working out for Disney

[Songbird76]

We're going on a cruise this summer. The foreign ports involve the Bahamas and Nevis/St. Kitts. We also stop in St. Thomas, but no passport needed for that. It all started because the kids wanted Universal and my husband wanted tropical...and my parents wanted something where all of us could come together to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. My parents are avid cruises and are the highest level of RCCL's customer loyalty program. Not quite as high up, but my brother has a decent number of points too and he and his family love to cruise. So, I knew I needed to pick RCCL. While I'd have more options out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, I didn't want to drive that far, especially with Universal in the mix. So, I booked out of Port Canaveral and am planning two park days at Uni after the cruise. I think everyone decided on Royal Pacific for lodging, but we'll have to revisit it closer to the time. We MAY also pop into one of the DIsney parks on our first day, or at least hit property a couple of times to have a meal and maybe drive around. My husband actually wanted Atlantis, and while they do offer all kinds of add ons and activities, I really didn't want to fly + I'd read a lot of reviews of how quality has declined and you're really just getting the name. So, he's good with tropical on a Caribbean cruise instead.

I know a lot of these activities are a very American/US thing. I don't know which way is actually better, but having grown up with lots of activities and concerts, I'm happy to see our kids getting to be involved. My older one's homework volumes this year aren't as bad, so she's got more time to be in things. She had an AP teacher last year who would assign an average of 3 hours of homework a night and would often dump more on them between 7-8pm...just when they thought they had it all in check. This year is more normal...to the point that she's looking to some new activities to add in next year to put more on her college apps. I always wanted her to get into theater, but the middle school theater program was a pure snoozefest and was totally separate from the actual productions the school would do. I'm sorry it's so stressful for E right now. I think they all go through school times like that...especially with things like not hearing more on the tutoring program. I've had to work hard on K to be the squeaky wheel with some stuff like this. Not that it reduces the stress or always gets results, but I've seen too many kids have things that fall by the wayside because someone else in charge forgot.

Both our middle school and high school are supposed to take that kind of approach, so that kids are getting most of their work done in class...which would hopefully allow for more activities. I have a feeling the younger one is going to be a 3-4 season school athlete with private ball play out of school as well, but we're going to have to start looking at ways to keep her diversified. She's in journalism/yearbook this year. She's not loving it like she once was, but it may be one of those that she could do little bit parts on in high school just to add to her list of stuff. That's really unfortunate that there was so little warning about the teacher. Surely they could have let everyone know sooner. That's awful that he got punched. What happened with the kid who did the punching?

I'm assuming you've been on cruises before? I've never been on one. Sometimes I think it sounds nice, but I'm a picky eater and I'm terrified of being out in the middle of the ocean where I can't just go to the grocery store to grab something if there's nothing I like being served. I've heard that it's not an issue, because there are a lot of options, but it's just always made me nervous. And I get motion sickness, so I'm trying to imagine myself on a ship, feeling sick, with nothing to eat....and I'm a person who needs something to DO on my vacation. I can't just sit by the pool for hours. I like to visit museums, historical or natural sites, etc...so then I think maybe a cruise just isn't for me.

A's school is a special education school specifically for kids with Autism, which is why they don't do homework. What was explained to us when we enrolled him in 5th grade, was that kids with Autism have clearly defined expectations for things...like their personalities are divided. So there's a home A, and a school A, and a tennis A, and a chess A. He knows what's expected of him in each specific place. But when you try to cross those lines, it gets confusing. So schoolwork is not something Home A understands....he was just AT school, and that's where he does schoolwork, not at home. It doesn't make sense to him to do schoolwork at home. So they try to keep it at school. It's very rare that it doesn't get done, but this week exacerbated the problem because they also did his IQ test this week. They do IQ testing on all the kids in his school in the 3rd year, halfway through their high school education. They want to be sure the kids are in the right level, and they are meeting their needs, so they do a bunch of testing to make sure they are on track, and IQ testing is part of it. In order to do that, he had to miss some class time, which is what put him behind.

