I am the responsible adult

Well someone thinks so.
I am hanging out at doubletrouble's house acting as the "responsible adult" that must be present while the boys, A and B, receive ABA.
I greeted the bus and brought the boys inside. The boys and I toileted, snacked and we chatted and now they are off with their tutors in the other room. I got to spend a half hour total with A and B, which was nice. I could really see where they are at right now (both have autism). Having known them for 6 years now (yikes!) I can really appreciate how far they have come.
A. is really tremendous. He follows directions, answers yes and no questions, tells me his name when I ask, makes super eye contact, smiles and is engaging. And SO much talking. Lots of reciprical responses and attempts to verbalize.
Brother B is more engaging as well. He is also quite busy. I mean BUSY. I mean check on what he is up to every 2 to 3 min. He is doing so nicely at using the bathroom and going thru ther whole routine. He is SO much more present.
I remember when both guys ate only chips and rice/noodles or pureed soup. Now they eat so many diferent things it is incredible. So many nice changes. This is the beauty of the tribe of families. We are moving along in time here-we can really appreciate each others kids and the wonderful changes they have made.
Back to the moment - At the moment I am ALONE in a room (how often does that happen!) drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, blogging and listening to a Norah JOnes CD that I borrowed off the shelf and downloaded onto my computer. Nice gig, eh? When people find out how good a deal this is they will be lining up at the door!

Psyche Ward

This morning I felt like I was working on a psyche ward. Aj UNHINGED when I turned off the tv. Rule is supposed to be we turn it off at 7:30 am to get ready for school. I turned off his sports show where he, in hindsight, was waiting to watch for the score of a "very important" basketball game. He raged for 20 minutes. Of course Granny emerged from the bedroom asking him what was wrong and further added to the fun. My poor, sweet, Ki was appropriately distressed by all of this. Even when I touch base every so often and say "Ki, I am fine. Mommy is fine."
She was late for school and very distressed.
When I finally take them to school we are like 25 minutes late. In the office with us are of course the 2 volunteer do-gooders (honestly) of the school. The PTA president and the 8 months pregnanat brownie leader. Both of whom I have let down and flaked on in terms of following-up on so many things that I can't even begin to list them here. I left school tearful and feeling like crap. Cancelled my 2 am clients and am now hibernating at jennyalice's house. I just need to get out of the pit of my house and away from my Mom. Jennyalice is out shopping and knows I am here. The dogs don't even bark when I come over anymore. I finished the coffee, have started in on a container of small biscotti and 3 pieces of candy. I brought work over and just finished some email follow up -so I feel good about that.

Life sucks sometimes.

My Girl, talkin' 'bout my little girl

Ki was invited to 4 birthday parties in 4 days. Yeah! Although, she still pretty much plays on her own
One of the parties was held at Build A Beare. If you haven't been into one of these mall-based shops you need to check it out for entertainment.
The children choose from a variety of animals. Mostly there are bears. And many are cute pink, purple and otherwise girly type animals.
After choosing and stuffing the animal you can't get out of the store without purusing thru the bazillion outfits designed for the animals. They have it all, shoes, socks, and yes, even Hello Kitty underwear for the stuffed animlas to wear. I have to say I was impressed to see a wheelchair and perscription-type glasses. I give kudos for that.
Back to the party. I told Ki I would pay the extra fee for her to get any animal she wanted. Her favorite animal is the penguin, and we'd just seen the move Surf's Up. So she chose the penguin. No surprise there. On the provided birth certificate she named him, Water.
When the stuffing was done and the party over-I told her she could pick out an outfit for him. Well, a majority of the outfits are princess like or dresses. Lots of Valentine type outfits. I walked around with her and pointed out all outfits not containing a skirt or the heinous color of pink. That left us with: sports, military professional uniforms, fisherman, movie characters and a hiker among others.
So as the other girls packed home a new bear dressed in it's feminine finest,
my girl left hugging a penguin dressed as a...cop.

Yes, Yes, Yes- I'll do that

I have heard there are personalities that are "starters" and there are others that are "doers or finishers". I am a starter. I get a high from planning, organizing and creating. BUT, I then have trouble following thru with my grand plans and over commitments. Then I add to the fun by creating my own chaos and discontent in any way possible. I am swimming in this today. The amount of undone, dropped and discontinued obligations, projects and relationships is making me gasp for air. The thing that is so annoying, and really makes me feel like folding in, is that I did this myself. I have a history of doing this, of being flakey and cutting myself off at the knees. It is not so much that i say "yes" too often it is these wacky behaviors I engage in. Always saying "sorry" is a cop out.

Face book

I am on facebook. Someone invited me. And she is cool and smart and I admire her so I joined or opened an account or whatever.
I am here to admit that I really have no idea how it works or what to do with it.

People email and ask if I want to be their friend. Well, of course that sounds great to the child ego in me. I just don't know what you do after I accet their invitation of friendship.

I saw that you could "poke" someone. It sounds a bit intimate to me. But I went ahead and did it anyway. Turns out that friend was a newby too. She emailed me and said she wasn't sure what it meant to be "poked". I said I wasn't ether.

In general, I guess my lack of knowledge and gneral interest kinda shows my age and my going challanges with the technical world.

A new blog

I am starting an additional blog.
Check it out over time as I get it going.
www.speechmama.blogspot.com