Another Great Day! · Friday May 25, 2007 by Abbie
We had great excitement this morning! Last night just before bed I had lifted up the cover on the resting compost heap, to see a large grass snake! I quickly left it as I didn’t want to disturb it.
So this morning first thing I asked Ram if he would like to see if it was still there, and if it was we would make a warning sign. We lifted the cover up carefully and there wasn’t one but two snakes! One was bigger than the other so we are hoping one is female and one is male and they will mate and lay eggs in the compost bin!
We immediately printed a sign and laminated it and pinned it to the outside of the compost bin. This is really exciting in more ways than one! First from the point of view of studying nature it is great, but it also means that the mice and rats will stay away from the compost bins too!
Just as we were finishing that the carpenter came to measure up for the shelves in the kitchen. Ram was a bit worried about this, but he took himself off to ‘his’ sofa and sad and quietly read while they measured! I was so pleased with that. It is so different to other times where he has clung to me and screamed for people to leave.
I do think that some of it has to do with how relaxed the people are that come in the house. I think Ram is like a dog, he can sense when people are nervous or are going to try to talk to him or make him do something. Somehow builders, plumbers and the like don’t have the problem!
We also tried to cook one of the yams this morning. People said just cook it like potato, but we did and it has turned from white to a gluey brown mass! It smells nice, but doesn’t look very appetizing so I am not sure whether we should eat it. I have a feeling that it has gone off somehow.
We then bounced on the trampoline and read a bit while waiting for the photographer to come and take photos for our newspaper interview. Ram was very anxious about it all, but I told him that the photographer will pretend that he isn’t there so we should just carry on as if he isn’t there.
When he arrived Ram went straight to the trampoline and started bouncing, and then said, ‘As he isn’t here we can talk about him.’ So I had to explain what I had said to Ram to the photographer. The photographer was pretty cool about it when Ram pretended that he wasn’t there and started joking about his intelligence!
We then did some bouncing together. It was a bit hard to get Ram to face the camera because if you tell him to face the camera he won’t! He did warm to the whole idea when the photographer showed him a shot where Ram was really high in the air! I don’t think Ram realised how high he jumps when he is on the trampoline!
Then we wanted a photo of something more gentle, and preferable educational. I always make a point to journalists that we don’t do school at home, so they won’t be getting a shot of that! I had discussed the ideas with Ram of either looking at the map of Africa that Dxh brought back, or doing some crafts or reading together. As we got off the trampoline, Ram came up with the idea of Scrabble! Brilliant!
We quickly got it out and set about putting a few words quickly on the board to make it look like we had been playing for a while. The photographer laughed and suggested that we should try to get ‘standard’ onto the board as that is the name of the paper. Ram immediately set about to spell standard. He did really well as we have never ‘taught’ spelling. He did it all right except that he missed the ‘r’ out of the end! Then we managed to put several more words on the board while the photographer snapped some lovely shots.
Next they wanted one of Ram and me together facing the camera. The photographer suggested we sit on the grass with Ram on my lap. Ram immediately curled up into a ball with his head tucked down and his bum sticking out! But we managed to get him turned round.
By then Ram was quite relaxed and to my amazement actually posed for a portrait shot on his own! I had to stand behind the photographer with my head just above the camera so that he was looking in the right direction. His smile wasn’t much so I started asking him how he felt inside when he thinks about how much he loves me. After a few encouraging works a natural smile finally came out!
Then it turned out that the photographer was a great lover of Lego too, we Ram took him upstairs to look at the Lego he had built. He said that a photo of Lego wouldn’t come out in the paper very well but he took a couple anyway.
The visit turned out really positive which is great for building up Ram’s confidence in coping with adults whom he has never met.
The rest of the day was spent on two different computer things. First he played on Scratch which is a freeware computer language that makes animations! At first it looked to difficult to use, so I suggested that he go to the tutorial videos, but he didn’t like the look of them either, so he just plunged in and tried a few buttons and got results! Then as he started to do things the tutorial videos made more sense and he watched some of them.
He really enjoyed the afternoon making his own animation of the cat, and watching and manipulating other peoples’ work. It is things like this that are so fun for him that he really learns the most from; things that make him feel that he isn’t doing anything educational and yet he is learning the art of computer programming!
