It’s unusual when I’m home for a day and none of it has anything to do with the Monster.
Of course, my morning did start off with getting the Monster off to camp. Because I did not have to be at the office, I did most of the work for a change at getting him up and going. This is usually a two person job – me in the kitchen packing his lunch and getting breakfast on the table, while she’s getting him dressed, lotioned, and his bag packed. Continue reading
So I’m back, now that things are squared away.
Beyond all the other reasons that I’m very grateful for having my job – for the good insurance it gives me, for the flexibility I have about dealing with things for the Monster, and for the fact that I genuinely like my job – there’s this once-every-five-years perk of having a sabbatical. I’m officially – as of tonight at midnight – on a paid vacation from work for four weeks. Continue reading
And the march from ballpark to ballpark continues.
This weekend is a double-header for us. We’ve the opportunity to go catch two of the Baltimore Orioles’ farm teams this weekend – the Bowie Baysox (AA, Eastern League) on Friday night and the Aberdeen Ironbirds (Short-Season A, New York-Penn League) this evening. Both teams are doing their Autism Awareness games this weekend. Continue reading
So, since we were actually in Langhorne this weekend to go hit Sesame Place, I thought I would touch back on the prior reviews and update them. Part of this is because, as I go through more places, I find new things that I want to concentrate on… and partially because there’ve been some changes at Sesame.
For starters, you might look at my prior reviews – the trip we took to Sesame Place for their “A Very Furry Christmas”, and another review from last year. Continue reading
So I clearly should not have said something.
Around 1:30 AM, the Monster woke up and started talking to himself, despite the melatonin. By 1:45, it was clear that we had to leave the hotel room, or he’d end up waking up R, and ensuring that his mother would be up all night. So, as happens when we go on vacation, I decided to take him out in the car and pray that he’d go to sleep eventually.
Yeah… ‘eventually’ was about 6 AM. Continue reading
The biggest problem we’ve had, since the diagnosis, honestly is traveling. We usually handle the ‘travel’ portion of the entire itinerary just fine, but as you, my faithful readers, have seen, it’s the overnights that give us trouble.
I can handle meltdowns in amusement parks, and I can handle the Monster’s finicky eating when we’re out and about. What I can’t handle is a constant lack of sleep. Continue reading
When I was a kid, like almost everyone else in our country, I used to go somewhere to see the fireworks.
Ironically, for us, the issue is actually not the Monster, because he loves fireworks. The issue is R, who can’t stay up that late routinely if we’re going to want him to be useful the next day. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the doctor yelled at me again about my weight, and added my blood pressure onto the list to boot. Since then, I’ve been working a lot more on trying to be healthy.
As those who follow my tweet feed know, I’m walking somewhere between 3.5 and 4 miles a day. (Depends on if I’m jogging at all, if I get started earlier rather than later, and generally how I’m feeling vis-a-vis breathing any particular morning.) I’m also doing a few other things to try to bolster my health in general, like drinking more water and trying to (further) cut my food intake, since we all know that upping output and lowering input is the only way to really lose weight. Continue reading
I’ve been very big about the fact that I’m not willing to do things without decent scientific evidence. Our kids are vaccinated, for instance, because the overwhelming evidence is that it’s what is best for them (and that it doesn’t cause Autism). We haven’t gone GFCF because there’s no evidence that the diet does anything to help with the symptoms of the Monster’s Autism.
But there are things where there’s a suggestion from a few decently-done studies that indicates that something might work… and you just have to try it. Continue reading
Now that it’s hot enough on weekends, and we’re past Memorial Day, we’re finding time to go take the kids to the pool.
The Monster is swimming twice daily at his day camp, but there’s no reason for us not to go swimming ourselves at the JCC… and they do have a fabulous outdoor pool complex here. Continue reading