A Bad Day

I have really struggled before, with seeing all the posts people put up, seeming to have perfect lives and eternally happy kids, and while I also try to only write about the good things, it is nice to know when other people have bad days. I already wrote about a good day, so here is the more frequently occurring bad day!

8:00- Wake up late because I was up super late trying to “catch up on laundry” which really meant that I lost track of time while I read dumb articles online while the same load of laundry ran 5 times in the dryer. The only reason I woke up was because a child with a very wet diaper came in and sat on my face

 

8:10- After wiping the present off my face, I hurriedly try to clothe and feed the kids while not even wearing contacts so I end up squinting hard at everything and yelling at the kids to hurry up while they seem to dilly dally over everything

8:30- The entire house seems to have vomited up it’s contents since I woke up. I can’t find the kids’ backpacks, shoes, snacks, or pretty much anything that is needed for today, creating more stress

 

8:45- Throw the kids in the car and race off to get the kids to school, hitting every red light possible. I tried to sing to bring a better mood, but then the kids had a fight about which song

9:00- Drop off kid #1 to school, drop off kid #2 at work daycare, and work (I am a preschool gymnastics coach), where I get complained to by 3 different parents about the parking situation at the gym

 

11:00- Need to pick up Kid #1 soon, but remembered that there is no food in the house, so you need to shop, but you haven’t planned meals or anything. Rush to the grocery store with Kid #2, and a bag breaks on the way out. Scream of frustration here, and receive many dirty looks

12:00- Pick up Kid #1, and hurry her to therapy. Kids fuss because they are hungry. Kid #2 is cranky during the wait, and so am I, having forgotten to eat this morning, resulting in a very short temper

 

1:00- We finally get home, and have PBJs really quick. The kids and I are totally exhausted, so I put them down for quiet time, but they spend the time fighting and trying to get out of their room, and I spend that time frantically trying to put away groceries and clean from that morning

2:00- I finally let the kids out of their room, and realize that my sweet SN kiddo had a stinky diaper and smeared it all over her room- bed, herself, toys, clothes… Cue cleaning and bath time. I set out a reward snack for myself to motivate me to keep a good attitude and to keep cleaning

 

2:30- I put on a movie for the kids while I finish cleaning

3:30- The kids found my snack, which is not allowed in their GFCF diet, and eat it. Both vomit. More cleaning, and now the kids are mad because they aren’t getting attention. Break into my secret chocolate stash

 

4:00- After more baths and cleaning, I decide to try and make the day better by taking the kids to the park. We aren’t even there 5 minutes before one falls on the sidewalk, and the other burns her legs by sliding down the hot slide I told her not to go on. *sigh*

4:15- I attempt to practice speech words with SN kiddo, but she screams and refuses to cooperate

4:30- Attempt to play a game with the kids, but it results in marbles being scattered everywhere as SN kiddo has a meltdown. I wrap her tightly and put her in her hammock to swing for half an hour to calm down

Chelsea doesn't have autism, but some similar tendencies

 

5:00- I break into my secret chocolate stash again and check facebook while the kids look at books and listen to some music

5:30- I ask hubby to pick up food for dinner, but he has to work late (benefit of working two jobs to pay for little miss’s therapy), so we pull out frozen fries from the freezer and cook those

 

6:15- Movie time again! I hate using TV as a babysitter, but I was done for that day. 2 more accidents for little miss, who missed her seizure med dosage three days before, which means that she can’t control her body now

7:45- Bed time!!! I send the kids a little early because I can’t handle anymore. After putting them to bed, I sit on the couch, eat junk food, and play a computer game to not think

 

 

A Good Day

Here is what a very, very good day might look like! I have had these days, but they are not super frequent. I also have plenty of bad days!

6:00- Having gotten a full 8 hours of sleep last night, Mom wakes up on time, exercises for half an hour, showers, and gets hair and makeup done

 

7:00- Mom cooks a filling and healthy breakfast. While things were cooking, she gets in her scripture studying and journal writing

7:30- The kids woke up and came and cheerfully ate their breakfast.

