on Vin Diesel, or Jason Stratham. Now, not so much. Yes, action flicks are still great, but I can’t do too many thrillers any more. Maybe it’s that I see enough tension in my day-to-day life that I don’t relish it in what little time I give myself for leisure time? I’m not sure. But now, it’s more the superficial light-hearted “escape” that I seem to prefer, as evidenced by last night’s choice. And the time before that it was “What’s Your Number” – another click flick, escapist, triviality.
Still an’ all – last night was great. I got home and the kitchen was a mess, toys covered the floor, and life returned to normal, but I knew that for a couple of hours I had escaped. And been rejuvenated. Which was wonderful!
Categories
And we’re back!
Today is Monday the 27 of February. Very many years ago now, my younger brother was born. He’s now a freelance computer programmer based in London.
This time last year, I commenced my third semester in my Masters in IT, majoring in Library and Information Science. (I had started in July of 2010, and had also taken a course over the 2010-2011 Summer Semester). So I had completed three in my first semester, one over the summer, and was about to take two more. Six total, of twelve.
Source: Uploaded by user via Worldtraveller on Pinterest
Unfortunately, the way that the LIS is structured is that 5 core courses, of those 12, are Semester 1 only offerings. Which means that even if I wished to, I would never be able to complete the entire degree within the usual 3-semester time-frame. Which is a bit of a bumma.
As it stands, I’ve now done 7 total – 2 of the Semester 1 offerings, all of the Semester 2 offerings – and have 3 core (Sem 1’s) to go, 1 elective, and the practical course, left. The trouble is, I can’t take three courses in one semester any more (Hubby’s decree) so there’s no way I could finish this degree this year and keep my marriage.
So. I’m in for one (and one only!) course this semester. Might do the elective in Sem 1, and the final two cores (and the last of the practical this time next year. It seems a very long-drawn out process for what was meant to be a three-semester degree!
Never mind. I start today, “Online Information Services” under the brilliant @katiedatwork, and am super-excited to get another course under my belt…