Yes, they should have told us about the teacher leaving long before they did. We've found communication this year really lacking. This school has been a life saver for us and A is a completely different kid than he was back when he was in a regular school. We don't want to send him to a standard high school because he'd get lost in the shuffle. But this year they've really done a poor job with letting us know about changes. They didn't even let us know that there was an incident in which he got punched. I asked what they did and he said they brought both boys inside and talked to them separately and then sent them back outside. That was it. I asked if he had apologized, but he said no. He said he was probably told to, but no teacher came out with the kid to enforce it, so if they DID tell him to, he ignored it. I guess this kid has a habit of cutting in the line and this isn't the first time he tried to cut. But A said other kids have nudged him back without incident, but this kid hates him. They apparently put an extra teacher out on recess duty just because of disputes about 4 square, and A said it's always this kid who is causing problems. But I don't know if the teacher just wasn't paying attention or what happened, but I told A next time not to try to physically move the kid back to his own spot in line. It's very similar to what happened when he broke his wrist...that time, he was standing in the line waiting for his turn at 4 square, and another kid bumped into him, and he told the kid to watch what he was doing, and the kid pushed him down. 4 square seems to be a volatile game at his school! But as far as he knows, nothing happened with the kid who punched him. It's happened before. They have an approach that's more trying to get to the root of the problem, WHY the kid punched him, rather than punishing them for it. With these kids, it could be so many things. A has a tendency to melt down, and if he starts panicking about something and yells, and another kid is really sensitive to noise, that kid just wants it to stop and his instinct is to start swinging. Rather than just doling out punishments, they have to go and talk to the psychologist on site and figure out what happened. In the past there's always been an apology that came with that, though, so I'm not sure where the disconnect happened this time. We've also always gotten a phone call to explain the incident before, and we didn't this time. A just came home all upset because this kid had punched him. So that, combined with the teacher leaving out of the blue without giving notice to the kids or parents, plus the changes this year in the structure of their classes without telling the kids or us about it, we're not real happy with the lack of communication this year. DH is planning on writing to the administrators about it.

Why is S not loving the journalism? Is it different this year, or she's just got too many other things that she likes more? We were really lucky the last few years with E. She had a really awesome mentor who was really on top of things. He always let the kids know when something special was going on and her class was often the only one that was informed of them. Last year, there was a meeting for anyone interested in theater, to brainstorm to see if there was a way they could still do something despite lockdowns and restrictions. The only kids to show up other than kids who had done theater before were from her class. Her mentor was the only one who bothered to tell his students about it. And when E voiced a concern about her test anxiety and about how much time she spent doing homework, he held a meeting with his mentor class to ask how much time on average they spent doing homework, because there are rules about it. Teachers can't give homework or schedule a test for the monday after a break. Tests must be graded within so many days of when it was taken. Students aren't supposed to be spending hours and hours doing homework. But he was only their mentor for the first three years. Now she has a different mentor and he doesn't seem as on the ball. E didn't necessarily have to be the squeaky wheel before, because her mentor was great. Or if she WAS the squeaky wheel, her mentor was quick in dealing with things and getting back to the kids. This new mentor isn't like that. They have to have one-on-one sessions with their mentor periodically and E said it was SO uncomfortable.....it was just him staring at her for 15 minutes like he was looking into her soul, without really talking. She didn't really feel like she could open up to him the way she could with her old mentor. And now the new mentor has requested a meeting with us for parent teacher conferences....I'm hoping that he's just requested to meet ALL his mentor kids' parents, because I can't imagine why he would need to talk to us otherwise...she has some of the highest grades in her class and she's never in trouble. Usually teachers only request a meeting with the parents if their kids are failing their class. Parents can only request meetings with 2 teachers, but an unlimited number of teachers can request meetings with 1 kid's parents. (I wonder how many requests Noelle's parents have gotten....so far she has a 1.5 in math, a 1.3 in English, a 2 something in French, and like a 2 or 3 in physics. The only test she's passed so far this year is in chemistry and she got a 6. These are all out of 10) We've never needed to go in to talk to the teachers....they have very limited time, so if you don't really have a concern, it's kind of an unwritten rule that you don't waste their time. I'm boggled by the mentor requesting a meeting.

 

[Songbird76]

And I think that's some of the difference with a child on the spectrum vs. one that isn't. You see a lot of meltdowns from kids over these same issues, but the meltdowns and battles tend to subside as the child becomes more verbal and learns to use their words to express wants and fears. I recall reading how even picky eating is tied into some hardwired developmental stage where most kids have a fear that food outside of their norms is dangerous and could hurt them. Again, the difference is that the child on the spectrum can't process the growth beyond this the way another child could.

It's interesting that you use the word humiliated, but I don't think this woman could ever see it from that perspective. It was a "my kid was bad and deserves a whoopin'" sort of mindset, which never really looks at the child. It's interesting that the college sub spoke about humiliation behind a motivator. Personally, I think it's one of the very worst things you can do to a stage performer. It's one thing to read some bad press, but to intentionally humiliate a person to their face is abusive. It makes me think of this audition coach I hired for my opera audition. Thankfully, there was no long term commitment required and I canceled all of my future sessions. Still, I can't think of this one aria without hearing the obnoxious things he said. It also reminds me of my boss at my first real job. He was horrible to us. I don't remember what I was doing that prompted him to tell me that he was rude and humiliating to us because he felt it made us stronger, but that was when I told him off and quit on the spot. It happened 24 years ago, but I believe I said something like only an ignorant insecure would say such an idiotic thing. Nowadays, he probably would have been taken to court over his behavior.

