Well hello there again. I trust everyone is having a great week. We are on Spring Break this week! I prefer it to begin following Easter rather than end with Easter. It just feels so wrong to go back on Easter Monday, but the powers that be in the School System didn't ask my oppinion on the subject, so off this week and back on Easter Monday. We started the weeks with a trip to the beach. It was Bear, my mom and dad and me. It was so nice to disconnect from the world for a couple of days. The funny thing is Bear wants to go back, but not because of all the cool things there or the ocean or anything. He just likes the hotel room. He didn't care if we went out or stayed in while we were there. We didn't really go out to the ocean as it was cool and he had a cold, I think. It may have been allergies, but considering the fact that I now have a raging bad cold, I think it was a cold. Anyways, his nose ran nonstop all the time, even with allergy meds. He said at one point when it had stopped running for a few minutes, that it was finally relaxing for a little while. LOL
God bless that little boy's imagination. He can take any toy and make it whatever he wants it to be. I had to inflate an air mattress for him with a pump. Last time we did it, he hid. This time, he said if he could help, turn the pump on, he would be okay. I let him and he did great. The funny part was that then his extra electric toothbrush that has been a weed eater, mixer, etc, then became an air pump. He would put it up to the mattress and turn it on and then mimic everything I did and said while the mattress was inflating. Too funny!!
The whole ride home, he and my mom read the book "Llaama Llaama Mad at Mama". Once we got home, that night, he said to me. "I am Little Llaama and I am mad at you,Momma." I said, "You are, why?" He said, "Because I went to an egg hunt and only got one egg." I said ," I wasn't even there. Why are you mad at me about that?" He said he wouldn't be mad forever and sure enough later, he said "I'm not mad at you anymore mommy. I am nice now." I said I thought that was great. After that, he played "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" I kept thinking someone was at the door, because he would knock on the door and then a few mins later say "Little Wolf, Little Wolf, let me in."
He is truly fun sometimes, but boy does he talk. Someone asked me once if he woke up talking. I said, "No. He talks in his sleep too." And that is so true. Last year, there was concern at his IEP meeting that he wasn't asking enough questions. This year's IEP partially focused on "why does he ask questions all the time." I had to laugh at the irony. It is good that he asks questons, but trying to get him to understand that questions are for eliciting information that isn't known, is hard. He wants to ask about things he already knows or things that are totally irrelevant to what is going on at the time. So, I have started giving him 3 questions a day that he can ask that are questions he already knows the answer to or that are irrelevant and after that, I don't answer. He is getting better about it, but whenthis protocol isn't followed by others who are with him, it makes it tough to get much headway.I also don't want him to lose curiosity. He needs to have a curiosity about what is around him so he will be encouraged to explore the world around him, but I just have to help learn to use questioning right.
One things that starts to concern me this time of year are the wasps. They like to hang around my front door. I am vigilant about watching for nests and trying to get rid of them, but still random wasps appear and sometimes get in the house. I don't want to breed a sense of fear in him about them, but at the same time, how do I help him to not get stung? I know all kids will be stung, but I would still llike to prevent it if possible. He has to touch sometimes to find his way, so how do I make sure he isn't going to be stung by a wasp. We also get Cowkillers sometimes.They are in the wasp family, but they crawl rather than fly- more likely he could touch a crawling one. I would appreciate any insight other parents could provide regarding this dilemma.
Well, at holiday time, I start thinking about how the holiday can be incorporated into something he can appreciate and enjoy with his other senses. Easter, or Resurection Sunday, is no different. I was looking for ways to incorporate the resurection in a way that kids can easily understand, and I found a really cool cookie recipe posted on a site I subscribe to called Angie's Gluten Free. This is the URL. Hopefully, it will work http://www.glutenfreeclub.com/Recipe.aspx?nid=522&utm_nooverride=1.
It should take you there. If I get the chance to, I want to do them with Bear.I also was looking for a way to do decorating eggs. His VI wanted us to boil some eggs and this is the perfect time, but what would be the point in dying them for Easter? He wouldn't see the difference. So, I started looking for tactile decorating ideas and came across a fabulous website for tactile decorating. Here that URL is http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/tactile-easter-crafts.html I am not sure if it is a BLOG or a website, but it is definitely something I am going to look at better. Hope you will be able to enjoy it too. *(You will need to copy and paste these URLs into your browser. I did not link them.)I am thinking about decorating the eggs with the cookie sprinkles and such. I think Bear would like that.
