(Not) Fickle – Sat 30th April 2016

From the moment she wakes up and is “served” breakfast, D knows exactly what she’s eating/drinking/wearing that day.  She most definitely is not Fickle.

Unlike her mum (me), on the rare occasions I go into town and (even rarer) if I pop into Prets and choose a sandwich, I differ and debate in my head the various filings (ham and cheese? Ooh yummy, but that’s a bit calorific.  Chicken and salad? Healthier but not too keen on Mayo.  Egg? Nope, just nope) and that’s before I consider white or brown bread, granary or gluten-free.

Nope, there’s nothing fickle about D, she knows exactly what she does and doesn’t like, same as her brother.

What she does like, though and what’s made her smile today are these:

And this:

Because she absolutely LOVES the Mr Men and Little Miss books and can quote verbatim vast amounts from the stories, she has an amazing memory for detail, but if you asked her “what’s 5 plus 10?” she’d struggle, unless it was written down.

Why the sausages?  Well, they were in our shopping delivery, extremely nice they are too and D is always very helpful when it comes to putting the freezer stuff and crisps away (bless her).

She spied the sausages (now there’s something I never thought I’d write) and was instantly reminded of these two pages:

Her absolutely favourite part of the Little Miss Fickle story and, every time we see sausages in the shops (especially at the fresh meat counter), out comes the “beef sausages or pork sausages? PORK sausages” saying.

Something that’s made us all smile today.

Bronze – Tues 9th Feb 2016

Today didn’t start fantastically well with D overwrought and refusing to say goodbye or wave (something she always does) at the top of the stairs as she headed to class.

She was over anxious because she was going to a Boccia tournament with school.  It was being held offsite and competing against five other schools – quite a lot for her to get worried about.

I didn’t know what Boccia was until D went along for her first game a couple of years ago, it’s this:

“Boccia is a disability sport that tests muscle control and accuracy. Players propel balls to land close to a target ball. Two sides compete as individuals, pairs or as a team of three over a set number of ends. Each side has six balls (red or blue) each end to try and score points. Points are accumulated over the course of a match to find a winner.

Sounds simple? It is to get started, but the tactics of the sport offer both tension and excitement as the game plays put.

A ball can be rolled, thrown or kicked. If a player is unable to throw or kick the ball, they can use a ramp. If players are unable to release the ball with their hands, they can use assistive devices – head/hand pointer.”

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  In the tournament I was able to go to a while back (generally parents aren’t invited but this was in a leisure centre near school), it did seem a nicely gentle game, apart from the competitive element and the fact that D would be sitting with strangers as the pairs waited to have their go.

And have a go she did.  In fact our girl practically sailed down the stairs this afternoon, beaming away and wearing this:

   
 
A bronze medal! It’s a really lovely heavy medal too, with fab detail on the back.

She does struggle with the competitive element and so it was fab to see that the team had been rewarded for what must have been a challenge for them all.

A great contrast to a not fantastic start today and, additionally, T seems to be turning a corner with this vicious bug that’s had him in its grasp for a few days. Hurrah! 

#ThisIsMyChild MumsNet Special Needs campaign

Special Needs Jungle

Tania writes…

MumsNet have today launched a new “myth-busting and awareness-raising” campaign called #ThisIsMyChild.

It’s been launched in response to requests from MumsNetters and supported by input from some of the leading charities in the field.

Its aim is to support parents of children with additional needs, inform everyone else, and open up a conversation about how we can all act to make life easier for everyone caring for children with additional needs.

I am delighted and very excited to have been asked to support the campaign and will be picking my favourite posts from a Linky being launched on Tuesday – so standby for that.

Debs and I will  also mention some of the posts here on SNJ as the campaign progresses.

For this campaign to be a success MumsNet need it to reach far and wide, so please share as widely as possible – via Twitter (

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AutismMumma is moving ….. Please join me

*sniffs* this feels like a massive change but I’ll no longer be blogging with wordpress for either my autism or lifestyle blogs.

The autism blog will now be found at http://www.autismmumma.com, please click on the link to sign up and continue to receive email updates.

