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Talking To The Pillow
With the Christmas holiday behind us, it’s time to write about a lively topic for parents of toddlers – tantrums. I’m not sure how many of you experienced your child having a holiday meltdown or tantrum. As my son, The Littlest E, gets more into being 2, he’s stepped up the feet stomping, especially when he isn’t allowed to watch something with Daddy on the iPad or look at pictures on Mommy’s iPhone, doesn’t get…
The Comfort Game
The other night, while I was cleaning up after dinner, I kept noticing our son, The Littlest E, drop his giraffe lovey on the ground. After viewing this one too many times, I walked into the living room and was going to say something about not throwing things when my husband, Tom, quietly shushed me. The Littlest E said to Daddy, “Pick Lovey up peese.” Tom did and asked her if she got a booboo? …
School Daze
Sean is ten. He isn’t capable of washing his own hair. He can’t tie his shoes or dial the phone properly. Can’t sit quietly and read a book or do addition and subtraction problems up at the kitchen table with his big brother. On the Welcome Back To School letter it says that Sean is entering the fifth grade, but that’s not entirely true. Sean is an inclusive structured learning center classroom for children with…
From Coo To Consternation; Toddler Speak
I think I’ve just stumbled upon a classic case of Be Careful What You Wish For. It seems like it was just the other day when I was begging Nora to speak; Mama, Daddy, peas, hi there- all of it. Every coo and gurgle was rewarded with a disproportionate amount of applause and adulation. We couldn’t wait for her to verbally acknowledge us, the outdoors, her pets, and her likes and dislikes. But we may…
Soul Surfing
Remind me, please, on the hardest days, when my heart is twisted in knots, when I see my youngest child, Sean burst through the door, his body wrecked with chaos and irrational anxiety, fingers bent into monster claws and tears bubble up like fountain spouts in syrup-y green eyes, that this too shall pass and that what I’m feeling is not shame, anger or frustration but connection. When his heart breaks mine breaks, too –…
One More Year Of Preschool?
My son just turned five and we elected to have him go through four year old preschool again. When my wife and I made that decision it seemed a pretty simple one based off what we had observed in his homework, interactions with other children. The hard part was the feeling that we were holding him back from friends he had made, and slowing his life down. There is quite a bit of research out…
A “To Do” List With Substance
I was tidying up my desk the other night when I came across a pile of To Do lists written on post-its, back of junk mail and scraps torn from an old calendar. Furious writing in many shades and thickness of ink, some blacked out with a thick line triumphantly stabbed through words, while other items were left free and clear of checkmarks or slashes, clearly “to do’s” that were forgotten and left behind. As…
What To Expect When You’re Not Expecting A Child With Autism
Picture this. The cover of the most popular book available to expectant mothers commonly referred to as the Pregnancy Bible. Now in its fourth edition. What to Expect When You Are Expecting. A woman, shiny brown shoulder length hair, an eager smile and knowing look dressed in a tasteful turquoise v-neck and chic boot leg cut maternity jeans, smart two inch block healed loafers and a soft, relaxed arm draping across a bubble of baby…
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