The Gallery – My Little Green Man

This week Tara over at Sticky Fingers has made the theme for the Gallery “Green”

This is how my little man looked today and last night at the mention of that dirty word………SCHOOL!     Today my little man went back to school………….. regrettably

Last night we had huge meltdowns because he didn’t want to go to school, he “hates” school, he isn’t going to wear his uniform and so on……..

After he had calmed down a little (enough to talk to him anyway) we chatted for a while about some of the things he didn’t like or was worried about. We had all of the usual things, such as “the classroom is too noisy”, (there’s 27 kids in his class!), “the uniform hurts me”, (he doesn’t like the material or tags etc), “I’m bored” and so on. However also whilst chatting to him we also had a couple of (we thought) quite alarming comments made by him.

First he said that he doesn’t have any friends and some of the kids are mean to him. I asked if that makes him feel sad and if he tells his teacher. He answered, yes he feels sad but he’s a big boy and isn’t allowed to cry at school and when he told his teacher she said don’t worry.  WHAT?!?!  Ok so I know he probably hasn’t been told directly that he isn’t allowed to cry at school and that his teacher probably didn’t take into consideration how literally he would take her words but seriously, telling an ASD child to not worry and not being allowed to cry at school?

Moving on, as we got into our conversation he revealed that our thinking chair isn’t the same as the one at school, no he didn’t mean in appearance although ours is slightly different but the same colour………… red because if you have to sit on it you have made a red, sad choice.  He went on to say that his teacher had said if you are silly on the thinking chair you have to go and STAY in Mr T office…………………….. Again with the literal thinking!

Now I know that even we slip up from time to time but seriously, should it be one thing after another with his school.  We chose the school that he goes to because we were told it was “Autism Central” around our area, so we thought the best thing to do was to send him to a school that “knows” ASD’s. This is the same school, where he attends EI 2 days a week, although I am told that this will hopefully be cut to one day this term and 4 days in Prep. The EI centre (the ECDP) is wonderful, he has a fantastic teacher there and 2 teacher aides who are just as wonderful but J is just not getting the support we feel he needs and deserves from the school, mainstream. My husband and I are convinced that they don’t buy into the whole “ASD thing” and because J is high functioning he’s not seen as having a special need.

Question is where do we go from here?……………………………..

And in the meantime I’m dealing with a very “green, sick to his stomach, hates school” little man

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Tron Legacy – Review and Giveaway

When a copy of Tron Legacy became available to review I jumped at the chance. To be honest with you I wasn’t overly keen on the first Tron movie, it was one of those as a kid that I watched because my brother was watching it and we only had one TV. However I had heard that this film had stunning graphics and a great storyline, 2 things that usually make for good watching

“State-of-the-art technology brings this father-son story to life,as the rebellious 27 year old Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND) is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father, Kevin Flynn (Oscar® and Golden Globe® winner JEFF BRIDGES), who was once recognised as the world’s most innovative tech visionary. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn’s Arcade – a signal that could only come from his father – he finds himself pulled into a digital Grid – A place of infinite possibility – and where Kevin has been trapped for the last 20 years. With the help of fearless warrior Quorra (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a visually stunning digital landscape created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced. Complete with never before imagined vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape. TRON: Legacy even features a soundtrack spun by Grammy® Award-wining electronic music dup, Daft Punk.”

This movie did not disappoint, I thought the storyline was really good and the graphics in the film were just stunning, even my hubby watched Tron Legacy, which is amazing because he’s not usually a movie kind of guy. We were both very impressed with the vehicles, and who would have thought you could do so much damage with a frisbee So this movie gets a big thumbs up from the both of us, (much to my surprise).

  

Tron Legacy is available to buy in shops now and I would definitely recommend you give this movie a go, even if you’re not into science fiction, (like myself).                                                                      I have a copy of Tron Legacy to giveaway, to enter simply leave a comment below telling me why you would like to win this movie. 

winner will be drawn May 2nd 2011  

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of the DVD courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment via Aussie Mummy Bloggers. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

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Disney’s Tangled – Review and Giveaway

We received a copy of Tangled in the mail to review and to be honest I was little more excited than J when it arrived. I love pretty much all Disney films, (they have a certain quality to them), however J was convinced it was a girl’s movie!

