Attack of the Zombies, Part 1

My son and his friends were up in his room playing Lego's. I love this all-time-favorite. Imagination, building, pretending.

And of course, what Mom can complain about some time to read a book while the kids are happily playing - right?

When tucking my Son in for the night I glanced at the floor still covered with Lego's and see the ships and forts that they built. Oh great I smile to myself. Childhood memories in the making.

And then I take a closer look.


What I though was a fort was filled with heads, not captured Lego people.














































The space ship holds the decapitated victims.

What happened to sweet innocent playing?

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Haiku Friday

Field Trip today
about 100 4th graders
trip is 12 hours long.

What was I thinking
when I volunteered for this?
am I that insane?

Be at school at 6
herd sleepy kids on the bus
for a three hour drive.

A three hour drive?
Yup - destination that far
Williamsburg, VA

Jamestown and Yorktown
two important sites of our
American past.

Three hour drive home
back to school by 6pm
boy I sure to hope
/
Everyones parents
pick up their children on time
because I'm going

To a girls night out
Mommy Needs A Glass of Wine
and wow, I'll need one!!

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Haiku Friday

Spring is finally

showing its colors and warmth

after cold winter

Time to put away

all mittens, scarfs and snow boots

until next winter

The sounds of children

laughing and playing outside

enjoying the sun
----------------------------------------
On my review blog
you'll find three great books to see
Don't be shy, go there!

And go here for more Haiku's!

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Look At My Son's New Shoe!

Knocking a flashlight off the counter and having it land on your big toe will get you:

-a screaming child in pain

-a quickly swelling and discolored big toe

-a 5 hour trip to the ER, arriving back home at midnight

-an expensive shoe to keep your food immobilzed (and you don't even get a matching pair)

-a day off of school to keep your foot elevated and iced

-and exhausted Mom and Dad

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Friday Haiku

Snow falling gently

twist, turn landing randomly

blanketing the ground.

Peaceful views to watch

while walking in quiet woods

in my neighborhood.

Two cold, lonely geese

swimming through the icy pond

looking for shelter.

One joyous child

has several snowballs ready

to throw at his friends.

To read other Haiku's, head over to A Mommy Story!

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Christmas with Autism

Christmas day is over. Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas. I love seeing family and friends. I love eating. But I don't love the extra changes in schedules, the extra transitions, the extra excitement. Or rather I don't like the effect it has on Son.

He's a kid. He gets excited. He gets wound up. He has his highs and lows. But they are EXHAUSTING.


I made a calendar for him using Boardmaker. I LOVE this program. Enough that when I stopped teaching we purchased it so I could still use it for the Son. We've got a lot going on. Having a visual for him of where we are going each day really helps.
And visuals are always easier to process than reading. For anyone (think of when you go to McDonalds - do you read the menu or look at the pictures of the combo's?). And when you're escalated, pictures are easier to process to help deescalate.

When there is change, one of Son's side effects is to not eat. He get extremely picky about smells and textues, despite being on the GFCF diet which has eliminated so many of these issues. And when he doesn't eat, he gets moody and irrational. And crashes. And then it gets taken out on us. I've been trying to feed him his absolute favorites, but sometimes even that fails.

Christmas excitement is a test of patience for both children and adults. I'm ready for that test to be over. But first we are taking a 4 day trip to New England to see my half of the family.

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Where To Put The Christmas Presents

I remember one year I just couldn't wait until Christmas. Just. Couldn't. Wait. I needed to know what I was going to be getting! Would it be exactly what I wanted and asked for? Would it be a great new toy I didn't even think of? So, this particular year I found the hiding spot. And I found the Christmas List my Mom had. I knew and saw what everyone was getting. Including myself. I was excited. I was nervous I'd get caught. I felt like I had the best secret in the whole world.

Then Christmas morning came. And you know what?

It just wasn't fun. The most excitement I had was trying to figure out which package contained which toy. Because I already knew the toys that would be opened. I had to fake my surprise. And I'm not a good actress.

Last year my son found where we had hidden his presents. He saw one before it was wrapped. He admitted it wasn't fun knowing what it would be.

