It’s hard, sometimes, to get folks to realize that the Monster is – at least according to the law – disabled.
As I emphasize everywhere, and as most of us parents in this situation emphasize, the Monster is for all intents and purposes a “normal” child. He runs, he plays in the water, he can climb structures. He has full use of all of his senses, even if sometimes his voice is more the matter of shrieks and yelling. Continue reading
I had to get up early this morning to handle emergency-backstopping on a software push this morning, so I was up this morning to watch Twitter as the principals from the Baltimore City School System were off to their kick-off for the new school year.
Now, I think that they’re all entitled to a pep-rally of sorts, especially as the year kicks off. We need it, after all – to get into a mindset that will enable children to learn, to support them in all of their endeavors, and to get a running start to the new school year. On the other hand… Continue reading
When I was growing up, as I’ve mentioned before, my dad used to take us to sporting events on a regular basis.
None of us were really that “baggage heavy” at the time – I was 6 or 7 when my dad took me to my first pro basketball game, and by the time we were going regularly to sporting events, I had to be in my teens (meaning all of my sibs were mid-elementary school or later). Continue reading
So this is the last week of the Monster’s day camp. Next week is the gap week between camp and school, and then we’re back into the school year.
Originally, we were trying to figure out what we’d do next week, having both R and the Monster home, and were wracking our brains as to find something to keep them both occupied, bearing in mind that R needs to have a nap mid-day, and the Monster might not do well with further disruptions to his schedule… Continue reading
A while back, we got a basic summing-up of the summer the Monster’s been having at camp. He’s having a good time, he’s making some friends… but there are things that we’d hoped he’d get under his belt over the eight weeks.
Top of my list: swimming. Continue reading
I know I’ve whined enough about money this week, so. 😉
One of the things we had considered putting in our LISS request (the one that’s seemingly not going to be approved anyway) was for respite care. We’ve never actually taken respite before, but… well, it comes back to the question about getting a break for ourselves. Continue reading
Two weeks from Monday, the Monster returns to school.
Since we’ve been a little out of touch with the school this summer – or at least that’s how I’m feeling, to some extent – the wife reached out to the Monster’s teacher to get a list of school supplies for the coming year in the Together We Grow Kindergarten class. Most of the list really isn’t all that surprising to me… but still. Continue reading
A while back, the Monster decided he’d rather sleep on the futon in his bedroom instead of the toddler bed… or really any bed.
Where I sit, this isn’t a problem. I don’t care what he’s sleeping on, as long as he’s getting enough sleep and isn’t putting himself in any real danger. The wife’s of a slightly different mind, and would rather he use a bed. Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago, back on July 1st, the new fiscal year began in Maryland, which meant that applications for Low Intensity Support Services opened for funding for FY2014.
By the end of the first day, Southern Maryland was done accepting applications for the year. Where we live, in Central Maryland, the wife went into a panic when she was warned a week later that applications would shortly be closing for our area due to similar demand. (She actually drove the forty minutes each way to hand-deliver our application so it would be there before the newly-imposed July 15th deadline. LISS does not permit applications to be sent by fax or email – they have to be hand-delivered or sent via US Postal Mail.) And we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re likely not to get any LISS funding for FY2014. Continue reading
So, yesterday, we went to a baby naming and then to Sesame Place (since we were in the area).
Going to the baby naming meant getting up fairly early – the naming was in a suburb of Philadelphia, about 2 hours drive from our house, and so we had to get up, get everyone washed, and get our butts on the road before we’d normally be done with breakfast on a weekend morning. Obviously, that’s not going to do things that help the kids get into a “mood” to be cooperative, but we had hopes. Continue reading