Category Archives: The A-Word

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 15, 2017

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For Today… January 15, 2017

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny and around 40F. It’s a nice change from mornings when it’s 15F when I leave the house with a high in the 20’s.

I am thinking… about various homework assignments that are due in the next week.

I am thankful… that my kiddo FINALLY went to sleep around 1 a.m. after tantruming on and off for almost 9 hours. #autismproblems #ADHDproblems

One of my favorite things… soft grey kitties like the one asleep in the cat bed on my desk.

I am wearing… a long-sleeved Cougars shirt and jeans. Church clothes this morning were a charcoal grey top, my black slacks, and my black boots.

I am creating…

I am reading… My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live by my friend Maria Johnson. I got to know her through podcasting stuff on SQPN and am really jazzed to finally get to read her book after gifting it to a number of people.

I am hoping… to finish my book today in between all of the homework on my plate.

I am learning… how to get kitty litter out of the bleach receptacle of the washing machine and the fabric softener receptacle on the dryer. *glares at Daniel* (The answer involves a toothbrush, an F crochet hook, and a dust buster.)

In my kitchen… stroganoff for dinner tonight. Yay!!! Good leftovers this week!!!

In the school room… Daniel has a four-day weekend.

Post Script… So let’s talk about how many buses are headed to DC for the inauguration vs. how many are headed there for the Women’s March on Washington. (Hint: It’s not even close.)

Shared Quote…

My sentiments exactly.

A moment from my day… Our offertory hymn this morning in honor of MLK Jr.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 8, 2017

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For Today… January 8, 2017

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. We’ve had rain on and off today and it’s supposed to be cold enough tonight for any moisture on the ground to freeze into ice. I’m really hoping that my route to school isn’t an ice rink tomorrow morning!

I am thinking… about things for my Records Management class.

I am thankful… to be back to school. Though I’ll be very busy this quarter, it will give me something to focus on as I’m working through everything involved with the divorce.

One of my favorite things… quiet. Unfortunately, my precious sweetling is being obnoxious and screaming right now. *sighs* I’m about to resort to the clean version of THAT book.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes today were this dress and black cardigan, black tights, and my black flats. The rest of the day found me in jeans and my Cougars shirt. (Yes, I’m a Huskies fan and I was wearing a shirt from the Evil School. In my defense, it’s a warm shirt!!!)

I am creating… an Excel file with all the pertinent calculations for filing my taxes. (Self-employment taxes suck. Thankfully, there’s TurboTax Home and Business.)

I am reading… My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live by Maria Morera Johnson.

I am hoping… the little beast stops screaming before I lose my hearing.

I am learning… about retail business accounting this quarter. Wheeeeee!!!

In my kitchen… Mom made broccoli and beef in the slow cooker.

In the school room… Daniel is back to school and loving it.

Post Script… some happy stories for your day.

Shared Quote… “Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we search for in fiction is not so much reality but the epiphany of truth.”
— Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 13, 2016

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For Today… November 13, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… grey and rainy. It’s quite delightful, actually.

I am thinking… about the news that Donald Trump named a white supremacist as his counselor and chief strategist. This jerk and his followers attacked Kristen of Rage Against the Minivan, doxxed her, and sent some of the most vulgar tweets I have ever read. I was one of the people going through her Twitter account and reporting this profoundly sick people to Twitter for harassment. We’re talking tweets about nasty things these men wanted to do to her daughters, calling Kristen and her family sickening names, and a whole lot of things that will require me to take more Ativan if I speak of further.

I am thankful… for IRIS being inundated with calls asking how to help out with their immigration and refugee services. (I know someone who works with them and she reported this on Facebook.) It’s good to know that not all of the country have lost their minds.

One of my favorite things… worship today at St. Paul’s. I love being part of a community that is so alive.

I am wearing… a charcoal shirt from Old Navy and black jeans from Fred Meyer. Church clothes were the shirt with black slacks and a black cardigan from Kohl’s.

I am creating… a chapter outline for my Practical Accounting class and a blog post about political stuff.

I am listening to… chamber music on one of the Dish Network channels.

I am hoping… Trump finds better advisors than his current band of jokers.

I am learning… about employer earnings and deductions.

In my kitchen… Dad made garlic shrimp pasta for Sunday dinner.

In the school room… Daniel came home smelling like Old Spice because they were doing OT stuff with shaving cream on Friday.