After a while he had had enough so he went and explored all the Youtube Lego and Bionicle movies. We do have a little camera but he doesn’t seem ready to do things like that himself. I am hoping the I can get the Dxh interested in helping him as it would give them a nice boy and dad thing to do.
We ended the day on a rather sad note. I heard a huge bang on the patio doors. We often get birds going into them as they are so big (think barn doors big!) but this was much harder than usual. We went to investigate and found a Thrush laying there panting. I gently picked it up but it was clear it was not well. We left it just in case it was just a bad stun, but a few minutes later it was dead. We examined it and found that it had broken its neck. It is a shame as if it was just a leg or wing we might have been able to nurse it back to health.
Ram was very sad about this at bedtime. We were cleaning out teeth while he was talking about it. He still doesn’t feel comfortable about sad feelings. Then he suddenly said: ‘On of the gifts of autism is that we don’t understand emotions. I think that is sad.’ He then laughed at the joke of being sad at not understanding sadness!
With a visit from the carpenter and the photographer, and the death of a treasured bird, it could have been a very bad day, but amazingly, it wasn’t! We went to bed on a very happy note!
A Relaxing Day for a Change · Thursday May 24, 2007 by Abbie
Things were much more relaxed today. I can always tell when Ram wakes up how the day will go. If I am careful not to upset him, then the day usually continues like that.
After reading and breakfast we did our little house chore which was put the clean cutlery away from the dishwasher. I don’t know why Ram will do that, and that only, but I just can’t seem to get him to move on to put dishes away too.
We did some bouncing straight away this morning again. He does like the alphabet bounce game. I think he has been thinking up long words and phrases all night! I think we may introduce alliteration into the mix as well!
We had a look at the yams that Dxh brought back and we are still not too sure of what to do with them, so we left them.
We did watch The Wyrd Sisters on DVD instead. At first I thought that the Terry Pratchett books wouldn’t be as educational as other books we have read, but I think I have changed my mind. There are loads of references to Shakespeare in this but Ram is adamant that I am not going to read Shakespeare to him! I think he knows that it is always studied in schools and he may think of it as too educational. In the end every time I said, ‘That is from XXX play.’ he told me to shut up!
Instead I am going to have to use my usual more subtle ways. I have found a good website that has an annotation for Wyrd Sisters. Once I read though it I will be able to drip feed things into conversation. As we haven’t actually read this book yet I will be able to do the same as we read the book.
I was really please when the post came today as it had the last two supporting letters for our DLA renewal! I printed off my cover letter, attached the letters to the form and put it in the envelope. I did read the letters first, and I know how hard they were for the authors to write. One in particular was from our next door neighbour who has now moved down the road and across the field. She has known Ram from the day he was born, and just as I am very fond of her two children, I know she is of Ram. She had the same reaction as I do. Once she wrote it she couldn’t bare to read it over again. I feel the same way about the form. Once I had written it I couldn’t bare to read it through as it is so depressing to see a child this way.
On a day to day basis you become as positive as you can, and the behaviours become ‘normal’ to the family. That is the way many people who live with disabilities cope. So to suddenly have to dwell on the negative sides of the child is very depressing. I think the DLA people should offered post traumatic stress counselling to the parents when they have finished filling out these long forms!
But it is done now, and in the post. That in itself is a feat. Ram can’t walk to the post box on the other side of the village, and doesn’t like going in the buggy in the village either. I think it is because we are well known in the village and every time we go out on foot someone comes up to talk to us which Ram finds too distressing. So I had to get him into the car and drive there! Not good for the environment, but then we can make up for it by reusing and recycling as much as we can.
In the evening we spent some time bouncing again. Ram doesn’t get on with the heat of summer and is much better in the early morning or evening. That is why I don’t mind him watching DVDs and recorded TV in the afternoon on hot days.
This evening we made up another game. This time it is animals. I thought that it might help his speech (he often finds it very hard or even impossible to say things because all the words get caught up in his brain and won’t come out in time) if we call out the name of an animal when the ball is thrown at him. Unfortunately he found that too hard so we made it that we call out the animal as we throw the ball, rather than when catching it. That way we are in control of when we say the name.
We had some really funny ones. Ram said blue bottle fly, then green bottle, then coke bottle and so one! I said preying mantis, so his next one was meditating in lotus position mantis! This is all done while bouncing and catching a ball! That should get his brain working!
