2 Years and 2 Months

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That’s how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. I’ve taken some breaks before, but this one takes the cake. Especially because 2020 was about 10 years long alone, right?

Some changes from the last 2 years:

  • ‘J’ is now 6 and his sister is now 4
  • Last year, ‘J’ ended his Kindergarten year on March 13th and since September has been 100% virtual through his school for 1st grade. His sister is doing homeschooling for nursery school.
  • Just prior to the shutdown last year, we had an outside evaluation done to confirm (once again) that ‘J’ does have Sensory Processing difficulties and we were about to start working with an OT outside of his school.
  • Through the ups and downs of the pandemic, my kids are resilient, thriving and learning new things everyday.

I’ll be getting into more details regarding some of these changes, along with many others. Just wanted to say hello and let you know that I’m back!

Happy Winnie the Pooh Day!

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Piglet: How do you spell love?

Pooh: You don’t spell it, you feel it.

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Winnie the Pooh is one of those classic characters that stays with you throughout your life. And how many amazing quotes can be pulled from his stories?!

We spent the morning reading Pooh, watching Pooh and doing a little craft too. I hope the kiddos remember that they are braver than they believe, stronger than they seem and smarter than they think, because I already know those things to be true.

 

Guess Who?

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It’s Me!

Oh wait, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the game.

Guess Who? was a favorite of mine when I was younger and I made a special note to Santa that ‘J’ might love it as well.

In ‘J’s’ school, they assign a child as the Leader of the Day. When they do this, the teacher gives out clues to see if the children can guess who the leader will be. Hearing ‘J’ talk about this sparked the idea that he may love this game. And it’s been an enormous hit! He’s obsessed!

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Although he had a speech delay and has come so far from that point, there are definitely still parts of speech he’s working on. This includes pronunciation, sentence formation and articulation. I’ve found this game to be an excellent tool to help in this process.

We have to take turns asking questions. Since he normally wants to play about 10 rounds at a time, my husband and I can use this time to help him formulate those questions, use proper pronouns and improve on his adjectives.

Clearly he hasn’t caught on that we’re using it as a learning tool as well as a game or else he may have tossed it to the side by now! Hopefully he never does. I love how much he loves playing the game with us.

Overloads and Reactions

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Every child with SPD is going to handle a sensory overload differently. This makes sense since the causes can vary, why wouldn’t the outcome?

For ‘J,’ there are so many things that can affect how he reacts to a situation where he’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s making a loud noise, other times it’s an actual scream. He could break down crying, get fidgety, act out or sometimes just give me a look where I can see he just needs some reassurance.

Most of the time we can be proactive in situations and deter whatever may affect him. At the very least, we always try to prep him from what he may see, hear or experience in any situation. If you’ve read this blog before, you know he’s huge on routine, so having a heads up to something new is always helpful.

Of course with a scream, people around us (family, friends, strangers) will notice. Being fidgety, acting out or giving us a look can be trickier. We know that he’s uncomfortable and we’re trying to get a handle on it or make it ok while those around us are clueless.

As I’ve talked about before, because SPD isn’t something you can see, people don’t always think through their actions because to them, ‘J’ often appears carefree. Someone we know might invite us to a big party, which is great and usually ends up being fine but we also know that ‘J’ will never be 100% comfortable. Others may play loud music, change up a routine, or try to play around by surprising him. His reaction can definitely run the gamut in these instances from giving a look to an all out meltdown.

When this isn’t a part of someone’s ever day life, it’s not a natural instinct to think through the moves you make. But taking an extra minute to think through actions can make all the difference to someone with sensory sensitivities.

2 for the 2nd Time

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I have a two year old….again.

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‘Baby J,’ as she’s known in these posts turned 2 today. I can’t believe it. Of course when you have a baby everyone says not to blink because it all goes by so fast. And it’s 100% true. It’s all going way too fast and my anxiety shoots through the roof thinking about it.

It’s been amazing to watch them both grow and change. I’ve loved watching the sibling dynamic form, especially in this last year while ‘Baby J’ has learned to walk and talk. Once those switches went on, there was no stopping her. She’s so smart and sometimes I question how she’s only now turning 2. She’s cute and she knows it. She loves hugging all three of us, cracks us up and knows how to push ‘J’s’ buttons. Within seconds they can go from making each other cry, to hugging each other and saying “I love you.”

‘Baby J’ completed our family in an amazing way. I learn something new about her everyday as she learns something new about the world. Hearing ‘J’ tell her that she’s his best friend makes my heart melt.

I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have the family I do. They are my world.  Every minute of everyday isn’t perfect but it’s perfect for me. The ups and downs, stressful times, and ongoing exhaustion are worth everything.

I hope my baby girl had a great birthday and I’m so thankful to be her mom!

Not Understanding Doesn’t Equal Not Existing

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Sometimes when people don’t understand things, their automatic go-to is that it doesn’t exist.