The lifestyle blog has moved to http://www.ditchflabgetfab.com.

Thank you so much for supporting me, I hope you’ll like the new sites.

Jeannette xx

Thursday’s children are.. Tired 27th June 2013

I was reminded of the poem below when I was thinking of tonight’s blog title:

“Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay”.

I realised having grown up with this poem that I didn’t know which day of the week I was born on….*googles*:

I was born on a Sunday (albeit 6 weeks early)
Hubbie was a Tuesday (over 2 weeks late)
T was born on a Monday (on his due date)
and
D was born on a Thursday (6 days early)

(I remember very well those last two!)

Do they apply to us? I’m not entirely convinced they do but I do know that:

This Thursday’s children are tired, very tired.

There have been tears of tiredness and frustration from T this evening, unusually for him as he does tend to bottle any emotions up and then go and bounce on the trampoline.

Also, unusually, he’s been very, very cuddly, which for T means standing very close and accepting cuddles.

Hopefully a good sleep will set him up for tomorrow and a busy weekend.

D’s also extremely tired. There was neither a body slam nor a bolt at home time, she was too exhausted to administer either.

I presume that the sports day activities and subsequent routine changes at school have taken it out of both of them. They tend to get extremely short-tempered with each other too.

Three weeks tomorrow until the end of term and it will be welcomed. Not from the routine changes viewpoint but just not having to dash out of the house at a certain time, taking things a bit slower and hopefully seeing my children laughing and comfortable in their own environment. They’ve both worked hard this school year, it’s deserved.

A wish for an easier day for my two tomorrow, at least it will be Friday.

I hope everyone’s had a good day, comments/RTs/shares as ever welcomed, thanks for reading Jx 😘

Creating a personalised tablet case and a discount code for readers – Product Review

There is one thing guaranteed to calm/entice/capture my children’s attention and that is me saying “would you like a few moments on the iPad/my phone”.

They are little whiz-kids on these, any app seems to be mastered incredibly quickly and they are learning so much through play – not least the importance of sharing/taking turns.

D has her little ipad mini, in its tough case and T will be getting his own for his birthday.

But the question arose about a case for T, I wanted something that would be individual to him and also provide protection to his (not inexpensive) gift.

The answer came in the form of a case from idealcases.com and I’ve created a case which I hope he’ll like.

(Please read to the end for a discount code to create your own case)

The case was created very quickly and easily using the ideal case app – free from the App Store.

So, how did I create a case?

Choose your device:

Choose the model:

Now we were ready!

In true “Blue Peter” style, I had prepared a case earlier, using the a background, image and text from the idealcases.com website so I imported that in:

The checkout process was easy and secure and I received a confirmation email.

The case was ordered on a Sunday and I received the case, well packaged inside a Jiffy bag on the Wednesday – a very good turnaround time.

And here’s how it looks:

I like the matt finish border and the charging point/volume control/headphone jack and one-off button all remain accessible.

I think he’ll be very pleased with his personalised case.

Idealcases.com are offering a 10% discount on cases created either on their website or the free app until the end of June.

Please add in the code getfab10 at checkout.

Thanks for reading and please send me a picture of the case if you do get one!

Disclaimer: we were sent a code to receive a case, my words and views are my own.

A Sports Day medal #Prose4T

This was D yesterday morning, my nervous but excited girl, on the way to her school sports day.

She’s at a special needs school due to her anxieties and autism, mainstream sports days just didn’t happen for her – unfamiliar/too many people, too much noise (from her perspective). We’d have the practice, the build-up, the change of clothes and then anxieties would overtake at the last moment.

Prose 4 T is being hosted by @EllieAllAtSea this week and I’m linking up with this:

A sports day medal:

Longed for, dreamt of, for days if not all year.
The absence of one would cause some tears.

Running fast, throwing far,
Trying her best.
She did it! She came second, she was (nearly) faster than the rest.

Angry bird tshirt worked,
She almost flew down that track,
She was aiming for me, cheering and standing at the line,
Nearly knocked me onto my back!

Tears turned to joy now, smiles and hurrays.
The event is over, a good way to spend a day.

