Believe in Yourself

I fell to sleep well before Boy Wonder last night, waking up suddenly at 5am to check that he had gone to bed! He was asleep in bed with a pillow over his head. On his desk were numerous drawings and lyrics to songs that he had written. The main song was titled ' Believe in Yourself.' It was a very inspirational read and suggested that with support you can do anything. It brought a tear to my eye, just to have a little insight into his head.  I wonder if Boy Wonder truly understands the depth of his lyrics???

It was highly likely that Boy Wonder went to bed in the early hours and as a result woke up at 11.30am.  We thought that he would be revitalised from having some sleep but he looked pale with red around the eyes and his mood was odd. We had a late breakfast/ early lunch and then met friends at a play centre for a couple of hours or so.

During the morning whilst waiting for Boy Wonder to wake, Cat Girl made herself a reward chart for taking her medication for her tummy and eating without fuss. Although the dynamics of this were slightly out in that she had taken full control over it, it did actually prove itself to be successful!

We stayed at the play centre for a while due to the weather being awful and the children all played well. The boys even walked away from a potential fight as they were challenged by two older boys who pushed them by the shoulders. I did wade into that one though and gave the older boys 'The Look.' which worked a treat. It has never worked on Boy Wonder for obvious reasons so any opportunity to use it, I love!

Boy Wonder has been fairly quiet today, staring into space quite a bit with episodes of panic, more so this evening. He did his homework with Superman which was about Space. Boy Wonder made it very clear that he wasn't interested in the topic and therefore took a fair bit of encouragement.

This evening Boy Wonder and Superman watched Top Gear which meant that Boy Wonder asked a lot of questions, especially about the new Maclaran. Afterwardshe went up to his bedroom to settle down.

Lego Movie

A difficult end to the week. Boy Wonder appeared very tired and head jumbled.  Cat Girl was also being a grump so all in all it was hard work. Roll on the weekend!

After speaking with school about the incident last week and not getting very far, I stayed for assembly and watched Cat Girl show her Ju Jitsu grading certificate and do a little demo which consisted of girlie punches, very cute!

CAMHS made an appointment with us today to get together and review Boy Wonder's art therapy and general mental state. The medication increase has helped but he is still showing signs of low mood and is also quite panicky.

In the evening the children settled down after tea and some Minecraft. Cat Girl appeared to be very tired, Boy Wonder appeared distant. He fell to sleep very late and I had to wake him at 10am this morning to go to dance.

Today was a fairly calm day. After dance we went to the cinema and watched The Lego Movie. Boy Wonder became very excited about watching this which was nice to see. Around the shopping centre where the cinema is, it was extremely busy which Boy Wonder responded to by becoming erratic in mood. He was jumping about and unable to take in what I was saying to him.

The film was very good. It started slowly but towards the end it really came into its own. They both enjoyed it. It reminded me somewhat of Boy Wonder and his friend, building Lego as per the instructions rather than imagination .  Afterwards we walked back to the car around the outside of the building to avoid the business of the shopping centre.

We called in at Supergran's and Biker Gramps to drop something off and then headed home. This evening the grandparents visited and the children played downstairs on their tablets. Later on in the evening, Boy Wonder escaped to his bedroom as he had had a little accident. I helped him to change and asked him if he wanted anything? Boy Wonder became quite panicky. After a lot of reassurance he started to settle.

Assessment day

It was hard work this morning after having a 'day off.' Boy Wonder and Cat Girl made everything an effort and as a consequence we didn't get down stairs until 8.15am. We hurried breakfast and left for school.

I spoke briefly with the T.A about the two matters in the diary but she knew little as she wasn't there in the afternoons. She did say that she would speak with the teacher though and request further information.

The second opinion Educational Psychologist visited school this afternoon to start her assessment. I met her after school as she observed Boy Wonder leaving. The teacher spoke to me briefly about the incident that I was concerned about which involved Boy Wonder mimicking exposure behaviour in the toilets. Little concern was shown for this as it was a 'boy' thing but I wasn't happy with that as Boy Wonder doesn't tend to learn from experiences and could potentially be doing this in any toilets! I asked if we could speak more on this tomorrow.

