Every so often, I work from home during the day to give the wife a break from watching both kids.
Now, I know, obviously I’m a software engineer and I therefore am not “that busy”, since I’m somewhat settled in a single spot while I’m working. And more so since I was recently promoted to being the software development manager for my team. Continue reading
The Monster hates showers.
I don’t know what it is, actually, about showers that he hates, since he does love the water so much. It could be the sound – all that noise that’s reverberating off the tiled surfaces in our bathroom – or it could be the sensation of the water and its pressure on his skin, or the fact that we tend to give him one in the morning before school/synagogue, or it could be something entirely different. Continue reading
So it’s Shavuot.
Normally, Shavuot passes without much going on in our house – yes, it’s a major holiday, but I’m not generally taking time off of work or whatnot. On the other hand, the wife’s in the vocal ensemble at our shul, and this was an occasion where the ensemble was asked to perform. Continue reading
I’ve written in the past – most notably, in reaction to a comment I made elsewhere that seemed to evoke a lot of conflict – about how it irks me when the Monster (and other children with special needs) are excluded from events with other children their own age, including classmates’ birthday parties, seemingly just on the basis of their disabilities.
It’s not just the Monster, though – it’s the parents too. Continue reading
The post I was going to write tonight’s just going to have to wait for some time tomorrow, I fear.
1-2-3 Magic is great sometimes for discipline, but I think there’s points where applying it with the Monster hits a brick wall – mostly where it comes to immediate infractions and sending him straight to time-out. Continue reading
It’s taken a while, but in his own way, the Monster’s found a way to make sure that we understand what he’s trying to convey.
As I’ve tried to explain to a lot of folks lately – the big issue isn’t so much the Monster’s receptive language skills as his expressive language skills. He clearly understands more than he can express, and a lot of the time, he just doesn’t have the words for what he wants to say. Continue reading
Camp is coming up for the Monster in the very near future.
The last few years, we’ve sent the Monster to part-day summer camps – last summer, as I talked about frequently, was a combination of a special needs camp and a JCC day-camp. The year prior, he went a few mornings a week to said day-camp at the JCC. This summer, he’s going full-time to the all-day day camp run by the JCC. Continue reading
Today, the Monster turns five.
Like many “normal” children, this will be marked with cupcakes and an activity in the classroom at school, and a party in short order. (We’re holding off a few weeks on the party so that it doesn’t conflict, as usual, with Mother’s Day or with local events that would complicate family coming in from out of town.) Continue reading
Tomorrow is the Monster’s gymnastics day, one of his favorite activities that’s going to soon be coming to a temporary end as the school year moves into the summer camp period.
It’s not a lack of money that’s going to be ending his time at gymnastics for now, but really just a lack of time – we don’t know how it’s going to work, getting him from the camp bus to the gymnastics center, what his energy level’s going to be, and so it’s better in our minds to hold off until the fall. Continue reading
I’m somewhere between thinking that they’re going round-and-round or falling off… take your pick.
The Monster likes taking the bus, it seems. He’s used to the pattern of it, and he’s pretty much good about knowing what’s expected of him vis-a-vis using it every day. Continue reading