Hunter has high-functioning autism (formerly known as Aspergers) and is highly gifted
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My daughter has become a tornado of ideas and emotions, seemingly overnight. Her favourite sentence is, “I know that already!”. We have officially entered the “tween” years. And here I thought I had more time. I believe she is raging with hormones already and it won’t be long until we have a full-fledged tween/teen monster on our hands. She is combative, competitive and bossy. She uses sass like no other. If there were an Olympic medal for back talk, she would earn it. There has been yelling and tears- on both sides. She always has to be the first and…
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Every Sunday, I tentatively plan my week. Every day, I plan the daytime hours while the kids are at school. I have to or the bathrooms would never get clean, blog photos and posts would never get done and I would just wander around lost. I’m not a morning person, but if I’m not productive in the morning, the kids are home from school before I know it and I haven’t gotten anything done! Any parents with me on that? Since I hate mornings so much, I am always glad I have a plan written out when I wake up.…
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This goofball is my heart outside of my chest. Her and my son are my everything. She is my little firecracker: my small, resourceful, highly empathetic and sensitive girl. So I was not surprised, nor offended, when she said this little gem the other day: “Mom. Your skin has a smell. Actually, everyone’s skin has a smell. Not their armpits, but the whole thing. I sometimes choose friends based on that subtle* smell, cuz if I don’t like their smell, it is hard to be around them. It is a lot stronger in the morning than in the afternoon. And…
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Whenever I speak to my friends who don’t have kids yet, they relate to my stories about my kids by sharing stories of when they were a kid. We start to talk about fond childhood memories and I find that one type of memory always sticks out. That is the time we spent with one parent and had their full attention; no technology, no distractions, nobody interrupting. The memories are all different, of course, but they all have the same feel. Whether it was baking cookies, reading together (even quietly and beside each other rather than to each other), throwing…
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I used to be so judgmental. I was judgmental because when I was a new mom, I felt out of my depth and wanted to feel like everyone else was doing it wrong if I felt that way about myself. Sound familiar? Now, I see a mom walking her kids to school with her pajama pants on and my immediate thought is not, “Omg, make some effort!” Now I think, “Maybe that person has athletic shorts underneath like I do for their workout when they get home,” or, “Maybe those are her comfiest pants,” or, “Maybe that parent was dealing…
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Isabella is talkative and opinionated, quick to argue her point or get angry about the injustices of the world (she has a temper). She gets mad when upset- and confrontational. Hunter is quietly talkative, quick to hide in his room and draw or play Lego, and wants a hug when there is unfairness apparent to him. He gets tearful and whiny when upset- and withdrawn. They are both Highly Sensitive Children! I speak a lot about their highly sensitive nature but I haven’t explained it properly for a long time. Anyone with a highly sensitive child will have read the…
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Hey! We have been sick. Tis the season, I guess. (You get the flu! And you get the flu! And you get the flu! -haha) My kids threw up for 3 days straight, a break of a couple days, then again threw up for a couple of days. Despite early bedtimes, drinking lots of water, and eating a lot of garlic and oranges. We tried to be proactive but sometimes the germs are stronger. It was rough. Isabella usually throws up a max of three times but threw up 6 times in one night. I was the only one of…
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The idea of acknowledging and extending your gratitude is everywhere. Suddenly it is a buzz-worthy trend. I see articles about starting a gratitude journal or jar everywhere. I’ve tried to keep up a gratitude journal so many times but I’ve only made it happen two days in a row and a gratitude jar is neat but once I had a few papers in there, I never added to them, and I never looked at them. I know it is a good idea to focus your mind on the positive rather than the negative, but I hardly find time to work…
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Hello friends. How are you this Monday? Over here, we are still adjusting to the new schedule. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but my husband just got a new job (yay!!), and he started last week. It turned our whole schedule upside down. Our weekend was super busy so it was harder to jump back into the new (ish) routine that we had started last week. Especially for the kids. Every time someone asks me about Josh’s new schedule I say, “Oh, it’s good. An adjustment” and Izzy shouts, “Terrible! We never see him anymore!!” We were spoiled…