College Park Patch: No Longer Standing Guard

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch. 

My children are now old enough that I can leave them in the bathtub while I go downstairs to check my email, without fear of them drowning. I no longer need to cut their food in bite-size pieces for fear of them choking.

We’ve moved into a new stage of their development that I am calling “playground independence.”

We bought our house in this neighborhood because of the playgrounds and because there are so many families with children. From my front door, we can see one of those playgrounds, and within seconds of hearing laughter from that direction my sons will put on their shoes in lightening-fast speed, calling as they run out the door, “I’m going to the playground to play with …”

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College Park Patch: Teaching Children About Responsibility

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock,Parenting on a Tightrope. 

There are many moments that I hope my children will recall as fond memories from childhood when they are adults — moments they don’t appreciate now, but might later say, "If it wasn't for my mom..."

We are working on responsibilities in our house. Each member of the family has responsibilities in our household — including the children. I'm purposely not calling these "chores.” I'm not looking at this solely as an opportunity to have someone help me scrub the toilet or feed the dog, but hope to eliminate whining about homework and begging for a toy every time we walk into Target.

Each week some responsibilities change, and some remain the same, like doing homework. Each completed responsibility earns my children a smiley face. At the end of the day, if they’ve received a smiley face next to each of their responsibilities they earn 25 cents. If they don't earn a smiley face for even one responsibility ... no money.

It only took my youngest son, who is six years old, two days to catch on to this.

To continue reading click here.

College Park Patch: Using Behavior Charts in the Classroom

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock,Parenting on a Tightrope. 

My children are well behaved, but I don’t notice it as often as I should.

L had years of public meltdowns; the meltdowns of a child on the Autism Spectrum are nothing like a meltdown of a nuerotypical child. Trust me on this one.

He no longer lies motionless, completely dead weight in the middle of the supermarket aisle. He no longer kicks, arching his back and screaming while trying to put him in the car seat, every single time that we have to go somewhere.

Thankfully we have moved past that phase. He’s no angel, and like anyone he has his moments, but with maturity they have become more reserved. He’s become embarrassed by the public attention that a meltdown attracts.

His teacher last year said she could have written his name in permanent marker on the top on the behavior chart hanging in her classroom, because he was so well behaved. He never moved from the top spot all year.

Enter son No. 2. I knew from the get-go we would have issues with a classroom behavior chart.

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College Park Patch: Starting the Day Off Right with a Compliment

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock,Parenting on a Tightrope. 

(My sister has one of the best smiles when she laughs, I don't tell her that enough. )

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Everyone woke up in a happy mood, got dressed and brushed their teeth without one gripe or grumble.

We left the house for church on time instead of our usual rush. As we walked to the car, L grabbed my hand and looked up at me as if it was the first time he’d seen me … really seen me that morning. 

He looked me directly in the eye and said, “Mommy, I like your clothes and necklace.”

My mouth dropped open. Giving another person a compliment — unprompted — has been one of L’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals for the past two years.

Making eye contact and noticing something about another person is a huge milestone for a child on the Autism Spectrum. I wished I could freeze frame this moment and replay it for the entire IEP team, which consists of his special education teacher, occupation therapist, speech therapist, general education teacher, school psychologist, school counselor and the four other random people who sit in on every IEP meeting.

I promptly thanked him, and he gave me that huge smile that makes his eyes twinkle.

During church I tried to pay attention to the minister, but all I thought about was L’s compliment and how far he has come in his development. And the more I thought about it, I realized that maybe our entire family needs to work on this goal of giving another person a compliment, unprompted.

Couldn’t the world use more compliments? What if everyday we said something nice to another human being?

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Public Service Announcement for Teach.gov on Special Education

It took a little longer than expected, but the final version of the special education teacher recruitment video is live on the web!

Did you know that my son Logan and I participated in a Public Service Announcement for Teach.gov? 
They are creating videos to solicit people to become teachers for underserved populations. 
i.e.: african-american males, latino and special education. We were asked to participate because Logan is on the Autism Spectrum and because I am such a HUGE advocate for him.

A group of moms sat in a circle and we talked for hours. And out of that amazing day came this 5 minute PSA! Logan and I are both featured throughout the video along with some amazing kids and
mama lions.


The easiest way to share is by viewing on the US Department of
Education's TEACH.gov YouTube site -http://www.youtube.com/teachgov
It's the featured video!

Please share widely! Post on your Facebook page, send a Tweet with the link, email to all of your friends and even people that you only sort of like! 


We've also been told that the video will be used as one of the lead ins at each of the screenings of the new documentary "American Teacher." http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/screening.php

Bat Stuffed Animal - Happy Halloween!

This year my sons will be with their father for trick or treating. We switch holidays each year and along with Thanksgiving and Christmas we rotate Halloween. Thankfully their dad and I have a good parenting relationship, after they get gobs of candy from the houses near where he lives they will be stopping by to trick or treat our house. I am going to surprise them with these new "cuddly friends", as my youngest likes to call them. Special Halloween bats for the special boys in my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Routine

First off let me tell you a little about me...I don't like guns. I refuse to allow fake guns into my home, that means no nerf guns or toy guns of any kind. This past summer I was convinced to purchase water guns but that is as far as I will go.
I have two boys and the reality is that they will turn anything and everything into a gun. I shouldn't have found it surprising when I came into the living room and found my oldest using my (unplugged) glue gun as a toy gun in his make believe battle.
It made me chuckle and I had to snap a quick picture. Only my kids, sons of a crafter would think to use a glue gun!