Well, good luck with whatever you do this weekend, whether it is church, time with family or just some special time for yourself. Be blessed.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Well, Hello there friends,
Wow! It's been quite a couple of weeks. I'm in the process of divorcing and it was supposed to happen last Thursday, but due to the attorney's paperwork glitch, it didn't happen. Was supposed to happen this Thursday, and haven't heard whether it did or not. Guess I'll find out soon.
Been pretty sick the last couple of weeks. Started out with strep throat last week. Then,Bear caught it from me last weekend. Then, Monday, I started getting sick again. Finally went to the Dr on Wed when my temp reached 102 and they couldn't tell me what was wrong- just some secondary infection likely- that didn't repond the the antibiotic I was already on. So, now, I am FINALLY feeling better.
Last night, Bear stayed overnight with his poppa and his grandparents. I am glad that he got time with his poppy. He doesn't get to see him often, so that was good. Picked him, and my folks up and headed to the mall today. It is that time, no not Christmas, not Prom, not Easter even... time..... for my first bifocals. A major stage in midlife. So, headed there to pick them up. Decided to get some that were very different from my previous glasses and I am loving them. Bear, however, sees the mall as an opportunity to ride the mechanical rides. He puts up with the walking and shopping, just to ride those rides. He loooooves those and has for years. I don't know what we will do when he gets too big for them. It's coming soon though!!!He is so tall already. He has certain ones that he likes to ride more than once and others that once is enough, but before all was said and done, he rode a total of 10 times today and would have ridden 10 more if we let him.
We were also looking for some Spring and summer clothes for my little long legged boy. Found him some shorts and shirts, but could not find any light weight long pants. What do the designers think? Do they think that kids want to wear heavy pants or shorts and nothing in between?? Because that is all I could find. Oh well, I'll keep looking.
Another thing he loves is conveyor belts and our loccal grocey store will let him feel the convyor belt when it moves and will sometimes let him go beind the counter and work the conveyor belt. He loves to do that!! He always asks when we are buying something in a store if there is a conveyor belt? I say, "No. This store just has a counter." He heard the cash register in one place today, though and asked me the what it was. I told him and as we were leaving, he asked me the oddest question. He said, "When can I come and sit on the cash register?" I said, "Never, because cash registers are not for sitting" I'm not sure what he was thinking about that.
As I've said before, some days I don't know what kind of vehicle I am driving around. Bear is always pretending it's a bus , plane, truck, etc. Well today at one point, it was a train. The funny part is he kept wanting me to blow my train's whistle and quite conveniently, we happened to pass a train and it blew it's whistle. Couldn't have been better timing. Then, on the way home,I was driving a race-car. What an imagination that boy has!!! I think he will surely be a writer as well as a musician one day.
Well, I should go for now. Church is in the morning. Hope all of you are doing great!
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Wow! It's been quite a couple of weeks. I'm in the process of divorcing and it was supposed to happen last Thursday, but due to the attorney's paperwork glitch, it didn't happen. Was supposed to happen this Thursday, and haven't heard whether it did or not. Guess I'll find out soon.
Been pretty sick the last couple of weeks. Started out with strep throat last week. Then,Bear caught it from me last weekend. Then, Monday, I started getting sick again. Finally went to the Dr on Wed when my temp reached 102 and they couldn't tell me what was wrong- just some secondary infection likely- that didn't repond the the antibiotic I was already on. So, now, I am FINALLY feeling better.
Last night, Bear stayed overnight with his poppa and his grandparents. I am glad that he got time with his poppy. He doesn't get to see him often, so that was good. Picked him, and my folks up and headed to the mall today. It is that time, no not Christmas, not Prom, not Easter even... time..... for my first bifocals. A major stage in midlife. So, headed there to pick them up. Decided to get some that were very different from my previous glasses and I am loving them. Bear, however, sees the mall as an opportunity to ride the mechanical rides. He puts up with the walking and shopping, just to ride those rides. He loooooves those and has for years. I don't know what we will do when he gets too big for them. It's coming soon though!!!He is so tall already. He has certain ones that he likes to ride more than once and others that once is enough, but before all was said and done, he rode a total of 10 times today and would have ridden 10 more if we let him.