All in all it was a very relaxed day. I am glad we have days like this. It makes up for the difficult days!
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Alphabetical Trampoline · Wednesday May 23, 2007 by Abbie
We didn’t spend too long reading in bed this morning because we knew that the photographer was supposed to be coming to take some photos to go along with the newspaper article.
Ram was in a funny mood all morning, not wanting to do much. He would sit and want me to read to him, but he didn’t do his usual Lego while I read. Then he would go out and bounce on the trampoline for a moment, then come in saying it was too hot but wouldn’t take off his long sleeve hoodie!
I asked if he was worried about the photographer coming and he didn’t think so, but then said that maybe he was.
After the appointed time had come and gone, I realised that he wouldn’t be arriving, so I told Ram that he could relax. But he still wasn’t right.
After lunch we went to the regular swimming session. There were two other home educated families there, that he knows well and gets on with. Well, he gets on better with the older boys and tolerates the younger ones.
It took him about 45 minutes before he started to interact with the other boys. He kept telling me he wanted to play a game but then swam off before I could suggest that he ask the other boys!
Then after about an hour he suddenly burst into tears! He said that the pool was too full and he just wanted to go to the disabled sessions in future! Poor thing! I had had no warning that he was at his limit! While we were in the shower he started to cry again because there are no shops in in town that sell Lego! There used to be one but it closed down about two years ago! All the people there were just way too much for him.
He did manage to calm down when we got out of the swimming pool building and he had a little play with the other boys for a bit while the other mum and I discussed what the craft was going to be for the next home ed meeting. We are all going to bring flowers and things from our gardens and make a big picture with it all and then take photos of it for the website.
Ram cheered up a bit when we got his buggy out of the car and went over to the shopping area. He was really pleased when we spotted a Dr Who magazine that had some games pieces that came with it.
When we got home it was quite late so only time to unload the shopping and watch Blue Peter, then a bit of bouncing on the trampoline together and then supper supper while listening to ‘the funny thing’ on Radio 4. it is called Heresy. We were thinking of writing into them and suggesting they do education as a topic. After all there is a deeply held received opinion that school is compulsory!
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After supper we did a whole load of bouncing. We did the alphabet game where I throw the ball to Ram saying each letter of the alphabet and he has to through it back with a word for that letter, all while bouncing. I am not sure that he knows alphabetical order so I thought it would be a good way to get him to practice without him thinking that it was educational. We went through the alphabet that way, then I reversed it so he would have to say the letter and I would say a word. He didn’t want to, I think because he knew that he would have to know the order, but I convinced him it would be good to watch me struggle to think of the words, so he went for it! It took 20 minutes of solid bouncing! And he is actually pretty good at knowing the order. He is slow, but he only made a couple of mistakes. And his vocabulary is about as good as mine is. We kept trying to outdo each other with bigger and bigger words.
We watched some TV then went out again in the dark with a throwing disk we got from the Horrible Science magazine which has LEDs on it. It was lovely as it was cool and calm, but unfortunately we didn’t see any bats tonight. It always seems that when we are looking for them they don’t come round, but when we least expect them they fly right into us!
Two Exciting Things · Tuesday May 22, 2007 by Abbie
We had double excitement today! First of all the Dxh arrived for the first time since he got back from Uganda. He brought a map of Africa made of animal skin we think, and thin wood veneer. It is a lovely way to bring home, in more ways than one, where he has been for the last week. He also brought us a beautifully carved rhino. Immediately Ram got out the two elephants Dxh had previously brought back from other trips.
Then out came the yams! He only wanted to buy one for us but they would let him! So I have two kilos of yams to deal with. Luckily they store pretty well.
Then he got his laptop out and showed us his photos and told us all about the trip. He was in an area where there are no tourists, so he was the only white person there. He found it really strange to be openly stared at! But it also gave him a much better feel of the country, especially as he was staying in someone’s home rather than a hotel.
We had to squeeze all that into an hour, as we had a journalist from the local newspaper come to interview us. It was a follow up to a piece that they did four years ago, when Ram would have been starting school. Local papers always run articles about the new school year and have lots of photos of the reception classes. So I contacted them and asked if they would like a new school year story with a difference!
This time they wanted to know how things have changed in the last four years, and if we are going to carry on into secondary level. I think there are two big changes in those four years; Ram has taught himself to read, or as he puts it, ‘I have always been able to read, it is just that until recently I didn’t realise it!’, and there are many more home educating groups meeting in our area now.
