Kaleidoscope

I’ve always been fascinated by kaleidoscopes.  Turn the tube one way and brightly colored glass particles create a gorgeous, perfectly symmetrical array of brilliance.  Many, many moments with my son are like that —dazzling; the colors almost hurt my eyes they are so intense and the pattern so beautiful.  Occasionally, if we’re lucky, we actually [...]

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On Letting Go

Apparently, I am not the only one in my family with issues of  letting go.  (I feel compelled to add, for the sake of clarity, that my issues are not akin to Nik’s!)
We saw Nik’s beloved Doctor Mary this afternoon.  It’s true, she is beloved; she is the only doctor Nik will ever fully —and [...]

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Detritus

Boxes of old papers and photographs, stacks of books, piles of medical records and therapy reports I need to scan and organize.  The loft in our small town home has become the black hole of all the little bits of our life for which we have no clear cut place.  The loose ends, the question [...]

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Update

Thank you to all of you who weighed in on my last post about our dilemma. When I wrote that post, we had not yet hit the proverbial wall; I didn’t know the behaviors would get even worse. The first night of the medication —only two doses given at full strength —left Nik in a [...]

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Sophie’s Choice: Special Needs Version

In the history of unpalatable decisions, there is (are?) a host of fine examples: Sophie’s Choice, Scylla and Charybdis and Morton’s Fork to name just a few. To this panoply of dilemmas we can now add “Nik’s Nightmare.”
Here it is:
Is it better to have your child wake screaming in pain in the middle of the [...]

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"Static Quo"

I’m trying hard lately to see the glass half full instead of half empty. But when my tank of sleep is running on fumes, it gets difficult to see past the haze and fog of sleeplessness and worry. In spite of getting some decent sleep last night —courtesy of a new prescription we tried with [...]

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Luna

His cries echo in the darkness; the witching hour has begun again. Each night it’s the same routine; he beckons with his plaintive cries as he bangs his head on the side of the crib. Some nights it’s as simple as soothing him with a touch —a gentle rub on his back, a firm pressure [...]

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Gimme Five!

The lovely Deborah from 5 Minutes for Special Needs interviewed me recently. You can read all about me over here!
Happy February!

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Learning the Ropes: A Mixed Bag of Tricks

For more information about these teaching materials:

Twin Sisters® Preschool Workbook & Music CD set
Brighter Child® Phonics, Grade K
School Zone® Upper Case AlphabetSchool Specialty® Publishing Learn at Home, Grade K

The Fisher Price Fun2Learn Workbooks & Flash Cards are discontinued; I found them at Atlantic Books in my town. I think they’ve been replaced by the [...]

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Early on a snowy morning

My eyes are still blurry as I pour my first cup of tea. We’ve been up for a while now —a slightly bumpy start to the day but an otherwise good night. I’ve already changed and dressed Nik, given him his morning medicine, and sent his father off to school in the falling snow. Nik [...]

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