10 a day!

I am making a conscious effort to partner with Nick at least 10 times a day. If you are wondering what I am talking about, check out this article written by Barbara Avilia.

Grocery shopping ~ So many opportunities for engagement. This is an easy one for us so I am going to count all of our partnering interactions as 'one' experience. I did throw Nick a curve ball by taking him to a different shop to buy our vegetables. #samebutdifferent

Stacking the dishwasher ~ My role was to hand Nick an item. His role was to place each item into the dishwasher. The challenge for him was to figure out where to put the items and how to place them. I didn't want this experience to turn into a 'just a chore', therefore invited him to assist me a few times throughout the day. I kept each interaction short and we stacked no more than 6 items each time.

Cooking ~ I was busy in the kitchen this afternoon, so made sure to invite Nick to help me out here and there. A bit of pouring. Some transferring of ingredients from roasting dish to bowl. Stirring the food that was cooking on the stove. He found this quite challenging so I was very mindful of his edge+1.

We spent some time reading a book and then moved onto putting together a large floor jigsaw puzzle. I stopped our puzzle construction half way through as I don't want Nick to think he always has to complete an activity. We went back to it an hour later.

I have been trying out some hand exercises with Nick and I spent five minutes practicing a couple of the moves. He really struggles with the motor planning so we are taking it really slow. Again, I continue to be mindful of edge+1.

Photography is my oxygen mask, so I am always looking for opportunities to practice with my camera. This time I couldn't resist pulling in Nick to help me out! I thought it would be a fab idea to take a photograph of my freshly made soup and add some winter leaves for interest. Nick wasn't too keen to go outside, however, with a bit of encouragement he came to help me scoop up a few leaves before scurrying back inside! Any engagement is better than no engagement!

Anyone for Butternut and Ginger soup? :)