She mainly talked to me, but Ram at the end was able to come in and talk a bit. Luckily the journalist has had experience with people with Asperger’s before so she was very patient with him.
We had lunch together after she left, and then Ram and the Dxh sat down to watch the Discworld DVDs that arrived today. I wished I could have watched them too, but the garden called. Ram has a limited range of food that he will eat. Luckily they include peas and cucumbers, both of which I can grow in our garden. But these things don’t grow themselves so it means a bit of work for me. I am trying to put a lot of paper down between the plants so that I don’t have to get out there and weed too much.
I also had a chance to take some of the blanket weed out of the pond. I had to be very careful as there are loads of newts hiding in it. Perhaps the increase in newt population is a reason for the decrease in the tadpoles this year?
I was very tired this evening, and was grateful for being able to sit and watch Return of the Tribe with Ram. It was very interesting looking at our country through the eyes of some people who have never been here before. They had some interesting comments.
Even though we tried to up to bed at nine when it was over, Ram felt the need to do a little bit more work on his Lego land. I did say that he could put a photo up on the blog but he just can’t bring himself to say it is finished enough!
This morning we finished our last Discworld book that we have. We have only read about eight out of the 30 so we have a while to go yet, but we haven’t borrowed the next few. In stead for reading tonight Ram chose the second book from The Edge Chronicles. It is in the same vain as Discworld, only it is meant for children rather than adults. I don’t think it will be as educational at the Discworld books. Somehow Terry Pratchett managed to introduce some very interesting takes on modern society in his books, but The Edge Chronicles appear to be pure entertainment. But that is ok. We can’t always be educational!
We Still Have One Fish! · Monday May 21, 2007 by Abbie
We saw a fish today! From the bathroom window we got a glimpse of Carrot, the largest gold one. So at least one fish is still there, but we still don’t know if the other two are there, or where the tadpoles went.
We were reading the last Discworld novel we have at the moment this morning, but I also told Ram that I had ordered the DVD of the two animated Discworld films. We have part of one, and have rented the other one, but as he is so interested in Discworld at the moment and they are not too expensive I thought he deserved to have them. As a special treat I also ordered Hogfather, as we don’t have Sky TV and couldn’t see it when it was on TV over Christmas.
Ram was so eager to get the DVD that he decided that he wanted me to read to him on the drive so that he could wait for the post man to come. When he did finally arrive at 11.30 (that is early for us, often we don’t get our post until 12.30) Ram excitedly tore open the package, only to be disappointed. It only contained Hogfather, as they are sending the rest of the order tomorrow!
He refused to watch the DVD at first. He often gets like this. If there is a change to what he thinks is going to happen he just can’t accept it.
Luckily after lunch he decided to start to watch it during my nap. When I got up I had problems following it, as I hadn’t been watching from the beginning. It probably didn’t help that I was still so tired that I kept falling asleep. It is a good think we have a lovely new comfortable sofa. Or maybe that is a bad thing!
We took a break a couple of times in the afternoon to bounce on the trampoline. I took this opportunity to explain to Ram that a journalist from our local paper was going to come to do a follow up interview to an article they did on us four years ago. I did some practice questions with him just to help him think about what he might want to say to the lady.
He had some interesting and in some cases very philosophical questions. I asked him if he would like to go to university one day and he said yes. So I asked him what he might like to study. He thought about it for a while, and then said, “Wizardry.” I think I had better warn her that any questions he can’t answer will be answered with nonsense ones!
We watched Fifth Gear this evening as usual. What is it about boys and their toys! But the programme afterwards was far more educational. Paul Merton’s China was very interesting. We both like Merton’s educational programmes, such as the series he did on silent comedy. I think Ram likes his comedy style.
By watching this programme live rather than recording it and watching the next day, it means that we can go to bed when it is dark out. But it also means that as the dog gets me up at the same time every day I will be getting tired! At least it saves some spare on the hard disk recorder too!
I'm No Better than a Darkened Duvet! · Sunday May 20, 2007 by Abbie
It was a lovely quiet day today, which was a good thing as I was really tired! We did lots of reading, and lots of catching up on TV.
In the afternoon we also had a new learning experience. We dismantled the old sofa! We tried to Freecycle it and no one has taken it, so we decided to take the upholstery off and see if we can turn it into a garden bench.