I managed to convince him to give it a go and after just a few minutes he was hooked. He thought the “evil woman,” (Mother Gothel) was fab, (he always loves the “baddies”), but his favourite characters were Pascal, the little chameleon on Rapunzel’s shoulder and Maximus the horse.

Whilst he really enjoyed the movie, I think he still feels it’s abit girly………… however I’m sure it will be one that he’s asking to watch again soon. It’s definitely a movie that I would consider buying for my nieces, (I’m unsure as to whether any of my nephews would enjoy it quite as much). Personally I loved it, it made me laugh and I loved the modern day twist on an old fairytale, I thought Rapunzel’s “girl power” was fab!

Tangled will be on the shelves and available to own 11th May 2011 (DVD $29.95, Blu-Ray Pack $39.95, 3D Blu-Ray Pack $59.95)

I have a copy of Tangled to giveaway to one lucky person.  In order to win a copy of this fab movie simply leave a comment below.

Bonus entry for liking my facebook page here  (please leave a separate comment)

Bonus entry for tweeting this giveaway (please leave a separate comment)

giveaway closes Wednesday 4th May 2011     Good Luck

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of the DVD courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment via Aussie Mummy Bloggers. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

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A Week of Highs……….. Finally!

We’ve had so many high moments this week…………. finally our run of “bad luck” this year is turning itself around

Last weekend we had an absolutely amazing day out with almost no meltdowns and lots of laughter, it was just what we needed after going through such an awful time lately. Personally I felt like a very lucky ladies to have 2 such wonderful “men” in my life…….. my little man and my big man

The Friday before our wonderful weekend I had J’s parent/teacher meeting, it was 15 minute appointment which ended up lasting around an hour. We had a great chat and I think made huge progress in our parent/teacher relationship During our “chat” she informed me that on Tuesday J was to receive a Gold Award for Excellent Behaviour in all school activities, whilst I was extremely proud of him, I was also worried about how he would cope in a crowded hall and going up on stage to collect his award in front of so many other children and adults (parents were invited to the “ceremony”).  Tuesday morning arrived and J was experiencing mixed emotions on one hand he was excited, it was his first award and on the other hand he was very anxious about going to the school hall. He did brilliantly!!!  He took a good look at Mr T’s hand before he shook it, (needed to make sure it was clean enough LOL), but he did it……….. he went up on to the stage and shook his hand as he collected his award …………….. **proud mummy moment**

Not only did he cope well with this but the children had to sit for a long time watching everyone else collect their awards, he didn’t clap along with everyone else and was getting fidgety but he managed to hold it together until the end of the ceremony…………….. in fact until the end of the school day! When he got home he informed me that he “hates the hall and is never going back there, it was too loud, it hurt his ears, there were too many kids and he had to sit still for ages!” ………… the next morning he informed his teacher of the same thing lol

The next morning he also had another outing to the school hall!!……………. big week for him at school this week!   The children had their Easter Bonnet Parade on Wednesday morning, again parents were invited and the hall was very loud and crowded. He was really not into it at all but paraded along with the rest of his class, holding his teacher Aide’s hand and then went up onto the stage with the rest of his class to sing an Easter Bilby song………………..Again despite not being into it at all he did brilliantly! And then the icing on the cake was when he was chosen to collect the certificate on behalf of his whole class!!!  **another proud mummy moment**

School ended on Thursday and so yesterday we decided to start the holidays on a high, we had another great day at the beach. We went along with a friend and her 5 gorgeous children and had great fun playing in the playground, on the sand, in the water and collecting shells. …………. A FAB start to the holidays

And on a slightly different note……………….. hubby gave up smoking almost 2 months ago and has now got through the “grumpy, I’m missing smoking” stage, I’m very proud of him. It’s been a really tough couple of months, what with everything that we’ve all been going through but he’s got through it without a cigarette……………… so Well Done, your Wife and Son are very proud!

It’s been a great week of highs so here’s hoping our run of “bad luck” is finally coming to an end.