 

 

8:00- The kids are washing up and getting dressed! Of course the laundry is done, so both kids get to wear their favorite outfits

8:30- We clean up the kitchen from breakfast and do a devotional with the kids and talk about how to be an example to others

 

9:00- Time for a home learning day that Mom prepared at the beginning of the week! We start with circle time, sing, and discuss today’s theme before reading some themed books

9:30- We trace our names, do a letter identification game, practice making patterns with differently colored shapes, and practicing counting out objects

10:00- We go to the park to play and have a snack, and we remember to bring bubbles, a ball, and truck. While we are there, we practice gross motor skills in a fun game

 

11:00- Back to the house, it is time for a science experiment that the kids are excited about

11:30- The kids work on a simple art project with classical music quietly playing in the background while Mom makes a delicious healthy lunch

 

12:00- While eating lunch, we talk energetically about what we liked best so far that day, and what we hope will happen later in the day, then tidy up and get ready for rest time

1:00- Quiet time! The kids quietly look at books and play puzzles while Mom has a break to read and work on projects

 

2:00- Play time! We play baby dolls and doctor them when they get hurt. Once that gets boring, we build a masking tape road and have a car race, then play Hungry Hungry Hippos

4:00- We work on speech and occupational therapy home practice, and have great success! The kids get a little marshmallow prize for working so hard, and they say I am the nicest mommy in the world

5:00- Power Hour! The kids clean up their room while mom tackles the rest of the house.

6:00- Kids get an educational video while Mom fixes dinner and chats with a friend on the phone

Haha, yeah right...

 

6:30- Dinner!

7:00- A family walk after dinner

7:30- Baths for the kids, family scriptures and prayer, then brush teeth and the kids willingly go to bed at 8:00

Summer Speech Therapy

Speech is the area we work on most with Chelsea. I want her to be able to communicate more than anything, and we try for 15-30 minutes of dedicated practice every day. We also incorporate as many opportunities for verbal success as we can. Here are some of both:

• Any time we go somewhere (the farm, zoo, museum, on a hike), we practice saying, "I see _____" or "I hear ______"

• Target word BINGO. This one is Chelsea's favorite. We have little BINGO cards with pictures of her target words on them (puppy, mop, pen, etc). I use mini marshmallows as tokens, and when I call out the word, she has to repeat it 3 times, and gets to place a marshmallow on that square. Once she gets a BINGO, she can eat all the marshmallows.

This isn't one of Chelsea's, just one I found online that I liked
and hope to use one day when she is learning opposites

• Play Candy Land with target words/ sounds on each card. I like playing this one, but Chelsea is hit or miss.

• Sequence simple stories! This is a receptive language activity. For Chelsea, I tell the story, then mix up the cards and have her put them in the correct order. If you type in "3 Picture sequencing worksheets" into google, there are a ton!

 

• Do our ABC sound book. We go through the alphabet and sing "Apple, apple, ah, ah, ah", practicing the sound of each letter.

 

• Oral motor practice! Honestly, I don't like this one at all, so we don't do it as much as we should. This means practicing sticking out your tongue, opening your mouth, breathing in and out on command, etc. This was a big part of Chelsea's therapy when she was about 2, and I am burned out.

 

• Practice signing correctly! This is good for snack time or when Chelsea wants to play something. I will form her hands into the correct shape for what she is trying to say, model it, and have her practice.

ASL Alphabet

 

• Have a contest to see who can hold a vowel the longest! This is super good for breath control, and fun for Chelsea to "beat me" at something. So we will do "eee" or "aaah" for several seconds.

 

• Animal sounds! This is fun for when we are playing with her plastic animal toys. Usually when Chelsea plays, she is totally silent. I try to get her to say "moo" for the cow, "woof" for the dog, etc. Still a work in progress!

 

• Prepositions!!! We have been working on these for so, so long, but it is still a hard concept for little miss, so we keep at it. I usually get two objects, and say "Put the block on the table" or "Put the book under the chair" OR have Chelsea model the prepositions "Hide behind the chair" or "get on the couch"

Summer Occupational Therapy

I always get so so excited about summer time coming up! This is a time when I can really focus on the kids- have fun, learn lots of fun new things, develop skills, and just spend some special time with them. I try to do 15+ minutes a day of occupational therapy practice with Chelsea, and here are some of my go-to ideas for things she likes.

