The Non Jumping Bean

It worked!

The mess of beans on my table, the duck tape, it was all worth it. My kids in the office had a great experience with the weighted lap blanket I made. Most children who cannot sit still and are constantly moving sat still for a longer period of time with the blanket. I had a 7 year old who even wanted to take it home with him.

Unfortunately the child I really had in mind when I was making it, it did not work so well for. He liked it for a few minutes then took it off. But maybe slow steps.

Overall, I am happy with my home creation, and so are my little office kiddos. Now if I just had the patience to make a large blanket for our house.

Beans and a Blanket

I have been searching the Internet for weighted blankets and weighted lap blankets for not only our house but for my office. Wow, are they expensive! Well, I got on my "I want it now" kick, not wait a week or two, so I became a little creative and started constructing my own weighted lap blanket.

I ran to Walmart and got a 6 pound bag of beans, and some fancy duck tape, because no project is complete without a little duck tape. Then I took a pillow case and cut two sides and evenly placed the beans in sacks.

Beans were all over, I had a little extra help from my little "crafty girl" as she calls herself.

When all was evenly dispersed and taped up so beautifully, my husband gave it a try...
and he liked it, in fact the whole family liked it.

I tried it out on a boy in my office who has a difficult time sitting still, he will go from one spot to the next the whole session, but was able to sit still with this lap blanket on. The pressure seems to really ground them.

The pressure also works great for tantrums, those that totally like to cover themselves up with blankets or stuffed animals, places where sitting is a must (church, homework etc) and can help with winding down at bed time.

My self constructed lap blanket will get some more use today in my office. So excited to see how well it works particularly with one little boy.

Merry Christmas To All

What is Christmas Eve without one of our little asthmatics needing a breathing treatment. Right in the middle of opening presents (yes, we open presents on Christmas Eve then Santa comes in the morning) she starts clearing her throat and coughing in true asthmatic style. Her cheeks even turned bright red which was strange.

My mom blamed it on playing in the rain 3 days ago. I swear when it comes to her grandchildren all her practical nurse skills go down the tubes.

Hopefully we will stay out of the Nightime Pediatric children's urgent care tonight.

ADHD Lead to Good Thing

Carson had a violin solo and did fabulous. He was well prepared and excited to play for everyone. He managed to play his two songs mistake free even though his focus and attention seemed to wander, as he looked around all the audiences smiling faces.

After everyone performed, all the violin soloists came back up to take a final bow together. Surprise, surprise, Carson was not really paying attention and was supposed to be taking the final bow with the rest of the group. But it's distractions like this just might lead to a good thing......

Like a beautiful picture like this......

Not So Good

So this whole "just breathe" things really did not work. I gave it a valiant effort and tried it for a few days.

But I just totally came unglued when a doctor was more worried and upset that I had inverted two letters in his name, while I was trying to explain to him a number of mental health concerns I had for a young boy whose mother was at her wits end.

Let me see, an unintentional mis- spelling, or the welfare of a young child, hmmmm. There should be no question, and there is no question in my mind. Priorities I guess.

If only the world could think more like me this whole "just breathe" thing might actually work (so narcissistic of me I know, I just can't help it today. Don't mess with kids).

Breath

Just breathe..........

That is what I plan on doing today.

I will just breathe (and maybe say a prayer) before I wake up Adeline to get dressed for school, our daily battle and meltdown time.

I will just breathe at the drive thru Starbucks line that I cannot believe I wait in almost every morning.

I will just really deep breathe before I enter my moms house to pick up all the holiday crafts that she and the children have completed as holiday gifts for teachers.

I will just breathe as I make a return to Target and head to Walmart so I can get a better deal.

I will just breathe when Adeline comes home from school and wants to pull out every craft project in the world and is a whirlwind of activity.

I will just breathe while I attempt to put laundry away, get dishes done and whatever other household tasks have been neglected over the past few days.

I will just breathe at the run down skating rink tonight, where my kids have a blast and we all come out to support my sons school.

I will just breathe before I start my work week. I seem to be having a stint at work where everyone is remembering their appointments, and needs more time then I feel I can give them. I remember the rash of "no show" clients just a few months ago, and now it is totally opposite. I knew that would happen when my company changed my contract.

Finally tonight I will just breathe in bed, taking deep breaths of "good" in and blowing out the "bad" like another late night run to the children's urgent care for little Mr. Asthmatic.

Heres to breathing!

Non Neurotypical

So it seems to me that a neurotypical person can sit down and address all their holiday cards in one sitting, and take them out to their mail box. Process complete. For me, Ms. Non Neurotypical it is a process and adventure to get holiday cards in the mail. I started this project last week and it is still not complete. I addressed as many as I had addresses for on my iphone, spent some time looking in a number of places where I could possible have more addresses (because every year I swear I am going to make one central list). I also spent some time with three family members on the phone, who yet again have to provide me with some addresses. I have them all addressed and they are in the car, and have been sitting there for two days waiting for me to stop and buy stamps. Buying stamps should not be that big of a deal, but I am sure I am not alone in my holiday card adventure. So if you are a recipient of my card, just pretend that it says "Happy New Year" instead of "Happy Holidays."

