I realize it's been awhile. I started blogging way back when all three kids still napped and we haven't had a real nap around here since my youngest was 2 years old and now he is almost 5! I promise to add more content to my blog this year. As well as carving more time for working out and not eating like a pig. I have a wedding cruise to attend in May and I don't want to be all matronly looking.
In the meantime I got myself a job. A once a month gig writing for a newsletter for an agency that offers services to kids with Autism. I will not name the agency here just in case anything I have written here pisses anyone off. This is my kind of job too! Once a month effort and I get paid in beer. Below is my first endeavor, it's rated G but enjoy anyways.
"First let me introduce
myself. My name is Charlotte Gracer and I am a stay-at-home mother
to 3 kids. My oldest son is 7 years old and was diagnosed at the age
of 5 years old with ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder. My youngest
son is 4 years old and was diagnosed with Autism before age 3, and
just recently we added ADHD to make life more fun. I also have a 6
year old daughter who is typically developing, and very sassy. I'm
also responsible for a 41 year old husband and a 6-toed cat.
I am in no way an expert
on parenting, in any form, and I am not even being paid to write
this. I am merely sharing my experiences, and if anything I share
makes you feel less alone, or better about your choices, than my job
here has purpose.
The experts in this
newsletter will be educating you about establishing changes in
behavior and the minimum amount of time that takes for a change to
stick. An excruciating 6 weeks. If you want to learn, read her
article, I am just here because misery enjoys company.
As I am writing this we
are smack dab in the middle of Regression Time, or Winter Break. But
this year I was much smarter than last, when I thought the Fall would
be an excellent time to start potty-training. Wrong. Just when we
would get the youngest using the potty, it would be time for
Thanksgiving Break. Loads of laundry later, he would go back to
school, and tons of success. Then Winter Break. Laundry, carpets
cleaned, van detailed, then we are back in school and back on track.
Well I guess you can see a pattern here. It wasn't until after MLK
day, and Spring break where we finally had a nice, solid, chunk of
time for him to get the routine down pat. Including wiping his own
butt!!
This year I was smart
enough to realize that if we can just maintain behaviors, expect some
regression, and not launch into any new challenges then we are
golden. The key, for our family, was to maintain as much of a normal,
consistent schedule as we possibly could during the holidays. Which
is hard, I know. We let them stay up 30 minutes later, but the
bedtime routine was exactly the same. And if they had a late night
then we would try our hardest to make the next day, or next evening
mellow.
This habit of sticking to
our routine has rewarded us with only minimal backsliding in
behavior. My daughter has been whining a bit more, I can tell my
oldest is a little anxious because he will ask me continually what we
are doing that day, and my youngest has started his screaming again.
But just a little screaming, and only twice in public. I will take
what I can get.
Now it's back to school
time. Back to established bedtimes, back to homework, back to not
putting whipped cream in my coffee every morning. I have made a New
Year's resolution to lose weight. So I am all too aware that I have 6
torturous weeks of changing my eating habits to look forward. Well
after these wonderful holidays it's going to be more like detox. No
more beer, bacon and cookies. But I have been down this road before,
and I know if I can make it through the 6 weeks it takes to change my
behavior, I will re-establish a habit of healthy eating. I need to
keep my eyes on the prize. Just in time for the heart shaped boxes of
chocolate of Valentine's Day to tempt me back into regression. "