Boy Wonder had two accidents today. A head bump and a fall. Cat Girl has also bumped her head. Must be the day for it! He was also very clingy when he came out of school to the point of bear hugging. We left to go home and once in the car I explained to Boy Wonder about the assessment and that we needed to go straight home to continue it. He got upset and told me that he didn't like change and that he suddenly gets tummy ache when important / scary things happen. This finished by Boy Wonder shouting and getting very upset.

Once at home, the lady joined us and did some further observing and had a discussion about some findings. She noticed a very clear distinction between communication at home and at school in that Boy Wonder spoke differently. She appeared to put it down to him being more relaxed at home. Boy Wonder became very upset when he was asked some direct questions and quite a few doors slammed as a consequence. When we attempted to settle him, he fired straight back up and started lashing out. Firm hold technique wasn't possible due to the extent of his thrashing around but I managed to get him to stay in the room and he went straight for the tablet to play Minecraft. This settled him. I explained to the EP that Minecraft is the new soother that gives Boy Wonder happy spirits. We went through some paperwork before she left and then Boy Wonder went to football with Superman who had just arrived home.

This evening, Boy Wonder and Cat Girl settled upstairs with Superman whilst I had a few friends around showing them my new products that I am distributing. They are Forever Living products and are predominantly Aloe Vera based and some other natural elements such as bee pollen. It was a great evening and lovely to have a ladies get together!

Away from home

Tuesday morning was an odd one. I was going away overnight and returning the next day so anxieties were a little high. I promised them both a little treat if they tried their very best whilst I was away, reassuring Boy Wonder that everything would be fine  and he could ring me if he wanted to.

I took them into school and explained to teachers about pick up and collections over the next two days. I also informed BoyWonder's teacher that he was feeling sick and to still ring me if he needed collecting. 

After work I travelled to pick up a friend and drive to our destination. She is retiring and it was our last real opportunity to get together and talk shop! ( training and consultancy in ASD.). It was nice to have a break and relax. Once at the  hotel we checked in and then went for dinner. We had a little tipple and put the world to rights before parting company for the evening. I then spent the rest of the evening reading a book on autism and mental health as suggested by Boy Wonder's Psychologist. 

Superman reported a fairly settled evening although Boy Wonder was still awake reading but that's pretty normal now. 

The morning routine survived by Superman and the children taken to school by Biker Gramps, I went to my training session that I was observing happy in the knowledge that things were okay. After the course we headed home and after surviving the treacherous rain on the motorway and the lane wandering car that I ended up reporting before an accident was caused, we arrived at friend's house to drop her off. I then did a quick dash around the supermarket and headed home equipped with monkey ice cream for the children's treat. 

Once at home, I caught up with Superman and then sat down with Cat Girl and caught up with her news. She told me that she had been a star! I settled her into bed and then it was Boy Wonder's turn. I read his school diary and it sounded like a different child. We hadn''t seen the book since last Thursday and it came as quite a shock that there had been two incidents, although one had been today. Boy Wonder had been talking whilst the teacher was talking. From what Boy Wonder said it sounded like impulse rather than him blatantly ignoring her. He said that a child spoke and he responded. However his comments being so matter of fact caused the class to laugh at him which didn't go down too well!  The other incident was a lot more problematic and hasn't been discussed with us so further investigation is required. Boy Wonder then told me that he had been feeling sick and had told the teacher but they didn't ring me. I asked him if he thought that he needed to come home and he said that he wasn't sure. 

Boy Wonder settled down with me but didn't fall to sleep. He later went upstairs to read. Another late night. 

Happy Spirits

Boy Wonder awoke on a mission this morning! He had decided that he needs to go to London to have a little wart on his hand removed. This is the only place that can do it properly apparently! He explained that the Doctor there would freeze it and it would then fall off. However whilst he is waiting for this to happen he will need to name it to become friends with it so that he isn't tempted to pick it! It all then became very confusing as Cat Girl then thought that we were off to London immediately. I reassured her that this wasn't the case!

It later transpired that Boy Wonder had seen this on a CBBC programme. I told him that I would ring the local Doctor to get it sorted. We have used the over the counter stuff for warts but he picks at them and they bleed so we have to wait for it to heal and start a again. A vicious circle.

After a lengthily shower I got Boy Wonder dressed and Cat Girl sorted and we went down for breakfast. Boy Wonder started to complain about feeling sick and went very quiet.

