This made me smile today

This did make me smile when I picked up my son from my Dad this afternoon, helped me get rid of some of the stress of the day for a little while

Caterpillar

Rant 30.04.14

This morning I dropped off the boy at pre-school, on a Wednesday the children who are going up to 'big' school in September are allowed to stay lunch and have an extra afternoon session, but it was made very clear to us at parents night by the owner that it isn't right for my son, because in her words not mine "of how he is" and she also asked if we had ever thought about teaching him his colours.

Obviously because he isn't speaking and doesn't interact with the other children that means we don't try and do anything with him ever, right? well no, wrong actually we probably do more with him than parents with so called normal kids do with their kids, since every waking moment we are trying to encourage him to speak and play and interact.

The way the owner spoke to us at parents night made me think about moving him, if there was another pre-school close to my Dad's house (Dad has to walk to pick him up when I am at work) and he wasn't so happy there I would have done. Luckily the manager of the setting isn't the owner and she knows how hard everyone is trying to get him up to speed for September.

I managed to speak to the manager this morning and might even raise the issue of him staying all day on a Wednesday with her next week (I won't be taking or picking up again this week due to work commitments) as I do feel that he would really benefit from the extra session and the experience of been away from home for a full day in preparation for September when he has to start school.

If they refuse to allow it maybe I will make a call to the local authority and see if this is something that they can take forward for me, I really feel like he is been excluded because he has some additional needs and that is not fair on him.

Early Morning 30.04.14

Half Five this morning the lad decided he was awake, he doesn't just get up and play with his toys or look at his books or even go downstairs and put the telly on like a lot of 4 years olds would though, he lays in his bed making a whining sound until someone (normally me) gives in and goes in to him.

I gave him a few minutes just in case he decided that he didn't want to be awake after all, but as he was coughing a bit in-between the sound it was pretty obvious that this was not going to happen.

So we were up and dressed and downstairs watching the news (no kids telly in this house until everyone is ready for school) by half 6.

Hubby is sulking with me because I got up to him, apparently going in to him to early just encourages him to get up early, I'm not sure that is true, after all he can't tell the time and he doesn't always wake up this early. I think that if he is awake and making a noise that means I can't sleep that there is no point in been in bed listening to him I might aswell sort him out, and have a cup of tea whilst I am at it lols.

Oh well, I am at work again today, I am not at the gym tonight hubby is working to late for that and we need to move furniture ready for the carpet fitters coming tomorrow.

Recipe - Flapjack

Everyone at work loves my flapjack and so do my kids so here is the recipe

100g Butter (proper butter none of that low fat rubbish)
1-2 tablespoons of honey (again proper honey not golden syrup)
100g sugar (caster or granulated doesn't make a difference)
125g oats (I use porridge oats)
50g Self Raising flour
1 tsp of ginger

You can add coconut, dried cranberries, cocoa powder or any other dried fruit to it if you want

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Melt the butter and honey over a low heat and add to the dry Ingredients
3. Mix well, the mixture shouldn't look to sticky if it does add more oats
4. Pour onto a lined baking tray and press down with the back of a metal spoon until it looks smooth, it should be about 1- 1.5cm deep and a deeper tray like a square cake tin works best.
5. Bake in a moderate/hot oven (about 180C) for 15-20 mins
6. It should look brown on the top when you take it out of the oven
7. If it looks wet in the middle give it a few more minutes
8. Once out of the oven allow to cool before removing from the tin but try and slice it into portions whilst still warm.

Enjoy

Busy day at work and update 29.04.14

Well work was pretty mental as always, but I dropped my son off at preschool and the senco wasn't there so I couldn't ask the questions that I had, hopefully she will be there in the morning and I will be able to talk to her then.

On the plus side he was very happy when I dropped him off and was good for my Dad.

I have been given some books about autism spectrum disorder and behaviour from work and such a lot of it seems to apply to my son, all I want is for him to get through the assessment process and find out for sure, then we can move on and concentrate on making him the best that he can be.

