Exhausted from parenting/ASD children/Welcome to Schmolland!

[SueM in MN]

Sure will!

me too.

 

[iwrbnd]

me too.

Me too! Keep us posted!

 

[Daisy&Max]

Okay raise your hand if after a long weekend in Schmolland you are happy to be back to work in some place other than Schmolland?

People have asked me...how was your weekend...I want to say Schmolland was involved in a war and I'm happy to be back in Switzerland. But I know they will call the authorities and have me carted off.

But I will give you a funny. My littlest Smutch boy is an avid reader and on the way into a store yesterday he spotted a bumper sticker that said, "Save the Ta-Tas". So he asked me what it meant. I explained using the proper words for the anatomy of a woman. Then with a puzzled look he said, "But Noah (the 4 yo next door) calls his grandpa Ta-Ta?" So then i had to explain that what Noah calls his grandpa is not the same thing as what the bumper sticker means. Poor kid couldn't figure out why the neighbor would be a woman's body part or why the neighbor needed saving!

Oh and eldest Smutch boy started a humvee while we were at a festival on Saturday. We marched in a parade and then we went to look at military vehicles. The kids could climb in and try to shoot the weapons and whatnot. So my kid sits in the front seat and sees a button that says, "Start". So he pushed it. Scared all the marines half to death as they jumped to find out who was starting the thing. I was so embarassed. They said that it didn't have keys only a button but they would make sure no one did it again! leave it to my kid!

I'll keep that young man in my thoughts too!

Daisy

 

[iwrbnd]

Daisy&Max, I wish I was at work today instead of my Scholland house! Your story with the marines is so funny! I'm having a not fun day with my DS11. Trying to get him to do anything but nintendo type stuff is a fight! Right now things are ugly here because I made him go to swimming lessons! Grrrr! He's my sweet one and I think the teen years are sneaking up on us because we are having more and more battles! I'm not laughing today.

 

[Daisy&Max]

iwrbnd (what does that mean by the way...I'm curious!)
I feel for you. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm home for the summer. So many of my collegues are counting down the days till school is out (13) but for me I'm dreading it. I'm trying to figure out what we can do this summer that doesn't cost a lot of money. We are planning on doing school work for an hour each day but that is the only thing scheduled. I'm afraid by the time school starts in August we'll be at each other's throats.

Good luck to you and your son.

Oh OH OH...I did have a break through this weekend. I let each boy choose their own toothbrush (it lights up for the length of time they need to brush) and their own toothpaste. My oldest, the worst of the two for brushing, must have brushed his teeth 4 times yesterday. He even brushed this morning before school without me having to prompt too much. Of course he swore it was only because he wants his DS after school this afternoon, but I know it was because of the light up toothbrush. I've got my fingers crossed that he stays this way for a few weeks!

Daisy

 

[NJMomma]

Daisy&Max, I wish I was at work today instead of my Scholland house! Your story with the marines is so funny! I'm having a not fun day with my DS11. Trying to get him to do anything but nintendo type stuff is a fight! Right now things are ugly here because I made him go to swimming lessons! Grrrr! He's my sweet one and I think the teen years are sneaking up on us because we are having more and more battles! I'm not laughing today.

You are living my life My son, also 11, has started some teen type smarmy-ness.

we had a rough weekend here too because DS had mucho homework to complete, and was so very unhappy about it. I was too. It was sort of an ongoing battle all weekend. I had to take away all "electronic treats" - nintendo, wii, ps2, xbox, computer. I am sooo looking forward to school ending (only 19 more days, but who's counting!) because a lot of our stress comes from school issues.

 

[iwrbnd]

I guess I'm not alone in the 11 year old attitude. These things are just a little harder with a kid on the spectrum because they are so rigid! At least mine are, and trying to convince them of anything but their view or ideas is just about impossible!

He's not pouting anymore so life is good here for a while, at least until the next swim lesson!

My username "iwrbnd" is "I would rather be in Disney." It's complicated and I wish I could change it but when I made it I didn't know what I was doing! This is my first message board.

It's our first day of summer here and I hope today isn't an indication of how things will be. My DS11 used to ride his bike, play with his friends, go swimming, etc, but now he doesn't want to do any of those things. I think he's realized he's not as coordinated as the other boys and he's such a perfectionist he just quit. Sad.

 

[encinc]

I think he's realized he's not as coordinated as the other boys and he's such a perfectionist he just quit. Sad.

