hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

 Ah! It's Friday, another blissful week of going nowhere. For me, anyway. Almost four weeks went by recently where I didn't leave the house once, and I honestly didn't even notice. I had to think  really  hard about the last time I left the house. This arrangement works well for me. I love going nowhere.  My kids do not  love the hermit life. And I gotta say, the biggest drawback of quaren-twenty-till-who-knows-when is that the rest of my family is home nearly all the time too. Even as a homeschool family, I still got fairly regular breaks by pawning my kids off on friends or relatives for a day or two once in a while. This is a bit too much togetherness. Genuine alone time is scarce these days. But, I have an office with a door that closes; I work from home and reading is part of my job. I am one hundred percent aware what a blessing that is, and I never want to take it for granted.  The thought of so many people having to go to jobs, or other essential ac...

The only thing that could have made the first day of December better would have been waking up to a layer of snow instead of frost. I sat out on my porch swing with my coffee for over an hour just reveling in the cold. The girls had a barefoot race across the yard, in which Kit wore socks because obviously, that's what you do in a barefoot race. Don't question Kit's logic, you'll lose. Our one day of winter went well. I got some good research and writing done and committed to a 500 word a day writing challenge for the month. I may come to regret the last one. Kit made me hot chocolate, mainly so she could guarantee she got to make herself some too, but it was fantastic.  Speaking of Kit, she's 9 now. Yeah, four years of not blogging and now she's as old as Zak was when I first started blogging! She's doing amazing. I plan to write an update post for each of the kids, but in the meantime, I'll give you the highlights. Kit has made so much prog...

Caring for an aging and ailing family member is immensely hard. It consumes so much energy, attention, and yes, money as well.  Caring for a child with special needs can and often is just as immensely hard, and is often a much longer journey. While I primarily focus on caring for an aging parent in this post, almost all of the points apply to caring for a child with special needs as well, and the accompanying printable list is just as useful for these parents as well. Support can be a difficult resource to find at times, and respite even more elusive. It has been a year now since our role as full-time caregivers to an elderly parent ended. We have still not fully recovered. We are still floating in bits and pieces in the aftermath of a storm that pulled our family in so many directions at once we felt parts tearing and then smashing into each other again. For a family who has some time to prepare for a loved one's illness, it can be incredibly hard to care for tha...

Another very neat book to tell you about! I received a free copy (pdf version) for the purpose of reading it and writing my honest review. So, here goes, ready or not... Quick Overview: Life on the peaceful farm soon becomes heavy and fearful when a cruel crow becomes the barnyard bully. Despite their clever and laborious efforts to stop the crow, it seems his iron rule is simply the new way of life. The source of relief surprises even the chickens themselves!  I really like that this story incorporates unique cultural elements while being completely relatable to any family.  The illustrations of the chickens are so cute and colorful, and I like that the chickens are portrayed as clever, smart, and brave (because they have sort of been dumbed down in many books and movies).  I would love to see an introduction page that lists the names, how to pronounce them, and significant meanings (if they have any). That, to me, would help me give my kids a richer experience with a cu...

This week has been all kinds of busy, some fun, some productive, some in the opposite directions of those two. But throughout the busy, and much more noticeably, this week has been very... COLORFUL! From play dough, to story book pictures, and playground to pjs, we've had a little extra color everywhere. Kit has had different color bathwater every day, and not from getting gross and grimy. She had pink on Monday, green on Tuesday, and purple on Wednesday and Friday! I'm writing a whole post on these very cool bath tablets, but here's a little sneak peak! Our shopping trip on Tuesday resulted in several new t-shirts for Zak,  plus a new light jacket since he has outgrown everything from last year, which honestly, barely fit him then. But this one should last him a good number of years now. Kit also got a new jacket, not because it's cool enough to wear yet, but because the stores are selling them now, and this one was bright pink and supe...

The truth in that statement is profound. And more of us parents need to start making it a core part of our inner dialog. In fact, parent or not, more of us humans need to start channeling this into our inner voice. Yet how  we execute it is integral to it's truth. It is not an excuse for every time we drop the ball, and especially not when we really mess up. Nor is it justification to treat others (including our kids) however we want. It is not a free pass either. Rest assured our choices will come home to roost. Rather it is a way to check our relationship pulse. To make daily self-checks and make needed adjustments. Permission to forgive ourselves, our children, our mate, or a friend and then take a deep breath and try again. Many adults, including some parents, have the expectation that people, (especially children) "should know better". This is not entirely unjustified.  I have this expectation of my various children for various things. I have, jus...

It may seem odd to choose that word to describe this past week, but it has several meanings for me. The fact that I have been piecing together eight of the ten blankets that I am behind in making for new (and some not so new, more like 1 1/2 already) babies is obviously the literal application of the word for this week. But those blankets and the thread that binds them together also hold illustrative value for me this week. The reason I am so far behind in making them is because the tapestry of our life ran into some huge snags and snarls around the time several of these new babies were greeting the world. All my energies, all my attention, all my everything was being poured into surviving the last two plus years. So pulling out the sewing machine was not even on the checklist. Autism has a not-so-funny way of doing that. Of pushing to the fore, even when things are going smoothly. It's like being left-handed, in that one always is. A lefty  can learn to do just about an...

What is a best friend? It's the one who wakes up thinking about you, and then let's you know that by sitting on the other side of the baby gate meowing for you to get up so you can snuggle and play together. It's the one that greets you with happiness so loud it sounds like a motor humming away.  The one that wants to spend all his free time hanging out with you... The one that knows all your inside jokes. Likes to visit and hang out on cold mornings. Is always game for hide and seek. Or building a clubhouse. Or dumpster diving. Or doing a little shopping! It's the one, when you dump blueberry yogurt on his back... ...is like, "it's ok Boo, it's my favorite flavor." It's the one who'll watch the same movies with you over and over. It's the one that you fight with, but always comes back, no hard feelings. It'...

I can't say that I'm sad February is already here. I find myself looking forward to it. I often forget to flip my calendar to the next month until well into the second week, but I was two days early this time! I'm not sure "ready" is the best way to describe me, but I have a positive outlook!  Why? Because we are changing things up around here, and everybody is going to benefit! For many months now I have had a laminated family routine taped on a wall in the kitchen and one in the kids room. We do not follow these. Not even a little. Not even at all. And that is a major contributor to my ever rising stress levels! I can't tell you how many times a day I hear SuperNanny's lovely British accent echoing in my ears..."you have no routine!"  Ahhhh! Nanny Jo, I know! I know! Why do we have no routine? Because I have NO energy! Physical, mental, emotional. This past year has sapped every ounce of vigor and vim I possess...

Over the years I have seen my family grow and change. I am number four out of five siblings. Our Mom is blessedly still a big and important part of all of our lives. We have gained, and sometimes lost, spouses, in laws, grandparents, friends and children. Life has taken us all in many directions, and not always in the ones we anticipated, or even wanted to go in. We have more hilarious memories than we can count. But we have some very sad and painful ones too. Every one of us is very independent and sometimes ridiculously stubborn. This shared attribute can be an invaluable strength, but sometimes our own enemy. We've helped each other, annoyed each other, and sadly, hurt each other too. I don't know if that is ever completely avoidable. Pain, like change, in this life seems guaranteed. And right now our family is experiencing pain. Deep pain. Each in different ways at different depths and dimensions. But it is a hurt without a vo...