He is such a happy little boy, but he does live in his own world a lot of the time.

On another note the teenager is making curry tomorrow at school, no idea what it will be like but will have to at least pretend its fab :-)

Morning 29.04.14

Humph back at work today after the weekend, the lad is back at pre-school to which will give me a chance to talk to them about him and what is happening, they are supposed to have referred him for an Ed Psyche assessment a couple of weeks a go and I haven't heard anything yet. I know that these things take time though so I just want to be sure it has been done. I am also waiting for an assessment by the community paediatrician for a developmental check for him, all of the pre-school assessments and speech and language assessments have him at about 16-24 months for speech, communication and social but 3yrs for physical development.

He still isn't talking, we get the odd thing at home but he is mostly silent unless you force him to ask for things or ask him what something is. He still doesn't initiate any conversations and if you ask him what he has been doing he doesn't answer you, its so frustrating it would be nice to hear him say Mummy or tell me what he has been doing at pre-school, he is 4 in 3 weeks and so far he has done neither of those things.

Work really sucks at the minute but I have the gym to look forward to for tonight :-) I used to feel bad about going to the gym on a night but since the boy stopped allowing anyone to do anything for him when I am there apart from me its meant that he will let his Dad put him to bed on those days, if I didn't go out my husband would never get the chance to have that special story time with him.

So for now I will drink my coffee and hope for a good day xx

The library and teatime :-)

Well I was expecting tears and tantrums at some point whilst we were out, but it just never happened, so that makes me a happy mummy tonight.

If only the staff at the library could be a little more friendly, we have two at our library one that is always happy and has time for children and grumps who always looks angry. Both were on today, luckily my son got served by the nice lady who even let him stamp his own books and gave him a sticker.

Last time we went it was grumps who barely makes eye contact with you when she is serving you and seems to really hate kids.

When we got home we read the books and then I cooked tea, which he refused to even try. I am not sure how I am going to get him to eat more he doesn't seem interested in food, anyway he is in the bath now having a great time.

I don't think it is going to be fun getting him out.

Morrisons 28/04/14

Usually I try to avoid supermarkets with my lad, he generally screams all of the way round it and is very uncooperative so today when I had to go to the shop and take him with me I was ready for a battle and could feel my anxiety rising as the time came to go.

Before we went out I managed to get him to go to the loo and bring me his shoes (he still doesn't put these on for himself but we are working on it) without a fuss, he wanted to take his toy and a bit of paper with him, I have no idea why but that is what he wanted to do, I decided that it was easier to let him take them than fight with him and start out with him in a strop.

He got in the car no fuss and when we pulled into the carpark didn't start shouting "no no no no" which is what he would normally do. I was starting to think that all was going to be ok, until it came to getting a trolley, usually I either get a basket or a big trolley which I can put him inside (he is to big for the seat) but today I decided to get a small trolley, he started to point at the bigger trolleys and whine I was expecting it to turn into a full strop but managed to distract him by telling him I needed his help to find the things that his sister needs for her school shopping.

He walked around the shop with his hands over his ears, he is sensitive to a lot of noise and often covers his ears and puts his finger to his mouth the shush people. Even though he was doing this he stayed with me and didn't cry or strop at all.

When we got to the till he was picking up the peppa pig DVD's (Thanks Morrisons for setting kids and parents up for a battle) but I reminded him that he had one at home and he happily put it back. 

So Far so good

Until he saw the kiddies rides on the other side of the till and went to investigate whilst I was paying, followed by setting off a till alarm by moving a barrier and then having a minor moment when I told him I didn't have a penny for the ride. 

So even though he did have a couple of minor blips and had to cover his ears for most of the time in the shop I would say that this was a successful trip to the shops, he didn't cry at any point (well not for more than a few seconds) and I managed to get right round the shop and everything on my list without it taking to long. 

