Schools Back...

Its been a long summer with the kids having to go to Vacation care two days a week due to my work commitments. They pretended they hated it but didn't think it was too bad, our provider is a family friend who loves my kids.

Today was the last day before school goes back so the kids and I spent the day making yummy treats for their lunch boxes. I had all three cook as I believe both boys and girls need to learn how to care for themselves. Below are the results.

Caitie made chocolate choc chip biscuits which we sandwiched together with nutella. These were truly yummy and with thick chunky bits of chocolate.

I bought the coolest muffin tin which Aiden and I used to make banana cake. It worked really well and I think square muffins will fit better in their lunch boxes.

Conor and I made the savoury portion of the treats; corn and tomato quiches. The amazing thing was that we don't actually own an oven. Ours blew up a while ago but we make do by cooking on our barbeque. So, yes, we made biscuits, banana cake and quiche in our hooded barbeque!

Tomorrow is a big day for all the kids with new classes, new friends and new challenges ahead of them. Fingers are crossed for a prosperous new year.

A Huge Day.

At the end of the Summer holidays, the kids and I went to the Museum and, on a whim, followed through to the Gallery of Modern Art. There the kids came in contact with an artwork by Australian artist Ron Mueck. It was a gigantic sculpture of a woman in bed. The realism was amazing at it blew my kids away. So when we found out that he was having a display at the Gallery, well we had to go!

We went around the entire display and I asked each child to tell me their favourite piece. The kids were enthralled with each work and amazed with the depth of detail each one had.

Aidens favourite was the newborn baby "A Girl". It was gigantic and so realistic.

Big Head is another favourite of all three of my children. Each individial bristle had to be hand placed into microscopic pores. He even has his teeth in place and nostril hairs!

Another interesting fact about this piece is that it is a like a giant mask. There is not substance to it, it is literally a mask!

We all found this one to be quite disturbing, mainly for the fact that the subject seemed unaffected by the fact he had been stabbed and was bleeding. There was no emotion. This one affected Caitie quite a bit.

Now we all know boys love gruesome stuff but even this one was a bit gross for my boys. This dead chicken, called Still Life, is about the size of an elephant and hangs inelegantly from a butchers hook suspended from the ceiling.

It is gory and real yet strangely puppetlike. You expect the thing to suddenly start flapping! It was a magnet for alot of children.

If you went around the other side of the bird, you could see where its throat had been cut and all the innards exposed. Very clinical though, no blood.

This gentleman, in his big boat, seemed cold and grumpy to the kids. He held little interest as he was not on their eye level.

Caitlins favourite piece is "In Bed". She told me when she first saw it that she thought the lady was very sad and unhappy. She kept coming back to it though. It was interesting to watch how many people copied her hand position without realising they were doing it. I find her disturbing and heartbreakingly sad.

This is a very jolly lady, attuned to her work. Mind you, there is no way I would be picking these up in the nudy! The balance was excellent, symmetrical.

One of the more "controversial" pieces to show children. It is called Wild Man and Conor liked him immensely. (He secretly told me he liked that he was in the nude. Caitie said that she thought he had a small penis for his size LOL). I did tell my kids before going in that they would be seeing graphic nudity and they already knew what a willy looked like. After a few little sniggers, they settled down to look at the sculptures as a whole rather than just the rude bits.

Yes, I did blank out his bits for those who don't really want to see a gigantic big willy. This was another confronting piece. The title suggested someone who was used to being on his own and the subject seemed anxious and uncomfortable being thrust, naked, into the spotlight.

Caitie and Aiden assessing the gigantic baby. They found the blood and placenta traces to be both fascinating and appalling in equal measures.

While I appreciated the detail, I found this one to be the most unrealistic of all the pieces.

And finally, my favourite piece. Titled "Old Woman In Bed", it is an elderly woman who appears very ill, sleeping huddled under a blanket. It is beautiful in a very sad way. You want to walk up and gently brush the hair off her brow and whisper quietly that it will be alright. It captures a moment between life and death and the Gallery had it hidden away around a corner. Absolutely beautiful.

So, there we have it. The Ron Mueck exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Its a must see if you are in the area.

I will post more of my kids trip to the city at a later date. I am tired right now....

Cin.

A Different Kind of Normal

A few weeks ago, our sons teacher called us up to the school for an interview. There had been an incident which involved swimming, locker rooms and nudity (sigh), all you typical boy stuff. We went prepared to deal with it and move on. Her first words threw me for a loop and I stiffened in my seat.

"I think Aiden needs to be tested for ASD." Ms L said. Tony asked what ASD was and we were told it is Autistic Spectrum Disorder or one of the many behavioural types that come under the Autistic banner. Wow......