We were also looking for some Spring and summer clothes for my little long legged boy. Found him some shorts and shirts, but could not find any light weight long pants. What do the designers think? Do they think that kids want to wear heavy pants or shorts and nothing in between?? Because that is all I could find. Oh well, I'll keep looking.
Another thing he loves is conveyor belts and our loccal grocey store will let him feel the convyor belt when it moves and will sometimes let him go beind the counter and work the conveyor belt. He loves to do that!! He always asks when we are buying something in a store if there is a conveyor belt? I say, "No. This store just has a counter." He heard the cash register in one place today, though and asked me the what it was. I told him and as we were leaving, he asked me the oddest question. He said, "When can I come and sit on the cash register?" I said, "Never, because cash registers are not for sitting" I'm not sure what he was thinking about that.
As I've said before, some days I don't know what kind of vehicle I am driving around. Bear is always pretending it's a bus , plane, truck, etc. Well today at one point, it was a train. The funny part is he kept wanting me to blow my train's whistle and quite conveniently, we happened to pass a train and it blew it's whistle. Couldn't have been better timing. Then, on the way home,I was driving a race-car. What an imagination that boy has!!! I think he will surely be a writer as well as a musician one day.
Well, I should go for now. Church is in the morning. Hope all of you are doing great!
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Hi Friends,
This is just a quickie, but I wanted to share something about Bear today. It's just another example of how differently he sees things sometimes. His Vision therapist send home sheets every couple of weeks to have him do things that are related to what he is reading. We have gone and taken care of and played with dogs, played. We've checked out the inside and outside of a car and talked about relevant occupations related to cars etc. Well today's was about stranger danger and making sure that your child knows emergency procedures, phone numbers, etc. Well, Bear has known his address, his grandparent's address, home phone, cell phone, and grandparent's home and cell phones since he was 3 because I never wanted him to not be able to tell someone where he needed to go if something happened to me and we were separated. (Mommy's biggest nightmare)Well, I was trying to explain to him about a stranger. He doesn't know any strangers. If he could see, he would be the kid who would go up to anyone and talk to them. Well, I was telling him that a stranger might try to lure him to his car etc with promises of treats and then might do something that could hurt him. Well, Bear says,"Mommy, would he have a gun?" I was surprised that he would ask that and interested at how he knew about that possibility. Then, he finished his question. "Mommy, if he had a gun, would he shoot me out of it like a cannon?" Aye, Yi, Yi! Lord help me. We talked some more, but I'm not sure he gets it.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
This is just a quickie, but I wanted to share something about Bear today. It's just another example of how differently he sees things sometimes. His Vision therapist send home sheets every couple of weeks to have him do things that are related to what he is reading. We have gone and taken care of and played with dogs, played. We've checked out the inside and outside of a car and talked about relevant occupations related to cars etc. Well today's was about stranger danger and making sure that your child knows emergency procedures, phone numbers, etc. Well, Bear has known his address, his grandparent's address, home phone, cell phone, and grandparent's home and cell phones since he was 3 because I never wanted him to not be able to tell someone where he needed to go if something happened to me and we were separated. (Mommy's biggest nightmare)Well, I was trying to explain to him about a stranger. He doesn't know any strangers. If he could see, he would be the kid who would go up to anyone and talk to them. Well, I was telling him that a stranger might try to lure him to his car etc with promises of treats and then might do something that could hurt him. Well, Bear says,"Mommy, would he have a gun?" I was surprised that he would ask that and interested at how he knew about that possibility. Then, he finished his question. "Mommy, if he had a gun, would he shoot me out of it like a cannon?" Aye, Yi, Yi! Lord help me. We talked some more, but I'm not sure he gets it.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Back to BEAR
Well,as I said previously,Bear is now in First grade. The year started a little rough, but overall has been pretty good. He began the year with one teacher and due to budget and zoning issues, received a new one about 2 months into the year. Overall, Bear has had a good year. He has a great techer, continues to have the same awesome therapists and now has his own paraprofessional. She is amazing with him. She is loving and kind, but still tough and demanding ,but in a good way. She has high expectations for him just as she knows I do. He has proven to be a well mannered, very smart little boy with varied interests.His interests don't tend to be what the "typical" child is interested in though. I don't know if that is because of his blindness or the fact that he is considered on the autistic spectrum, but he tends to focus on certain things for a while. At Christmas time it was dustbusters. He does not enjoy the vacuum cleaner at all unless he can work the buttons himself, but my mom got a dust buster in the fall and he went crazy for them. Everytime he went there, he wanted to hear it. He would ask if it was charging and constantly asked me when I was going to get one. He wanted a toy one for Christmas. It was all he talked about for months. Well, he got a toy one for Christmas and played a little with it, but soon that obsession was done and he was on to another one.
