Friday Five - epilogue

Ronn went to the Museum, got separated from his group and got lost. By the grace of God he was by the information center and got back to his group within two minutes.

There were 10 children (6th grade and up) and the rest were adults.

I think I am going to talk to the librarian. I am not angry at all, but I think in the future there should be more chaperones for the kids. I realize that they are older but I know on field trips they are a little more supervised.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But I'll tell you what, I'm feeling very guilty for making him go by himself. I thought he was ready.

Friday Five

1 Yesterday my kids and I went to my friend's house. I have been involved in a Thursday bible study for the past few years now and this was our summer meeting.

She lives in the same small part of Chicagoland that I do, but her husband works at the Board of Trade. That means that have some money. They have a beautiful inground, heated pool with a slide, a garage turned into an eating room and a small basketball court. It was unbelieveable and nice.

We had a great time.

2 It was not too long ago when the kids were little that I felt so cut off from the world. I was in a playgroup but none of us really remained good friends. We've talked of getting together but have never done it.

Maybe this will be the year.

3 Ronn went with the library to The Museum of Science and Industry. They are having an exhibit on Harry Potter and I thought he would enjoy it.

Some of you will remember that I begged my kids to be the Potter characters for Halloween one year. I'll see if I can dig out those pictures and post them.

He was afraid to go because he is shy, didn't know anyone, what-if-(fill in the blank). I packed a Gatorade (which he loves), a box of Cheezits (ditto on loves), his camera and a change of clothes.

To ease our minds, God also allowed my daughter's best friend to be there and his old soccer coach and daughter to be there as well. (Easing who's mind?)

4 As some of you know, Ronn has sensory integration disorder with some sounds. He's had a little issue with bathrooms; he's terrified of the noise.

I do not use the word terrified loosely. When he was very small I would take him to the bathroom and he would panic. I didn't understand it then; I wish I had.

He should be fine, but just in case, we have a change of clothes.

5 The parents of children with autism do not understand denial. They have so much information and support that it seems that they have a very short grieving process.

My grieving process took years. Because my son's autism is so extremely mild, we thought it was something that would correct itself.

I think of it as a line. On one side is sorta normal because I think that normal or typical is pretty broad.

The other side is off center or odd. Like yelling out numbers. Like repeating phrases over and over and over. Like running like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Like being able to read the words "Drive Thru Pharmacy" at the age of 4.

For Ronn, he was just 1/2 inch off that typical line. It seemed something that would eventually correct itself. In some ways it did. In other ways, it never will.

I realize how far we both have come when I watched the bus pull away this morning.

Kitchen Zone

The kids worked today. We didn't have anywhere to go so we did chores around the house. The house was tidy until we set foot in it on Tuesday morning at 1am.

We have been trying to dig our way out of vacation since then.

In the meantime, we discovered that we have an infestation of carpenter ants. Not a pretty sight and we will have to call an exterminator. Last year we tried to take care of it ourselves; this year, we need professional help.

Ronn is in the kitchen zone. Today we are thrilled with how much he did. I had to reach behind him and show him how to hold the broom. I left the room; it's better that I did. He needs to get into the flow.

Ronn mopped the floor. He got the water in the bucket, measured the cleaner precisely and dumped it in the water, took the mop and cleaned. Once again I had to go behind him and show him how to hold the mop, but he did it. Was it perfect? Of course not, but I don't care. He's doing it.

He wiped off the stove. I had to show him how to do this step by step. I will have to show him again and again. He hates it but it must be done.

He helped me make dinner. He held his arms at his side today, instead of looking as if he would fly away. Prepping food will be an on-going thing, as it will be for the other two. But he is willing and worked hard.

Ronn unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. Loading was a major triumph over here as he didn't like the watery goodness of dirty dishes, pots and silverware. But he has done it and can run the dishwasher himself.

It sounds so simple but two years ago I had to write down step by step how to clean a bath room, including

"take a Chlorox wipe and wipe the faucet. Next wipe the sides of the sink, then the inside. Throw away the wipe. Get a new one." And so forth.

How far we have come!

Friday the 3rd of July

Husband is off until Monday and I'm so glad. I love having him home. Everyone is home.

We cleaned. As I said before, the kids are working in zones. Ronn has the kitchen zone, Hermionie the bathrooms and Harrey is doing the laundry. Everyone is adjusting and complaining, but they're doing it.

