Slowly does it!

The beauty of school holidays is that the extra free time offers up so many opportunities to engage with Nick. We can do an activity together, however, slow it right down and ensure that we have a shared experience.

We are attempting a brand new jigsaw puzzle that Nick chose during our last shopping trip to the supermarket.

As always, when engaging with Nick, I am very mindful of how I talk/share information. I don't want to tell him what to do; therefore I use declarative comments to encourage him to think about what is going on. I pause frequently to give him time to hear/process and react to any information.

Some examples of declarative language in the following clip:

"It looks quite difficult"
"Right, we have got all of the pieces"
"Oh, where to start, Nick!"

This next clip shows that Nick is referencing my face and body language in order to obtain information. I wonder if you can spot where I use my head and eyes to indicate where the puzzle piece belongs. Also note how quickly Nick picks up on that clue! :)

We finish the puzzle and Nick decides that he wants to pack it away. However, I am keen to chat about our experience and make the activity even more meaningful.

Some examples of declarative language used;

"I am just going to look at the picture for a minute, before we put it away"
"I like cars"
"I can see the colour... red!"

Now it is time to pack away. Nick's role is to pass me the pieces and it is my role to put them away. I can't resist throwing Nick a little curve ball by changing our regular pattern and throwing the pieces back to him.

There we have it ~ a little bit of mother and son time. No stress, no rush, no pressure. Slowly does it!

On the first day of December...

I admit it. I am feeling a little frazzled, a little out of sorts, a bit antsy and somewhat stressed.

School breaks up on Wednesday and do you know what that means? Woo hoo, it's holiday time! No more early mornings.... yeah right! Loads of free time to do whatever rocks our boat. We can take life slow and just go with the flow. I can spend quality time with my kids. No pressure to get them to school or Nick to therapy. Long days with no plans.

Sigh. 

I pulled out the calendar to check out the length of the holiday. 41 days, people. 41 days! That's a lot of time to fill, especially when one kid just happens to be autistic. Especially when that kid would LOVE to spend every waking minute glued to some sort of screen.

The truth of the matter is that I really relish those mornings when Nick is at school. It gives me the freedom to do what I want to do without any responsibilities. I am going to miss that, big time!

Anyhow, in an effort to look on the bright side, I have been mulling over a few ideas on what to do with Nick. The days will offer up many opportunities to hang out, get out or chill out. We can also put some extra time into working together on planned engagements. I am so tuned into living an RDI lifestyle that Nick will always be a part of what we are doing, whether it be making breakfast together or hunting for the bread and milk at the supermarket.

I found a nice weekly planner and I do intend to use it. It took me three minutes to scribble some ideas onto the first page (see photo below). I may throw out this first sheet and start again, however, just writing down the *to do* list has made me realise that our 41 days are going to fly by.

And if it all gets a bit much and I need some time out, then I will just call on Nick's big brother to Nickysit for a couple of hours. I am sure he will be keen to earn some bucks!