And still, this year he has asked if we have hid his presents again this year. He has been looking. He can't find them yet - we haven't bought them yet. This year we told him they were being kept at his aunts house so he couldn't look at them. That kept him quiet for a few days. But he knows eventually they have to be brought back to our house. He's been staking out places we might put them.

Tonight husband and I have a date. To go shopping for his presents. Now I really need a place to hid them.

He knows we buy the presents, but I want them to be a surprise for Christmas morning. I don't want him to have learn the hard way the pretending of surprise on Christmas morning (like I did). Because, as parents that's what we want to do. Make life easier for our children. Even down to hiding the presents in the best, hardest to find place we can think of.

I'd better start finding a spot fast!

Cross-posted over at DCMetroMoms.

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Microsoft Student

This review is cross-posted from my other blog Yup-Another Review Blog.

Through MotherTalk and Microsoft , and Mom Central I was asked to review Microsoft Student on my blog. Sure, I got a copy for free, but I'm not being paid to write the blog. I was only asked to write it by a certain date (which of course I am waiting until the last minute to do!). So, I can be honest with you about it.



I LOVE it! Seriously. I really do. It's organized (unlike me). It's easy to use. And best of all, my Son likes it. Which is a good thing, because he is the one who is supposed to doing the homework.
I've spent a few days getting familiar with it. But I'll warn you, just like surfing the net, it's easy to surf this and get lost in time. Even if it is academics, it is. My Son realized this too.

I'll start with how it's organized. There are 3 sections to pick from: Homework, Projects and Discover & Learn.

The Homework Section contains math, foreign language and search tools. The math section is good, but I think meant for more middle/high school. My son is currently learning a lot of the topics (5th grade math), but the way the text is written it's pretty straight forward. Math is also not my strength, so I especially find this section helpful. It's a review for me of math concepts (by topic) so that I can explain to my son. It's also got some neat stuff like calculator (which we can never seem to find when we need one), conversion charts, and formulas.

To be honest I didn't spend too much time in the foreign language section as that simply doesn't apply to our current homework needs.

The search tools is neat. You can find articles, photos, maps, dictionary, thesaurus - quickly. For when you need that quick reference and don't want to spend time searching through web page after web page reading and looking for that one fact.

The Project Section contains papers & reports, presentations, and charts & graphs. Any type of writing - it's there. You get a template and a side bar with hints and how-to's for the writing process for that type of writing. From pre-writing, drafting editing and revising. It's got writing tutorials and various writing tools also.

The presentation section was also well put together. It's got how to's (which I actually find easier to read that the one's written for adults - I just may yet figure out how to put together Power Point presentations!). There is also templates for different types of presentations kids have to do. And, for quick reference, the writing tools are here too (dictionary, citation help, etc).

The last section is the Discover & Learn. This is the dangerous part. Make sure you have time on your hand when you go here. There are once again 3 sections: explore Encarta by subject, college & career and games & fun stuff.

Under explore by subject is every subject imaginable -history, people, science, geography, arts and then subcategories within those. Then, when you find the topic you need, there are articles, websites, artwork, further reading, audio clips and video clips. AND there is Encarta Kids, which is easier reading level of topics.

Like the foreign language section, I didn't spend much time at all in the college and career section.

Games and fun section is last. Once again, a wide variety of topics with little games to test your knowledge as well as teach. Another great place to explore topics of interest.

So, I do have to admit - it's a great resource. My son NEVER has any excuse for not being able to find an answer on how to do something, what to write. Even if he forgets his textbooks at school. He also feels a sense of independence having a computer help him instead of Mom. It makes him feel more grown-up/big-kid-like. The easy to use point and click encourages him to explore topics of interest. I'd much rather him be surfing this than his PlayStation games!
When he was younger he used to play the JumpStart games, but he finds those childish now. He looks to this as a fun way to learn, but not feeling babied.

So, a huge thanks to Microsoft Student. You get an 'A' in my grade book.

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Some Elf Magic

Ahh, Christmas is really near now. Holiday parties filling up the calendar. Holiday cards to write and send out. Holiday cards beginning to arrive. Lists of gifts to buy for family and friends slowly getting crossed off.

