Your Turkey Smells

Hope every one had a good Thanksgiving.  

We have noticed N-Zilla's smell aversion for a bit. He covers his nose a lot and can smell something way before we can. He tells little old ladies that they smell like poop. N-Zilla is like a pregnant lady in their first trimester.  I haven't paid too much attention to this because...because I don't know why..but on Thanksgiving...'ish got real.  

We hosted Gobble day at our house this year. While the turkey was cooking in the oven, N-Zilla was sitting on the couch moaning and groaning. Mumbling something. He was complaining about the smell of the turkey.  He walked into the kitchen with a green face and told me the smell hurt his nose. I saw his face turn from one shade of pale green to another. Turns out N-Zilla REALLY doesn't like the smell of turkey.  Luckily he was able to make it to the trash can before he vomited.  

All-in-all it was a good day. N-Zilla and I spent time in the front yard, he played in the back yard and had a Thanksgiving feast of water, soda and chips-like our ancestors before us-;)

How did you all do with your sensory sensitive loved ones? 

N-Zilla and The typical Monday

Monday 11/11/13. Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy Day, and other appointments. Just a typical Monday.

              

                     

Sitting in the waiting room. 1

Sitting in the waiting room is a way of life for most if not all parents for one thing or another. Check-ups.  Immunizations.  Orthodontist.  Principal's office.  For me and my family-twice a week-sometimes more, 1 or all of us are #sittinginthewaitingroom.  

Pac-Man

                         /
                                              http://giphy.com/gifs/d9QiBcfzg64Io

                                 

http://mashable.com/2013/08/27/24-reasons-new-girl-can-replace-your-life-coach/

                                                 

Pac-Man!  All day everyday!  If you lived in my house this would make sense to you and would also be HILARIOUS.   Viva La N-Zilla!

Parent Tool Box Part 1

No more emergency cards to fill out and first day pictures to post.  The honeymoon is over.  We are in the 2nd week of Kindergarten.  Shit just got real.

I've known this day was coming as soon as I signed N-Zilla up for Kindergarten.  The notes came home today.  In short, it was not a good day for N-Zilla.

BUT today is the first day I used the tools and picture aids I got from Any Baby Can RFFA (Reaching Families Facing Autism) classes a 100%.  Since last Thursday I have started to use them.  Setting them up around the house.  Taking the wait card  and First/Then card with me in town.  Using it when we went out to eat Saturday.  I've been using it bits and pieces through out the day.

In the morning I have a picture schedule for N-Zilla.  Life got hectic the end part of last week and the first part of this week.  It's gonna be Thursday and I still have the case of the Monday's.   When days or weeks are like this...I fall behind on the picture schedules and schedules in general.

Since Monday I could see something boiling at the surface and sure enough the notes came today.    It's clear to me more now then ever that I have to stick to a schedule and everybody involved with N-Zilla has to be on board.  More social stories.  More visual cues. More patients.  More. More. More.

Today after I picked N-Zilla up from school and drying off from being stuck in the 10 minute rain storm  I used my notes from the RFFA class and tool box.  Next post I will be able to show you pictures.  I can't right now because my phone doesn't hold a charge because it was dropped in the toilet over the summer and in another part of the world a butterfly flapped it's wings.

Hopefully keeping up with the post will keep me on track and put the pressure on to use all his visual cues, social stories etc.

So...

Wednesday Evening:

•  Used "Wait Card".
•  N-Zilla used his cards for his First/Then.  First Snack. Then Homework.  
•  No yelling from me (mom) at homework time.  
•  Used token system.  Worked towards computer time.
•  Multitask. While N-Zilla was on computer caught up with Crazy Horse and drew out a social story for shower time.   While cooking dinner made a grocery list and diner menu with Son #1. Sang little mermaid songs for Talulah while laminating Shower Time social story. 
• First/Then cue to get N-Zilla ready to take a shower.
• Taped social story in shower wall.  Had N-Zilla follow sequence.  Mentally pat myself on back.
• Used Visual cue card for sleep to get N-Zilla to bed (my bed).  Sat in dark with him until he fell asleep.   End time 8pm.  He fell asleep 5 hrs earlier then he had in the past 5 days.  

  

Survived the first week

Well...We made it!

 The big kids know the drill, but it is difficult explaining to N-Zilla that he has school tomorrow.  And I am slightly going a little bonkers.  Why you ask? Well, since school has started the kids have had more melt downs (all 4 of them) then I like to count.  If I see another eye roll (which I will in less then 24 hrs) I think I might be ill (which I am).   

"I have feelings too, dammit"...and why lovable is misspelled

Last night in a spontaneous combustion of thought and reflection I had the brilliant idea of changing the address of this blog. I learned quickly that was a no-no.

Got this from Tumblr.com

1) I've known that Lovable (as in the title) is spelled wrong since the second after I hit the save button.  It's a bit embarrassing but I tricked myself into thinking it was cute like a backward R or putting the word mom in front of word ex: MOMtopia or MOMcellent.  I'm not sure if people use that but you get my point.  Turns out it's really not that cute. If you hadn't notice by now I am Dyslexic. Also, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia. I've spent a good deal of my life in reading labs and re-doing spelling test. Flunking math test, re-writing papers to pass classes in high school and being clumsy in almost everything that I do.  As you can tell, these things don’t go away and its life long so...whatareyougonnado? Except over compensate and develop the need to go above and beyond and never giving up even if that means writing ill written posts.

2) When I first started this blog.  My life was very lovable and destructive. My son who you all know and love as N-Zilla was a very cute chubby little guy and at the same time he was very destructive. Broken things everywhere! He once gave me a black eye and I’m sure re-broke my nose. There were sleepless nights. Tantrums that would last for hours. I can't explain everything that went on in those early years because I was in a blur. I would write FB post that went like this: I have this son, He is lovable and destructive. So lovable and destructive that my window is broken.

He was at the tail end of being 2.  Now he is 5 and starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks.  Yes, sometimes things are destructive. Cleaning BM from a 5 y/o’s behind is not fun or stopping everything to look for a missing microscopic piece of a train takes its toll on the brain. Other things are happening now that are not so destructive like when your 3 y/o makes friends at the pool party while your N-Zilla doesn't acknowledge his peers around him. Or when you have to keep a hawk eye on your son so he doesn't have a bm in the pool or anywhere else but the toilet.Things like going to OT and speech and making Picture schedules around the house are not destructive just a part of life.

Although their are very few things (if any) that you can say to N-Zilla that will hurt his feelings...I know that he has them and might eventually get hurt.  He is a person.  There's a misconception that people on the spectrum (be it mild or low functioning or ADHD or Sensory) that these people have tough skin and are lacking in feelings etc.  I don't believe this to be true.  His way of processing feelings, pain or pleasure, happiness or sadness, or disappointment is different and my neuro-typical empathy might miss his cues.   

He might read this blog someday and I want it to be very clear that everything that I write about N-Zilla is through the eyes of his mom. Me. Mom-Zilla.  I want him to know that these are my experience not his. Someday he will write his own book (or blog) through his own eyes and it will be okay.

Soooo, yeah that's why the sudden change last night.