I think so much of that hinges on where you grew up. There were always "the" places to go for local teens...and in most cases, it was just a bunch of kids hanging out. For us, there were a few spots only frequented by the druggies, as we called them, but obviously nobody was forcing anywhere to go there. As for the friend, I honestly can't remember. She pulled this so many times that I'm sure she showed up unannounced. She had to have at least once, because I remember hearing her all cranky that they drove out and the daughter wasn't in her apartment at a time she figured any studious kid would be home. Which was silly, because I think it was mid afternoon on a Saturday! Honestly, seeing the kids learn through their "bad" friends can be a blessing. Sometimes the kids just go separate ways all on their own because they see how their lives and interests are changing. In other cases, the brighter kids may start seeing teachers change their attitudes for being associated with a known bad kid. If the kid cares about their grades and said bad kid's behavior is something they don't want to do, it may also inspire them to start distancing. I guess that's the beauty of talking to them about this stuff and watching them use it to make good choices. It can even help them down the road. I had some high school friends, ones that I eventually ditched, that had started getting into more hardcore drugs. I got to see them in some really scary states while under the influence. I always said no, and was often not invited to those events because I wasn't into that stuff, but when offered in college and my early 20s...I just borrowed from their experiences. Yeah, it was a lie, but when offered cocaine or acid, I could just tell people I tried it in high school and had a really bad experience. I know enough about said friends' bad high school experiences that I had very believable detailed stories. Crazy waters to navigate, but I know I learned how to steer clear from some of those high school functions I was allowed to attend. Whew!

So much of the picky eating is Autism related for A, which is part of the reason we don't push it. When he was first diagnosed, we got training to learn how to communicate with him, how his brain works, how to handle fears, meltdowns, etc. We had to take videos of certain behaviors so our trainer could watch them and see what led to a meltdown to help us understand it. One of the things we filmed was him eating an ice cream cone...you know how little kids always end up with ice cream or chocolate or whatever all over their faces? A still does. He's 13. Our trainer watched the video and pointed out specific things you could see in the video that indicated he has a very sensitive mouth. Foods that feel strange to him can cause some of that. So that's why he only likes a specific brand of chicken nuggets...that's what he's used to and the others feel different in his mouth and therefore he fears that there's something wrong with them. The other night it was mayo. Here, people eat mayo on fries instead of ketchup. He said the mayo didn't taste right and he didn't eat his dinner, even though fries are his favorite. We think part of it was just that that was the day he was overwhelmed and everything blew up, so he was even more sensitive than usual and probably picked up something he doesn't normally pick up with mayo. But we've gotten a lot better now at figuring out what triggers a meltdown, and we can generally prevent it. He really hasn't had many meltdowns in the last year or two, now that we understand him better.

Wow...it's sad that a boss would behave like that. And it's really not a good motivator! I had a horrible supervisor when I worked at Walmart and she's since been demoted. If I'd had any other job prospects at the time, I might have quit, but they just moved me out of her department. They had warned me going in that the woman was difficult, and I can usually get along with almost anyone, so I wasn't worried, but she was so verbally abusive they had to move me, and she was eventually stripped of her department manager status.

I was never offered drugs in school....high school or college. The only time I was ever offered anything was when I went to Canada to visit a friend and we went to a party and I was offered shrooms. I said no and nobody questioned it. That was also the first time I got drunk, and I only did because my friends thought it was so weird that I was 22 and had never had alcohol and they thought it would be really funny to see me drunk. I said if they promised to take care of me and keep me from doing anything I would regret, I would drink. They did, and I did. And that was it. I've never tried pot or anything. I WAS offered a cigarette when I was 6, by a neighbor girl, but I think she only offered for shock value.

 

[Figgy1]

Not really selfish...that's what this thread is for. We motivate each other and ourselves. Feel free to motivate yourself all you want.

Exactly! Reading from each other hopefully helps spark inspiration and motivation.

What they said X3

 

[Figgy1]

I'm still puttering but moving better every day. Yesterday we hit the farm market and amazed to find some summer veggies still coming in as we're well past the usual point of a frost. It's a good thing I had James with me as we loaded up there and then headed to Shoprite to stock up on canned tomatoes. James does not find the Can Can song on the way over amusing Already qualified for a free turkey there and then picked up the ham for Thanksgiving. I'm all set for Thanksgiving I'll pick up the turkey next week and then all I'll have to buy are the fresh veggies Today involves making veggie curry and then chicken gnocchi soup for the guys. James is going to learn to make gnocchi

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I know this is the worst time of year to try and get back on track, but I need to do something. What...I have no idea, but something. With all of the stress, the food intake and types of food consumed are just out of control again. I at least got a little bit of unconventional exercise over the weekend. Saturday, the younger one and I had a morning of shopping. We went to a food drive, 6 stores, and at least 2 hours of it was walking around. Yesterday was a bit more lazy, but I did get up and clean a bit. Pushing around the vacuum counts for something, right? Then there was an hour walking around the grocery store and 3.5 hours outside popping up every couple of minutes to dole out candy to trick or treaters. We opted to sit outside, enjoy some drinks and my Halloween playlist next to the fake fire glow of the tiki torch speakers. Today's exercise...breaking down the Halloween display and putting it all away until next year.