Post Script… Do me a favor and read the following links and tell me if I’m overreacting to Trump being elected: this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. Keep in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg as to what I’ve seen on Twitter and Facebook.

Shared Quote…

“Empathy challenge: Imagine if we’d just elected a man who said he’d shut down churches and force Christians to register with the government.” — Rachel Held Evans

A moment from my day… One of the many Joe Biden memes going around.

*snickers*

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs: Vaccines and Autism

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31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs

I saved this particularly scary topic (at least for some people) for Halloween. For those with a delicate constitution who are going to be easily offended by me disagreeing with them, I recommend something more soothing to read… like maybe a science book! For everyone else, go look under the cut.

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31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs: Food Issues

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31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs

If you have a kid who was born prematurely, there’s a good chance that they have some texture issues in their mouth. Add in autism or sensory processing disorders (SPD) and you have a kid who refuses to eat what you put in front of them. As frustrating as this is, here’s how I’ve coped.

[+] Supplement with Pediasure or Boost. It is almost impossible to get enough calories into Daniel so that he can gain weight. A nutritionist put him on Pediasure when he was 2 years old and they were finally able to plot him on the growth chart. It’s not ideal for kids to get most of their calories that way but it sure does help.

[+] Gummy vitamins. If your kid likes fruit snacks, this is a way to get extra vitamins in. Again, it’s not ideal but it works.

[+] Pick your battles. Your kid only eats food shaped like a dinosaur? Congratulations! They’re typical. Order a dinosaur-shaped cookie cutter for sandwiches, stock up on those chicken nuggets, and explain that the broccoli on their plate are palm trees. No kid is perfect and it’s likely that they won’t eat what you put in front of them every time. If it is making mealtimes into battles, rethink your strategy.

[+] Find whatever you can get your kid to ingest and stick with it. Daniel has his own peanut butter jar because we use it to give him his meds and because the kid eats it out out the jar with a spoon! We allow it because it’s extra fat and calories for him, two things that my painfully thin kid needs! He loves whole milk so that’s why we buy. (I find that my crabby gut tolerates whole milk while nonfat milk makes it stabby. Lactose-free milk is twice as expensive which is why it isn’t in the budget.) We go through tons of bananas and shortbread cookies because that’s what he likes. Ditto with goldfish, cheese sticks (calcium and protein!), fruit snacks, apple juice.

[+] Model good habits. If your kids see you eating your broccoli, they are more likely to try it.

31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs: Blogger Spotlight on Cammie of “Beyond Pearls”

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31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs

It’s another busy homework evening (Accounting) so here’s a blogger spotlight post to give you something to ponder.

Why I’m spotlighting this blogger: Cammie has been a friend of mine for probably 4 years now and we commiserate with each other about our kids’ conditions. Her daughter Sadie has ADHD, Maggie is severely autistic, and her boys have their own issues. She recently had her daughter Tessie and she’s got what seems to be some vision and hearing issues.

Cammie is amazing. Her kids have probably 50 appointments per month with all their doctor’s appointments and therapies… and she manages to juggle it all. There are also a number of food allergies and sensitivities between all the kids and she has to a huge amount of cooking from scratch. I can barely cope with one kid with special needs and she has five of them!

The woman seriously amazes me and I think you need to go check her out!

31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs: Sleep Issues

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31 Days of Parenting Kiddos with Special Needs

Parents with kids on the spectrum know how much “fun” it is to have to get those kiddos to bed at times and to keep them in bed when they are having sleep disturbances. Parents with kids who have ADHD deal with kids who have no off-switch regardless of how tired they are. Parents whose kids have both (like mine) are in a special kind of hell.

Here is what I’ve found that helps:

[+] Routines: It really does help to be able to direct your kiddo to the next thing on the list. Ours is pretty much the same as Daniel Tiger’s: bathtime, pj’s, snack, brush teeth, go to sleep. (We have this book as well.)

[+] A consistent schedule: This goes along with the routine. Everything happens at pretty much the same time every night, making it easy when I have choir practice or something in the evening and my parents are doing bedtime with Daniel.

[+] Melatonin: We give it to the kidlet along with his evening meds (Clonidine). It’s very easily found in the vitamin section of your local supermarket or drug store.

Daniel does still have nights where he’s wakeful but these three things tend to work pretty well for us.