In search of political correctness

Well, you aren't going to find it here.  I lost the doggone password to this blog, thus I haven't blogged in months.  Couple that with my wish to not offend, and pretty much that makes me delete everything I think I would post.  There was a comment on my old blog in May that really had me thinking.  I write my blogs, then edit them for grammar, typos and content.  By the time I'm finished, the blog is not representative of the events or people that it concerned, so I delete the whole thing.  Well, I'm not doing that any more.  If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.  I will no longer whitewash the truth (or my opinions) so that I don't offend.  I only ask one favor of my readers.  If you know me personally, I would like for you to respect the relative anonymity(sp) that this blog affords me.  Please do not contact my family over something you read in my blog.  There are days when I feel the need to vent.  This is my therapy.  If you are concerned about me, please contact me directly.

Enough of the seriousness.  Time to update!  This school year has been wonderful!  We just got Dude's report card and it is all high A's (98-100) and one B.  I'm happy.  Even Choo got a good report.  I'm pleased that he is making such progress toward his IEP goals.  I was kind of concerned for Dude.  This is his last year in middle school and it is the 3rd school he has attended in 3 years.  This last change was due to redistricting in our area.  The good news was that the vast majority of his friends were going to the new school, as well.  Choo no longer needs a harness for the bus!!!  Wonderful news, since I hated having to put that thing on him.  

I've decided that I want a dog.  Granted, I've been saying this for years.  However, now the rest of the family is on board.   My mother thinks that I have absolutely flipped my lid.  I never was the poster child for making things easy on myself, so why should I stop now?  We've decided that a rescue dog is the way to go and we are currently attending adoption events to meet and greet available dogs.  We are already preapproved with one of the rescue agencies and they are on the lookout for that special animal that will fit with our family.  Dude fell in love with the PERFECT dog this weekend, only to have her adopted before we could fill out paperwork.  We are in no rush, so we will wait until the perfect (for us) dog is found.  

Well, I've wasted enough time.  This house isn't going to clean itself. Hopefully, I'll get back into the groove of blogging again.

How can it be March?

     Where the heck did February go?  I’m thinking that I should have just renamed the house the Infirmary.  Between Choo and Dude (and myself) February was spent being ill.  What fun!  The best part of February was the lunch date Bear and I had on February 28.  It felt so good to get out of the house and enjoy each other’s company.

But, the euphoria was not to last.  Why?  Because on March1, I sprained my ankle while walking down the stairs.  I’m thinking of writing a book, my life might be entertaining to other people.  What are the odds?  We went to an urgent care facility who promptly diagnosed me with a severe sprain/ possible fracture.  I got a fiberglass splint and crutches.  I was laid up for the whole week. Since I am not good on crutches, I fashioned a ‘redneck wheelchair’.  Normal folks might refer to them as office chairs, but where’s the fun in that.  I had one on the second floor and one on the first floor.  So, how did I navigate the stairs?  We call it ‘booty-scooting’. Yea, that was a sight.  Choo was not sure what to make of my injury.  When he came home on March 1, he promptly came upstairs and saw my splinted foot propped up while I was laying on the bed.  His response: “Wha da hey?” which I’m pretty sure is his way of repeating Mommy’s favorite phrase of “What the hell?”  (my usual response to Dude’s room).  Guess I’ll be cleaning up the language ASAP.  I started covering the splint with one of Bear’s socks because my toes were getting cold.  This just intrigued little Choo, who proceeded to poke my swollen ankle with his finger while I’m screaming, “Don’t touch, don’t touch Mommy’s foot, no no no…..AHHHHHHH.” It’s been really fun around here.  Bear has been trying to spoil me by getting my favorites : almond bear claws from Publix.  Yummy, but about 500 calories each.  Now, he has added Georgia mudslide Blizzards to the mix.  Those are 1000 calories.  Just what someone who can’t move around needs, tons of fat and calories.  But his heart is in the right place.