If all goes well with S getting her cast off and pins out tomorrow, we are Louisiana bound in a few days. Eating and exercising during travel like this can be a real mess...and I'll be honest...I want to be able to enjoy all of the good food. The good news...I had a few pieces of Halloween candy last night and it did nothing for me...even my favorites. Still, we're about 3 weeks out from US Thanksgiving week and while I can't take the time off I was hoping to take, there's still going to be a lot of food and food prep in the mix.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm assuming you've been on cruises before? I've never been on one. Sometimes I think it sounds nice, but I'm a picky eater and I'm terrified of being out in the middle of the ocean where I can't just go to the grocery store to grab something if there's nothing I like being served. I've heard that it's not an issue, because there are a lot of options, but it's just always made me nervous. And I get motion sickness, so I'm trying to imagine myself on a ship, feeling sick, with nothing to eat....and I'm a person who needs something to DO on my vacation. I can't just sit by the pool for hours. I like to visit museums, historical or natural sites, etc...so then I think maybe a cruise just isn't for me.

A's school is a special education school specifically for kids with Autism, which is why they don't do homework. What was explained to us when we enrolled him in 5th grade, was that kids with Autism have clearly defined expectations for things...like their personalities are divided. So there's a home A, and a school A, and a tennis A, and a chess A. He knows what's expected of him in each specific place. But when you try to cross those lines, it gets confusing. So schoolwork is not something Home A understands....he was just AT school, and that's where he does schoolwork, not at home. It doesn't make sense to him to do schoolwork at home. So they try to keep it at school. It's very rare that it doesn't get done, but this week exacerbated the problem because they also did his IQ test this week. They do IQ testing on all the kids in his school in the 3rd year, halfway through their high school education. They want to be sure the kids are in the right level, and they are meeting their needs, so they do a bunch of testing to make sure they are on track, and IQ testing is part of it. In order to do that, he had to miss some class time, which is what put him behind.

Yes, they should have told us about the teacher leaving long before they did. We've found communication this year really lacking. This school has been a life saver for us and A is a completely different kid than he was back when he was in a regular school. We don't want to send him to a standard high school because he'd get lost in the shuffle. But this year they've really done a poor job with letting us know about changes. They didn't even let us know that there was an incident in which he got punched. I asked what they did and he said they brought both boys inside and talked to them separately and then sent them back outside. That was it. I asked if he had apologized, but he said no. He said he was probably told to, but no teacher came out with the kid to enforce it, so if they DID tell him to, he ignored it. I guess this kid has a habit of cutting in the line and this isn't the first time he tried to cut. But A said other kids have nudged him back without incident, but this kid hates him. They apparently put an extra teacher out on recess duty just because of disputes about 4 square, and A said it's always this kid who is causing problems. But I don't know if the teacher just wasn't paying attention or what happened, but I told A next time not to try to physically move the kid back to his own spot in line. It's very similar to what happened when he broke his wrist...that time, he was standing in the line waiting for his turn at 4 square, and another kid bumped into him, and he told the kid to watch what he was doing, and the kid pushed him down. 4 square seems to be a volatile game at his school! But as far as he knows, nothing happened with the kid who punched him. It's happened before. They have an approach that's more trying to get to the root of the problem, WHY the kid punched him, rather than punishing them for it. With these kids, it could be so many things. A has a tendency to melt down, and if he starts panicking about something and yells, and another kid is really sensitive to noise, that kid just wants it to stop and his instinct is to start swinging. Rather than just doling out punishments, they have to go and talk to the psychologist on site and figure out what happened. In the past there's always been an apology that came with that, though, so I'm not sure where the disconnect happened this time. We've also always gotten a phone call to explain the incident before, and we didn't this time. A just came home all upset because this kid had punched him. So that, combined with the teacher leaving out of the blue without giving notice to the kids or parents, plus the changes this year in the structure of their classes without telling the kids or us about it, we're not real happy with the lack of communication this year. DH is planning on writing to the administrators about it.

Why is S not loving the journalism? Is it different this year, or she's just got too many other things that she likes more? We were really lucky the last few years with E. She had a really awesome mentor who was really on top of things. He always let the kids know when something special was going on and her class was often the only one that was informed of them. Last year, there was a meeting for anyone interested in theater, to brainstorm to see if there was a way they could still do something despite lockdowns and restrictions. The only kids to show up other than kids who had done theater before were from her class. Her mentor was the only one who bothered to tell his students about it. And when E voiced a concern about her test anxiety and about how much time she spent doing homework, he held a meeting with his mentor class to ask how much time on average they spent doing homework, because there are rules about it. Teachers can't give homework or schedule a test for the monday after a break. Tests must be graded within so many days of when it was taken. Students aren't supposed to be spending hours and hours doing homework. But he was only their mentor for the first three years. Now she has a different mentor and he doesn't seem as on the ball. E didn't necessarily have to be the squeaky wheel before, because her mentor was great. Or if she WAS the squeaky wheel, her mentor was quick in dealing with things and getting back to the kids. This new mentor isn't like that. They have to have one-on-one sessions with their mentor periodically and E said it was SO uncomfortable.....it was just him staring at her for 15 minutes like he was looking into her soul, without really talking. She didn't really feel like she could open up to him the way she could with her old mentor. And now the new mentor has requested a meeting with us for parent teacher conferences....I'm hoping that he's just requested to meet ALL his mentor kids' parents, because I can't imagine why he would need to talk to us otherwise...she has some of the highest grades in her class and she's never in trouble. Usually teachers only request a meeting with the parents if their kids are failing their class. Parents can only request meetings with 2 teachers, but an unlimited number of teachers can request meetings with 1 kid's parents. (I wonder how many requests Noelle's parents have gotten....so far she has a 1.5 in math, a 1.3 in English, a 2 something in French, and like a 2 or 3 in physics. The only test she's passed so far this year is in chemistry and she got a 6. These are all out of 10) We've never needed to go in to talk to the teachers....they have very limited time, so if you don't really have a concern, it's kind of an unwritten rule that you don't waste their time. I'm boggled by the mentor requesting a meeting.