Kids do not have to do any of the organizing and planning. They get to sit back, relax. And get EXCITED. How many times have you said, "Better not do that, Santa is watching you!" Year after year it starts to wear off a little, doesn't it?

When my son was younger, and still believed in the power of magic, not only did he think Santa was watching him, but also Santa's Elf. Why you ask?



Because Santa wrote my son a letter:

Dear (child's name),

I am writing to ask you and your parents to once again host one of my Elves during this Christmas Season. Due to recent budget constraints I have had to reduce the number of Elves assigned to families, but I know that your home would be a good home for any of my Elves.

There are several rules of Elf protocol that I must ask you to follow. Elves are very shy and quiet creatures, and may be easily frightened.

-Please never touch an Elf.
-Even though Elves can hear, they will never talk to you directly. But if you have a question you may write it on a piece of paper and he will answer you in writing. Or you can have your Mommy and Daddy write it down for you.
-Elves like to move around your house. They may move several times a day or just once a week. -Elves do not like to hear: whining, fussing, fighting, complaining, or teasing.
-Elves to like to hear: please, thank you, I love you, can I help? and I am sorry.
-Each Elf has several names. Your family can decide what to call the Elf assigned to your home.
-Our Elves have developed a new piece of magic. Each Elf now has the ability to turn back to a toy state upon sensing a human in the vicinity. This may mean that you may occasionally find your Elf on the floor or some other odd place at times. Do not panic! This just means that your Elf was working and, when it sensed your arrival, dropped into the toy state of being again. Simply get and adults to move the Elf to a safe spot and go about your business.

Please take good care of your Elf. Remember, your Elf will be leaving a day or two before Christmas. The Elf will then report back to me on who has been naughty and who has been nice.

I look forward to visiting you on Christmas Eve. In the mean time, please be good and be on the lookout for the arrival of your guest!

Love, Santa

Now, of course - you control the Elf. You put him around the house. You write answers back to your child.

Son LOVED having Red (what he named ours) visit. He would write letters to him. He would talk to him. He would tell him the good choices he was doing. And, we used it as total leverage to get unwanted activities accomplished the month of December(who said bribery doesn't work?!?).

Throughout the year, we'd occasionally bring Red up in conversation. Remember when Red saw you clean up after I asked you too? I wonder if Red can see you know? I wonder if Santa will let him come back next year?

Our son actually stopped believing in Santa, but then he knew that would mean Red also didn't exist. But he hadn't quite figured out that his parents were also Red. So, it made him wonder if Santa was real a little longer too.

Now that he knows Santa and Red were all the works of his parents, we still have Red. Son will gently move him around the house and tell him about his good choices. He knows it's just a stuffed toy elf, but there's still a touch of magic. Because, that's part of what Christmas is all about after all.

Cross posted to DCMetroMoms.

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Get The Lead Out!!

My son is 9 years old and no longer puts toys in his mouth. So, I could easily look the other way with all the recent headlines regarding lead and other substances being found in toys for children.
But I’m not. And whether you have a child or not, and regardless of how old that child is, you shouldn’t either.

My son has 5 cousins – from toddlers to 8 years old. My Mother and I have NO IDEA what to get them for Holiday Season. You know – that over commercialized, buy-every-toy-to-see-the joy in your child’s face in the wee hours of Christmas morning? The sales and commercials targeting the desires of the little ones? My Mother said all the grandkids are getting gift certificates this year. Wow – how exciting for the little ones to open that and play with that all day!

But that doesn’t solve the problem. Now their parents get to figure out how to spend that certificate. How can we and other Mothers trust the products out there?

We all know the issue of toy safety is out there. But where can we get safe toys? How can we get toys to be safe?

Check out Consumer Union (a nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports).

They are an organization trying to help us sort all this out, while at the same time raising awareness with our government to make toys safe to begin with.

The Parent Bloggers Network is teaming up with Consumers Union to increase awareness. Won't you come join them in their crusade to make toys safe for all children, like it used to be for us when we were growing up?

Cross posted to DC Metro Moms.

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