#PTPA #Blogaholics Post: Summertime Sleep vs #BackToSchool Sleep

 

 

 

 

 

I posted an article about getting back into Back to School sleep patterns on PTPA’s Blogaholics. Let me know if you try any of my suggestions and how they worked (or not…I’m not perfect, just sharing what I’m doing!). 

So many mom discussions I’m having now are related to squeezing out as much as we can of the remaining summer days, and of course Back to School. One discussion was with a girlfriend who couldn’t figure out what she was going to do about her daughter’s sleep patterns. As with most of us (including me), the longer days of summer mean we let our kids stay up later than usual. Her daughter has now gotten used to sleeping in late. My daughter has gotten used to going to bed late and sleeping in. I had adjusted my son’s bedtime over the summer too, but it was more related to his age than the summer. This girlfriend and I chatted about it, I told her what I was doing, and she told me to write about it…so I am!

School starts in 3 weeks so I’ve talked to my daughter about needing to go to bed earlier to make the adjustment for school easier. For this week, I’m sending her to bed 15mins earlier than her summer bedtime has been, and we’re spending the time playing with her dolls and reading, then lights out. I’m doing that for 3 – 4 nights, and then send her to bed another 15mins earlier, and repeat. My kids are at their dad’s next week so I’ll continue the pattern when they return the week after.  …

To read the rest of the article, please click here: PTPA Blogaholic Summertime Sleep vs Back To School Sleep.

Mom-Daughter Role Reversal (posted on #PTPAMedia.com)

(Posted on PTPAMedia.com)

We live on a cul-de-sac and with the nice weather back, everyone is outside after work/school, with the kids all playing together and the grownups looking at eachother’s gardens, building decks, chatting on different front porches, etc each night. We just moved here at the end of the summer last year and it’s been wonderful being in such a great neighbourhood. There’s even another family 3 doors down with a son with Autism too!

Being the “newbie on the block”, I asked one of the neighbours if there was a cul-de-sac garage sale. He said “no, but there should be”. So, I volunteered to organize us all together. A few days later, I was chatting with another neighbour in the middle of the cul-de-sac, and as some other neighbours returned from work, they joined us. My kids had been playing outside and, when they got tired, they went inside. About 5 minutes later, my 7 year old daughter opened the door and called “Mmoooooommmm?”

“Yes hunny?”

“It’s time for you to come inside.” …

…Read the rest of this post on PTPAMedia.com.

The Most Important Part of a Parenting Plan is YOU (#AutismParentingMagazine)

I’m happy to be writing for a relatively new online magazine called Autism Parenting Magazine. They publish on iPad newstands, and soon will be available on Kindle and Android. This month’s magazine theme is “all things related to therapy”.  My article:

I attended the local monthly autism support group this week. Normally, there has been two or three families but this week, there were nine different families; some of us who have been on the journey for a while, and two who just received diagnosis (last month!), and one who has been fighting for diagnosis for seven years (SEVEN YEARS!!) and is still fighting. There were lots of tears. Tears of being overwhelmed by the “newbies”; tears of understanding from us “veterans.”

One of the newbies is a grandmother to the little one who has been diagnosed. She has been a superstar and went through everything to get diagnosis for her grandson, while her daughter (the child’s mother) is still in denial that there’s anything “wrong” with her son. The child lives with his mom, and grandmother is very involved. Superstar grandmother!
While shedding tears, grandmother confided in the group that she’s worried about doing something “wrong” with her grandson but she refuses to keep him hidden from the world. He still needs to experience everything…grocery shopping, park, playing with other kids, etc. She asked the group what the best thing is to help support her grandson. I spoke up…love him, and get support for yourself, too.

As parents (grandparents/caregivers), we are so good at searching out for the newest and “best” therapies, tools and strategies for our children. I argue there’s something different we need to ensure is in place in all parenting plans for all parents’ of kids with special needs: Look after yourself too!

Subscribe through your iPad Newstand or click here to read the rest of the article (pages 17 and 18).

Also, be sure to “Like” Autism Parenting Magazine and my blog (if you haven’t already) on Facebook.