Medal placed under pillow now,
Held close at night,
She did her best, my angry bird D,
A good ending was in sight.

A medal! Weds 26th June 2013

There is a happy 9-year old girl settling tonight, she’s added a medal to her little collection.

Her brother, T, is so sporty both in his thinking and how he plays, that he has quite a collection of medals and trophies. D doesn’t say, but with her fascination for shiny and sparkling things, I’m sure there is a bit of coveting that goes on.

At last year’s sports day, D won a silver and a bronze so she definitely had an expectation, even though – of course – it’s the taking part that counts,

This morning’s individual activities went really well, as long as she could see me, she participated and enjoyed herself. I did have a prolonged insight into WW2 from a fellow classmate who is fascinated by anything connected with that and wanted to turn javelins/golf clubs and hockey sticks into weapons *gulp*.

Here’s some pictures from this morning:

A nervous but excited D going into school:

Scoring a goal (T would have been proud):

Hockey dribbling:

The morning session ended with a inter-house tug-of-war, which had pupils, teachers (and me!) joining in. A tad competitive but very good fun!

Parents and carers weren’t allowed to be on-site at lunchtime so I left a clingy D for a while.

The afternoon’s events were running, egg and spoon and wheelchair racing. It’s always a bit humbling seeing the wheelchairs and the walking race for those with physical disabilities, there is always a fantastic atmosphere with music and lots of supporters.

D had a wobbly meltdown after her first race, when she came 4th. There were tears, shouting, bolting and a complete and utter refusal to take place in anything further. She came around eventually but definitely wasn’t the only disappointed child on the field.

Her next race was a relay and I’ve found with D that it’s best if I stand at the finish line and basically wave, jump around and shout encouragement in her eyeline so she has something to focus on and aim towards. It works! She absolutely powered down the track, passing over the baton and nearly bowling me over. Her team of 4 came second!

One delighted D, two very proud parents and several relieved members of staff.

Yes, it’s all about taking part and I’m so glad she is able to (mainstream sports days were a no-no) but a medal is a very nice reminder for her.

T’s had a good day, he’s been very pleased for D that she got a medal and her good mood has been infectious, they’ve had some bouncing fun on the trampoline in between mine-crafting.

I think it’s a “normal” day for both of them tomorrow, after the excitement of the last couple of days, would be good to get back to a semblance of routine.

I hope everyone’s had a good day, comments/RTs/shares as ever welcomed, thanks for reading Jx 😘

Lots of team spirit! Tues 25th June 2013

A very successful day, if I discount the squabbling due to the heat and tiredness on T and D’s part after school.

It was T’s sports day today and it was lovely, the weather was just right and it was very well-organised. The team spirit amongst the children was wonderful, cheers and claps for the fastest and the slowest, lots of children determined to finish even if they were quite a way behind those already past the finishing line. Some natural athletes, some not but all doing their best.

Here’s a couple of pictures of T, he carried on throughout, acknowledging his dad and I with a little shy smile:

T’s “house” came third but it was very close, I think it was only 20-ish points separating first from fourth place.

A tired but happy T at the end.

D greeted me with another body-slam at home time, she’d watched the oldest children in school do their sports day and she’s fascinated by their star-shaped medals. I know that the children have been told and we’ve been saying it too: “it’s not the winning but the taking part”, but my girl would like a gold (she got a silver and bronze last year). No pressure then!

She’s been squeakily excited about it all evening tonight and no doubt will positively bounce into school tomorrow, there are sports activities in the morning and afternoon at school so it will be a long day but a fun one.

So grateful that she is in the right setting for her, with the gentle support and high staff:children ratios that she needs. Sports days in mainstream were full of excitement beforehand and then suddenly, her anxieties would take over and she’d bolt all over the field, parents commenting and muttering about her being “out of control” when they couldn’t or wouldn’t understand. Seems a lifetime (and no doubt a wrinkle or two) ago now.

I hope everyone’s day has gone well, comments/RTs/shares as ever welcomed, thanks for reading Jx 😘

Saving money and helping the environment with an Ecoegg – Product Review

How much do you spend on laundry products a week? A month?