Now,he is in love with cars- a little more boyish- but he wants to know what kind of car and is it a car or a van and if it isn't what he wants to be, he pretends it is- ie my van lately has been an airplane and a car as well as a church bus in his mind- I never know what I'm gonna be driving! LOL
His other obsession is baths and showers. He wants me to wake him in the morning so he can turn on the bath or shower for me. He wants to hear it and if I take a bath after he goes to bed, instead, he asks "Mommy, did you take a bath or a shower?" "Mommy, why did you take a bath instead of a shower?" "Mommy, did the water come from the top or the bottom?" etc etc etc. He is also obsessed with Barney lately. Not the worse thing to be obsessed with, but admittedly, mommy gets tired of it. When most kids his age were loving Barney, he had no interest. Now, he is at the age that most boys would DIE before they would even say Barney, and he can't get enough of it. Yesterday, he asked me what would it be like if the rain was really lemon drops and gum drops. I told him "it would be sticky." Well, with that thought, I guess I better go take a bath, or a shower,so I can answer his questions about it tomorrow.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Now,he is in love with cars- a little more boyish- but he wants to know what kind of car and is it a car or a van and if it isn't what he wants to be, he pretends it is- ie my van lately has been an airplane and a car as well as a church bus in his mind- I never know what I'm gonna be driving! LOL
His other obsession is baths and showers. He wants me to wake him in the morning so he can turn on the bath or shower for me. He wants to hear it and if I take a bath after he goes to bed, instead, he asks "Mommy, did you take a bath or a shower?" "Mommy, why did you take a bath instead of a shower?" "Mommy, did the water come from the top or the bottom?" etc etc etc. He is also obsessed with Barney lately. Not the worse thing to be obsessed with, but admittedly, mommy gets tired of it. When most kids his age were loving Barney, he had no interest. Now, he is at the age that most boys would DIE before they would even say Barney, and he can't get enough of it. Yesterday, he asked me what would it be like if the rain was really lemon drops and gum drops. I told him "it would be sticky." Well, with that thought, I guess I better go take a bath, or a shower,so I can answer his questions about it tomorrow.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
What a Year it Has Been!!!
Well,it has been quite a while since I posted anything. I appologize for that and I hope to do better this time.I am going to give a quick explanantion for whay I haven't been posting. You will also notice that the posts have changed somewhat. They will focus some on Bear still, but there will be more about issues that we face as a family based on changes we are going through.
It was quite a year! Bear was not the only one going through changes. The whole family has. When 2011 greeted us with new opportunities to grow and change,we made a big one. Bearz dad and I decided to separate. I returned to work after holiday break heavy hearted, but determined to not let things in my personal life affect my work life. Trying to be mom and dad and trying to work out things so that Bear still got time with both of us and trying to make sure that his view of his dad wasn't tainted by my personal feelings sounds alot easier than it was/is. I did my best. I prayed ALOT and I leaned on family and good friends to get through it. It did take a toll on my health however and something I was diagnosed with back in 1999 returned with a vengeance. I was told that I again had Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome. I had it in 99 and after quitting my job and really taking care of myself, it went into something like a remission for a while. However, the stresses of the year both personal and professional proved to be too much and I once again found myself facing this disease. Knowing that there was no way I could even consider quitting or even cutting back on work, I did everything I could and I still am to keep being able to work. It means a lot of cutting back. It means trying to eat right and it means not always being able to do what I want to do. The thing that I have the toughest time with is scaling back on what needs to be done. I finally get a little energy and try to get some things done. However, if I overdo, I am no good for a long time. There are days that I go to work feeling barely there. I have been so tired that I couldn't speak or think coherently, but I knew I needed to be there. My students are pretty great. I've told them that some days they just have to give me a minute to think. Some days I need a nap almost as soon as I get out of work and yes... there are a few days when I am just tooo sick to go at all. I hate those days and I try to make them as few and far between as possible. But, that is the life of this illness.
