Same old same old this week, except without any drama! Arley has had only one bad day this week, and it wasn't nearly as bad as it could get. Today he was a little stressed about spelling words wrong (of all things) and got a bit ornery, but for the most part, his meds have kicked in and he is happy and amiable. We had OT today - it has been 6 weeks since our last session because our therapist went on vacation. She says now we can start teaching Arley the skills he is lagging in (like bike riding and swinging, making snacks etc), and that we might have to start seeing a psychologist again to address his other issues, because they are more mental at this point. This is a good place to be, it feels like a big step forward. And I'm just so glad that he is happy. He is much easier to deal with, although not perfect, but some of his issues are from habit, I am sure.
Carmie has been making French toast for breakfast, and is helping out more in the kitchen. She helped Jeffrey cook dinner on Saturday night, and now we've decided to make Saturday night kids cook night. The kids are taking more responsibility around the house too, because I sat them down and we wrote down everything that gets done in a day, a week and a month to keep things running smoothly, and they saw how much Jeff and I do. So Arley has been watering the plants every day, and Carmie has been feeding and watering Bella. They also have to clean out the car each week, among other things. So far so good.
Every morning that we don't have an activity on, the kids and I go out into the cul de sac and play handball. They have improved so much, Carmie will beat me soon. It's good, because we are all getting sunshine and exercise first thing. While one child plays handball with me, the other is writing spelling words, to win chocolate chips or screen time minutes. That was why Arley was stressed this morning, because he spelt 'construction' wrong and he wouldn't let me show him the right way to spell it. One morning he earned himself 30 extra minutes of screen time!
We went once again to Collers Beach, and did some fossicking. It's slightly addictive. We all just wonder over there and start turning over rocks. We have quite a collection now. They are all from the Permian period and are over 250 million years old. This always blows my mind.
Today we had our usual weekly park play with the kids' schooled friends, and Carmie's old best friend Ness came. We have't seen Ness and her Mum in 18 months. It's hard with schooled friends, because I never know when they are moving on and becoming better acquainted with other friends at school, so I never really push it too hard. Apparently Ness has been wanting to see Carmie too, so when Arley accidentally texted Ness's mum last week, we arranged it. Now they will be coming to every other park play, and the kids are stoked.
Today I even sat with the kids and did a little 'school work'. Every once in a while I get a bee in my bonnet about having something to show the registrar, so I have the kids sit down and do a worksheet or two. We hadn't done this since June, so we tried again today, and it was a great success. They only did two worksheets each, but there were no complaints, and Arley even said it was fun and asked to do another one tonight. And Carmie has started a fact book on birds, and it's really good! It's so nice to see them doing 'schooly' type things because they want to.
Carmie's speech therapy is going well. We have homework to do four times a day, so it is hard work, but we are pushing through, and we really can tell that it is helping. She's not too fond of the homework - we have to talk in something called syllable timed speech, but we get through it. I can't wait for all of these therapies to be over, as it's been three and a half years at this point. But hey, I am thankful they have the chance to do the therapies.
I think that's it for this week. Fingers crossed we keep this smooth sailing :)
Carmie enjoying her French toast
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