Simple Crochet Baby Hat

Everyone is having babies around us, it's dangerous!!!
I created this simple crochet hat for one of the newest additions. I purchased a skein of cotton/bamboo yarn and went to work single crocheting in a circle, adding three rows of double crochet to make it interesting. As always I didn't use a pattern and just eyeballed it until I felt it was complete.

Photo Gift Tags Upcycled into Frame

My sister-in-law has the cutest pictures of my nephews printed on Moo cards and uses them as gift tags for the holidays. I adore this idea! 

But I couldn't bring myself to just throw away the gift tags. So I decided to place them in a frame to hang on our "family wall". (More pictures of our "family wall" to come.) The cards are an odd shape so it was difficult to find frames that would display them in a traditional sense. After many trips to various stores I gave up and decided to add them all to this multi picture frame that I already had in the attic. I adhered the pictures to a textured piece of scrapbook paper. I actually don't mind the blank spaces and feel as though it highlights each picture nicely. 

College Park Patch: Holding on to Hope

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock, Parenting on a Tightrope. 

Ten years ago, Sept. 11, 2001, I didn’t have children; I was living in New York City managing an Off-Broadway Theatre.
It was my day off, and I was sleeping in.
I woke up to the sound of my best friend’s voice leaving a message on my answering machine: “An airplane flew into one of the twin towers. Gretchen, WAKE UP!”
I sprang out of bed not knowing if I was awake or if this was a dream. I remember the sound of my bare feet hitting the hardwood floor as I ran to my fire escape, where I had a clear view of the twin towers.
All I could see was smoke.
I grabbed my camera — the only thing I owned that would give me the ability to zoom in and really see what was happening. I poised the camera to my face and looked into the viewfinder. My finger automatically went to the shutter button, and I pressed my finger as another airplane flew directly into the second tower.
Click.
To read more click here. 

College Park Patch: Collecting, Counting or Compulsion?

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock, Parenting on a Tightrope. 

Most kids at some point in their lives have a collection of something: Polly Pocket dolls, Pokémon cards, stamps, and so on. A lot of adults have collections as well. At one point my mom collected little pig figurines that aligned the top of a dresser in her house. (Thank goodness that phase is over!)
The difference between neurotypical kids and kids on the Autism Spectrum is that, AS kids tend to be obsessive about their collections.
There was a time when L would collect “treasures” on our walks — random things he would find that would interest him. Shiny rocks, a hairclip, bottle tops … there never seemed to be any rhyme or reason for what caught his eye.
But God forbid you even think of throwing them away!
Curled on the couch, in a lull between reading stories, I asked my youngest son, Z, “Do you think at some point you would want your own room?”
I am shocked by how fast Z answers with a firm, “No!”
“Why not?”
“I’d be too lonely. I’d miss L. And I can’t sleep without his counting.”
“What do you mean? His counting?” I asked, rather perplexed because this is the first I heard of counting happening after I tuck them in.
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Routine

I'm making an effort to have more moments like this in my life. It fills my well...spiritually, emotionally and physically.

International Walk to School Day

Today is International Walk to School Day in the USA. The boys and I walk to school everyday. Well I walk, as they scooter. We live close to the school so it isn't a huge ordeal. On the days when I've driven in order to commute to a yoga class that I am teaching... I feel embarrassed about it.

So it was a no brain-er when the PTA put a call out for volunteers to help corral the children from the designated meeting spot to school. I wanted to make the morning special for the kids so I woke up early and headed out of the house with sidewalk chalk in hand. Along the route I wrote messages to the kids, words of encouragement and fun things to do along the way.
Walk the Tightrope.

Spin. Jump. Tap your head. Wave.

And who couldn't benefit from hearing "you are so smart" as they make their way into school.

I know the kids had fun this morning and hopefully some of them will ask their parents to be able to walk to school more often.

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

I am ready for fall. I love the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet. I love wearing just a sweater and a pair of jeans. I love how frisky the dogs are as they run around the yard. I love the acorn top collection that begins to live in every pair of little boy pants I wash. And let's be honest....I look good in fall colors. :)

In trying to use what I have on hand in my refrigerator and pantry, I created this very easy vegetarian split pea soup for the crock-pot. Throw all the ingredients in together before you leave for work and by the time you get home....dinner is ready! 

4 cups of water
4 cups vegetarian vegetable soup stock
20 baby carrots chopped
4 stalks of celery
1 pound bag of dried yellow split peas
2 Tablespoons dried, chopped onion flakes
1 Tablespoon Tastefully Simple Garlic and Pepper seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

College Park Patch: Leading the Way

This article was originally published on the College Park Patch as part of the weekly column by Gretchen Schock, Parenting on a Tightrope. 

School has started; we have returned to early bedtimes and homework nightly. Spelling lists and classroom paperwork adorn our refrigerator.
My oldest thrives in this structured environment; my youngest would rather have a bit more room to wiggle.
This year, for the first time both boys are going to the same school. Thankfully I am able to walk the boys to school each day; we have a routine in place already with morning drop off.
On the second day of school we walked in the building together, and I took the boys to the top of the hallway -- our drop off point -- so they can get right in the habit of walking themselves to class. The staff doesn’t like parents walking kids to their classrooms; most kids line up outside and then go in by grade level.
It tends to be a bit of a madhouse.
L fights the urge to have a breakdown because the environment is over stimulating, with the noise and the amount of people in a small space inadvertently bumping him and touching him. To continue reading click here.