Next post will focus more on Bear
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
It was quite a year! Bear was not the only one going through changes. The whole family has. When 2011 greeted us with new opportunities to grow and change,we made a big one. Bearz dad and I decided to separate. I returned to work after holiday break heavy hearted, but determined to not let things in my personal life affect my work life. Trying to be mom and dad and trying to work out things so that Bear still got time with both of us and trying to make sure that his view of his dad wasn't tainted by my personal feelings sounds alot easier than it was/is. I did my best. I prayed ALOT and I leaned on family and good friends to get through it. It did take a toll on my health however and something I was diagnosed with back in 1999 returned with a vengeance. I was told that I again had Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome. I had it in 99 and after quitting my job and really taking care of myself, it went into something like a remission for a while. However, the stresses of the year both personal and professional proved to be too much and I once again found myself facing this disease. Knowing that there was no way I could even consider quitting or even cutting back on work, I did everything I could and I still am to keep being able to work. It means a lot of cutting back. It means trying to eat right and it means not always being able to do what I want to do. The thing that I have the toughest time with is scaling back on what needs to be done. I finally get a little energy and try to get some things done. However, if I overdo, I am no good for a long time. There are days that I go to work feeling barely there. I have been so tired that I couldn't speak or think coherently, but I knew I needed to be there. My students are pretty great. I've told them that some days they just have to give me a minute to think. Some days I need a nap almost as soon as I get out of work and yes... there are a few days when I am just tooo sick to go at all. I hate those days and I try to make them as few and far between as possible. But, that is the life of this illness.
Next post will focus more on Bear
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ch Ch Ch Changes
Hi all,
I am back. I find myself in a bit of an altered circumstance that has me questioning a lot of who I am. My husband and I are in the midst of separation and divorce and I am beginning to see a me that hasn't been part of me for a while. I don't know if it will eek out in my writing or not. People who know me see a difference in my everyday activities and attitude. Is that good or not? I don't really know. I don't see or feel the difference in myself, but apparently it is there.
Although it is tough for me right now and I have spent more than a couple sleepless tearful nights, I know that I can't return to the relationship I had. It was not healthy for Bear or me. Sadly, though, Bear is caught in the middle. Despite both of us trying to make it easier on him and trying to always put his needs first, he knows that his life has inexplicable changed and he doesn't fully understand why. His cognitive abilities are lagging a little behind his cohorts, which may be a good thing sometimes, but he knows that mommy and poppy do not live together any more and he misses his poppa. Where we live, we rarely get snow. However, this weekend we got about 6 inches.In our area, that amount of snow shuts everything down and I do mean everything. The DOT crew couldn't keep up with the roads and so we have been a bit snowbound for the past 3 days and will be tomorrow. Bear was supposed to go visit his poppa yesterday and spend the night, but due to the weather, that hasn't occurred. Hopefully there will be a short visit tomorrow if the roads are a little better. He has been very patient with me(for a five year old)and I have experienced the joy of piggy back riding him around the house, listening to him practice his braille reading and listening to many many repititions of Curious George on his CD player.