• Astronaut drawing! I tape papers under a table, and let Chelsea lay on her back to draw

• Race to our white board to copy lines/ shapes/ letters

• Peel off stickers and place them on opposite sides of body, or cross midline to place on target

• Scissor skills! Cut cardstock, yarn, tape, playdough (I love Chelsea's pop open scissors!)

 

 

• Practice writing name

• Break all crayons to practice tripod grip, not fisted

• Color within broad lines

• Wheelbarrow races

• Propel self on scooter to find puzzle pieces, and place correctly in board

• Get mini M&Ms out of a mini muffin tin to work on pincer grasp

• Gluing activities! Glue sequins, rhinestones, paper, anything! Practice practice practice cutting and gluing!

 

• Do sensory bins, playdough, and theraputty

• String beads and do lacing boards

• Carry something heavy

• Climb, swing, slide, run, jump, any gross motor activity!

• Pick up coins from a flat surface and put into a piggy bank

Kaufman Center Experience

Before we had Chelsea’s genetic diagnosis, all we had to go off of was her Apraxia diagnosis, and I am SO glad we pushed for that! Apraxia trained speech therapists have helped Chelsea so much! I decided to take Chelsea to the Kaufman Children’s Center just outside of Detroit, Michigan.

 

The children’s center offers 4 day intensive speech camps with Nancy Kaufman. The wait list at that time was several months, but we got on it, and in May of 2015, Chelsea and I flew out for the camp.

The basic layout of the week is on Monday, you have a speech evaluation. Tuesday and Wednesday, you have 2 speech sessions. Thursday is the parent consultation. There is the option to get more speech sessions, and we did 3 extra sessions. We also elected to do occupational therapy as well- an evaluation on Monday, and sessions whenever you want them.

 

The Pros:

Nancy Kaufman knows her stuff! She recommended genetic testing almost immediately after seeing Chelsea, and what do you know, she was right! She is one of the TOP Apraxia experts worldwide and she gave multiple devoted hours to just Little Miss Chelsea. I’ve listened to some of her lectures at Apraxia conferences, and she is amazing!

 

 

You get a video record of every minute your child spends with Nancy Kaufman, and during the sessions, she will talk to the camera about how to work with your child so you can hand off custom made training videos to your SLP at home!

 

YOU learn how to work with your child! During the last few sessions, Nancy had me (the parent) come into the room and helped me work with Chelsea and critiqued me on what I was doing right and what I needed to improve. (And this lady doesn’t sugar coat anything- she tells is straight, which I LOVED)

 

There are OT specialists there who work with kids with global Apraxia all the time. They know just what to do, and their OT room is AMAZING!!! I got tons of handouts, videos, and information from them!

The children’s center gets you good deals on hotels! Chelsea and I were upgraded for free from a small room to a double bed king size room when we said we were visiting them. Sweet! I think we saved about $250 there!

 

There is a really cute zoo in Detroit that I took Chelsea to on Friday morning before we left as a prize for working so hard. She loved it and it was lots of fun!

 

The Cons:

Holy guacamole is this expensive! The speech evaluation (1 ½ hours) was $300, OT evaluation (2 hours) was $400, each half hour speech session was $85, and each half hour OT session is $70. The final speech parent consultation (1 hour) is $170. We paid a grand total of $1255, plus airfare, hotel, car rental, and food. (I did get a grant from uhccf.org to pay for speech and occupational therapy that year, so that was how we managed it. Great grant!!!)

 

 

This will exhaust you. Chelsea was wiped out after each speech session, and once I went in and Nancy Kaufman was critiquing me, I saw why! She is a very intense person, which I like, but several other people there said she was very intimidating.

Chelsea zonking out right when we got back to the hotel room!

 

There is a lot of down time. I liked having all her sessions before lunch, then going to a museum or park or something to relax after that. I didn’t expect that, which is why I put it as a con. I had anticipated 4 intense days 9-5 at the clinic, but that wasn’t the case.