We arrived at school and I spoke to his teacher about him feeling unwell and that he had been complaining on and off about feeling sick or having tummy ache throughout the weekend. I asked her to call me if she thought he needed to come home and reassured him of the same.

I didn't receive a call and picked them both up after school football and club for Cat Girl. Boy Wonder had been to Art Therapy and said that he didn't feel sick whilst there but he did before at school and when he came back. Cat Girl said that she had a sore throat and then quickly retracted it when she thought that I would give her some medicine! I checked her anyway and she seemed fine.

At home they both had tea and Boy Wonder went to his room to play Minecraft. Superman came home and spent some time with him whilst I took Cat Girl swimming. After further road rage in the car park due to no parking spaces and silly driving ( not from me of course!) we arrived at Cat Girl's lesson. She did very well and seemed to actually swim today. Progress!!

Once home I discussed with Boy Wonder that I would be away tomorrow night with work and went through what would happen. He became very upset and said that he didn't know what he would do without me. I asked him to come downstairs and we could settle down together. 'Oh no it's okay,' he said ' Minecraft gives me happy spirits so I will be fine !' In a strange sort of way I was reassured by that. If any other child had said it, it would have been mortifying, however with Boy Wonder it seemed very different! Cat Girl was a little upset when I told her but was okay because she has her  Daddy.   Looks like its a guilt free night off for me then!

Cat Girl settled down in bed and Boy Wonder watched a bit more Minecraft before going to bed to read. He still looks very tired and was complaining of tummy ache before bed. Hopefully he will get some rest tonight.

A Minecraft kinda day

A bit of a slow news day as after a very late night (again!) Boy Wonder woke fairly early but happily stayed in bed watching Minecraft. Eventually he got into the shower which livening him right up and he came out singing and bounding about! 

Superman took him swimming today whilst I took Cat Girl to a party. The first swimming pool was closed due to an 'incident' so they had to go to another one. This didn't seem to cause too many problems, mainly because Boy Wonder had longer to play on his DS between swimming baths I presume! Once there, Superman said that he swam well and spent quite a bit of time playing ball games together which was nice. 

Once we had finished at the party we all went to KFC where Boy Wonder ate quite well (except for the fries as he will only ever eat a small amount of these after being told at school once that they were bad for him!) He then complained of tummy ache which seemed to last for the rest of the day,

We went over to Super Gran's and Biker Gramps to visit. My sister and family were also there so the children played Minecraft together. Cat Girl and smallest cousin played dolls. Uncle Geek helped Boy Wonder to update Minecraft on his laptop which he was very excited about! 

Later this evening we watched the new Top Gear which increased Boy Wonder's excitement levels and he became very loud and chatty though out the programme. Afterwards he took himself to bed to listen to music and read his Minecraft book.   Super man and I then spent the evening completing questionnaires for the educational psychology assessment that is taking place this week. 

A Late Night for Cat Girl

After very little sleep until the early hours, we all ended up overlaying until 7.30am which meant lots of rushing about. This was further hindered by Boy Wonder's lack of comprehension about the matter. Cat Girl also decided to stamp her feet which meant that we were very nearly late for school!

Superman picked them up from school and they had tea before a visit from Grandparents and slightly older cousin. They were babysitting tonight as we were going out for my sister's birthday. We had been very concerned about going out due to Boy Wonder's emotional state but he did seem to because little brighter so we took a chance.

We enjoyed our evening of adult company and nice food accompanied by live music. Boy Wonder spent all of his time on Minecraft with Cat Girl and cousin. They were all still at it when we returned. Cat Girl was very tired!

Saturday brought Cat Girl's Ju Jitsu grading first thing. She was still tired and very emotional. Lots if tears and yawning. Luckily she pulled herself together for the grading and did very well. She is now a two stripe! Boy Wonder went to dance afterwards and then out with his sessional worker. They went to the cinema with another child and worker which he seemed to enjoy.

I took Cat Girl to a party at a play centre. She really enjoyed it but looked very tired. We left with a lovely party bag and a heart balloon with a light in it.  The weather was incredibly windy and when we got home,, the wind whipped it out if her hands and it blew away. Cat Girl was very upset  and more emotional than ever.

Boy Wonder returned and agreed to let Cat Girl watch Minecraft with him to cheer her up! After an hour, Cat Girl went to bed and Boy Wonder did some reading and writing.