School's out!

Do I sense a little stress

Just a hint of angst

School hols were such a mess

No reason to say thanks

The empty days brought dread

My tummy was in knots

My shoulders felt the weight of lead

The anxiety of which were lots

My child just couldn't cope
It was stay at home or combust
Our journey was bleak without sign of hope
The many dreams were crushed

This went on for quite a time
Until not long ago, in fact
You see, with little steps we began to climb
The progress code RDI had cracked

Slowly, slowly I became his guide
And bit by bit, my boy welcomed me
It was with relief, I sighed
The weight lifted and we were free

What changed? you may ask
My boy became Mr Flexible
Life no longer a task
But meaningful and changeable

So comfortable with variation
No need for rigid routine
You can imagine the elation
felt by me and mine

No social stories for this kid
Or schedules of any sort
More freedom to do as bid
without a lot of thought


Our holidays are welcomed
No more angst or stress
More avenues to be explored
My worries a little bit less

We still have a way to go
Our explorations are close to home
I figure if we take it slow
Our future will provide more places to roam

Our SELFIE!
I held the phone and Nick pushed the button!

What a good mother!!

Sigh, I am not so good at being a mum who supplies ready baked cookies for school lunch boxes! In fact I am down right useless! Nick doesn't eat any type of biscuit or cake, which is a bit of a bonus considering his really bad diet! The other kid of mine will munch his way through anything and he often throws me a little line that makes my mother guilt rise to the surface! 

I eyed up the three very over ripe bananas that had been sitting on the bench for the last few days. Bleurgh, no way would they be eaten and it would be a waste to throw them out! Time to make a plan (and appease my guilt!)

I haven't done much with Nick over the last few days as the poor kid has been a bit under the weather with a head cold. However, he did perk up today so I took advantage of this and wrote up four (yes, four!) planned engagements for us to do together. All easy stuff with a hint of a challenge!

#1. First up, I chatted to Nick about a shopping list. I suggested an item that we needed to buy and he then typed the word using his Lightwriter. The challenge for him was to wait for me to acknowledge the word that he had typed and then WAIT for me to write it down on a piece of paper. The waiting is hard for Nick as he tends to type a word and then quickly erase it! The challenge was successful, although I did keep the engagement short and only focused on five words (without being too bothered with the spelling).

Hah, Nick can spell 'butter'.... I never knew! :)

#2  With shopping list in hand, we then headed off to the supermarket for our next planned engagement. Grocery shopping is a breeze for Nick, although of late I have been a bit slack about adding variation to our little routines. Usually I will pass an item to Nick and he will put it in the trolley, however, this time he needed to be aware of what I was saying and where I was looking, in order to choose the correct item and then GIVE it to me! 

#3 Fast forward to later in the day. We needed to peel the bananas to add to the other ingredients and the video clip below shows how we went about this.  




#4  Last but not least, we then had to remove the cooked Banana Bread from the baking tin and then peel off the paper. Nick has never done this before and he was an absolute champ, although he wasn't too keen on the *feel* of the greasy paper! 

So, there you have it. Four planned engagements that were very simple and just enough of a challenge in order for Nick to learn further. Four opportunities for me to practice guiding my boy to *think* for himself. And one freshly baked Banana Bread for my first born!! 

~*~

I read this short ARTICLE today and wanted to share it for those of you who are interested in learning further about RDI. 

Hopeful Parents ~ Excitement and Adventure!

It's that time again! 

For my latest post over at Hopeful Parents just click..... HERE!

Silent Sunday