If I had a dollar for every time someone said "But he looks normal" when I explain that my son isn't interacting with them because he has Autism, I'd be at least thousands of dollars richer...
A friend of mine and I were IM'ing tonight about how tough it is to be the parent of a child with a disability that can't be identified by sight. Liam has Autism which affects his communication and his social abilities, her son has an even harder to detect and understand disability - ADHD.
It is so hard to go through day to day with people who think that my son is rude or ignoring them, or in my friend's case that she's a bad mom because her son has concentration and behavior issues.
We struggle not only with the outward issues, but also with the core parenting issues of 'Are we doing the best for our kid?' We have both embarked on new treatments for our children - hers is fish oil supplements and mine, as you may have read, is the gluten free diet... the worst part is it all takes time and if this isn't the right path for our children we have to start all over again...
My friend T shared a great story with me tonight that helps keep things in perspective and if you are interested in some insight into our world, I recommend checking it out
Welcome To Holland
With the holidays coming up I will probably blog less often, but you never know :)
Thanks again for reading... and please share your insights below
It's tough getting into the holiday spirit...
when USCIS is involved...
For those who don't know, we've had custody of our niece Robyn for 8 years under a final custody order granting us guardianship.. 4 years ago we moved to the US for Wayne's job and 3 years ago applied for permanent residency or green cards...
Wayne and I were granted ours in June, but as we waited for Robyn's, we instead got a letter asking for 'more' and a court certified copy of our guardianship document... so we started trying to get the court certified copy - of course it had just been moved to storage... and they couldn't locate it... we waited several nerve wracking days until we finally heard that they had the file... and then asked a good friend to go and pick it up and fed-ex it to us to make the deadline...
then we waited some more... and got rejected again... because she wasn't formally adopted.. so...
Off to find a family lawyer... who performed miracles and got us an adoption court date under the 60 day appeals window... Robyn was officially adopted on October 30/09... and we waited again...
We got a notice on December 4th that they are going to review our case, but want further documentation - which will be sent in a futher letter that we don't have...
To make a long story short, we haven't been home in 18 months because we are jumping through USCIS hoops and we can't leave the country because Robyn probably won't be let back in...
So we'll be home for Christmas if only in our dreams...
For those who don't know, we've had custody of our niece Robyn for 8 years under a final custody order granting us guardianship.. 4 years ago we moved to the US for Wayne's job and 3 years ago applied for permanent residency or green cards...
Wayne and I were granted ours in June, but as we waited for Robyn's, we instead got a letter asking for 'more' and a court certified copy of our guardianship document... so we started trying to get the court certified copy - of course it had just been moved to storage... and they couldn't locate it... we waited several nerve wracking days until we finally heard that they had the file... and then asked a good friend to go and pick it up and fed-ex it to us to make the deadline...
then we waited some more... and got rejected again... because she wasn't formally adopted.. so...
Off to find a family lawyer... who performed miracles and got us an adoption court date under the 60 day appeals window... Robyn was officially adopted on October 30/09... and we waited again...
We got a notice on December 4th that they are going to review our case, but want further documentation - which will be sent in a futher letter that we don't have...
To make a long story short, we haven't been home in 18 months because we are jumping through USCIS hoops and we can't leave the country because Robyn probably won't be let back in...
So we'll be home for Christmas if only in our dreams...
Is it working?
I started this blog when we decided to make a change in Liam's diet and remove the gluten for a month's trial run... to see how he reacts and if it helps his language/ social skills...
We saw immediate results when he was sick... more reactions, more interest and more singing... and some of that has continued but we're plateauing again and he's starting to notice that bread is not in his diet... He stared longingly when I made toast for Robyn this morning and I felt bad that I couldn't offer him any.
I have to take one of his choc. chip cookies with us to Publix because he had a melt down when we didn't stop at the bakery for treats... so now we stop near the bakery and wave to the staff while I dig a ziploc bag out of my purse and give him his treat. Its only going to get harder when my in-laws arrive for the X-mas holiday and he won't be able to share bagels with Papa... that part breaks my heart.
On the bright side, I'm eating way less bread which is probably good for me 2
With the crazy busy week we had, I haven't gotten to the store to buy the ingredients I need to start experimenting with bread - but its' on my agenda for tomorrow to get to Whole Foods and drop a few $$ to experiment with more gluten free foods and recipes.
This post is probably quite disjointed due to the lateness of the hour but I wanted to get my thoughts out so I can rest tonight and be ready for shopping (and hopefully baking) tomorrow!
We saw immediate results when he was sick... more reactions, more interest and more singing... and some of that has continued but we're plateauing again and he's starting to notice that bread is not in his diet... He stared longingly when I made toast for Robyn this morning and I felt bad that I couldn't offer him any.
I have to take one of his choc. chip cookies with us to Publix because he had a melt down when we didn't stop at the bakery for treats... so now we stop near the bakery and wave to the staff while I dig a ziploc bag out of my purse and give him his treat. Its only going to get harder when my in-laws arrive for the X-mas holiday and he won't be able to share bagels with Papa... that part breaks my heart.
On the bright side, I'm eating way less bread which is probably good for me 2
With the crazy busy week we had, I haven't gotten to the store to buy the ingredients I need to start experimenting with bread - but its' on my agenda for tomorrow to get to Whole Foods and drop a few $$ to experiment with more gluten free foods and recipes.
This post is probably quite disjointed due to the lateness of the hour but I wanted to get my thoughts out so I can rest tonight and be ready for shopping (and hopefully baking) tomorrow!
Changing mid-stream
While trying to find balance in what I was doing, I have decided that I need to separate out the 'couponning' from this blog, which I think will be more personal and help chronicle my life with two kids on polar opposite spectrums in the school system... my gifted and talented 11 year old who loves school and achieves all her milestones and struggles to keep focused because she gets bored easily... and my equally talented and differently gifted 3 year old who loves school but has more difficulty achieving his milestones and struggles to keep focused because he gets bored easily... unless he's playing in the rice table...
So I am going to keep this blog and occasionally mention coupons and savings because they are a big part of my life, but I'm going to focus my attentions about sharing couponning on www.couponning101.blogspot.com.
I hope that you visit this blog and share our journey and that if you are a coupon clipper in Charleston SC or want to be, that you check out www.couponning101.blogspot.com
So I am going to keep this blog and occasionally mention coupons and savings because they are a big part of my life, but I'm going to focus my attentions about sharing couponning on www.couponning101.blogspot.com.
I hope that you visit this blog and share our journey and that if you are a coupon clipper in Charleston SC or want to be, that you check out www.couponning101.blogspot.com
The Couponning Craze... and just how crazy I am
I had a few girls over for wine and coupon chatting... For those of you who weren't following my Facebook, I've had a few weeks of impressive coupon savings, partly because I've made great friends with some of the cashiers at Publix who help me save money and also because I've found some great resources at www.southernsavers.com...
So what did I share with my friends at our gathering? and what did I learn?
I shared my love of getting the best deal .. when its something I can use or when its something I can share with others
I shared some tips about getting bang for your buck and finding coupons on the web
I got great insight into how some of the other stores in our area handle coupons and how other people are using coupons...
All in all, a great day!
So what did I share with my friends at our gathering? and what did I learn?
I shared my love of getting the best deal .. when its something I can use or when its something I can share with others
I shared some tips about getting bang for your buck and finding coupons on the web
I got great insight into how some of the other stores in our area handle coupons and how other people are using coupons...
All in all, a great day!
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