#MomsGroup Walk Turned into Something Else

The nicer weather has FINALLY arrived, so I try to schedule a walk with one of the local moms groups at least once a week to get some exercise and grown-up time at the same time. Usually a couple other moms and their babies join me, and we go for a walk around the waterfront. Yesterday, no one else made it out. I had the thought that I would just go home and get some things done around the house before the kids came home but then I realized there was no reason why I couldn’t go for a quick walk myself.

 

Although I didn’t have the companionship, I was able to go off-path (because no strollers were with me) and enjoy some solitude, get some exercise, breathe in some fresh air, while taking some beautiful pictures. I really love the waterfront!

            

Met some companions along the way:

      

And some lovely fragrances:

     

It turned out to be a lovely soul-enriching hour.

#Autism Brain

When my son makes this play on his iPad:

He then draws this:

Not sure why, but it fascinates me each and every time! He concentrates so hard on what he’s drawing, and is very meticulous with each and every stroke.

#WordlessWednesday – Seedlings

We planted these seeds two weeks ago. Some are slow to germinate, others are ready to plant this weekend in the new garden!

 

Guess what I’m doing this long weekend…

New #PTPA Member

I’m so excited to be a new member of the Panel of Blogaholics with the PTPA (Parent Tested, Parent Approved). The PTPA is the largest parent-testing community and seal of approval recognized worldwide. Here is my introduction as a Blogaholic:

“I’m single mom of 7 year old boy/girl twins. My son has Autism. My daughter has Anxiety Disorder. I’m also very happy to still have a relationship with my 18 year old stepdaughter, despite being divorced from her father. She has Asperger’s and Mysophonia. BUT, my kids are so much more than their respective diagnoses.”

Read the rest of my intro here. I’ll admit that I’m so excited to be part of the Blogaholics, that I actually had butterflies in my tummy when I posted my introduction!

 

I encourage you to sign up to become a PTPA tester for products here.

 

If you have a product you would like tested by the panel of PTPA testers, check it out here. As always though, if you are hoping for just me to review your product, feel free to contact me directly.

 

My #MothersDay

I got to pick my kids up early from their dad’s because it’s Mother’s Day. I had already seen my son’s Mother’s Day card, which he made at IBI. His therapist had written the words, and he had placed the hearts. He also gave it to me that day by saying “Happy Mother’s Day”…my heart melted.

But my daughter had brought her card and present home in a plastic bag with very strict instructions for me NOT to open it until Mother’s Day. She was really excited to come home to finally open and show it to me. A tear may have happened when she read the poem to me.

      

I also bought myself something for Mother’s Day, not that it’s much of a surprise if you read my blog regularily:

An extra special part of my Mother’s Day weekend though was when my stepdaughter came with my man and I to an SCA event (medieval re-enacting). She asked if she could come a few months ago and this weekend was the first one that was relatively nearby and on a weekend when she could come. She’s a huge history buff, so I wasn’t surprised that she asked. Because all three of us competed in different tournaments throughout the day (she and I did archery), we each received a carnation representing that we were fighting for eachother.

Once I found the right medication combination to battle the massive migraine I got this afternoon because of the crazy weather we’re having, I have gone back to enjoying being a mom (instead of being passed out on the couch, waking only when they ask me for something), and loving how unique and wonderful each of my 3 kids are.

After School #MeTime, While The Kids Where Home?!!

My son’s new after school routine (within the last month and a half or so) is to get out of the car, run to the driveway of our neighbour 3 doors down, run back, play with his shadow, and then hang out on another neighbour’s porch for a while. Some days, he can be there for a good hour or so. If those neighbours are outside, and needing to go in and out of their front door, they just say hi, move around him and head inside.  They even asked after we moved in late last summer how to communicate with him!  How awesome are our neighbours?!

 

Until now, this after school routine has been a bit difficult for me, trying to keep an eye on him while my daughter is going in and out of our home, and honestly, trying to find somewhere comfortable for me to be for the hour or so he takes for this routine…especially when it’s raining (and the couple of days it snowed). A couple of days ago however, my man’s parents gave us some new-to-us lawn chairs and table (they’re even my favourite colour: green!).  While my son did his routine last night, I was able to bring backpacks and everything inside, get the kids an after school snack, and make myself a chai. I then sat down in our new chairs on the front porch with my feet up, reading my book (shocking that it’s about Autism!), drinking my chai and still being able to keep an eye on my son.

A bonus too, is the view of and lovely fragrance resulting from the bush in my front yard:

Not a bad routine to have to “endure” each and every day!

We Now Love The Rain

I now get excited when I see they are calling for rain in the forecast, because it fills my new rain barrel:

Last night’s rain filled the barrel about a quarter of the way.  Hard to see but I was so excited!

My daughter however, has a completely different reason why she loves the rain…it brings out tons of snails!

And as we were watching the snails do their snail-y things last night, we found out that they eat ummm, protein. Who knew? This is 3 snails fighting over their protein, aka a dead worm.

#Momstown Guelph

 I’m happy to be speaking at Momstown Guelph on June 26th from 10am – 11am. I’ll be speaking about what to do when you believe there is something different with your child, and how to support a mom-friend who has a child with special needs.

#WordlessWednesday – Flowers

From my daughter and my man while we were all walking to the park after school yesterday. I’ll let you decide which is from whom.

New Math? Confusing Math!

My neighbour’s son brought home this math homework, to prepare for an upcoming test. She showed it to me for another opinion and I was confused. She’s good at math; I’m not (so I’m expecting not to understand, tee hee!). This is Grade 2 math.

Here are the first set of questions. My daughter and my neighbour’s son can easily add the initial problems:

But not when they want the Grade 2ers to solve them like this example:

Then it gets even more complicated where they want them to “fill in the doubles”. Not sure what the point of adding three other calculations to figure out the initial math problem. Can’t they just rearrange the numbers on top of eachother and add them that way? Seems like a huge “make work” project.

                  

Math was NOT my strongest subject in school. In fact, I was a solid 64% or 68% in all math classes in highschool (compared to 90s for my other subjects). I’m sure if I had to learn it this way, it would have been even lower. This gives me a headache just trying to figure out what they are asking for, let along if I was a 7 or 8 year old in this Grade 2 class. I’m really hoping this homework doesn’t come home with my daughter, who is also in Grade 2 but in a different school this year.