We've actually never cruised. My fear has always been the cramped claustrophobic rooms. I have this same issue on land. It's why I'm really particular about where we stay when we're at WDW. I think I found a good solution, but we'll see. My parents and my brother each booked their own junior suites on the ship. I looked at that room type/class, but they're only 287 sq ft. Several years ago, someone on here had suggested connecting rooms. She'd done something similar for her family on a cruise out of Galveston and said it worked really well. There weren't a ton of options, but I found a couple of rooms that were listed as connecting. The square footage of both rooms puts us around 378 sq ft, the cost is noticeably less than the junior suite, and we get two full bathrooms. We do not get a balcony, but with the way the girls fight, I think it's safer to just have the big windows that come in these rooms. We're not picky eaters, so that's not a concern. I've also seen so many food recaps from my parents to know that nobody is going hungry. I know K is looking forward to ordering food to their room at various hours of the night, hitting up the never ending ice cream and pizza, and gorging on sushi. The ship is also a floating city with lots to do. It's a big reason why I wanted something in the Oasis class and would have picked RCCL over Disney, even if my parents and brother weren't joining. You've got the obvious things like pool, spa, dining, bars, fitness, shopping, casino...but they also have a bunch of water slides, a big dry slide on the back of the ship that goes from top to bottom, a variety of shows (I think Grease is the broadway style one currently playing), ice skating and an ice skating show, a couple of surf "pools," zip lining, mini golf, basketball, rock climbing, all sorts of lessons...like cooking-dance-scuba-sushi making, an art gallery, wine tasting, fireworks, etc.

I'm honestly not sure how school worked for my college friend's son. I know he was high functioning and attended the local schools with his twin, but obviously, he was in different classes and programs. In our elementary school for our old house, I know there was a boy in K's grade that was Autistic and he had an aid that was with him during his time in the main classroom, but there were times when he was removed for special attention or when something in the classroom brought on a meltdown episode.

Obviously, you don't want him getting hurt, but the lack of communication is what really alarms me. I know things can happen, and while it's not fun, I think being open about things right when they happen is part of the solution. It also sounds like Four Square is part of the problem. You obviously don't want to take it away from the kids, and too many changes to the process could really upset a lot of these children...still, if it continues to be a fight source, something needs to be modified. I know it's not the US, so the process and allowances of what you can do may be different, but that's the kind of stuff that would have me marching in the front door of the school and insisting on speaking to some people in charge. The physicality of it is what worries me. I understand they want to get to the root cause, and while I do think that's necessary, there's a safety issue here too. It kind of reminds me of a facet of my battle with K's Kindergarten teacher. There was a boy in her class that was physically violent with most of the other kids. He'd punch K in the stomach nearly every morning, simply because he could get away with it. One time, she got so fed up she punched him back and gave him a black eye. This was when I learned his punching was a regular thing. K just figured it was normal, because the teacher usually did nothing, so she just developed coping mechanisms for what she was led to believe was OK. The teacher's argument was that her approach was to teach K to find better coping mechanisms for dealing with a bully and that there may be reasons why this kid is punching everyone that need to be explored. Then she interjected with how K sometimes would roll on the carpet during story time and that too was annoying and disruptive. I exploded...and I had the school VP in there who was equally appalled. I told the teacher that while rolling on the carpet may be disruptive, there's a big difference between that and physical violence. I went on to say that if I come over to you right now and roll around on the carpet in front of you, you'll probably think I'm crazy, but there's also no harm being done. Then I said, but if I go over to you right now and punch you, you're going to be filing assault charges...and if you can't see the difference, you have no business teaching kids at any age. I went on saying that I'm now just learning some of these other unexplained bruises K lied about were because of this kid, which tells me she's failing to keep her students in check and is unable to maintain control in her classroom and transit situations. She hated me for it, but I was granted an allowance to observe her class several times with the school admins to make notes on where she was going wrong with this. Sorry...tangent...but kids getting hit and it going unpunished really gets to me. I know it's a bit different when it's a mainstream school, but it's still a danger no matter where it's happening.