She proceeded to highlight areas of his behaviour which mimic those of an ASD child. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Putting inappropriate items in his mouth, check. Excellence in some areas of school but poor performance in most others, check. Lack of friends or trying to make friends, check. Unexplained violent behaviour, check. Susceptibility to noise in a class environment, check. Inability to concentrate in a group situation, check. Unable to handle change, check. Poor toileting habits, big check. Inability to follow directions or gets distracted from tasks easily, check.

We always joked that Aiden had Bright and Shiny Syndrome...you know those kids that will be talking to you and then, "Oh LOOK, bright and shiny!" and they drift off? Seems it may be more. The more we spoke, the more I realised that this could explain so much of Aidens behaviour. Last year one of his teachers found him slamming his head repeatedly against a wall, exclaiming he was stupid over and over again. I have asked her to write a statement about that incident to take to the paediatrician.

I'm lucky that I have a solid friend base and home base to help us during this time. We have specialist appointments booked but they all take time. Meanwhile, I have been logging any incidents that happen and potential triggers to see if I can find a pattern.

And, I have been loving my boy for the person he is, even if he is a different kind of normal.

Cin

Pirates and Soap Bubbles

I know I've been slack, I know I haven't popped in but it has taken us two weeks to pack up the shop and move the whole shebang home. Add to that the customers are still coming thick and fast and you could say I've been slightly busy.

Conor had a Pirate Day at Prep on Friday and we used some cardboard, paper, tape and a whole heap of imagination and came up with...

Yes, he has tattoos, yes he is wearing an earring (an idea he had on his own) and no his front teeth are still there, just blacked out! Far too cute, thats for sure!

Caitie is working very hard at school, in fact I don't think I've seen her work so hard before. Her writing is alot neater and she is even attempting maths! Its fantastic to see her struggling yet overcoming what, to her, is goobledygook. She is attending tutoring twice a week which will be scaled back to once a week soon.

And Aiden? Well, Sunday night found us settling if for a night of tv. The boys were in the bath when Aiden came out, dripping wet and soapy saying, "I don't know what happened?" I'm scanning him trying to figure out what was going on when I saw the blood running thickly down his throat. Oh, snap! Tony grabbed a wad of tissues and we mopped up the blood, took one look at his chin and I said, "I think its my turn for the hospital run?" I went into the bathroom for a quickfix bandaid only to discover the floor had been liberally painted with soap! Yes, SOAP!! No wonder the silly bugger fell over. Luckily it was only a small gash, about a centimeter so all it required was some glue. The biggest punishment has been that he can't go swimming this week. Some life lessons are learnt the hard way.

Have a great week!

Cin

First Day and Aspergers Ramblings....

Tuesday was a big milestone for our family as Conor went for his very first day at Prep School. Prep is what used to be preschool and now goes from 9am to 3pm, a big day for little people, especially when its five days a week!

All of my kids were up at 5.30am too excited to sleep. Caitie was very excited as she now is in the Middle school of our P-12 school. It meant a new uniform, new area of the school campus and a new format for learning. Aiden was excited too as he had a new teacher. Our aims for all of the kids this year are neater handwriting, more diligence in the classroom and NO MORE BULLYING!! Caitie had actually been assigned to the same class as a girl who viciously attacked her last year and I made it known that if she were to stay in that class, I would be removing her from the school. The Principal had her moved to a different class, with a teacher she likes alot...which is a plus. She's tough as old boots, is Caitie, but there is only so much a young lady can handle.

A huge thankyou to Nana Jen for helping me hem her skirt and take in her shirts (in other words, Jen did the work and I cheered) and for making her headbands. I have orders for more (grin).

All three in their beautiful new uniforms. Please take note that they are wearing white socks and Caities blouse is white...it'll probably be the last time ever that they are ALL wearing matching clean socks and her uniform is pristine. She got home yesterday and somehow managed to get chocolate on the BACK of the blouse.

As an aside- Anyone care to comment? A friend of mine has a child with Aspergers Syndrome. AS children have a lack of empathy to others as one of the symptoms. Its seems that many more children are being diagnosed with this area of the Autism spectrum these days than previously before. Is it because we know a little more about it? We understand that children with AS are not willful, disobedient children who have little care for others? And this is the ponderings of a mother who doesn't have a child with AS- Could some of our more horrific crimes of old have been committed by those with AS as they had no concept they were doing wrong and had not been diagnosed? I ask in all seriousness and fully understand that I will probably upset some parents with AS children. I am not saying that AS kids are mass murderes or rapists in the making...just a tangent of thought that hit me. Rather than bottle it up, I was curious as to the concept??? Has anyone any thoughts on this?

