by beagoodmom on March 12, 2010
In a recent comment, a reader asked to see a closer look at our Table Rules. I am happy to oblige:
These rules speak to the discipline problems we have had at the table in the past. They are probably not a comprehensive list for every family or child. Let me break down what they mean for our family:
1. Eat. That is pretty much the goal for every meal. Sometimes Pookie is a slow starter. Sometimes Geetle is being dramatic about the food selection and spends 10 minutes making what she thinks are subtle faces about it. We remind them that they are at the table to eat, so do it.
2. No banging on the table. This one is for Giggles now, but it started with Pookie. He re-enacts a script that ends with a crescendo of table-slapping and banging. He doesn’t do it any more, but for a while it was part of every meal; the boy gets stuck in a rut with his echolalia and repetitive scripts.
3. Stay in your chair. Also one for Pookie, who used to wander a bit. We solved that problem. Now, this reminds the big kids about sitting nicely in their chairs.
4. No playing with silverware, cup or plate. That is pretty self- explanatory. Pookie used to spin things like a top. Geetle is always trying out circus acts involving her utensils. Giggles thinks alot of things can be used to make music.
5. No whining. We cook real food. The kids do not always like it. No whining or Mom puts your plate in the sink.
6. No smooshy-smooshy. This is one for Giggles. It means no smearing food around on your plate or highchair tray.
7. No spilling food or milk. I guess to some kids this means, be careful while you eat. At our house it means something different.
8. No toys at the table. An obvious one.
9. No yelling. Again, this speaks to a Pookie issue, but would be relevant to alot of kids.
The 3 things you can do at the table are really the rules we refer to most. It reminds the kids that mealtime is supposed to be productive. Its also a social time, but its not a vaudeville show. I like the way this part is phrased because often when someone is misbehaving, I just ask them “what are the 3 things you can do at the table?” They immediately know they are doing something wrong, but I don’t have to be all “sit down. eat. don’t do that. sit up in your chair. don’t poke your sister. that is food, not a hat.”
So, there you go. How nice of you to ask.
by beagoodmom on March 11, 2010
We usually go to Swimming Lessons on Thursdays. However, swimming lessons ended on 2-26. The very next Thursday, 3-4, Pookie came to me after school and told me ‘First dinner, then swim.” I had not mentioned swimming lessons at all. I told him that swimming lessons had ended the previous week and that there would be no swimming that night. He was disappointed, but OK.
I wonder when he made the connection. When did he figure out that Thursday was swimming lessons day? We never really do calendar work at home, although we plan on moving him to a “Day Planner” sort of system soon. However, they discuss the calendar every day in school. But they would not be telling him that it was Swimming Lessons Night. Some time between when the swimming lessons session started in early January and 3-4, he figured out the pattern. The teacher says its Thursday; we go to swimming lessons afterschool. He figured out the pattern and started to look for it again.
Told you he was paying attention.
by beagoodmom on March 10, 2010
When you see me pushing a cart thru Jo-Ann Fabrics and Giggles is in the basket watching “Dora” on my iPod….do you think:
a. I am incredibly smart and you wish your kid would sit still like that so you could pick out some fabric too.
b. I am doing incredible harm to Giggles.
I would really like to know. People stare and I don’t know whether to be offended or not.
by beagoodmom on March 10, 2010
One of Pookie’s latest creations:
Pretty Cool, huh?
Wait, it gets better.
When he makes this creature, he starts by drawing every single component on different sheets of construction paper. He draws every single piece, quickly, flipping between different colors of paper. He’ll draw 3 yellow ovals, 2 green squiggles, a big blue circle, a small blue circle, 2 white circles, a small white oval, etc until he has them all. Then he cuts them out one at a time. Then he puts down a dozen spots of glue and begins to assemble the creature piece by piece. He always has the right number of glue spots. He always has exactly the right number, color, shape and size of construction paper pieces. He always has a completed creature when he is done.
Remember, Pookie thinks in pictures. That’s an Autism trait. He sees this picture as a completed unit. He can break it down to assemble it, but he will always see it as a single unit. That means he is able to know exactly what he needs to make it. And he can do it in a nontraditional order. You or I would probably cut the red face first, then glue it down. Then we would cut out the eyes and glue them down. Then, we would do the hair and glue it down. Not Pookie. He can do all the drawing first, then all the cutting, then put down all the glue spots, then stick on all the paper pieces. And he will be accurate, every time. He will not miss a single piece. Cool huh?
by beagoodmom on March 10, 2010
Geetle has 3 school reading projects going right now. One earns her a ticket to Great America, one earns a ticket to a minor league baseball game and the other is required “at home” reading for class. Its hard to keep track, so she reads her “at home” reading each night as part of homework. Any leisure reading she does before bedtime goes towards the Great America ticket. The reading she does in bed each night goes towards the baseball ticket. Sounds like too much, but she is keeping track of it all by herself and she reads that much each day anyway.