I went to the orthopedic this Monday (the 11th).   Boy, I don’t do anything half way.  I sprained the three ligaments that wrap around your ankle.  They gave me a boot.  I wasn’t really sure what they were talking about, but it is like a removable walking cast.  Mobility has been so welcomed!  I’ve never been so excited to clean my house or do laundry.  I started physical therapy yesterday.  There is no keeping me down.  I can drive now and walk around once I get to my destination. WooHoo!!  Today I will be buying my little guy some baseball pants and a glove (nothing like last minute) because he starts Challenger baseball this weekend.  That is a baseball league for special needs children.  He needs to spend more time outside playing, and I think this is just the ticket.  Dude has volunteered to help Choo on the field, since I can’t run.  This works out great because Choo practically worships Dude.  Wish us luck.

Trying again

     I have already messed up my new year’s resolutions.  Blogging has just gone by the curb.  I did write a blog several weeks ago that was pretty good.  Only to find that I lost the whole thing.  (It was totally user error- I’m sad to report.)  So, now I am writing my blogs in my word processing program and then copying to the blogger website.  Wish I would have thought of that earlier!

I am in awe of those bloggers who do this every day.  I don’t always get a shower every day, much less blog.  Also, since the beginning of the year, I have been doing some PT/OT at home with Choo.  I think we are BOTH getting a workout.  At the beginning the school year, Choo was acting up on the bus, so they put him in a harness.  Poor thing looks like he is ready to jump out of an airplane.  It only took him one day to get used to it.  Sounds like progress to me!

I finally got Choo to go to bed in his own room without anyone laying with him.  All it took was buying him a tent to go over his bed and locking my bedroom door.  He is okay as long as he can see me on the sofa.  He will then go lay down in his own bed and go to sleep.  Score one for Mama!!

You may notice some changes with my personal information.  I really didn’t want to use Mamacita, but I was in a rush to get the blog up and started.  I wanted to use Tink, but my brother informed me that was the nickname of one of his friends.  I went through a bunch of others, to no avail.  Well, I decided to change it to suit me.  I probably should change it again.  I’m not totally a Tinkerbell.  I’m more like the child of Tinkerbell and the Tasmanian Devil (Taz) from the Looney Tunes cartoons.  Maybe I should go by Tinkertaz!!  I crack myself up!!

I also changed my children’s ages.   I’m still finding it hard to believe Dude is a teenager- until he starts rolling his eyes at me.  Yeah, that brings out the Taz in me. I do have to give him credit.  He truly loves Choo and offers to lend a helping hand, even when I don’t ask him to do so.  Maybe he is maturing.  That would be good.  

I have wasted enough time- dirty clothes and a dirty house are calling my name!

New year, new resolutions

     I'm not even going to apologize for not writing more.  See, I read a post that starting to blog again after an absence was like starting to exercise again after a long hiatus.  Not a good analogy for me.  I'm in the Fitness Protection Program so equating blogging with exercise was a mental connection that gave me just one more excuse not to sit down and organize my jumbled thoughts into something you might want to read.

     I'm just going to jump right to the AWESOME NEWS!!  A week before Thanksgiving, I got a short 10 second video from Choo's school.  They got him to repeat, "Hi, Mom." and wave.  I sent it all over and posted it to my personal Facebook wall.  My iphone was going crazy with texts, FB responses, etc.  So, me being me, I don't let Choo leave the house without saying, "Momma".  It never gets old!  Just earlier this week, he had his first spontaneous speech.  Prior to that, he would repeat what you asked him to say.  I was rubbing his back and he said, "tickle".  He kept pointing to the table and saying something I couldn't understand.  After about 5 times, I figured out he wanted the remote control.  (What is it about males and the remote control?)

     Choo has trouble with certain consonant sounds.  We keep trying to get him to call Dude either "Bubby" or his given name.  Without hesitation and without fail, "Bubby" comes out as (I'm trying to type it phonetically) go-gie.  This is hysterical to me.  Why?  My maternal grandmother used to use go-gie as slang for your butt.  I do it, too.  So Dude knew exactly what Choo said.  I couldn't help but fall into hysterical laughter.  Dude kept asking "Why are you calling me a butt?" Yep, I found that funny, too!