When a person breaks their arm, you can see it. You know how it gets fixed and before long, the arm is back to new. With other conditions such as anxiety, depression or in my world, sensory processing difficulties, you can’t see it. There’s no cast to put on, and if someone hasn’t experienced it on some level, they’re not going to understand it. But, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

I’ve talked about this a little in a past post, “Is This a Real Thing?” I’m sure I’ll talk about it again in the future because it’s an ongoing conversation. Being a part of various social media groups, I read so many stories of families not being supportive of a child with sensory processing difficulties. Often the parents will hear that they don’t discipline enough or that their child needs to learn respect. Sometimes a spouse doesn’t understand what’s going on, is scared of what others will think and therefore rejects the idea of an evaluation. When really, the sooner you get your child the proper therapy he/she needs, the quicker they will begin to thrive.

I don’t think everyone in our world fully understands what ‘J’ is going through or even what it all means. But they are supportive and only want the best for him. We’re still learning everyday. I’m lucky to have a spouse that is on the same page as I am and we work through it all as a team. I feel for those who don’t have the support since it’s stressful enough on it’s own.

There is plenty to catch up on from the couple of months I’ve been away from blogging and we will definitely get to it all!  A person won’t be cured sensory difficulties, but they can be given tools to help them through everyday instances that most of us take for granted. I hope those that are starting off without the support they need, eventually find it.

 

A Paw Pa-rrific Halloween

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Over the last 6 months, J has gone through different phases of characters he’s into. WeIMG_3764.jpg were way into Spiderman (he kind of still is), Sid the Science Kid, Super Wings and Paw Patrol. I wanted to wait on buying a costume this year until I knew one of them was sticking. Paw Patrol was the winner and tomorrow J will be dressing up as Marshall.

This time last year, more red flags of a possible sensory issue were coming to light. One of them was how bothered J was by his Woody costume. He seemed so uncomfortable with the feel of the costume and absolutely hated the sound of the velcro on the back of his neck. Every time he moved he would beg me to cut the tag out. I would assure him I already had and this was velcro which helped the costume stayed on.

When we got home from the store a couple of weeks ago and tried on his Marshall costume, I saw him immediately cringe. We cut any tags out and I reminded him of the velcro. He’s not a fan but pushes through in order to wear it. We’ve worn it twice so far for other Halloween activities this month and there’s been a meltdown associated each time. Normally because he does not want to wear the costume in his car seat. He is visibly overwhelmed. Talking it through with him, taking some deep breaths and giving it some time usually does the trick. He tugs at it here and there but overall accepts the costume since he so badly wants to wear it.

Most people around him wouldn’t notice it, unless they witness the major meltdown. But there are looks he gives me when he’s uncomfortable and looking for reassurance. There are various situations where I’ve seen that look and Halloween season is just one instance. Overall, he loves pumpkins, Halloween decorations and the idea of dressing up. He’s looking forward to his Halloween parade at school tomorrow and Trick-or-Treating in our town.

For those with sensory difficulties, so much is going on behind the scenes in order to get through different situations and daily activities.

Another Hairy Situation

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Back in April I wrote about how much J did not enjoy getting his hair wet or having it cut. Here we are in October and not too much has changed.Bath time has gotten easier, although he still has his moments. We still can’t wet a brush or comb when styling his hair.

Before school started, I took him to get a haircut. We made multiple attempts in multiple locations and none of them ended well. He was crying, screaming and trying to run away. It got to the point of his hair being in his eyes that we knew we had to try a different route before school started. My husband took on the duty of adding stylist to his resume. It was a struggle and took over an hour, but ultimately J had his hair in a much better state than he started with.

Hair grows fast. This weekend we found ourselves once again in the position of needing to take J to get his hair cut. We figured we’d skip the struggle of getting it done somewhere and just have my husband do it again. Needless to say, it didn’t go well (not horrible but could be better) and we will definitely be going back to the professionals for next time.

Click here to read “A Hair Situation,” which I posted back in April. I also included 3 videos from Sensory Spectacle in the post discussing why those with SPD find washing, brushing and cutting hair difficult.

Since we’re discussing hair cuts again, I have included that video below. What may not be fun for some kids is heightened for those with sensory difficulties. 

World OT Day

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I couldn’t let today go by without acknowledging World Occupational Therapy (OT) Day.

I’m so thankful for J’s Occupational Therapist. She has taught us so much, made J feel comfortable during his sessions and is always available to answer our questions. Although a complex profession and not centered around one specific niche, Occupational Therapists work to promote independence for their clients. Whether they’re working with children or adults, they work to help them grow socially, physically and emotionally.

For us, it seems appropriate to celebrate OT during Sensory Processing Awareness Month. OT helps J navigate through daily activities easier while providing us with a better understanding on how we can help him succeed.

Sorting Fun

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Impromptu sorting game for a lil TGIF fun!

My kiddos are 4 and 21 months, so we worked on a variety learning objectives with this one. Each plate had the name of the color written uppercase in that color. I also wrote it out in lowercase on the bottom. I grabbed random toys from around the house and threw them in a big pile in the middle.

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This ended up being a great success!

  • I had them sit on the couch to listen to the instructions. #listeningcomprehension
  • They worked together to sort random toys on the correct plate. #teamwork
  • ‘J’ was able to read the words on the plate. #reading
  • When there was more than one of any item, we worked on counting. #math
  • Speaking candidly, ‘Baby J’ was over the sorting portion a lot sooner than ‘J,’ so she started putting the mega blocks together. Working on those gross motor skill, right?

Sometimes I forget how easy it is to create games with things you already have in the house. They both had fun and we’ll definitely do it again soon!