Next challenge of the day.....  The library, will do the ironing first though and give him a little bit of chill time

Update 28/04/14

Yesterday was going so well, until I asked my son to take his dressing gown upstairs for me and put it on his bed, this turned into a huge tantrum that lasted for more than 45minutes, he did eventually calm down and take his dressing gown upstairs and put it on his bed. 45 mins is a relatively short amount of time for my son to tantrum for, they can last for hours and often result in him tiring himself out and going to bed rather than doing anything else.

It doesn't seem to bother him that he is sat in time out and will quite happily sit there for hours refusing to do whatever it is that we have asked him to do. No really does mean No when he says it, I have been told that this is a sign of autism but I guess that we will only really know when he has had all of his assessments.

Hoping for a better day today, its gone 8am and he is still snoring, he has been coughing all night again so I think he is just exhausted from it, no pre-school for him today he is back tomorrow so no need for him to be up if he is tired.

I'm going to body combat soon and leaving him at home with his Dad, he is usually quite happy to be left with his Dad which does make things a little easier for me, especially as when I am there he clings to me and I do feel like I have an extra shadow at time.

I need to go to the shops this afternoon which is always a bit of a flash point and if he is in a good enough mood I might take him to the library to get some new story books afterwards as a little treat, he loves the library but can get a bit grumpy when we go sometimes.

Carpet Shop 27.04.14

Last week we (I say we it was actually me and my Dad) decorated the hall/stairs/landing, it was much fun :-/

So today we went and ordered a new carpet and some lino for the kitchen, I have wanted lino in the kitchen since we put in the new kitchen about 8 years a go but hubby tends to forget about stuff like that so I took the opportunity to get both whilst we were there.

Now we are nearly £500 lighter but on Thursday I will be getting a new carpet and new lino fitted and I can't wait.

The lad coped really well with shopping for it, had a little wobble about getting back in the car to come home but nothing major, he walked off in the other direction but was able to be talked into coming back without a tantrum even though you could tell he really didn't want to get in the car. The shop was mostly empty which helped he really doesn't seem to like busy places, he did like running up and down the shop with hubby whilst I was sorting out the fitting and paying. For once it was a trip to a shop without any stress.

He is now eating the remains of one of his Easter Eggs and watching telly, he seemed to get so many that the supply of chocolate is never ending for him, I think he has another 2 to eat, and my daughter has barely touched hers either. 

In other news I am not really keen on this Aldi Coffee that I bought to try, maybe its an acquired taste and I haven't acquired it yet, and I am going to the gym tonight after tea which makes me happy. They have moved the gym as part of the refurbishment, I am really hoping that the next few months pass quickly I am not liking been in a room with no windows or air con. 

Update 27.04.14

So a lot has happened since I last blogged about my life

- my son is nearly 4 now, still not talking, and currently been in the process of been assessed for possible autism. He is a lovely little lad, always happy and when he is at home with us you wouldn't think he was any different, but put him a group of his peers and you can see that he is very different. He functions at a much younger age than he actually is, he doesn't play with other children and his speech is virtually non existent to name just a few of the differences.

- my daughter is now 14 and starts studying for her GCSE's in September, she is a typical teenager, sleeps late and doesn't really speak to us much unless she has to. Like a lot of teens she has acne and is on anti-biotics to help treat it, if only she could remember to take them and not get in a mood with me for reminding her she would be the model teen, she loves reading, music and art and is already planning what she wants to study at University.

 - hubby is still working hard, his hours are all over the place though which makes getting into any routine with anything difficult

- and me well I am still going to the gym 3-4 times a week, I prefer to go 4 times but its not always that easy with the hubby's hours, I managed to loose over 50lbs and I am finally feeling like myself again. My job is currently part of a commissioning review which means that in a few months I might not have a job and if I do it will be very different to what it is now.

With the stress of the lads assessments, him starting school soon and work I am feeling like it is all crumbling around me at the minute.