UGH! I'm new here. My 7-year-old DS doesn't have an ASD diagnosis. He has a Developmental Coordination Disorder diagnosis, but he does share some features with kids with ASD (sensory sensitivity, high need for routine ...). I dread the day he discovers he's less coordinated than the other boys. Right now, he's blissfully unaware. He often takes on the role of "ref" or "coach" in sports activities with other guys, but like your son, he is a perfectionist and once he figures out that he's a lousy team sports player, I worry that he will give up. So far, he's sort of keeping up with lots of OT and PT, but I know that's not going to carry him through forever!

 

[iwrbnd]

UGH! I'm new here. My 7-year-old DS doesn't have an ASD diagnosis. He has a Developmental Coordination Disorder diagnosis, but he does share some features with kids with ASD (sensory sensitivity, high need for routine ...). I dread the day he discovers he's less coordinated than the other boys. Right now, he's blissfully unaware. He often takes on the role of "ref" or "coach" in sports activities with other guys, but like your son, he is a perfectionist and once he figures out that he's a lousy team sports player, I worry that he will give up. So far, he's sort of keeping up with lots of OT and PT, but I know that's not going to carry him through forever!

I'm sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis. Hopefully, he won't care as much if he notices. The change in my son happened in 3rd grade. That's when I noticed he stopped running around with the neighborhood kids playing sports and riding his bike. I think a lot of our problem has to do with his perfectionism. My son isn't THAT bad at gross motor activities, he's just not the best which bothers him. Good luck and to you!

 

[BreTyPres87]

Really like the idea of home church.. I'm about to buy some devotion books right now and begin my homechurching!!! Last church experience was Easter and neither child was pleasant NT and ASD, and it was only an hour!

 

[Kat77]

Why can't anything be easy?
Tomorrow I gotta get mean and we all know it just comes off as crazy. It is the last week of school, I should NOT have to go there.

 

[iwrbnd]

Why can't anything be easy?
Tomorrow I gotta get mean and we all know it just comes off as crazy. It is the last week of school, I should NOT have to go there.

What happened? Did I miss something? I hope tomorrow goes okay. Don't worry, we all have to go crazy once in a while to keep ourselves from REALLY going crazy!

 

[kirstenb1]

iwrbnd (what does that mean by the way...I'm curious!)
I feel for you. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm home for the summer. So many of my collegues are counting down the days till school is out (13) but for me I'm dreading it. I'm trying to figure out what we can do this summer that doesn't cost a lot of money. We are planning on doing school work for an hour each day but that is the only thing scheduled. I'm afraid by the time school starts in August we'll be at each other's throats.

Good luck to you and your son.

Oh OH OH...I did have a break through this weekend. I let each boy choose their own toothbrush (it lights up for the length of time they need to brush) and their own toothpaste. My oldest, the worst of the two for brushing, must have brushed his teeth 4 times yesterday. He even brushed this morning before school without me having to prompt too much. Of course he swore it was only because he wants his DS after school this afternoon, but I know it was because of the light up toothbrush. I've got my fingers crossed that he stays this way for a few weeks!

Daisy

Daisy and Max, I too, dread the summer. my little schmutzer was not found eligible for ESY, so I'm trying to enroll her in 1/2 day camps a couple of weeks. We do school here too, but she's only 4, so I'd like her to have the structure of listening to another adult in a group of kids.

Either way, the summer will be over for us in late August, but I'm trying not to think too hard about day=to-day!!!

One of the teachers at her school suggested that her issues might be temperament-based, rather than entirely sensory. Aaagghhh!!! So now I've ordered a bunch of books with titles like, "The Challenging Child" that can compete with "Your ASD Kid" on my meager bookshelves!! Actually, I sort of agree with this teacher. Zoe really does crave our approval and gets so emotional....it's hard to figure this kid out!!

Anyway, goodnight my friends and fellow countrymen!

 

[Daisy&Max]

Kat...:hugs: I hope whatever battles you have to fight tomorrow make you the victor!

iwrbnd...now I can remember your name when I repeat it back to myself!

Kristen...I know what you mean about the kids having someone other than us telling them what to do. Good luck to you this summer too. I have a feeling there will be many of us visiting here when trying to not choke our smutches.