Journalism in middle school is mainly yearbook. 1. Her cover design was voted best by the class, but when the teach brought in the graphic artist who would be bringing it to life, he watered it down, took out all of her favorite elements, and the teacher was on board with it. I suspect it was a blend of cost and copyrighting issues, since some of the art same used to create her prototype (that the teacher gave them to use) is under copyright restrictions. 2. She wants to take pictures vs. doing write ups and layout designs, but the teacher has yet to let her. I don't think they have enough cameras to let all of the kids, but I reminded her that she was supposed to bring my old camera so she could do her own pictures. So, we'll see if that helps things after her cast comes off.

It kind of reminds me of K and her guidance counselor. The kids have the most impossible time to get in to see her, so it's kind of like a fend for yourself situation. We don't really have any rules on homework, so her AP Human teacher last year loaded it on. This year has been so much better, but she still has concerns that she's had to work out on her own because the counselor has been MIA. It sounds like there's a lot more structure in your school's approach. It also sounds like you guys had a great counselor the last few years, just to end up with something like what I think so many kids have to settle for. I just hope ours pick it up when next year rolls around since that's when looking at college stuff really ramps up. For now, we're just going to see a few and cross our fingers that she makes it into NHS. Even if she doesn't, she plans on things that she would have been doing anyway...like student council and volunteer work. It'll be interesting to hear what the new mentor wants to discuss.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So much of the picky eating is Autism related for A, which is part of the reason we don't push it. When he was first diagnosed, we got training to learn how to communicate with him, how his brain works, how to handle fears, meltdowns, etc. We had to take videos of certain behaviors so our trainer could watch them and see what led to a meltdown to help us understand it. One of the things we filmed was him eating an ice cream cone...you know how little kids always end up with ice cream or chocolate or whatever all over their faces? A still does. He's 13. Our trainer watched the video and pointed out specific things you could see in the video that indicated he has a very sensitive mouth. Foods that feel strange to him can cause some of that. So that's why he only likes a specific brand of chicken nuggets...that's what he's used to and the others feel different in his mouth and therefore he fears that there's something wrong with them. The other night it was mayo. Here, people eat mayo on fries instead of ketchup. He said the mayo didn't taste right and he didn't eat his dinner, even though fries are his favorite. We think part of it was just that that was the day he was overwhelmed and everything blew up, so he was even more sensitive than usual and probably picked up something he doesn't normally pick up with mayo. But we've gotten a lot better now at figuring out what triggers a meltdown, and we can generally prevent it. He really hasn't had many meltdowns in the last year or two, now that we understand him better.

Wow...it's sad that a boss would behave like that. And it's really not a good motivator! I had a horrible supervisor when I worked at Walmart and she's since been demoted. If I'd had any other job prospects at the time, I might have quit, but they just moved me out of her department. They had warned me going in that the woman was difficult, and I can usually get along with almost anyone, so I wasn't worried, but she was so verbally abusive they had to move me, and she was eventually stripped of her department manager status.

I was never offered drugs in school....high school or college. The only time I was ever offered anything was when I went to Canada to visit a friend and we went to a party and I was offered shrooms. I said no and nobody questioned it. That was also the first time I got drunk, and I only did because my friends thought it was so weird that I was 22 and had never had alcohol and they thought it would be really funny to see me drunk. I said if they promised to take care of me and keep me from doing anything I would regret, I would drink. They did, and I did. And that was it. I've never tried pot or anything. I WAS offered a cigarette when I was 6, by a neighbor girl, but I think she only offered for shock value.

And that's just it...it's different when it's tied to Autism. I do also wonder if some people I know with hardcore picky eaters should have had their kids tested. Some of the stories I've heard mirror Autistic food meltdowns. Of course, I've seen plenty of grown people who maintained food aversions into adulthood who are just picky. I have one work friend that will scrape off any frosting and spoon out any filling if cupcakes are brought in. I always joke that she really just wanted a muffin. I have another friend with such serious aversions that she usually has to order from the kids' menu when they go out. White cake and box mix strawberry cake are the only cakes that don't freak her out. She just panics over "stuff."

Some people get drunk with power in some roles while others build a business just to learn that they have no business managing people. This guy was a jeweler and I was hired into a marketing and admin role. Most of my time was spent making calls to buyers/stores/boutiques in anticipation of upcoming mailings, trade shows, and targeted sales trips...while also updating our systems for any contact info changes. My grandfather was a jeweler, so I thought this might be something I might like, but the owner made the work environment unbearable. The jewelry was amazing, but the work environment was so toxic. Even the VP, that I once had to travel with to NC/SC, was creepy. Thankfully he just said some sketchy things and nothing more...and the trip allowed me to play with the jewelry. We had to travel with so much insurance because of the value of the pieces in the jewelry case and the VP was required to be armed. If we'd traveled with anything more than a certain amount, we would also have to have an armed detail. In any event, I always thought the owner was up to no good. I just saw that his company was involuntarily dissolved about 9 years after I quit.