In order to keep the Great America and baseball reading logs separate, we taped one to her homework planner and the other is hung by astring on her dining room chair. Each morning at breakfast she takes the pencil that also hangs there and records what she read the night before in bed. So far, she has not forgotten. Having it right there, in a place she sits at least twice a day, is key.
Recording the entries herself makes her very proud. Rather than hound her each day to see if she logged her reading, we gave her this tool so that she can succeed on her own. It seems to be working.
by beagoodmom on March 10, 2010
Have I ranted about this before? I rant about it all the time, in my head, so I am not sure if I have ever written it here…..
I absolutely hate it when companies say things like “For every yogurt you purchase, we’ll donate $.05 to the Cancer Society.”
If Yoplait wants to donate money to a charity, then they should do it. Why do they have to do it only if we buy their product first?
If the consumer wants to donate to a charity, they should send their own nickel!
Is there really a subset of consumers out there that think “Oh! I will by this Oatmeal because they are going to give $.10 to the Ronald McDonald House! How generous of Quaker! And, bonus ego points, that’s like me donating the money myself!”
More importantly, I think its down-right unethical for a company to say “Sure, we like charities and all, but you gotta buy something first, make it worth my time. I ain’t a charity!”
Annoys the crap out of me. I belong to the subset of consumers that refuses to buy the product that gives a nickel to the charity.
Rant Complete.
by beagoodmom on March 9, 2010
I am sure Spring will get better, but here is what I have done to mark its glorious arrival, so far:
- spent 45 minutes draining and disinfecting our 3 humidifiers for storage.
- picked up bottle caps, straw wrappers, Matchbox cars, orphaned mittens, month-old newspapers, a frisbee and half a snorkle mask from the yard, where they were once happily buried by snow.
- discovered that we failed to rake up ALL the leaves and dead flowers before the snow fell last winter.
- spent $40 on new rainboots for the kids.
- changed Giggles pants every day after we walk Geetle to the bus, because she slipped and fell in the grass, getting 2 wet/muddy knees.
Yay. Spring.
by beagoodmom on March 9, 2010
I didn’t! I have just been reading so much that I have not started any new projects. Plus, its cold down in my sewing room!
But I did make something recently. Something we needed.
A Cat Splat Mat!
1/4 of a bath towel and an 8 inch wide strip of fabric made into double fold bias tape and sewed to the edges.
Washable. Functional. Cute.
by beagoodmom on March 8, 2010
There is a song called Downtown, by Petula Clark. Its a catchy little number. From the 1960’s, I think. When I was in high school, a group of girls did a retro lip-sync version for the school talent show.
Whenever anyone says they are going downtown, I hear it in my head.
Unfortunately, now when I hear it, I think of poop.
Giggles asked me where the Poopies were going when we flushed them. I told her they went downtown to the water cleaning plant.
Mistake.
Now I hear the song in my head every time I help Giggles in the potty. And I think of poop every time.
by beagoodmom on March 8, 2010
Giggles is fully potty trained now. She goes by herself at home and will go at public places too. We just wait for her to tell us she has to go and we go. Unlike alot of early trainers, we are not really bugging her every 10 minutes with “do you have to pee?” Maybe its because she is so good. But maybe its because she is our third child and we are getting lazy. Either way, its working. She rarely has accidents.
Pookie is a reluctant reader. He is good, but he does not like to do it. Last night I went into his bedroom at bedtime and told him to get a book and read it to me. Usually he would say “Mom will read it” and push it in to my hand. Last night he quickly grabbed “Who Took the Cake?” opened it up and read it to me. Proper cadence. Proper volume level. Proper enthusiasm. As soon as he was done, he closed the book and dropped it over the side of his bunk bed with flair and told me “Good Night.” I waited until I was in the hall to laugh.
Geetle enjoys a game called “Don’t Say it!” She is getting very good at describing things without using the forbidden words. Also, its a good game for playing with Mom and Dad when they are a little distracted. She describes things to us as we unload groceries or as BAGD does homework. We guess the answers and she loves it. I bet it would be fun in the car too. She comes up with very creative clues.
Pookie continues to insist that Nixie sleep in his bed. In fact, he won’t go to bed without her. He is afraid to pick her up, but the other night when he thought I was taking too long bringing her to his bed, he came looking for her and tried it.