My littlest Smutch acted like he had no idea how to talk tonight at scouts. We were trying to get him to participate but all he would do was turn bright red, his eyes watered and he started pulling on the skin on his neck. He did have a friend come to scouts tonight from his kindergarten class. The boy is soooo sweet and seems to love hanging around Ethan even if he doesn't talk. The little boy even said to me, "I keep telling him to not bite his fingers but he won't stop." Busted little man! hehehehe I swear I'm going to get some bitter apple or hot sauce to put on his fingers. But once we were done E asked if he could go outside and once he was outside he was perfectly normal looking.

Although J, the oldest, was walking along the tree line and pulling honeysuckle off of the trees and eating it. LOL I just stood there and watched as they each did their own thing.

Good night all. Sweet dreams to everyone!

Daisy

 

[kampfirekim]

No "gifts" on the floor today! My shampooer breathed a sigh of relief!

Buddy Soccer today......I don't even have to say it, do I? I think I am going to post a few pics of that event tomorrow. They completely changed locations to another park just because of my bolting, escape from anywhere at anytime little Schmutch boy! They should all give me a crown and a scepter because the new field is MUCH nicer than the other one.....and closer too.

Good night everyone. Sleep well and have peaceful, sweet dreams! KFK

 

[Kat77]

Nope, you did not miss anything, it's a long, crazy story so I did not elaborate. Plus, it is really stupid!
DD11, mean girls, unaware teacher who won't return phone calls! It's the last week of school, yet I still get to deal with stupid .... I'm tired of stupid!

 

[bookwormde]

I guess I am the odd parnet out, summer is the recharge time for my DS10. No school pressure. We have several good camps that he likes (most days). One is a very good camp for special needs kids (of all types) and the other is a camp at the local natural history museum (his "real world" primary area of interest is dinosaurs). Also big family vacations (this year 2 trips to the outer banks).

Bookwormde

 

[toodycat]

NJMommaIt was sort of an ongoing battle all weekend. I had to take away all "electronic treats" - nintendo, wii, ps2, xbox, computer. I always threaten to sell them on ebay if life gets too rough.

BretTyPres87 Really like the idea of home church. We are a Jewish family and I'm not sure the word is "lucky" exactly, but our rabbi's son is on the spectrum, so he totally gets it. The behavior problems we have are more likely to be DH getting bored! Once, we attended services at an ultra-Orthodox congregation my BIL and SIL belonged to where they separate the men and women with a big wall on casters. Guess whose kid knocked down the wall? I have to say that everyone was pretty nice about. That sect has some BIG families and I think they thought it was just one more rambunctious child.

kampfirekim No "gifts" on the floor today! Congratulations!

Daisy&Max The little boy even said to me, "I keep telling him to not bite his fingers but he won't stop." My son did this in 6th grade! It stopped after he resolved a conflict he was having with another kid. He was nervous and didn't know how to cope with it.

bookwormde I guess I am the odd parnet out, summer is the recharge time for my DS10. No school pressure. We have several good camps that he likes (most days). Summer is good for us, too. DS has always gone to one camp or another. There was a rough patch in 6th grade when his camp switched from creative activities such as drama, baking, nature appreciation and some sports to all sports all day for boys over the age of 10. That and their insane decision to put a DJ in the dining area led to my asking for getting my money back; I had essentially paid for him to sit under a tree for 8 hours a day, watching other kids play sports. Since then, he's done specialty camps like robotics, video game design and last year and this year, film making. We also always see progress when we go on vacation, especially if it is a cruise or a trip to WDW. This year, DS declined to go to WDW with us. He says he doesn't wish to interrupt camp.

 

[iwrbnd]

kat77, hang in there and I hope today goes well. Maybe you can educate studid!

bookwormde, I'm actually with you on the summer thing. Without school demands my kids do really well! We usually can pack up and leave Schmolland for the summer! But, don't worry, we always end up coming back!

kampfirekim, YEAH for no "gifts"! I would love to see pics of buddy soccer!

Have a great day everyone! My DS11 is now excited for swim lessons! Go figure! (When will I learn not to stress about small bumps in the road?)

 

[Kat77]

Thanks IWRBND & Daisy!
Everything went very well . School VP's got a good radar for sizing up kids and situations, and he is involved now. I TRIED to get the teacher deal with this since it happens on her watch. DD has enough issues without teachers letting things slide (bullying) because they are done with her for the year.
Now, an ARD to tackle... fun!