Growing up outside of a major city was also probably a factor for us...more people and more things moving in and out from all over. In high school, it was all about experimentation and there definitely was some peer pressure, but nothing too awful either. My parents were more about taking safer measures...like knowing it was safe to call for help or for a ride. In college, it was kind of assumed that you already had tried what you wanted to try before showing up, so it wasn't so much the novelty of what someone had gotten, but just part of the way some people partied or relaxed. I'm sure a lot was also personal social circles. All of my friend groups liked to hit bars and parties in our downtime. It was some of the same when I moved back to FL for a couple of years. I will say that the bar parts in college and just after did a good job of preparing me for my early years in the work world. There were always happy hours...for networking, team building, promotion celebrations, etc. I remember there were some older kids who would try stuff like that as a joke, not seeing the issues with it. I actually started smoking (cigarettes) during my freshman year in high school. Back then, nobody monitored age and they were cheap, so you saw a lot of teen smoking. I didn't give it up until a year after K was born. I did quit during the pregnancy, but I started back up after. I would never smoke inside, so she wasn't exposed like that, but I hung onto that for a while.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I'm checking in with a workout called "15 Minute Fat Burn 11X." It was just a lot of bodyweight exercises. I do dread some of the moves (burpees), but I only had to do them for 45 sec and never see them again in the workout. I spent another 15 min cooling down and doing lots of long stretches.

I'm sorry I've been gone, I just felt low energy like I always do this time of year. I usually go into 'energy conservation mode' and do the bare minimum every day.

I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend and I am hoping everyone on the plane behaves. What a time to be alive, eh?

 

[Figgy1]

Hello-

I'm checking in with a workout called "15 Minute Fat Burn 11X." It was just a lot of bodyweight exercises. I do dread some of the moves (burpees), but I only had to do them for 45 sec and never see them again in the workout. I spent another 15 min cooling down and doing lots of long stretches.

I'm sorry I've been gone, I just felt low energy like I always do this time of year. I usually go into 'energy conservation mode' and do the bare minimum every day.

I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend and I am hoping everyone on the plane behaves. What a time to be alive, eh?

Welcome home, this time of year stinks and safe travels

 

[MinnieM123]

Hello-

I'm checking in with a workout called "15 Minute Fat Burn 11X." It was just a lot of bodyweight exercises. I do dread some of the moves (burpees), but I only had to do them for 45 sec and never see them again in the workout. I spent another 15 min cooling down and doing lots of long stretches.

I'm sorry I've been gone, I just felt low energy like I always do this time of year. I usually go into 'energy conservation mode' and do the bare minimum every day.

I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend and I am hoping everyone on the plane behaves. What a time to be alive, eh?

Nice to hear from you, and learn about your newest workout. (You've tried many different ones over time, so always interesting to read about your latest as well.)

I hope your weekend trip is fun and a nice diversion for you. Sometimes getting away for a quick trip is great!

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Hello-

I'm checking in with a workout called "15 Minute Fat Burn 11X." It was just a lot of bodyweight exercises. I do dread some of the moves (burpees), but I only had to do them for 45 sec and never see them again in the workout. I spent another 15 min cooling down and doing lots of long stretches.

I'm sorry I've been gone, I just felt low energy like I always do this time of year. I usually go into 'energy conservation mode' and do the bare minimum every day.

I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend and I am hoping everyone on the plane behaves. What a time to be alive, eh?

Did you ever convince your son to get the vaccine?

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I'm assuming you've been on cruises before? I've never been on one. Sometimes I think it sounds nice, but I'm a picky eater and I'm terrified of being out in the middle of the ocean where I can't just go to the grocery store to grab something if there's nothing I like being served. I've heard that it's not an issue, because there are a lot of options, but it's just always made me nervous. And I get motion sickness, so I'm trying to imagine myself on a ship, feeling sick, with nothing to eat....and I'm a person who needs something to DO on my vacation. I can't just sit by the pool for hours. I like to visit museums, historical or natural sites, etc...so then I think maybe a cruise just isn't for me.

The seasickness is why I have no real desire. I was on my grandfather's boat pre COVID and got sooooo sea sick. They say the larger boats are fine, but then like you, I think about being stuck in the middle of the ocean, and I'm like, yeah, that's a no from me. I can totally sit on a beach or read by the pool all day, but unless it's an exciting pool, a la Stormalong Bay or the pool at Aulani, where you can go down two water slides, cruise around the lazy river, and then go snorkeling, I'm just not interested after a few days, except on a beach. Beaches keep me interested.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

So tomorrow shall be attempt #2 at the gym. Attempt #1 was last week and was a fail. I didn't get to sleep until after 11 and when my alarm went off, that was a nope.

I tried the elliptical over the weekend. 20 minutes and that was also a fail. My right ankle hurt too badly to continue. I'm going to try the pool tomorrow or the bike, depending on what I feel like when I get there (and how crowded the pool is). I probably need to go to the doctor and get a cortisone shot in the ankle. If it still doesn't feel better by Friday, I'll give her a call.

