This is a bit of a nebulous blog, however, I want to celebrate the fact that for the first time ever, my Nick had a haircut that didn't involve any snot or drama!! Plus, I want my mum to see the latest video footage (she has been witness to a couple of 'Nicky haircuts' and believe me they weren't pleasant!!). To put it very bluntly, all previous haircuts have been a bloody nightmare!
A lot of factors played a part in today's visit to the Barber Shop! Nick has been indicating to me for a few days that he wants a haircut........... amazing!!! A facebook friend called Valerie (love her blog!) posted a photo of her child having a haircut - he had a towel wrapped around his shoulders. *light bulb moment*. The amazing Kids First team spent the morning cutting little bits of hair off his head (a snip here....a little while later....a snip there!). Mind you, Judy managed to take a huge chunk out of his fringe which meant I couldn't chicken out of doing the deed - I HAD to take him for a haircut! :)
As luck would have it, we found a car park at the entrance (generally not possible) and the Barber Shop was quiet (generally very busy). Thomas was also with me which meant he had his trusty cell phone - that wonderful little thing that we pull out when life gets a bit difficult for Nick!
We gave Nick the option of clippers or scissors. He was most adamant that he wanted the scissors - phew, relief - if he had said no to the both of them, I am not sure what we would have done :). He was also happy to have the towel around his shoulders (thank you Valerie x). Obviously the cell phone was the winning card that kept him going but it's a start to building a positive memory of the whole haircut experience!
Look, the haircut was not easy and there was quite a bit movement from Nick and I also got the odd little pinch, BUT for the first time ever he didn't scream or cry. Nick coped very well, as did Linda who had the job of cutting his hair!
SUCCESS!
Supermarket discoveries!
Our 'Kids First' home is getting a lick of paint, although it is taking a while to complete due to the painter only being available at the weekends! Sampson (the painter - can highly recommend him by the way!) has a nasty habit of sending me a list of goodies to buy at the most inconvenient time (like a Friday afternoon!!!). However, as luck would have it, Thomas had to miss tennis - has tennis elbow of all things! Therefore, I had this brainwave of taking both boys to the supermarket and Thomas could film me and Nick 'doing stuff'. Hah, I knew as soon as we walked..........in the joint..... that it wasn't going to go as smoothly as I hoped. Nick took the trolley and headed in a different direction to us and there was no way he was coming back! Sometimes you just have to go with it!!! Mind you, when it came to being with me and 'doing stuff' he did great! :)
The following clip shows a few things......
- I have been working on simultaneous interactions with Nick - he needs to coordinate his actions with my actions. This has been a hard one for Nick and we have been practising it a lot over the few last few days. It is also the first time that I have used this particular pattern at the supermarket and he is actually doing very well, considering all of the hustle and bustle and those crazy distractions!
- A section of the footage shows a woman walking past the camera and stopping to look at what we are doing (I edited out the bit where she stuck her face into the camera and said "are you authorised?"). I left this piece in as a reminder about how my attitude can make a difference to someone who is being hostile!! This has happened to me before at the supermarket, where I have been told to stop filming -and on that occasion, my conversation with the security guard got quite heated and I left feeling angry! This time, I thought it best to remain calm!! I said 'my son is a special needs child and I am filming him", she immediately says "you are filming him for school?" ........... BINGO! "Yes, I am filming him for school". I do find people a lot more understanding if I give a quick explanation about my boy - rather than getting on the defensive about the unwanted attention!
- You will also see Nick wandering off and he wouldn't come back to us when we called or gestured to him - we had to go to him, touch his arm and he would then come back to the trolley.......... Thomas was getting increasingly irritated at this and he said to me "Mum, you really need to set some boundaries". I do agree with Thomas, however, it is all very well setting boundaries but it can be quite difficult to follow through with in a busy supermarket! To be honest, in this instance, I actually didn't have an issue with Nick going off....... he was asserting his independence and he was very aware of what he was doing (in fact I loved it when he would look to us and give a grin and shake his head for "NO" whenever we wanted him to come back to us!). It is also a learning curve for Thomas to learn the most effective way to 'connect' with his brother!
Have a great week!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIEND LINDA
WHO TURNS 50 ON FRIDAY! xx
~*~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIEND LINDA
WHO TURNS 50 ON FRIDAY! xx
~*~
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