His new interest is video games. We went to my best friend's house to vist over Christmas break and both of her boys played video games for a good part of our visit. Well, that kind of left Bear out a bit. He couldn't really do that and the things he was interested in didn't really interest them- although they did try. It caused me to see the larger gap between him and his class-mates. I thought,"this is what his class-mates at school are like when they go home." This is another realm that he doesn't fully understand, another brick in the wall that is up between him and his sighted peers. It made me sad. I have since been looking for video games that are out that are for blind kids or that have enough audio sounds so that he would at least have on some level the same experiences. Most that ahve been geared for blind, seem rather mature. I read that most companies who produce video games are not interested in making them accessible to the blind because it would not be enough of a money-making venture for them due to the snall population of blind people. Others just think its ridiculous to have a video game for a blind person. They should walk a mile and see if they still agree with that. I do not know if he would understand what to do with them or not though. I know I do not have the skillsets needed for teaching video gaming to anyone. I also don't know if it would be a good thing for a child who has issues with social skills to have a video game to play on his own. It might be a further isolation for him. I'm in a bit of a quandry about it. So I have started looking at other types of games. I am considering braille versions of Go Fish or Uno. At least they are games that you play with other kids. He seems excited about the prospect. I got him a braille version of Hi-ho Cheerio for Christmas and he seems to enjoy that. Of course, he beats me every time I play it with him, but that is okay. I would be curious to hear about what other parents of blind children have done in regards to games and such.
We live in an area where there are not a lot of kids and we do not live in the same community as his class-mates, so it makes it hard to have a lot of social interaction with peers outside of school and his group therapy.
This was his first snow. I thought he would love it, but he didn't. He thought it was okay for the time he was out there, but then he wanted to come back in and hasn't wanted to go back out. However, he did enjoy the snowcream I made. He said, "Mom.I like the creamy snow better."
Have a blessed day.
BEARZ Mom
I am back. I find myself in a bit of an altered circumstance that has me questioning a lot of who I am. My husband and I are in the midst of separation and divorce and I am beginning to see a me that hasn't been part of me for a while. I don't know if it will eek out in my writing or not. People who know me see a difference in my everyday activities and attitude. Is that good or not? I don't really know. I don't see or feel the difference in myself, but apparently it is there.
Although it is tough for me right now and I have spent more than a couple sleepless tearful nights, I know that I can't return to the relationship I had. It was not healthy for Bear or me. Sadly, though, Bear is caught in the middle. Despite both of us trying to make it easier on him and trying to always put his needs first, he knows that his life has inexplicable changed and he doesn't fully understand why. His cognitive abilities are lagging a little behind his cohorts, which may be a good thing sometimes, but he knows that mommy and poppy do not live together any more and he misses his poppa. Where we live, we rarely get snow. However, this weekend we got about 6 inches.In our area, that amount of snow shuts everything down and I do mean everything. The DOT crew couldn't keep up with the roads and so we have been a bit snowbound for the past 3 days and will be tomorrow. Bear was supposed to go visit his poppa yesterday and spend the night, but due to the weather, that hasn't occurred. Hopefully there will be a short visit tomorrow if the roads are a little better. He has been very patient with me(for a five year old)and I have experienced the joy of piggy back riding him around the house, listening to him practice his braille reading and listening to many many repititions of Curious George on his CD player.
His new interest is video games. We went to my best friend's house to vist over Christmas break and both of her boys played video games for a good part of our visit. Well, that kind of left Bear out a bit. He couldn't really do that and the things he was interested in didn't really interest them- although they did try. It caused me to see the larger gap between him and his class-mates. I thought,"this is what his class-mates at school are like when they go home." This is another realm that he doesn't fully understand, another brick in the wall that is up between him and his sighted peers. It made me sad. I have since been looking for video games that are out that are for blind kids or that have enough audio sounds so that he would at least have on some level the same experiences. Most that ahve been geared for blind, seem rather mature. I read that most companies who produce video games are not interested in making them accessible to the blind because it would not be enough of a money-making venture for them due to the snall population of blind people. Others just think its ridiculous to have a video game for a blind person. They should walk a mile and see if they still agree with that. I do not know if he would understand what to do with them or not though. I know I do not have the skillsets needed for teaching video gaming to anyone. I also don't know if it would be a good thing for a child who has issues with social skills to have a video game to play on his own. It might be a further isolation for him. I'm in a bit of a quandry about it. So I have started looking at other types of games. I am considering braille versions of Go Fish or Uno. At least they are games that you play with other kids. He seems excited about the prospect. I got him a braille version of Hi-ho Cheerio for Christmas and he seems to enjoy that. Of course, he beats me every time I play it with him, but that is okay. I would be curious to hear about what other parents of blind children have done in regards to games and such.
We live in an area where there are not a lot of kids and we do not live in the same community as his class-mates, so it makes it hard to have a lot of social interaction with peers outside of school and his group therapy.