 

Overall, I LOVED going to the Kaufman Children's Center! I’m hoping to take Chelsea again in a couple years (when we save up some, haha). What I liked most was:

1) THE VIDEOS!!! I love, love, love those videos we got! I have generalized Apraxia training videos, but not all the tips in them apply to Chelsea. The videos I got were tailor made for Chelsea and her specific needs. I wish I was more tech savvy so I could cut some and show them here!

 

2) Having a week of just me and Chelsea. We had so much fun together, and she was so happy to work on speech when I had all this time and energy for just her.

 

3) Learning SO MUCH about Apraxia and how to work with Chelsea!

 

 

 

Preschool Day Cowboy Theme

This is always one of my favorite theme days- partially because I am from Texas, and partially because it is just so fun! Who doesn't love a good cowboy story? I love pretending to be cowboys with the kids and trying to find the varmint who has been poisoning the watering hole, or whatever other plot we think up! 

 

Cowboys

·        Outing- Ride horses

·        Movie- Toy Story or Jasper’s Cowboy Wish

·        Stories- Bubba the Cowboy Prince, Cowboy Camp, Saving Sweetness

 

·        Songs- I’m a Little Cowboy, One Little Two Little Three Little Cowboys

·        Letters- Make a large foam cube with cowboy “gear” (hat, spurs, boots, rope, chaps, vest), and roll it. You then have to guess what letter that sound starts with

·        Numbers- Count spots on your cattle (use plastic animals or pictures)

·        Gross Motor Game- Use a hula hoop to “rope” a cow or hunt a villainous bandit on a walk around the block

 

·        Snack- Cactus blossoms (raspberries), Cowboy trail mix (nuts, raisins, M&M, pretzels)

 

 

·        Science- Pan for gold

·        Color/ Shape- Name colors for cowboy gear as we dress them up! (or use Barbie cowgirl)

·        Art- Paint sandpaper cactuses green

 

·        Interactive Game- Ride rocking horse, play cowgirl barbies, ride Mommy horse and say Giddyup (also good for balance!)

·        OT activity- Write our names and trace cowboy words

·        Vocab/ Phrases words- cowboys, pistol, holster, sheriff, posse, bandit

·        Receptive Language- Dress the cowboy! Have a paper cowboy (or just a man) printed off, and cutouts of cowboys clothing. Have the kids take turns matching the clothing part to where it goes on the cowboy. Also have the kids say what clothes they have on that part of their body (so cowboy is wearing chaps, I have a skirt. Cowboy has a vest, I have a shirt)

 

Potty Training: Final Steps

The last blog was on the first 3 days of potty training. From here on out, it gets easier time-wise!

Day 4: Take child potty every 10 minutes and every time they ask. That means we try potty, then start the timer just as we finish.

Day 5: Take child potty every 15 minutes and every time they ask.

Day 6: Take child potty every 20 minutes and every time they ask.

Day 7+: Take child when they ask to go potty.

If they don't recognize the potty signs by now, then stop at every 20 minutes and continue to do that until they get it. Days 4 and 5 were the WORST for us potty training! It seemed that any time we tried potty, she would have an accident about 1 minute after an attempt. So. Much. Laundry.

The goal here is to still keep a 100% positive attitude, with no negative reactions to accidents. Keep any reaction to an accident neutral (quietly clean it up), and then praise and reward attempts at potty-ing. 

Honestly, I am a pretty positive person by nature, and I struggled a lot! I called my dad and sister and cried to them and said it was too hard. But they both told me to not give up, and to remember how much we had already done. That was the biggest motivator for me not throwing in the towel- I didn't want to have to repeat those 3 days of living in the bathroom!

Note: If your child is on seizure medication, MAKE SURE they aren't late on any doses or miss any. Any time we were late and the two times we missed (in the 2 months since starting potty training), those times corresponded exactly with the days that she had multiple accidents.

Note #2: The thing that helped CHelsea most to understand the concept of going potty was pouring warm (not cool, not hot, not cold) water over her to give the sensation of peeing.

Note #3: No pull-ups in the house! Yes there will be accidents. And messes. But pull-ups are too much of a regression when worn all the time. We did use them on some outings though, but she usually keeps them dry.