I've restarted school. I'm going for an accounting degree, all online. It's an 8-week semester. It's a hybrid class; we meet over Zoom once a week and then self study the rest of the week. The professor told me today I was doing fantastic and she was having trouble keeping up with me. High praise indeed. I think it's just a combo of my type A personality plus I always tried to keep ahead on my classes in case I got shut down by a migraine; it decreased my stress level which then reduced my odds of a migraine.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

The seasickness is why I have no real desire. I was on my grandfather's boat pre COVID and got sooooo sea sick. They say the larger boats are fine, but then like you, I think about being stuck in the middle of the ocean, and I'm like, yeah, that's a no from me. I can totally sit on a beach or read by the pool all day, but unless it's an exciting pool, a la Stormalong Bay or the pool at Aulani, where you can go down two water slides, cruise around the lazy river, and then go snorkeling, I'm just not interested after a few days, except on a beach. Beaches keep me interested.

I am wondering how we're going to handle it. My dad's #1 hobby is saltwater fishing and I spent a lot of time on the boat while growing up, but it's also been decades since I had regular experience with it. It's been several years, but he took us offshore in his last boat and everyone did well, so I'm optimistic. It usually has to be pretty choppy for me to feel sick, but I can usually make it better by staying up on deck and watching the horizon for a bit. I hate the beach and have a very limited window where I can just sit at the pool. I'm definitely more of a 'get in the water' kind of person, but that gets old too.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Hello-

I'm checking in with a workout called "15 Minute Fat Burn 11X." It was just a lot of bodyweight exercises. I do dread some of the moves (burpees), but I only had to do them for 45 sec and never see them again in the workout. I spent another 15 min cooling down and doing lots of long stretches.

I'm sorry I've been gone, I just felt low energy like I always do this time of year. I usually go into 'energy conservation mode' and do the bare minimum every day.

I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend and I am hoping everyone on the plane behaves. What a time to be alive, eh?

No need for apologies. You have to do what helps you. Thankfully, you know this is a more challenging time of year for you and you can adjust accordingly. Hoping all goes well with your air travel and you have a nice visit with your grandmother.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

So I failed at attempt #2 to get up and go to the gym. I'm going to go after work. I don't usually start studying until after dinner anyway; I need the down time after work.

Maybe once daylight savings time ends I'll start going before work.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Most of my movement yesterday was trekking all over the children's hospital. I guess we didn't have to traverse all of the floors...just parts of the first 3...but it's always a lot. We started out on 2 for covid screenings and new masks, then down to 1 for sawing off Sam's cast and radiology for new xrays, then up to 3 for plastic surgery to do xray review-pin removals-and lots of questions, then back to 2 for physical/occupational therapy. After the hospital and some lunch, it was running around the grocery store for things for this next round of treatment. K has batting later today, so not sure about exercise after that. I'd like to get outside, but we have a cold front moving in and that's no fun. My stationary bike may be on its last legs (or is that wheels?), so I might try the mountain climber if I'm mentally up to it.

As for Sam, her thumb has healed very well. She still has a bunch of PT type exercises she needs to do to regain strength and range of movement. I also have to treat the pin sites for a while to ensure they don't get infected during the healing process. The big surprise was that her itchiness wasn't standard cast itchiness. She had an allergic reaction to the cast material. Everything the cast touched is covered in rash. So, we're treating that too. I feel awful about it, but none of the rash was visible outside of the cast, so we had no way of knowing. She's wearing long sleeves today to help hide it...but still baggy enough to get air moving over it.

 

[Songbird76]

I'm still puttering but moving better every day. Yesterday we hit the farm market and amazed to find some summer veggies still coming in as we're well past the usual point of a frost. It's a good thing I had James with me as we loaded up there and then headed to Shoprite to stock up on canned tomatoes. James does not find the Can Can song on the way over amusing Already qualified for a free turkey there and then picked up the ham for Thanksgiving. I'm all set for Thanksgiving I'll pick up the turkey next week and then all I'll have to buy are the fresh veggies Today involves making veggie curry and then chicken gnocchi soup for the guys. James is going to learn to make gnocchi

Yum!!! What kind of curry do you make? I'd love to learn to make it. Chicken gnocchi soup sounds interesting....is that like chicken noodle soup with gnocchi in place of noodles?

 

[Figgy1]

Yum!!! What kind of curry do you make? I'd love to learn to make it. Chicken gnocchi soup sounds interesting....is that like chicken noodle soup with gnocchi in place of noodles?

It's really easy except in my case I made the gnocchi from scratch and subbed in dairy free cream https://copykat.com/olive-garden-chicken-and-gnocchi-soup/ James found the recipe. He was supposed to help make the gnocchi but was watching Muppets Haunted mansion.

 

[Figgy1]

I'm doing much better and can get my steps in and will be doing a nice EASY practice this afternoon