Tonight I got upset with the girls because they were roughhousing at bedtime and pulling on the curtains in their room (they bent the rod and loosened the screws in the wall!). After I got my point across and everyone had cooled down a bit, DD1 called me back into the room and started asking questions about if I had ever done anything like that as a kid. So I talked about some of the times I'd gotten into trouble as a kid, mistakes or bad choices I made and how I tried to learn from them -- and we talked about thinking about potential consequences before you do something.
It's hard to convey some of those concepts in ways that I think she understands. It's hard to tell sometimes if she's mulling something over, doesn't get it, is confused, is taking me literally or understands a more general concept (like limiting "don't do that" to one specific action vs. a broader class of not-very-good-ideas), and she was somewhat anxious about whether "all people six years old and up" were expected to think about consequences, like there's a deadline or a day when she suddenly has to do it 100% of the time instead of understanding that it's a learning process.
It was a good conversation, though, and really nice to hear her thoughts and see her wrestling with some of that abstract thinking. And I'm glad that she feels like she can still talk to me and ask questions even after I've just been pretty upset with her and her sister. I don't really remember feeling that way when I got in trouble with my parents, so it kind of makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Either that or it's a bit of ASD emotional obliviousness. :P
I have a little brag for me I've decided to be a Girl Scout troop co-leader even though I'm pretty daunted by the whole thing. A few other first grade moms and I are starting up a new troop because there aren't any open spots in the existing troops. We're going to set it up as a co-op, so we can share responsibilities. Half of us are going to do the leader training and the other half are going to take on some of the bigger tasks like "cookie mom". Now that I've made the decision I think I'm actually starting to get excited.
DS has been reading a level ahead and last night brought home a book to show off his skills. It's pretty amazing seem him learn how to read and how proud he is when he does it.
I woke this kids up earlier than usual yesterday as DD had an orthodontist appt. DS had a pissy attitude right off the bat with being tired and complaining. I told him that I didn't have time to deal with his attitude. I left the room and closed the door. He got out of bed and was downstairs and ready in a reasonable amount of time with no bad attitude.
Christopher's school participates in the Get Ready to Learn program that uses yoga to help prep kids for learning. Well, last night as we've turned down the lights to get ready for bed, I see him standing by his bed going "breathe in .... breathe out ..." (and he's doing the arm motions, swinging them out for in, and back down for out). Then he re-positions and starts reaching down to touch his toes (opposite side so he's stretching himself out).
I checked in with his teacher today and apparently those are the stretches they use during their yoga-time to relax. Which means ...
Christopher was trying to relax for bedtime. :-D !!
His face lit up when I told him tonight that tomorrow at school he gets to be the Birthday Boy. He gets it. I'm not sure if he's more excited for his bday this weekend or if I am. He'll be 3 for those on mobile.
We had really good parent-teacher conferences yesterday. Our NT kiddo has had some issues with talking out of turn but otherwise it was glowing reports for both boys. I continue to be amazed by how X is handling the demands of full-day K. We asked in-depth yesterday about how he is socially at school and were really amazed at what we were hearing. Like a side of our sweet but loner X that we have *never* seen for ourselves: flexible in his play, running around with the other kids on the playground, no signs of fatigue/hypotonia issues or anxiety, interacting with different groups of kids, and apparently even well-liked by his classmates! We were amazed and I remembered saying to DH that I would love to have a video of him at school so I could see this for myself.
Then just a few hours later, we had a play date during his speech therapy (pragmatics/social skills) time. A friend of mine brought her son and the little girl she watches over. SLP had the 4 kids play a game together first and then allowed time for free play ... and as soon as the game was over, X turned to the little girl and invited her to play with him. My jaw dropped right there but it went on ... for a good 90 minutes with minimal prompts and reminders from the SLP. Sure, he went back to parallel play at times but then would shift right back into cooperative play with her. My friend was amazed, too; she's known my boys since birth and we've had many play dates over the years, she's had my boys for sleepovers during DH's surgeries, etc., and she'd never seen X act like this either! I'm blown away and overjoyed at the amount of progress X has made socially in just the past two months.
DS1 asked for AND ate a few bites of zucchini this weekend! Zucchini is one of his current training foods at ABA.
Yesterday when my dad was on his way out, but didn't say bye, DS1 not only noticed but also said bye to him. Also, when DS2 was riding the little bus and he wanted it, DS1 said, "Can I have the bus, please." #1 He used his words and did not get upset, #2 It was a good sentence (even if voice tone was wrong for a question), #3 He used the word "I"!, #4 He said "please."
I can't wait for Wednesday's brag so here it is: Friday night we went to our first Cub Scouts Pack meeting. I'm guessing this varies geographically, but in our area I was forewarned that it is largely male-governed. Gone are the days of Den Moms- it's all Den Dads, and thus the organization of the programs can be sketchy (sorry dudes- but it true). It was pretty much mass chaos at the meeting with about 50 boys ramming around and their dads casually looking on. The meeting started 30 min late. The boys had to "sit quietly" during all the advancements (DS did fairly well but I had to go sit with him at one point because he was just laying face down on the gym floor. Did I mention the meeting started at 7 pm and he is typically asleep in bed at 7:30??) Then we find out that the Tiger Den (DS's den) needs a volunteer to lead it. DH is an Eagle Scout but not comfortable commanding small children and I knew better than to harass him to volunteer. Here's the brag: he totally stepped up all on his own and volunteered. He nervously asked me if I thought he could do it and I was just all smiles and said no worries, I'd be right there with him. I'm so excited!!! I can't get off Pinterest planning all our den meetings and go see its. We're even camping this weekend with the Pack. I'm very hopeful this turns into DS's new best thing.
I've got one of those too today. We took the boys to Chuck E Cheese for another kid's birthday party. Yeah, I'd never been and I thought I was going to lose it - way too many things and kids happening at once, but Christopher did a whole lot better than I thought he would. He was there for about 2 hrs before he really started acting up - because he didn't want to take turns at the Fruit Ninja game, but he did surprisingly well!
Re: Hello??? Brag Day Thursday 9/25
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
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I can't wait for Wednesday's brag so here it is: Friday night we went to our first Cub Scouts Pack meeting. I'm guessing this varies geographically, but in our area I was forewarned that it is largely male-governed. Gone are the days of Den Moms- it's all Den Dads, and thus the organization of the programs can be sketchy (sorry dudes- but it true). It was pretty much mass chaos at the meeting with about 50 boys ramming around and their dads casually looking on. The meeting started 30 min late. The boys had to "sit quietly" during all the advancements (DS did fairly well but I had to go sit with him at one point because he was just laying face down on the gym floor. Did I mention the meeting started at 7 pm and he is typically asleep in bed at 7:30??) Then we find out that the Tiger Den (DS's den) needs a volunteer to lead it. DH is an Eagle Scout but not comfortable commanding small children and I knew better than to harass him to volunteer. Here's the brag: he totally stepped up all on his own and volunteered. He nervously asked me if I thought he could do it and I was just all smiles and said no worries, I'd be right there with him. I'm so excited!!! I can't get off Pinterest planning all our den meetings and go see its. We're even camping this weekend with the Pack. I'm very hopeful this turns into DS's new best thing.