     Now for the Thanksgiving debacle.  We went on a family vacation to Disney World.  On the first morning, Choo found a hidden iPhone.  Bear took it away from Choo and hid it better.  Choo went ballistic.  His choice of target: me.  He grabbed me by the hair while he threw himself on the bed.  He was on his back pulling me to him (by my hair) with both hands while his legs were curled up in a kangaroo kick to my gut.  I'm trying frantically to free my hair before he pulls out clumps.  That was a stupid move.  Once my hair was free, he let go with the kangaroo kick and I went sprawling.  It is hard to explain how I fell, but I landed quite contorted.  I banged my left side against the corner of a wall, hit my head on the wall, it felt like I twisted my left ankle. Oh, I landed really hard on my go-gie.  Choo stopped his tirade immediately and sat there staring at me.  Bear comes running out of the bathroom.  He is kneeling beside me asking if I'm okay, while telling Choo, "See what you did to Mommy?  You hurt Mommy." Choo got off the bed and tried to help me up.  He started to rub my arm, like I do for him to soothe him.  Could this be empathy?  Wow.  My ankle wasn't twisted (thank goodness) and I had an enormous bruise on my left hip (I don't bruise easily) but the most intense pain?  You guessed it, my butt.  It's a Small World ride was an exercise in torture with those hard as rock seats.  I kept rocking from one butt cheek to the other to try and get some relief, no luck.  But, my baby boy was such a pleasure (after that one intense incident)  Dude loved getting Choo to repeat words.  Gorilla, elephant, duck, monkey, Mickey, train, etc.  It was very laid back and relaxing.  Just what we needed.

     That ought to be enough to keep you going until next time- which may even be tomorrow. (but, don't hold your breath!!)

Maybe I should start a blog. Oh, wait, I have one!!

I have taken one heck of a blogging 'vacation'.  My last post was June 15.  I can't believe that it has been that long.  Wow.  Things haven't been boring in the least over here, with moving (which could be a whole blog post by itself!) and getting settled into the new house, state, schools, etc.

Normally, I would try to get you up to date chronologically.  I'm not even going to try that now.  So, you will have to contend with my quick updates on the family.

Choo's update

Choo is very happy we moved.  He is back with the teachers he loves and an area of the country that soothes him.  He had a bit of a time adjusting to the move.  He recognized the area, but was a bit perplexed that we weren't going back to the apartment.  And, now the whole family was here.  I'm sure he was thinking, 'What's up?", but, of course, couldn't verbalize it.  So he started banging his head.  Against the walls.  Until he made holes.  So, now my brand new house has holes in the walls.  Lovely.

He is refusing to take his supplements now that he is 'into' drinking water.  I'm at my wits' end trying to figure out how to sneak them to him.  A couple are fat soluble, not water soluble, so they clump up in his beverages.  Grrr.  Still tryng to get a handle on that.

Dude's update

Bear and Dude were my two holdouts.  neither really wanted to move.  You would think the autistic child would be the one who fought the change, but, no, it was these two.  I am very happy to report that Dude LOVES his school.  He enjoys not having to wear a uniform and thinks everything about the school is great.  

That is a relief.  And, if that wasn't good enough, our next door neighbor has a girl the same age as Dude.  She is a bit of a tomboy, so they play basketball and Xbox together.  I'm just glad that he has someone in our neighborhood (which now boasts 6 inhabited houses!) to hang out with.  He was really into the bus at the beginning of the school year, but now he rides with the next door neighbors.

He is going to be trying out for his school's basketball team and is also playing basketball in the county's youth basketball league.  His grades have all been stellar, as well.