Ram helped quite a lot, especially when it involved bashing off the cardboard. Yes, under all that foam rubber there was some cardboard! And it was quite an expensive sofa 20 years ago! There were some bolts to take out to remove some of the hard board that held the upholstery on the arms, so Ram enjoyed getting those out.
It was quite interesting to see how a sofa is put together, especially one that is covered in upholstery. It was clear that the foam has deteriorated, and that the original colour and texture of the fabric was now lost! But seeing how it was put together made us realise that it would cost way to much to have it all refurbished. I am really pleased that we now have a sofa that doesn’t have an upholstered frame, as when the cushions wear out in 25 years time, it will be so much easier to just replace them!
After a while Ram got tired of stripping the sofa, so he went off and started cutting down the nettles and thistles with his special bashing stick. I got a chair out and went and sat in a lovely patch of sun and read aloud to him, I wonder what the neighbours thought was happening when the voice of Death came through the hedge at them!
We had an early night tonight. Even though it was light out still, we were both so tired that Ram didn’t mind going up. But not so tired as to forgo even more reading aloud!
When I read in bed to him at night, he usually lies under the duvet with his head down at my feet. I mentioned to him that he used to cuddle up to me when I read, and wondered why he now went down under the bed covers. He blurted out that it was more interesting under the covers!
I looked at him incredulously! I asked what could be more interesting than me! He really didn’t understand that I could have taken that as an insult! So we discussed it a bit and had a bit of fun with it. It is a good thing I don’t take these things personally or seriously when he says them. He just says it like it is for him!
Humph! Being in the dark under the covers is more interesting than cuddling up to your own mother while she reads aloud to you. Who’d have thought it! But I bet he would miss me if I was replaced by a duvet. I don’t think they can cook, do dishes, or brush hair and get kids dressed in the morning!
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Waiting for Dr Who · Saturday May 19, 2007 by Abbie
Ram woke up early this morning, so we got a lot of reading done in bed. Normally Dxh comes for the family day on Saturdays, but as he is still in Uganda he won’t be here today. But he did ring to say that he got there alright, and that he has taken lots of photos for us! I don’t have any books on Uganda, but I guess I will have to have a lot on the Internet, and also in the big atlas that we have to get some information about the country before Dxh comes back.
After breakfast our little job for the day was emptying the dishwasher. Ram will only put the cutlery away, but it is a start. I of course will have to do lots more things today, but if we can get Ram used to doing just one little thing each day it will be a good start.
As I was still emptying the dishwasher when Ram had finished putting the cutlery away, he decided to read spent the morning reading his Bionicle book, Makuta’s Revenge. Lego pitched these books just right for boys who are reluctant readers. The print is larger than usual, but they are still chapter books of a decent length, and of course they are about every Lego Bionicle mad boys’ favourite characters!
While he was reading I managed to bake a couple of pie crusts to have on standby, and even read a section of the newspaper! That is a lot more me time than I usually get.
After a while I went to answer some emails. Ram came into the study to say that I could read if I liked. I said thank you, I have been reading the paper and I am now going to read something on the Internet. He then left the room. A few minutes later he came back into the room and told me again I could read. I finally figured it out. What he meant was that I could read the Discworld book to him!
So we went upstairs and I read to him until lunch, then read again after lunch until my nap. After the nap he wanted me to read again, but I kept falling asleep! So as it was sunny we went outside for a bit. Still no sign of the fish or tadpoles, but Ram practised his eye hand co-ordination by whipping off the tops of the thistles and nettles with a very thin whipping stick!
We both felt at bit tired this afternoon, so we sat down to watch a couple of programmes to fill in the time before Dr Who started! It seems our whole world waits upon Dr Who!
It was a good episode and as usual we watched Dr Who Confidential afterwards. Ram has learned so much about how TV programmes are put together by watching this. And so have I!
Snakes may be alive, but the fish are not! · Friday May 18, 2007 by Abbie
We didn’t see the snake this morning even though we looked for it while Ram was having his hair done. But we did notice that we haven’t seen the three fish in the pond for several days now! It could be because it is cold and grey and they are not coming up to the surface, or maybe the snakes have got them. We have also noticed that all the tadpoles are gone. Usually we have some hanging around until September, even if the main lot have turned it frogs. So perhaps the fish ate the tadpoles and the snakes ate the fish!
