When I started this blog I thought I'd post something at least every couple of days. It has not turned out that way! I'm also hoping to find the time next week or in August to learn how to post images. There just never seem to be enough hours in the day and I only have 2 kids! I can't imagine how Moms out there handle summer when they have more kids than hands.
The good news is that July has been full of terrific experiences for Miss Marisa. First it was the wonderful yoga class, then an intensive OT workshop that she thoroughly enjoyed, and this week is a nature day camp. This week's camp didn't get off to a great start. The location for the camp is a local park that Marisa and I have been to many times. I knew there was the potential for her to embark on some solo hiking as she has a tendency to try to stray from the group. I discussed this with the person in charge of the camp back in February when I registered Marisa for this week. She told me they had plenty of staff and it wouldn't be a problem. When I got there to pick her up on Monday, her group's counselor told me that she had run away at least 10 times. She also told me that Marisa is so fast that one of the other staff members had to sprint to catch her. I wasn't surprised that had happened but was hoping it wouldn't. On the other hand, it is nice to hear that your child with multiple delays is a fast sprinter!
The rest of the day, before bedtime, and the next morning, I drilled into her head the "rules" of camp : NO RUNNING AWAY! STAY WITH YOUR GROUP!, and she dutifully repeated those words after me each time. On Tuesday when I picked her up the counselor told me she did in fact stay with the group, but that she spent quite a bit of time pushing the other kids. I can't say I'd call that progress. So, my list of "rules" grew bigger on Tuesday. Today seemed to go well unless the counselor just decided not to burden me with more bad news. Two more days to go. At least Marisa is happy to go there in the morning and seems to have had a good time overall when I pick her up. I also love that they spend lots of times outdoors because that is something I've always enjoyed and it is so hard to get her big Sis to do the same.
This brings me to the other question I have been asking myself lately. Marisa is fully included with her "typical" peers in the nature day camp. There are also several options locally for camps and activities catering to kids with disabilities. I've asked myself if I should sign her up for the specialized camps/activities, where she would be with kids more like her, or push her to include herself with the "typical" kids. I've decided whenever possible, to push her, or at the very least try to find opportunities where there are both "typical" kids and kids with disabilities in each group. I know this is hard for her at times but I still believe it is the best for her to prepare her for life when she reaches adulthood.
Thankfully, after this week we have many weeks with not much scheduled. Maybe I can finally get some photos up....
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Namaste
Some kids play all manner of sports when they're little. Nadia played soccer for three years and had a love/hate relationship with it. She looked so darn cute in her uniform, though. She also played volleyball in middle school. I'm trying to talk her into rowing crew with the Dragon Boats at her high school, mostly because I think it would be fun and something new and interesting to do. She's not really a competitive person at heart, and I have mixed feelings about that. Competition, especially when parents try to ingrain the drive for that in their kids at too young an age, is not always a good thing in my opinion. The reason I have mixed feelings is that my dear teenager will sometimes limit what she tries because she doesn't want to compete in any way. As with most other things in life, there has to be a middle ground.
As for Miss Marisa, she is into Yoga. A few years ago I bought her a couple of DVD's in the Yoga for Kids series, created by a former Montessori teacher and current yoga practitioner/teacher who works primarily with kids. I did some yoga years ago and enjoyed it and thought I'd give see if my little one liked it. Well, with the first viewing and practice of the exercises, Marisa was hooked. She asked for those DVD's almost every day for months. When I heard about a class for kids ages 7-12 with the goal of helping them calm themselves and gain focus, I knew that was for us. I drove the half hour each way from Tuesday to Friday this past week, and it was well worth the commute and the class fee. The two women teaching the class are probably the most "calm" people I've ever met. I need that around me at times because I can often feel my whole body and mind spinning off kilter and out of control. Being around the teachers for just a few minutes at the beginning and end of each session was a little bit of therapy for me! Talk about getting more than your money's worth.
There were 5 girls in the class and it seemed to me, with verbal reinforcement from the teachers, to be a very supportive and kind group. Marisa was by far the youngest but they just took her in and she was able to show her strengths and easily became part of the group. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We've had our share of challenges going out into the community. We even bought a leash, in a size too small for her that we made work, because Marisa was having more fun running away from us than looking at the animals in the zoo in Hawaii. So, this yoga class and the benefit of doing something in a group, the expectation of following the teachers' instructions, and the need to walk from the car down the street, into the studio, and back to the car again, were all very valuable skill-building experiences for her. There is hope, and we are having more, for want of a better word "normal", days than not now.
And I have to add that the other benefits to Marisa's yoga class were the great coffee shop and lovely little bakery down the street! That made Mom and big sister happy to hang out while class was in session.
As for Miss Marisa, she is into Yoga. A few years ago I bought her a couple of DVD's in the Yoga for Kids series, created by a former Montessori teacher and current yoga practitioner/teacher who works primarily with kids. I did some yoga years ago and enjoyed it and thought I'd give see if my little one liked it. Well, with the first viewing and practice of the exercises, Marisa was hooked. She asked for those DVD's almost every day for months. When I heard about a class for kids ages 7-12 with the goal of helping them calm themselves and gain focus, I knew that was for us. I drove the half hour each way from Tuesday to Friday this past week, and it was well worth the commute and the class fee. The two women teaching the class are probably the most "calm" people I've ever met. I need that around me at times because I can often feel my whole body and mind spinning off kilter and out of control. Being around the teachers for just a few minutes at the beginning and end of each session was a little bit of therapy for me! Talk about getting more than your money's worth.