Mental Health

It is such a good thing that mental health just fascinates me. First off since it is my job, secondly, because it helps me understand my family better. My family is the "poster family" for mental health issues. Our family has parents who have their dysfunctions, myself, my sister, my husband and his brother, my 7 year old, and the 4 year old daughter is probably not far behind.

Since going back to work almost a year ago, my knowledge base has vastly improved, and my diagnosis skills have sharpened. I read endlessly on a number of mental dysfunctions. I cannot remember the last fiction book I have read, but have kept Amazon and Barnes and Noble in business with all of my mental health book purchases. It would be interesting for anyone at those bookstores to see the last years purchased books, everything from ADHD, to bipolar, to Asperger's.

Of which Asperger's is one of my new favorites. I have seen a extraordinarily high number of Asperger's kids in my office. Their diagnosis has been missed by pediatricians and even psychiatrists. I know there is no medication that will fix Asperger's but it is important to accurately diagnosis it so parents can understand their child better and employ different parenting techniques.

I digressed there on the Asperger's topic, but understanding mental dysfunction has given me a new perspective, and I have great appreciation for families who constantly cope and live with mental illness in their family. Some days it is absolutely exhausting and it takes every last bit of energy out of me. At other times it is exciting because my son tells me he is making less mistakes at school and not daydreaming as much with his new medicine. I have learned to cope better with my 4 year olds meltdowns, and my mom's meltdowns. Well, they are not really meltdowns, it is more like a tornado that stirs everything up by the root, spins it around, and then leaves others to assess and pick up the damage.

I can pick up on my husbands mood, my sister's stresses and my father's anxiety that has lead to hoarding. My belief is we all have a little bit of mental dysfunctions, for some people it does not impeded their every day living. For others, it is more of a challenge, support and encouragement are vital. Some days too, I am thankful for pharmaceuticals. As my sister says, "better living through chemistry."

My Sister the Felon

My sister (with my kiddos), the face of a felon?

Well, almost but not really. It is kind of comically now, but at the time, my sister did not think that potentially having a warrant out for her arrest was that funny.

It all happened a few weeks ago when my sister was in a very minor fender bender. She was at a stop, her foot slipped off the break and she tapped the car in front of her. No damage to the cars or people. They exchanged insurance information and went on their way.

A week later my sister received a call from a police deputy handling the accident as the other lady made a report days later. He left a phone number on her voice mail to call him back regarding the accident. My sister called that number on different occasions and was left to hear the ring of the phone with no accompanying voice mail message.

This week that same officer called her back and said it was imperative she call him back or he would place a warrant out for her arrest. She called back of course and was transferred to numerous people and departments till she finally got a hold of the officer; and he could really care less he had an issue with his voice mail.

As my sister called me totally panicked about her potential warrant, I explained that it was probably just more of a "scare tactic" way that the police choose to communicate. We talked for a bit and calmed her worry. Maybe 10 years from now she will think this event is more humorous then she did a few days ago.

Haven't I Learned?

Why is it that I know I should not, but still do?

I was out at Target trying to find Carson a nice sweater or sweater vest to wear for his violin recital on Monday, and made the mistake of calling my mom. Why oh why do I do that? I think in my gut I decided I should get it over with, have her throw her little fit tonight about the fact that Carson is not wearing a shirt and tie, instead of on the way to the violin recital.

My mom and I went back and forth about why I do this every year and wait till the last minute blah, blah, blah. I explained the whole dress pant situation and the fact I was not buying new pants for one recital. After the whole pant and sweater issue was talked to death, she stated that in the future I might want to buy Carson one less toy and invest in a nice suit for him. Then continues on to say that "the other family with 3 boys who all play the violin have silk shirts, ties and dress pants and I would hate Carson to feel that he was dressed differently then the other kids." Well, if I was a specialty doctor, and so was my husband and could afford a live in nanny to take my kids everywhere and attend to all of my families needs, I could buy the silk suits for a once a year occasion. But, I am not, so I am just grateful at times for what Target and Walmart have. And really, you think a 7 year old is going to complain about not having to wear a tie and suit? I don't think so.

Hmmm.

I love when parents bring their child into a therapist and really do not want to hear a potential diagnosis or say they know the diagnosis, and all these different parenting tactics have not worked, yet do not give a thought to trying a new approach.

Diagnosis of a child's mental health is extremely sensitive and needs to be approached very delicately. No one really wants anything to be wrong with their child. But, if you are taking your child to a psychiatrist and a therapist and they are only 5 years old, maybe the psychiatrist and therapist might have helpful information they can share. Why make the effort to bring them if you do not want the advise or help?

O.K. Rant done. It was a long two days. One more to go.