Reviewing the Situation.......

On Friday afternoon we set off on a long weekend away together. The destination was a glamping ( posh camping) site set in the middle of a forest. The children were very excited even though we took no electronic devices with us at all ( except phones).  The journey took approximately two hours but when we arrived it was still hot and sunny and just about tea time.

The staff showed us around the amenities which consisted of a shop of sweets and other oddments  where you entered what you were taking into the honesty book, a communal campfire, pizza oven, rope swings, vintage caravan full of games and books, a vintage tea room and a rather quaint toilet/ shower block. The tents and woodcutter huts were spread out through the forest which meant that each setting was masked with trees and barely a glimpse of neighbouring sites. Ours was a woodcutters hut which housed a big comfy double bed and a sofa bed for the children which was also very comfy, a log burner and various tea light candle holders. The decking outside was shielded by a tent top and across the other side was a kitchen hut which housed all the necessaries. We also had our own picnic bench and BBQ with a collection of charcoal and wood to burn. Around the hut were trees and makeshift dens that other children must have built, providing Boy Wonder with the ideal surroundings to explore and 'look after' his little sister in the wilds!

We unpacked our things into the trunks provided and whilst Boy Wonder took Cat Girl off to explore ( being careful to lay a trail so that they wouldn't get lost!) Superman and I set about making tea from the BBQ. We then went out into the the communal area of the site and had a look around. Boy Wonder remained settled but preoccupied by the surroundings. He ran off to explore further ( it was all trees and not near any roads) but then went out of sight. We shouted him and split up to have a look for him but couldn't see him. I went over to the vintage caravan and he was sat in there engrossed in a building game, unaware of the mild panic that he had caused!

After an evening sat around the camp fire, talking to a couple of other people (they were few and far between), the children played on the rope swings and toasted marshmallows and Boy Wonder stoked the fire with close supervision; we then went off to settle down. With no electronic gadgets, the children read and within a reasonable timeframe Boy Wonder fell asleep. We put this down to not only having no access to gadgets but also because he had our company so wasn't anxious, with the affect of the outdoors!

The next couple of days consisted of on site bushcraft activities where they learnt to make stick men, shelters and make popcorn over the camp fire. Superman taught his Scout days tricks of the trade as in knots and making of tools. We played games in the forest and went on a two mile walk to go strawberry picking. Cat Girl loved the strawberries and ate most of them! Boy Wonder wasn't so sure as he didn't like the seeds. They both enjoyed picking them though. On the last night we made our own pizzas and tried out the pizza oven. This was a skill in itself as you had to light a fire in it and then push the embers to the back which should be sufficient enough to cook the pizza within a couple of minutes. Ours did cook but took a little longer than that. A bigger fire next time we think!

One of the main reasons for going on this holiday was that by taking him somewhere like this would allow him to settle and find himself again.  The place was lovely and very chilled without being boring but Boy Wonder really struggled once the adhd medication wore off.  As an example, he would go from a fairly relaxed state to an erratic and irrational state within minutes. We could set the clock by him.  He would sing loudly and shout a lot of the time, get too close to the fire, run off into the forest ( although we could hear him!), walk into other peoples accomodation insisting it was empty and okay to explore ( it wasn't !) and more worrying he would capture his sister in ropes with no awareness that this was not a safe thing to do especially when trying to wrap it round her neck.  

Historically we have found that his adhd symptoms escalated dependent on environmental stresses but the low arousal environment didn't reduce the escalation in his presentation at all.  This was really quite concerning but does support the fact that what the school have been experiencing is due to a deterioration in his adhd that is outside of his control and cannot be managed by the school rules that have previously suppressed him.  We made the decision to use his top up medication daily until he is reviewed by the Consultant again in a weeks time. The medication is set up for this type of use in the short term but is more of a as and when required dose. 

So the holiday did provide us with a break but also with an opportunity to 'review the situation' as they say!