This was his first snow. I thought he would love it, but he didn't. He thought it was okay for the time he was out there, but then he wanted to come back in and hasn't wanted to go back out. However, he did enjoy the snowcream I made. He said, "Mom.I like the creamy snow better."
Have a blessed day.
BEARZ Mom
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas in my Family Room
Hi all,
If you are like me, the holidays are taking a lot of your time. Its my absolute favorite time of the year. Its hilairious in my family room though. Most people have these delicately dressed trees and all the pretty nativities, glass dishes of candy etc etc. My family room is full of scattered Little People: Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus tossed on their heads in amongst the cows, sheep, shepherd and wisemen- tumbled from their humble abode so that Bear could lift the stable up and play the music. The music.... is all that matters.
Then, once those are carefully replaced , for the eleventeenth time, they are carefully watched over by no fewer than 25 singing Christmas critters. We have Santa on the Christmas bull, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Woodstock, Penguins, and a host of carolling cats, dogs, cows, chickens, pigs, birds, and a horse. Then, across the room is the Christmas tree. It has a beautiful star on the top. Then, it is completely blank except for lights, until you get to the middle. At that point, it is laced with every kind of Christmas singing ornament, singing animal and bell we could find. Bear loves it!!!
This Thursday, we have his Eligibility meeting. A lot has changed in a few weeks. His VI has been out and we have missed her, but the other VI has filled in on Braille and other VI related things. Meanwhile, the paraprofessional they got to take her place in the classroom with Bear, has been awesome. She loves him and she is able to stay with him all day instead of just in the morning. It has really made things so much better for him. His behavior and what he is getting out of the class has really improved having her there with him. It has given us some real ammunition to say that he needs his own paraprofesional in the classroom. His grades have been good. He is showing people how smart he is. I'm sad sometimes about his teacher, Mrs. M though. She occasionally says positive things about him, but I don't hear much. I mostly hear it from his new para Ms. SB. and other teachers he sees. I don't know if Mrs. M just isn't around him much, or if she just doesn't think to tell me the positive things as much- as long as she tells him- or if that is just the way she is. I guess I will never know that part.
I've written a non illustated children's book about Bear's first year- when we ofund out about his blindness. I'm considering E-publishing it. I'd love to know what y'all think about that idea.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
If you are like me, the holidays are taking a lot of your time. Its my absolute favorite time of the year. Its hilairious in my family room though. Most people have these delicately dressed trees and all the pretty nativities, glass dishes of candy etc etc. My family room is full of scattered Little People: Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus tossed on their heads in amongst the cows, sheep, shepherd and wisemen- tumbled from their humble abode so that Bear could lift the stable up and play the music. The music.... is all that matters.
Then, once those are carefully replaced , for the eleventeenth time, they are carefully watched over by no fewer than 25 singing Christmas critters. We have Santa on the Christmas bull, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Woodstock, Penguins, and a host of carolling cats, dogs, cows, chickens, pigs, birds, and a horse. Then, across the room is the Christmas tree. It has a beautiful star on the top. Then, it is completely blank except for lights, until you get to the middle. At that point, it is laced with every kind of Christmas singing ornament, singing animal and bell we could find. Bear loves it!!!
This Thursday, we have his Eligibility meeting. A lot has changed in a few weeks. His VI has been out and we have missed her, but the other VI has filled in on Braille and other VI related things. Meanwhile, the paraprofessional they got to take her place in the classroom with Bear, has been awesome. She loves him and she is able to stay with him all day instead of just in the morning. It has really made things so much better for him. His behavior and what he is getting out of the class has really improved having her there with him. It has given us some real ammunition to say that he needs his own paraprofesional in the classroom. His grades have been good. He is showing people how smart he is. I'm sad sometimes about his teacher, Mrs. M though. She occasionally says positive things about him, but I don't hear much. I mostly hear it from his new para Ms. SB. and other teachers he sees. I don't know if Mrs. M just isn't around him much, or if she just doesn't think to tell me the positive things as much- as long as she tells him- or if that is just the way she is. I guess I will never know that part.
I've written a non illustated children's book about Bear's first year- when we ofund out about his blindness. I'm considering E-publishing it. I'd love to know what y'all think about that idea.
Blessings,
BEARZ Mom
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