So Harrey did 2 loads of laundry and the boys put away clothes. Hermionie worked on her room with my help and actually got rid of a few things, can you believe it? Ronn did some work in the kitchen which is actually looking fairly clean, instead of a junked up mess.

We did a short devotion (after telling husband to keep it short, please) and spent a quiet day at home.

I went shopping at Michael's and bought photo storage boxes. Right now I have several years' worth of photographs in year and month order and they are stored in a large plastic bin and a, um, old diaper box.

Yes, I know. I have a lot of pictures but my goal is to put them in these little boxes so they will be easier to access. Then I can scrapbook.

I don't like to scrapbook. I like to write down what happened. To say what's interesting about a picture or series of pictures. In the future I will be sharing scrapbooking duties with my daughter, who loves it.

I have the pictures from our trip on photobucket and will be blogging about it shortly.

Love to all.

Sunday Night

The calm before the storm.

Tomorrow we have all day to get ready for the trip on Tuesday morning.

The "life skills" is going well, but daughter is putting up most resistance and it's not much. So proud of them.

Kids and I went on a boat tour with Chicago Archietectural society. Really nice. Daughter had a little hissy fit; no idea why other than she was bored and didn't want to go. Boys had a good time, especially the youngest. The tour began at Navy Pier; pretty and expensive. It happened that June caught up with us and it was hot (in the 90s and humid). We sorta meandered around, looking, browsing.

It's expensive and kids don't understand that. I think we could swing going to the Children's museum and Mickey D's and that's about it. I wouldn't dare purchase souvenirs. A lousy t-shirt would be nice but they're $18 and up. The ones by my house go for cheaper, but face it, it's not the same.

Sorry, no pictures. I asked Ronn to bring his pictures and he forgot to load his memory card. I took about 5 pictures and that was all I could do. He found it when we got home (note the word found) so we can bring it to Arizona. I love my camera but it's a bulky thing.

I was angry that he didn't tell me about this until I started to take pictures, but I said, "Well, it means that we'll have to come back."

Unfortunately, dh did not come with us. I didn't think he wanted to go so I booked it for the 4 of us. He asked me and it was too late. He wound up doing nothing but watch t.v. and sleep. He was upset because we have so much to do and I told him I was glad he slept.

The garden looks fantastic because we've had so much rain. The tomatoes look great. I need to buy stakes for them.

I don't know how much I'll be here to visit, but I'll do what I can to say hello. Don't know if I'll have internet access except on Wednesday when we're in Sedona.

Take care and pray for our safe trip.

Do you spend too much or too little on your children?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/fashion/18spy.html

Tuesday Ten

1 Wedding was nice but we had to come back early.

2 Husband came home early to work on something at church, which could have waited. He gets things on his mind and then becomes very single minded. What does that remind you of?

3 After he went to church and finished his project he said, "I'm sorry. This could have waited."
I was not amused. At all.

4 I have finally figured out how to do chores.

5 Each kid has a zone. Ronn has the kitchen zone so he'll be helping me a lot. Hermionie is doing bathrooms and Harrey is doing laundry.

6 Harrey is doing laundry start to finish. HA. This should be good. He loves putting them in the machines. Sorting is ok too. Folding is a bear for him. His brother Ronn folds his clothes like Martha Stewart; he happened to be watching her and did it.

We are trying to teach this method to a resistant 8 yo.

7 Ronn is helping in the kitchen. I had a discussion about chopping onions. I love cooking shows so the kids get to watch them too, once in a while. Ronn decided he wants to be a chef so I gave him a chance.

Cleaning, believe it or not, is not a big issue. It's chopping things. We're starting w/onions: the smell, the burning eyes, etc. But an onion is easier to chop than a carrot. Anyway, we got through it. He helped make the pulled pork yesterday and loved it.

8 Hermionie has discovered the joys of cleaning the bathroom with 3 men in the house. She accused her younger brother of not aiming well; I reminded her that there are men in this house.

Yes, it's totally gross and that they will all get their turn.

She enjoyed cleaning the sink and arranging the soap dispenser.

9 I have so much to do before we go to Arizona. Bleah

10 I am enjoying this first week off school. The kids are great and it's pretty relaxed around here, believe it or not.

I'll be back to say hello. I'm on Facebook too; if you want to be friends, let me know.