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Handy Manny Motorcycle Adventure DVD Review and Giveaway

J was very excited last week when we received our copies of Handy Manny Motorcycle adventure and also Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Minnie’s Masquerade.  He had originally wanted to go see both at the cinema but he has never been to the cinema before, (abit of a sensory overload) and decided at the last minute that he just couldn’t cope. So I’m sure you can imagine just how excited he was when they arrived in the post

“Feel the wind in your hair and join Manny as he packs up his tools for an exciting road trip. They’re heading out to a fiesta grande – Manny’s family reunion! But when Pat veers off in search of his own family Manny’s plans take a detour. Can he race to the rescue in time to make it to the party.”

Those of you that are familiar with the show will know that the series features a Hispanic handy man named Manny along with his tools. Spanish words are incorporated in the script to encourage learning, abit like Dora and Diego for those unfamiliar with Handy Manny. J has never really been a huge fan of either but he loves Manny and his tools and (like the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) I like the lessons about friendship and working together that Handy Manny teaches. For any child these are important lessons to learn and for an ASD child they are especially hard……… so big thumbs up to Manny and his tools for the helping hand.

This is a great DVD that shows the importance of family and how family doesn’t have to be blood related, most of us know that in today’s world lots of us have “families” made up of friends, I know ours does This DVD is probably aimed at preschoolers but J is 5 and loved it………. I think most 5 and 6 year olds would also find Handy Manny entertaining and most parents will be singing along to the various songs on the DVD.

I have a copy of this fantastic DVD to giveaway to one lucky person. To win a copy just comment below telling me what your favourite family get together is………..(When I was a child Christmas was always my favourite)

Giveaway closes Wednesday 20th April  ………… Good Luck!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of the DVD courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment via Aussie Mummy Bloggers. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

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What A Wonderful Day!

Today has been a truly wonderful day.  Thursday this week J was supposed to go on a school excursion, for various reasons I chose not to send him but promised him an excursion of our own. Unfortunately he came down with a really snotty cold on Wednesday and I was still feeling abit under the weather so we postponed our excursion.

This morning we set off for Underwater World. We had a great time!  We went through the exhibits very quickly the first time round and after an hour we were already outside and looking for somewhere child friendly to have morning tea After a quick dose of caffeine and some water for J we set off into Underwater World for a second time. This time round we took a little longer, we spent around 20 minutes touching the sea stars alone!

We returned home early afternoon and hubby thought it would be fun to spend a couple of hours at the beach. It’s been a little while since we went and J was very excited at this idea.  J had great fun running in and out of the waves and playing with the sand.

 

All in all a great day, just what we needed

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A Sensory Fun Day!

I’ve finally started to feel a little better physically so today I thought it would be nice to have a sensory fun day with J.

We started our day by making some playdough, it’s a simple mixture……….2 cups of plain flour, 4 tablespoons of cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of boiling water and food colouring all mixed together. J had great fun adding (and feeling) the ingredients as we mixed them together, obviously I mixed the boiling water

We made 3 different colours and even put sequins and sparkles into one batch for abit of extra sensory fun

We’ve also made some fantastic creations with J’s moonsand. I can’t recommend this to enough people, it’s great sensory fun and it doesn’t dry out, it’s pretty solid and so if like me you have a little perfectionist the thing they are trying to build won’t keep  collapsing………….. it’s very easy to build with

J has also played in his bodysock, (very funny to watch), dressed up as a sock monster but putting socks on his hands/arms and feet/legs, (he used Daddy’s socks because they were bigger and he even managed to put them on himself!) and we made a rice and balloon stressball.

I also thought it might be a good time to work on strengthening his fine motor skills and muscles, (J has low muscle tone), so out came the theraputty.

Without a doubt the thing that J has enjoyed the most today was food therapy.

Today along with the usual things (apple, banana, bread etc) I thought I’d give jelly a go…………….. J thought it was FAB! He squished his hands through it, used his playdough toys, drew things with his fingers and just had lots of sensory fun!

 

 

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Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Minnie’s Masquerade DVD Review and Giveaway

Well hot diggity dog……… look what we have here!  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD arriving in post = very excited 5 year old!

