A Little Organization?

I finally did it. I started a toy "check out". You know how you go to the library and pick out some books, to check out? Then you return them and get some more books? Ok, by far, its not a perfect system (losing books, fines, etc.) But, I just put all my kids toys in the school room, locked up. They were already organized into bins. But, my kids regularly open every bin, and scatter toys all over the playroom. Nobody wants to clean up this mess, and honestly I end up doing the work while my kids are asleep. I am so tired of this cycle.

So, now my children can only have one set of toys at a time (each). In order to get more toys, they must clean up what they are playing with and return the item(s). So far, it is working. It isn't even 9 o'clock yet, but no one is screaming yet.

This will be a bit more work for me, since I have to "unlock" the toy storage each time, but I'm hoping the kids will learn some responsibility, instead of me constantly cleaning up after them.

I also implemented the rule- no eating in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. I am tired of crawling into bed and feeling like I'm sleeping in a cereal bowl. My kids are actually learning to eat at the dining room table. We've been following this rule for almost a month.

My boycott of Earth Day

I did not celebrate Earth Day. And, I did not teach my children about it. I actually goggled "Boycott Earth Day". Did you know that some environmentalist actually boycott the holiday because they think it has become too commercialized?

I am not an environmentalist, and this is not why I boycotted Earth Day. I didn't even remember the "holiday" until I was in Ace Hardware and was given a "Green" bag with special eco-friendly soaps and detergents. I bought stuff to grow seed with my kids, so I thought the cashier was giving me some bonus gardening stuff. (Anybody want some eco-friendly detergent that I am expecting will not actually clean my clothes or dishes when used with well water?)

I did not celebrate this dumb holiday, because I believe in worshiping my Creator, not His creation. Good stewardship and being "green" is not the same thing. I don't need a special holiday to take care of God's creation. I will not teach my children this garbage either. And, yes, I am one of those people who do not believe the human race is causing global warming.

How did I boycott Earth Day? Easy, I just thanked Jesus for his words in Matthew 6:25-34. If you want to read it, here is a link:

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:25-34&version=31

Bestest Teacher

My daughter told me that she was so very excited that her friend Nick does home school, and that soon, her friend Billy will too. I had to tell her that Billy was not going to be home schooled, and the question of what other kids do if they aren't home schooled finally came out.

So, I explained how public school works (20 or so kids, 1 teacher, going to school together from 9-3 PM) I truly expected tears or a comment like, "I want to go to school with lots of kids". But, do you know what she said?

She told me how she remembered going to Birch Street School for preschool, where the other kids go to school for Kindergarten. Then she said, "Mommy, you are the bestest teacher of all, because you help me to learn stuff, and I get to learn with you at home!"

That was so wonderful and unexpected :)

Yuck

Yuck. I feel yucky. I binged all day today. All day long. The kids Easter candy, a whole box of mini blueberry muffins, 4 or 5 chocolate chip granola bars, hot wing barbecue pretzel nuggets (why those?), pepsi, etc.

Why?

I don't know why. I could make up a bunch of well thought out reasons, but I'm not going to. I saw this binge coming and didn't do anything to stop it.

I have nothing else to say. *sigh*

Doggie Trolley, Autism Insurance and Soccer?

My wonderful husband installed a dog trolley. I LOVE it! He added a retractable leash, so I just grab the end of the leash, hook up Scotty and send him out the back door! Since August, I have taken him out multiple times a day - on his leash. Not fun in 4 feet of snow or other icky weather conditions. This is so awesome. It will get even better in the Summertime. He is getting use to it, and doesn't love being out there alone yet, but in time- maybe he will!

I went to an Insurance Reform for Autism press conference today. Michigan is one of those states that excludes the diagnosis of autism from its policies and refuses to cover any services related to the disorder. Its a neurological disorder, and I think it is horrible that people pay for private insurance and then their child's medical condition doesn't get covered.

For the record, I really hate Big Government. I don't like that the state government it trying to force insurance companies to cover autism. But, I'd rather see it happen at the state level, than the federal. And, I think this is discrimination. Did you know that diabetes wasn't covered by insurance, not long ago? And psychiatric disorders- like bi-polar and anxiety? Its all about the almighty dollar.

So, I sat in the press conference feeling like a bit of a hypocrite, but I don't think this is the government's job, but in our country, its come down to this. If the issue isn't forced, it won't happen. And, my child got the services she needed (Applied Behavior Analysis- because teaching kids with autism use to be my career, so I provided the therapy myself for two years), and she is doing fantastic. My friends and neighbors children with ASD aren't able to afford ABA, and so their kids lose out. It makes me so sad. Here in Northwest Michigan there is no one to provide behavior therapy- but, that could change if the money to cover services became available.

In two weeks, my daughter's ASD educational diagnosis will be removed. Then, we cut the cord with the public school- hopefully forever! Can you tell that I really don't like public education? I really don't like it. No more OT. No more Speech/Language. No more feeling like I have to tell new people I meet that my child has an Autism Spectrum disorder. I am still retraining myself. We had a play date with a new family on Saturday, and I zipped my lip. It really wasn't necessary to expose.

I signed the kids up for soccer. It starts in a couple week. They have been kicking around a soccer ball. My son loves it so much! He carries the ball all over the house. (Its a Nerf, so it hasn't broken anything yet.)

That is all for now- off to exercise (I got a new Leslie Sansone DVD- I'm addicted! And down 29 lbs!)

Phonics Rant

My daughter is memorizing her phonics words. You know, little sets of rhyming words (at, cat, fat, bat, mat, rat, sat), and not understanding the "phonics" part. She doesn't really sound them out, she memorizes them. So, she has even more sight words. I think at least 200 now! I don't think it would be easy to memorize the entire English language. My methods aren't working. We have been using Explode the Code and supplementing it with Starfall.com stuff, and other work books. She has been working on short a and short i for almost 3 months. Today, it was really obvious to me that she is just a sponge, soaking up the words, and adding them to her sight word list in her brain. Oh yes, and rhyming, she doesn't really get it. How do you actually teach someone to rhyme? I mean we read Dr. Suess, sing "Down By the Bay", practice little rhyming games- nope, its not happening yet.

So, I ordered another book. "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", because several moms have recommended it. It was cheap on Amazon. So, we shall see.

We started journaling today. She kinda likes it, because she gets to draw a picture, but really hates to write. I think we just need to do a lot more practice with the fun chalk board. I have a special one with double lines.

We went outside today :) It shortened the school day, but hey, it was 50 degrees! We took Scotty for a walk. Then, the kids played in the driveway. My daughter roller skated and my son ran around with a toy wheel barrow (Aunt Nee Nee, its the one from you and Brianna), but he kept chasing the poor dog!

I had to empty and wash out the trash can (soooo gross!) because my trash company merged with another, and doesn't dump the can anymore. Now they drive up in a truck with a big wagon and put the trash in by hand. Well, they left half of my trash! And the bottom had a huge soggy leaking bag of doggie poop. I am NOT happy about this. I pay extra for a can, and if they can't provide a decent service, then I will find another trash service. Tomorrow is trash day- I will be watching from my window. They better take it all.

Ok, the good news is my husband comes home tomorrow night. He has been in
Fargo, ND for a week. Thankfully, the crisis is over.

Ok, off to exercise. I have been stressed. I have been binging again. I will exercise now, because I will fight through this and win.