I'm trying to think of what we got up to this week, but it seems like not much at all! I think it's because it's the school holidays so we just don't go out much. But the kids did have Nessy over for a play date. The kids adore her, and she is such a sweet girl. They did a lot of drawing and playing outside. She is kind to Arley even when he is being ornery. We also did lots of game playing, and some crafts, and we made a little fairy garden. We are still doing Arley's brushing every two hours, and he is getting pretty ticked off about it. However, it is definitely helping - I can actually take his socks off to brush his little feet now (a minor miracle), and tonight he held on to his own slice of pizza at dinner and fed himself. This sounds so silly to say, but he hates to touch messy things with his hands, so I usually have to feed him his slice or cut it up and give him a fork. He just picked it up and ate it without comment, as Jeff's and my eyes were boggling. At his OT session last week, he couldn't clean the blackboard with a wet cloth, he flipped out instead. But this week he helped Jeff wash the car with a wet cloth, and he used a wet cloth in a craft project that we were doing. He still can't hold a pencil properly (he says he can't feel it in his hand when I put it the right way), but this week he learned to pick up scissors in the correct position. We have been working on this for so long. So we had some big improvements this week! We also had one day when he was so nice to be around, and we were so stress-free and happy. He had his moments, but came out of them very quickly and easily. We are hoping for more of these days, that they will just get more and more frequent and then that's how things will be. It's not that he is just angry and tantrumming all the time either, his nervous system is just mostly at level 2 (instead of 1), so we are always on edge that he is going to flip his lid and go to level 3, which he can do at the slightest instigation. But he has been playing quite well with Carmie this week too. She has had a good week. We have started a responsibility chart and let them choose different things they are responsible for. Carmie chose things like setting and clearing the table, and Arley chose things like not saying bad words and keeping his hands to himself, as well as feeding the dog. Carmie amazingly chose 'do homework' as she explained to me that she really needs to learn to write better and so she's going to practise every day. Music to my ears! I knew if I let her be she'd come around. Lesson learned not to bug her about doing things I think are good for her - she'll get to them in her own time.
We had dinner at my parents' house on Monday night, and then on Wednesday Mum came over and looked after the kids while Jeff and I went to see Arley's behaviour therapist. Today I was at the gallery and Jeff took the kids to Narrawallee park for a play. They really needed it, it has been ages since they had a good run around.
Schools go back next week, and all of our homeschool friends will be back from their vacations. We are looking forward to seeing them again. And I can't wait for the crowds to disperse :)
Carmie and Ness drawing together
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