Bear's update

I'm pretty sure that the man has an unnatural fixation for Publix grocery stores.  He is taking it all in stride and likes seeing the kids happy.  Choo has trained him to take walks around the neighborhood nightly.  Unfortunately, Choo thinks that an open garage door is an invitation to enter.  They have met most of the neighbors this way! :)

We have the nicest neighbors who all seem to have a soft spot for Choo.

My update

What can I say.  I'm still trying to unpack, finish repairing/ painting/ cleaning/ staging the old house to sell.  (which is one heck of a chore being 500 miles away!!)  I'm also trying to unpack, get a new driver's license, register the cars, hang pictures, add homey touches, etc. to the new house.  And breathing.  I sometimes forget that one.  

I'm trying to break things down into more manageable tasks, but that is not working really well for me.  My clothes need to be put in the dryer, so I gotta go!  

Any suggestions for future blogs?  I'm all ears- just let me know.

First the finger, now this?

The little Choo-man is really cracking me up.  Why does he display hidden abilities in his pursuit of things that are taboo?  Case in point:  We disconnected our television service because little man needs to do without for a while.  We found it much easier to let him watch a show on a laptop, then we could take the laptop away.  Well, just last week, I noticed that he no longer needed our help.  I watched him navigate Bear's Windows computer.  Choo opened up Internet Explorer, opened a new tab, selected YouTube from the choices, scrolled to Kung Fu Panda and watched it.  What made this extraordinary was the fact that my right handed child was using his LEFT hand on the track pad because he was holding his juice with his right.  His hand was steady and his movements direct.  WOW!!

And then, earlier this week, he pulled a neurotypical child stunt.  I told him it was not time for him to have the computer yet, he had to wait.  He looked at me and started crying- tears and all.  I consoled him, but also reiterated that he still was not getting the computer.  He stopped crying and got mad.  Wait- you were using EMOTIONS to play me?  Gee, you must have some basic understanding of such things.  Crocodile tears- who would have thought?

I just love it when the weather is beautiful outside. I love watching Dude and Choo jump into the pool and interact so lovingly.  I think Dude feels comfortable with Choo in the pool, like they finally have common ground.  I just love watching Choo's face light up when Dude comes in the backyard to go swimming with him.  Of course, Bear and I are chopped liver, but we are so okay with that. ;)

Gotta go- the house is eerily quiet.  What can they be up to now?????

Are you giving me the finger, son?

First of all, I guess I need to apologize for not blogging.  First the computer was broken.  Then I hadn't blogged in so long, I forgot my password.  Geez.  I think these kids are making me flake out ;)

As for the title, it is not what you think.  We also refer to it as 'pointing with a purpose'.  Choo will get that index finger going specifically to what he wants.  But, now, he is giving us two step commands.  He will point to food, then to the plate.  So, sometimes now I will incorporate a finger point along with the words.  I want you to come here.  When he feels like ignoring me, he giggles.  Let me tell you, that does wonders for my parental self esteem.

I have to brag on my little man.  It seems something has clicked with regards to cognition.  He grabbed me recently to go into his room, because one of the lamps on his dresser would not turn on.  I thought that maybe the bulb had burned out, then I saw the light bulbs on the dresser.  I got the 'finger' pointing to the bulb and then pointing to the lamp.  WOW.  I changed the bulb and light still didn't work.  I switched the bulb with the other lamp and still no progress.  So I told him that the lamp was broken.  I searched and got him another lamp to put in his room.  I had absolutely no intention of taking the broken lamp out of the room, as he seemed very upset that it wouldn't work.  While talking to myself (yes, I do that a lot), I said, "I'm going to have to throw that away."  I got escorted out once he was happy with the new lamp.

No less than two minutes after I left his room, he comes into the den with the broken lamp and hands it to me.  I promptly put it in the garage to deal with later.  Apparently, that was not good enough.  He brought me over to the large black bags and pointed to the lamp and then to the bag.  He wanted me to throw it away.  Well, of course I did what I was told to do!!  I am amazed when these clear moments of cognition seem to come out of nowhere!!