There are still plenty of frogs and newts swimming around, not to mention water boatman, damselflies and beetles, so I don’t think it is the water that has killed them.
Ram has been avoiding helping with the cleaning, and our days are drifting a bit with lots of ‘what should I do next’ questions, so we have decided to get some structure back into the day again. Between us we have decided to do some house chores after Ram eats his breakfast. He prefers to do things when they are really dirty because you can really see the improvement, so we tackled the downstairs cloakroom. Ram scrubbed the sink, and I did the toilet. As he isn’t very good at aiming in the toilet I wish it was him that was doing the toilet, but he refused! We are going to try to do a little something each day after breakfast. Hopefully it will become natural after a while and the house will slowly get more tidy. Ok, all you that have seen my house, or who home educate, can stop laughing now!
You see, home educators houses are always messier than schooled children’s houses because the house is being used all day and has far more time to get messed up, and my house is no exception!
We read a lot this morning. We are reading Mort now, which is the Discworld book that is mostly about Death. When Death talks it is in CAPITAL LETTERS, which I have to read in a very deep voice. I can usually do it without hurting my throat by taking a very deep breath and relaxing my vocal cords, but every so often I get it wrong and have to stop for a drink to sooth my throat!
The gardening boys came this afternoon. Luckily it wasn’t raining as it was last Friday, as the grass really needed cutting. I told them about the snake and one of them said he wasn’t going to be weeding that flowerbed, but the other one looked interested. It turns out that he has an interest in reptiles and said that if he found it he would pick it up and call us out to see it! Ram was very excited about that, but I won’t hold my breath. In the 14 years we have been at this property I have only seen a grass snake once two years ago. I think we have been very lucky to see this one and a baby in the same month.
While they were here we nipped next door. Our neighbour was sending some books to the charity shop and asked us if we would like to have a look first to see if there were any we would like. Ram was a bit worried about going and kept saying all morning, ‘I want to go home.’ Then suddenly just before we left he brightened up and said, ‘If I go there then I can say I want to go home and then go home!’
The first book Ram picked up was called ‘How Things Work’ and the page he opened it to had a detailed drawing of a tank on it, so that sold him! We also took a book about the Romans, a children’s book in German, a book about philosophy and a couple of others. I would have liked to take some books of poetry and some biographies but I know I won’t have time to read them and the Dxh will go spare if he finds that I have acquired more books and we are running out of room for them!
We watched some more education things that we had recorded. Panorama, Timewatch and so on. We listened to the New Quiz during supper which was a good laugh, then watched the programme about the man that lived with wolves. We put the sound from the TV through the stereo, and turned it up to see if Arrow, who is now quite deaf, could hear it. She did, and she came round to watch it too! She seemed to enjoy it but not as much as we did.
We finally got an early night. At least we went up earlier than we have been. It is so light out that somehow it seems wrong, but it doesn’t stop me from falling asleep while reading!
Snakes Alive! · Thursday May 17, 2007 by Abbie
After reading we went into the bathroom to do toilet, teeth and hair. Ram got into the window for his hair to be done and excitedly called me to see a snake! From our elevated position of the first floor, we had a wonderful view of a mature grass snake sunning himself! We worked out that it was at least a metre long.
Ram watched it for about 10 minutes. It moved about a few times, and we even saw a flash of its tongue. It didn’t seem to react to any of the birds in the garden, and was quite happily sunning himself until Arrow went into the garden. She wasn’t even anywhere near the snake, but nevertheless it slithered straight between the bricks that make up the edging to the flower bed.
By watching nature live like this, Ram will remember it all much longer and with more detail than if he just read a book. It is wonderful to be able to take the time to watch wildlife like this as we don’t have to rush off to school. We also have binoculars in the bathroom, and luckily the people at the farm we face onto know that we are not really spying on them, but just checking out the wildlife.
Speaking of which, we have noticed the ducks are still hanging around. Actually, it is the drakes that can be seen wondering around the farm yard, so we can only hope the ducks are busy keeping the nests warm.
The day was pretty relaxed, as Ram needed the time to chill out after the home education meet yesterday. We talked again about it and he definitely wants to have some Warhammer figures, and definitely wants to go only to the quieter meeting, and not the main one.