This DVD contains 5 episodes of the fantastic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse plus a bonus episode of Handy Manny.

As soon as it arrived in the post J insisted on watching it, he watched it from start to finish which is quite impressive, as it’s total running time is approximately 2 hrs!  (great value for money)  He loves the catchy tunes that Mickey and the gang sing and I’m a huge fan of some of the things that they teach J whilst he’s having fun. Lessons such as friendship, teamwork, sharing and problem solving. Although this DVD is probably targeted at preschoolers I’m sure it would still entertain most 5 and 6 year olds, J has now watched it several times.

It’s great value for money, entertaining, educational, musical and fun, what more could you ask for?

I have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Minnie’s Masquerade DVD to giveaway to one lucky person. To win a copy of this fab DVD simply leave a comment telling me if you were invited to a fancy dress party, what or who would you go dressed as?

Giveaway closes Monday 18th April

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of the DVD courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment via Aussie Mummy Bloggers. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

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The Gallery:Mother Love

It’s been a few weeks since I took part in the Gallery over at Sticky Fingers but this week’s theme was Mother Love…………………. obviously a theme very close to my heart at the moment.

I feel very lucky to be a Mum and to be blessed with my precious little man.  He’s an amazing person, who makes me smile, makes me laugh, sometimes cry, fills my heart with love and pride………………. he’s quite simply my best friend

This month would have been my Nan’s birthday and for the past 5 years at around this time I can’t stop my happy memories from flooding back. My Nan was my world and created so many happy memories for me not just as a child but also when things got tough after my Granddad passed away. My Nan struggled with Altziemers for about 7 years until finally life was just too much for her, but I have so many happy memories of my Nan during those 7 years. Even after she had left us I believe she was with me, watching over my special little man so that he could become our world and fill the void

And finally to my Mum………… my Mum and I have always been friends but I’ve always been closer to my Nan, my younger sister has always had that close bond with my Mum. So I guess what I’m trying to say is………………. I’ve probably not said it enough but I love you Mum!

Thankyou J, Nan and Mum for providing me with Mother Love! xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

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A Couple of Things That Made Us Smile Last Week :)

Obviously from my recent posts you will all know that we’ve been going through abit of a rough time lately. Unfortunately the person who has had the toughest time over the past couple of weeks has been J. When he doesn’t know what is happening or indeed what is going to happen he becomes very anxious. ……….. When the anxious, confused behaviour makes an appearance we all struggle. Despite being very confused over the past couple of weeks, (one minute mummy is going into hospital, the next she isn’t and then she does!),  J has coped so much better than we could ever have hoped for. For obvious reasons he thinks Mummy has a poorly tummy and the doctors at the hospital have to make it better, he has asked lots of questions, (he’s a very smart kid), but we have tried to skim over things and change the subject. Probably not the best thing to do but we didn’t know what else to do. Anyhow……… he (and Daddy) have coped brilliantly well.

Today whilst watching J play I realised just how lucky we are to have this amazingly beautiful and special little man in our lives. Things have been incredibly tough the past couple of weeks but we’ve still felt a child’s love, we’ve still had other struggles to deal with so our minds didn’t get stuck on the one thing we didn’t want to think about and we’ve still managed to smile and even laugh and all of this is thanks to J.

Some of the things he’s said to make us smile and sometimes laugh :

At the beginning of the week Daddy picked him up from school whilst I went to an appointment at the hospital. They came along to collect me but the hospital was running late so I still hadn’t gone in for my appointment, J’s reaction was  *eye roll* and “TUT”  then “blimming doctors, can’t they tell the time or what!” He even made the nurses smile when they saw the comment had come from a      5 yr old!  :)

Trying to ask Daddy if he could do something, Daddy asked “What do I get if I do that?”  J replies ” A Piece of quiet!”  :D  (this had me giggling, was said with a very serious face)

When J and Daddy dropped me off at the hospital J got very excited (cue arm flapping)  and exclaimed “Wow Dad look 3 ambuses!!”

 

J you really are the sunshine of our lives, you light up our world and make us feel warm and happy……………… We love you little man xxxxx

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