Cin

Where Did All the Nice Kids Go?

We spent a lovely day at the Beach on Sunday, a day before all the crowds would decend en masse' for Australia Day. After having a simple lunch of sandwiches and softdrink, the kids, with two parents in tow, hit the water. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining, the water was cold. It was just what we needed to blow out the cobwebs prior to jumping back on the school rollercoaster.

At a later part of the day, Husband and I meandered across the road to check out an Antique Store, leaving the kidlets to play in the playground. One item of fascination was an adapted flying fox which whizzed around on an almost oval track, sending all the kids into screaming fits of laughter.

As we came back across the road, it made my heart soar when I realised that Caitlin was helping all of the littlies to get up on the swing and was gently pushing them so they didn't fall off when it bounced back. Aiden was helping to pull it back up to its starting position and they were both making sure that everyone was taking turns. That is until a rotten little child of about seven, barged in and kept trying to get in front of everyone else. My dad was watching the kids and told Conor he couldn't have a go as he was too little. I explained to Dad that if he got hurt, well tough bikkies, he had to at least have a go. So, after wretched child had a turn, I went to help Conor up. And Brat promptly tried to get back on. I told him politely that he had just had a go, we were all waiting and he too could wait his turn. Needless to say, Conor had a go, didn't fall off and was way chuffed with himself.

It led me to the question though, "Where have all the nice kids gone?" Are mine the exception to the rule? I make my children say please and thankyou, they hold doors open for the elderly or ladies who are pregnant or with prams. They stop to pick up things others have dropped. Are they so rare these days? While swimming, occassionally the play was too rough so they were sent out for a time out. Again, am I the only one who stops my kids from doing wrong?

Brat child came walking back some time later with a huge icecream cone that my children were wistfully eyeballing. One by one they all came up and asked if they too could get an icecream. Unfortunately we hadn't budgeted for that for the day but I did counter offer with icy cold slices of watermelon. Well, my three were as happy as Larry, piling into the sweet slices and smearing it all over each other.

You know, this past year, Caitie was particularly rude to her teacher one day and was sent to the office to think about her behaviour. Admittedly her teacher was an idiot who was abusive to the children, threw things and was just awful BUT I made her write out an apology and give it to her teacher because he deserved her respect. I've done it with Aiden before. How can our children learn right from wrong if, as parents, we allow them to get away with so very much. Respect is an easy word to spell but a difficult concept to grasp. I hope that I have put in the hard yards and my kids learn these lessons now, to stand them in good stead later.

A few months ago, the kids and I discovered Mushabellies. These cute little toys are round and furry and they make weird noises when squeezed. After buying a couple as presents, we decided that these toys would be the perfect reward for the kids behaviour chart. If they got ten good marks, they would get a mushabelly.

The first one was Caitie. Because she was at school, I had to choose hers for her and she adopted a cute, fuzzy lilac elephant called Farron, who trumpets and makes a raspberry blowing sound. The kittens love it and constantly try to beat it up.

Just this week, Aiden earnt his points so we went off to the toystore. Now Aidie is a funny kid, he has a wicked sense of humour, loves to make sound effects and has the quickest death fall I have ever seen. Pretend to shoot him and he literally drops to the deck *BAM*, gone, all over red rover. The kids entered a talent contest last year and they performed an air guitar solo of Dueling Banjos. Caitie had the serious guitar riffs and Aiden had the more playful banjo. I told him that all he had to do was make Caitie laugh while she had to stay serious. Well, he did ballet moves, high kicks, wiggles, bobbed up and down, the audience was in hysterics and I laughed so hard I snorted! They won the Judges Choice award. I knew that finding a toy to suit his personality would be a hard task.

And it took forever....the frog, NO,the bear, NO, the beetle, NO, the dog, NO, the horse, NO, the duck, NO, the monkey, NO, the birdie, NO, the sheep, NO...things were looking bleak. Until Caitie climbed up the shelves (thats my girl). Admittedly the staff refused to lend us a ladder to look at the top shelf so she improvised. Caitie was elbow deep in stuffed toys when she suddenly yelled, "Hey, there's alien Mushabellies up here!"

Down came the blue one, the pink one and then *BINGO* the red, three eyed, four limbed, purple tongued monster. It made a stupid sound, like gobbledygook and soundled exactly like Aiden! We had a winner...and Blapso joined our family...

Now thats two down and one to go, hopefully Conor will try to be more gooder in future (grin).

Cin.

p.s. I couldn't help myself and bought the kitty!