New Pet

Impromptu Field Trip (Lessons in Flexibility and Prioritizing)

We had plans to shop at the Scholastic warehouse sale. My girl had already handled one disappointment. She wanted to go last week, but my schedule would not allow it. But as I backed out of the garage to take her brother to school, we had an unexpected surprise.

I had to find a way to get my son to school. I had to call roadside assistance and get the spare tire on the vehicle. I had to get a new tire - which involved a lot of unexpected waiting. I managed to model my thinking process aloud for and with my girl., real life, in context, working on cognitive goals and objectives.

At first, she was concerned only about her trip to the warehouse to look for books. I explained how sometimes, we have to change our priorities and that I was making a list in my mind of what we needed to do and wanted to do and that I was ranking them by importance. I explained that the rules of the spare tire include driving 40 miles or less on it, so getting to a tire doctor quickly is very important. The book warehouse is across the city and we want to go on a tire that is safe for that.

She brought some activities to work on while we waited. I brought some activities to do while we waited. But the waiting was longer than our activities and she and I were tired and bored. We bought junk food from the vending machine. 

We watched the clouds. Usually we look for cloud formations, but this day, we saw sky formations the clouds left. See the heart? 

She came up with spinning coins by herself.

We finally got the tire changed and were on our way to the warehouse. We came home with a bounty of new books to enjoy. And this impromptu field trip took us out of the house and on to learning in new ways.

I'm proud of me for being able to self-regulate in a way that allowed her to be a part of the experiences of the day. She wasn't happy about another delay to the warehouse; she wasn't happy about the unexpected wait; and yet, together, we managed. That is a good day.

A Parade and Baseball Kind of Day

Little Victories

The boy had another baseball game tonight. I love to watch him play!

His sister, who has been slightly grumpy the last two days, was given (by me) the assignment to come up with some things to do during the game. I am working to give her experience and practice in forethought. I suggested some items she could bring. She rejected most of my ideas. (I suggested she bring her math workbook, for one.) To add to the grumpiness, my daughter's skating coach was sick today and my girl did not get on the ice. Skating feeds her senses. However, she managed to get to the game REALLY prepared:

And, guess what else?! She made a friend.

And our team won.

Hummingbird Math

The opportunities to work math into homeschooling are limitless.

If I need 1 teaspoon of hummingbird food for 2 ounces of water, how many teaspoons of hummingbird food do I need to fill the 8 ounce feeder? Homeschooling means real life math application!

Cast Iron Cooking

I  received a cast iron skillet or two as wedding gifts. I never learned to properly season them and wound up donating them to a thrift store. The internet and all of its helpers did not exist then and my grandmothers, both cast iron experts, were too far away. I was embarrassed to ask them for help.

I gave up non-stick cookware a decade ago.

Not long ago, my daughter's bloodwork revealed an iron deficiency. Apparently, cooking food in cast iron is one way to increase iron levels. So, I bought a cast iron skillet and got on the internet to learn how to care for it and to look for gluten free (etc) recipes.

Hash browns are absolutely lovely in cast iron if you aren't multi-tasking. My son dubbed one batch "hash blacks". Yeah, I did burn them a little. We ate them anyway. They were still tasty.

Now I am on a quest to find some good (smooth, seasoned) cast iron cookwear and to find some recipes that fit the food sensitivities in the house. Here's one I hope to try using coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce.

If you have a favorite cast iron recipe, please share it with me! I'm always looking for another new gluten and dairy free cornbread recipe to try.

Baseball Season!

My son's private school does not have a baseball team (yet). So, he hasn't gotten to play baseball yet this year. Travel season begins in May, and the travel team had a scrimmage last weekend. I'm excited to see my boy play!

His sister (my homeschooler who has ASD) is not thrilled about baseball season and I find I must again guide her to manage herself during games so that I am able to watch my son. I thought we conquered this last year but reality has us revisiting it. I noticed that she reacts and ducks at the sound of a bat hitting the ball. I was hit on the head with a ball a year ago and she remembers that.

One of my goals for her is to begin to endure/tolerate some 'boring' or undesirable activities, and quietly. We will do a lot of previewing and planning. I want to build on this memory: http://notnewtoautism.blogspot.com/2014/03/i-feel-like-that-inside.html.

And again this year, she and I will be generating some ideas of activities she can do at the park, some to do alone, some to do with other siblings. Then we will begin gathering items and putting them into a 'park-pack' for baseball games. Note to self: Don't forget the calming essential oils.

Play ball!