Compulsion

The Monster’s always been somewhat sensory seeking rather than sensory adverse.

Sure, he doesn’t like fans – not ceiling fans, not rotating fans, not box fans, nor anything that’s fan-like (hand-dryers, air filtration systems, etc).  On the other hand, though, the kid loves fireworks, and used to be all for loud drums and the like at the renfaire. Continue reading

Shul Time

So last night, after Yom Kippur ended and we broke the fast, we came home, put the kids to bed, and settled in… with my tikun (Torah readers’ bible) and another plain-jane copy of Etz Chayim.

This coming Saturday, my wife’s reading Torah, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of her Bat Mitzvah. Continue reading

Do They Miss Me When I’m Gone?

So after four days on the road, I’m finally back at home with the kids.

Now, I’d actually have written yesterday if I’d not had a nightmare trip home – lightning hit our airport’s control tower, sending someone to the hospital and shutting down flights for about three hours.  (The person is, according to the 11 PM news, okay and resting at home now, thank goodness.)  Instead, I arrived home very late – far later than I’d planned – and my kids were mostly asleep when the wife pulled in from her rehearsal. Continue reading

Miles Away

I don’t travel frequently for work.

I’m a software development manager – until about six months ago, I was a developer – and most of my team is based in the same office where I work.  While I do work for a large, multinational company, my meetings are more frequently over the phone or video conferencing when it involves folks in distant offices.  Sometimes, though, there’s that need for face to face contact. Continue reading

On the Road – Surfers Healing and the Autism Beach Bash

So… I’m sure that a lot of parents of children with Autism who are already “in the know” about this could potentially be annoyed with me for divulging the existence of this, due to the limited spots available each year.  But.. if you don’t know about this already, you should.  Trust me, you should.

There is this great charity out there called Surfers Healing.  Surfers Healing is a charity founded by a former competitive surfer who has a son with Autism.  The basis of the charity is sharing his discovery of the effect that riding a surfboard has on children with this disorder.

Continue reading

Conflicting Directives

So, we went this weekend to go visit my family for a change, as part of a trip to hit Surfers Healing in Belmar, New Jersey.  We don’t see my family often – there’s a great bit of distance between us, physically – and so this was the first time in a while that they’ve seen R and the Monster.

Because it was lovely weather, we decided to get out a sprinkler and let the kids go splashing in it. Continue reading

More of the Same

So, Rosh Hashanah starts tonight, and we’re back to the same old problem – what to do with the kids.

In past years, we’ve had babysitting at the synagogue, which has made what to do with the children easy.  Even easier, last year, the holidays were during the week, so we simply sent the Monster to school, and while R was too young to go to sitting, we could manage him in the quiet room. Continue reading

Surprises

So, as I mentioned on the tweet feed last night, obviously I didn’t post yesterday because we were busy – we decided to take advantage of the long weekend to make another run up to Sesame Place.

The morning started out ominous.  We’d made the decision (albeit, with me pushing it) to go to the renfaire on Sunday instead of Monday as originally planned, due to the threat of rain.  Let’s be honest – it’s little fun running around the faux-16th Century in the rain, trying to push a stroller through the mud while managing multiple children.  Instead… it ended up pouring while we drove up to Langhorne, to the point that we were dreadfully concerned that it wouldn’t be proper weather for enjoying the park. Continue reading

Let’em Stare

If you’ve ever wondered how children with Autism would have been seen in the Middle Ages… well, a renfaire really is probably at least as close as you’ll get to the concept.

We enjoy going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  We’ve been hitting it since before we had kids, and even now with children, we still try to go at least once a year to enjoy the sights. Continue reading