It’s not cheap is it. The tablets we use work out at £2 a week, they’ve recently jumped in price to £3.35 a week. Multiply that by 52 weeks and that’s £174.20 a year (excuse me whilst I fall off my chair!)

Factor in the sensitive skin issues that my family all have – a telltale itchy rash will appear very quickly if the incorrect laundry product is bought – the fact that the children’s sensory issues may mean that clothing can smell “wrong” and the chemicals released into the water during a cycle all mean that I was on the lookout for something new and cost-effective to try.

I was delighted when ecoeggo.com agreed for us to give an ecoegg a trial.

Here’s some information from the website:

“I’m Kim Woodburn, celebrity Queen of Clean, best known for my time on channel four’s “How Clean is Your House” and ITV’s “I’m a celebrity”. Ecoegg specialise in manufacturing a range of eco-friendly cleaning products and I am proud to endorse them. Ecoegg are revolutionising the way people wash their clothes all over the world.

Ecoegg products are all:
• Kinder to your skin
• Kinder to the environment
• Kinder to your pocket

Change the way you wash your clothes, for less.
The ecoegg laundry egg is saving people so much money up and down the country!

The ecoegg laundry egg is the revolutionary new way to wash your clothes. It completely replaces washing powder or liquid and is just as effective but will save you so much money.

The ecoegg laundry egg lasts for up to 720 washes. For the average family that does 4 to 5 washes a week, it’ll last for 3 year’s worth of washing. Imagine never having to buy washing detergent for the next three years – think of all the money you’ll save!

– Saves you so much money – never buy washing detergent ever again
– Hypoallergenic – great for sensitive skin, supported by Allergy UK
– Eco-friendly – great for the environment, no harsh chemicals, far less pollution

Easy to use
Simply place the Ecoegg laundry egg on top of your laundry in the drum of your washing machine and wash as normal – no washing powder or liquid needed.

It’s not magic – it’s science
The Ecoegg laundry egg is packed with our unique scientifically forumlated, hypoallergenic cleaning pellets. These pellets naturally activate in the water to gently lift away dirt and grime, without using any harsh chemicals.

It works – it’s proven to remove dirt and grime
The ecoegg is scientifically proven in one of the UK’s leading product test laboratories to remove dirt, grime and stains.

Hypoallergenic – great for sensitive skin
The ecoegg is supported by both Allergy UK and the National Eczema Society.

Fragrances now available
The ecoegg is now available in either Soft Cotton or Spring Blossom fragrances, in addition to the original Fragrance Free option.”

The one (ever-so-slight!) problem I had is that I currently don’t have a working washing machine so we not only tested the ecoegg but also someone else’s washing machine!

So, how did we get on?

I tested the ecoegg on a 30degree fast wash. The egg is placed on top of the washing, inside the drum and the pellets inside the egg “naturally activate in the water to gently lift away dirt and grime”.

And they did! D has a habit of wiping her hands down her clothes when she’s eating (as does T), despite having wipes nearby and being requested to use them, I think it’s involuntary. Consequently, clothes get marked and of course, Mr Bluecrisps is a manual worker – painter – so his clothes get sweaty and dirty as a matter of course.

I wasn’t sure whether the combination of ecoegg, rapid wash and low temperature would produce results, but they did! Obviously for more soiled/heavier items, I’d use a higher temperature and longer wash cycle but I’m confident of success.

A big bonus for us is that we’ve had no sensitive skin reactions and the egg is fragrance-free so no sensory issues either.

The egg is refillable and the pellets are available from the original point of purchase (click here for stockists).

As a price guide, the ecoegg (54 washs) we were sent (which should last the average family for three months) is available from Argos at £9.99, with refills at £6.99, a vast improvement on price and environmental impact.

The eggs are also available in 210 wash and 720 wash sizes, with dryer eggs available too.

It’s the sort of product you wonder if it will work, then – due to environment and sensory issues – are so grateful it does.

The egg needs to be kept out of the reach of children, as with any laundry product, the twist-off refill mechanism being easy to operate.

Disclaimer:
We were sent a fragrance-free 54 wash pack ecoegg for the purpose of this review, my views are my own.