I was feeding a bit down and tired today, and I think I hit rock bottom around 4 when Ram was on the computer and I said I needed to go outside to water the greenhouse. I realised that some of the plants really needed to be planted out. The mange toute were starting to bloom!
So I went back in and Ram agreed to me doing it. He came out a few minutes later with a stick and went around knocking down nettles, but wouldn’t help me as such. In fact he wanted me to pull the nettles up and hold them out for him to whip with his stick! I asked him how that was going to help me with the gardening. He stomped off without answering!
The veggie patch is just completely overgrown with grass and weeds already. I can ask the gardeners to dig it over for me, but last time they were in there I pointed out to them that they couldn’t step on a certain bit because I had just sowed some seeds there. When I came down with a drink for them, they were standing right on it!
We came in to watch Blue Peter then Ram wanted to go out side and bounce and play, but I had to get supper ready, not to mention washing some pots and pans and getting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher! So then he was in a bad mood.
I hate it when he won’t go outside in the morning or even the afternoon, and then in the evening when I am really tired or need to make food, he suddenly expects me to drop everything and go out with him!
Anyway, we went up to bed at 9.30. I liked it all winter when I could get him up to bed at nine, taking into account the time to get ready and reading, it would be lights off at 10.30 latest. But now it is too light and he doesn’t want to go up at nine, but if we go up at 10 it is more like 11.30 when we turn the lights off, and then Arrow still gets me up at 5.30!
Never mind, the days will be getting shorter soon, once we are past June 21, and that is only just over a month away!
No Control · Wednesday May 16, 2007 by Abbie
We had a good read this morning, both in bed and after breakfast while Ram was Legoing. I told him that we could take a photo of the huge base that he has build to put on the blog, but it is a work in progress and it is never finished, so I am not sure we are going to be able to!
After an early lunch we went to the new home ed meeting. This one is mainly for the older children and they decided to bring the Warhammar things alone.
I also told Ram that I wouldn’t be helping to organise it so that I could give all my attention to him. As we drove into the car park he saw three families with younger children all playing outside. He immediately became stressed and asked why they were there. I explained that they also wanted to come but that they would be staying out of our way.
We got inside and he was very clingy at first. The other parents and I were worried that he wouldn’t be happy. But as there were only 6 of the older boys, and they put the room divider up to separate them from the other children, Ram slowly become more happy and joined in a bit.
He also went and played with stickle bricks though! I think he was a bit bored with the time it took to set things up.
He did let me have a chat with the other parents which was really nice for me. By the end of the time he had had enough, but we discussed how it went on the way home and it seems that he doesn’t want to go to the main session any more, but only this quieter one, and he would like some Warhammar figurers of his own to play with!
He doesn’t want to paint them, so I am hoping that I can buy some on ebay. I hope they are not too expensive! I will also have to learn a lot about them. I need the idiots guide for parents for war games! He said that he wants me to have my own set so that he can practice against me so that he knows what to do next month!
We got home just in time for Blue Peter, then after supper Ram decided to watch one of the Discworld videos we have. We only have part one of it so I am going to have to try to get hold of the second part. I find that watching a dramatisation along side reading the book leads to many more educational opportunities. We can discuss different people’s interpretation about things and whether they are right or wrong.
We then watched the final episode of How the Other Half Learn. While we were doing that Ram managed to start another pot holder. We are going to have them coming out of our ears soon! But he does enjoy doing them and it does calm him down.
After that he decided he wanted to watch Natural World because it was about training dogs. He only just remembers our other dog Donington who died a few years ago now, but Donington was a very cleaver dog and some of the things they talked about in the programme were similar to the problems we had with Donington. We had a really good laugh about it!
Because we were later to bed than usual, I didn’t manage to read for very long before I fell asleep. I would have been able to read for longer if Ram didn’t take so long cleaning his teeth. It isn’t as if the toothbrush is in his mouth for very long. He just has to talk so much. We even had some tears because he suggested in a round about way that men didn’t really need women. I don’t think he really meant it like that, but when I said that if he did think like that he would have very many friends, he started to cry, without really understanding why. He gets upset when his ‘eyes water’. I think he has these strong emotions but can’t put them into words and that makes him feel as if he has no control over them.
A bit like me when I am reading in bed to him at night. I have no control over when I fall asleep. I just keep reading only what I read no longer makes any sense, so Ram tells me I can give up and turn the light off!