There were 5 girls in the class and it seemed to me, with verbal reinforcement from the teachers, to be a very supportive and kind group. Marisa was by far the youngest but they just took her in and she was able to show her strengths and easily became part of the group. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We've had our share of challenges going out into the community. We even bought a leash, in a size too small for her that we made work, because Marisa was having more fun running away from us than looking at the animals in the zoo in Hawaii. So, this yoga class and the benefit of doing something in a group, the expectation of following the teachers' instructions, and the need to walk from the car down the street, into the studio, and back to the car again, were all very valuable skill-building experiences for her. There is hope, and we are having more, for want of a better word "normal", days than not now.
And I have to add that the other benefits to Marisa's yoga class were the great coffee shop and lovely little bakery down the street! That made Mom and big sister happy to hang out while class was in session.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Kindness of Strangers
We went to Hawaii, to Oahu specifically, from June 22 to June 28. We had a great time and soaked up the sun that we don't see much of right now in our neck of the woods. We went to the Honolulu Zoo, Pearl Harbor, the Dole Plantation, took a drive around the island and spent the rest of the time at the resort. Now we want to go to Maui, but will need to pay off this summer's expenses first! I want to start adding pictures to the blog but need the expertise of either my techy husband or my teen whose computer skills are way ahead of mine. I got some superb shots in Hawaii, many just random pictures of the vegetation because it was so beautiful.
My little one was a trooper on the plane both ways, only getting antsy towards the end of the flight. She really loves to travel and calls every place we stay our "new house." She loved the resort and enjoyed smiles from many strangers; but then she is usually the object of attention, in a good way (!), from people when we are out and about. One little thing that happened that caused me to reflect on the kindness of strangers was at the airport when we were waiting to board the plane for our return flight. Marisa is 7 so she doesn't qualify for the parents traveling with small children perk of boarding early. It was taking them a really long time to get through the initial stages of boarding for some reason, and we had already been at the airport for over 2 hours, so we just wanted to go get our seats and struggle to put all our carry-ons in the overhead bins. While we were standing in line waiting for the go ahead, an airline staff member came by to check on the status. He was a tall, quiet man with a kind smile. He looked at Marisa and asked how old she was. At first when I said 7 he said, "Oh." and stepped back to talk to another staff member. Then he came back to us and told us to come with him. He walked us down to the gate, smiling at Marisa the whole time. When we got to the gate he spoke to the person checking our boarding passes and then he asked me if we would like to move closer to the front of the plane (our 4 seats were in row 40). I told him we were fine where we were, but thanks anyway. He told me he had brought us down early because once they started calling for general boarding, there would be a rush, and he wanted to avoid our having to deal with that. He was a true gentleman. It made me wonder if he has a personal connection with a person with a disability because he seemed to have such grace about him. I'm all for treating people with disabilities as much as possible like they are just like everyone else, because in all the most important ways they are; but I don't mind kind strangers giving us a little extra help at times. It reminds us of the common bond between all people and as I always tell my "typical" teen, there are far more kind people in the world than unkind ones.
My little one was a trooper on the plane both ways, only getting antsy towards the end of the flight. She really loves to travel and calls every place we stay our "new house." She loved the resort and enjoyed smiles from many strangers; but then she is usually the object of attention, in a good way (!), from people when we are out and about. One little thing that happened that caused me to reflect on the kindness of strangers was at the airport when we were waiting to board the plane for our return flight. Marisa is 7 so she doesn't qualify for the parents traveling with small children perk of boarding early. It was taking them a really long time to get through the initial stages of boarding for some reason, and we had already been at the airport for over 2 hours, so we just wanted to go get our seats and struggle to put all our carry-ons in the overhead bins. While we were standing in line waiting for the go ahead, an airline staff member came by to check on the status. He was a tall, quiet man with a kind smile. He looked at Marisa and asked how old she was. At first when I said 7 he said, "Oh." and stepped back to talk to another staff member. Then he came back to us and told us to come with him. He walked us down to the gate, smiling at Marisa the whole time. When we got to the gate he spoke to the person checking our boarding passes and then he asked me if we would like to move closer to the front of the plane (our 4 seats were in row 40). I told him we were fine where we were, but thanks anyway. He told me he had brought us down early because once they started calling for general boarding, there would be a rush, and he wanted to avoid our having to deal with that. He was a true gentleman. It made me wonder if he has a personal connection with a person with a disability because he seemed to have such grace about him. I'm all for treating people with disabilities as much as possible like they are just like everyone else, because in all the most important ways they are; but I don't mind kind strangers giving us a little extra help at times. It reminds us of the common bond between all people and as I always tell my "typical" teen, there are far more kind people in the world than unkind ones.
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