Sunday Recap 5-3-2015

Wow, I can't believe school is out already! Friday marked the last day of school for this little two-bit town, and I couldn't be more scared. Meltdowns happen when there is no school, because Princess Kitten simply adores school!

Luckily, I'm being proactive in my approach his year. I managed to get a schedule started just in time for what I am sure is going to be the worst week of the year. Hopefully this schedule I have made her will help. Today was the first day it has been in use, and I have found entirely too many flaws. I expected it though, and will be working on solutions.

Princess Kitten did have a first today: Her first ice cream cone! I love mint ice cream, and nearly died when I saw that Schwan's has mint chip cones. We got a box and Kitten had her first cone. She love it, until the bottom of the cone. She actually decided she didn't want the chocolate at the bottom of the cone! Oh well, it was more for me. LOL

Otherwise, the week has been rather uneventful. Hopefully next week we'll have more to talk about. Until then though...

I'm working on doing several things with this little blog. Two of those I will need the help of you, my readers. I am looking for children's book authors and those who live with autism (either diagnosed or caretaker) to do takeover blogs on Tuesdays. I also need questions from all of you to Princess Kitten herself to do a Q&A blog or vlog on Saturdays. Comment on the blog here or send a message on her Facebook page if you are willing to do a takeover or have questions for her. She loves the interaction, and I love the way she smiles when I read her all your comments.

That is all for now, until next time, stay magical!

New Schedule

Everyone I have spoken with has mentioned the need of regularity and scheduling in coping with a child on the autism spectrum or ADHD. Princess Kitten seems to be both, so it should make it doubly needed, right? In any case, I went out and bought some supplies and went to work to make a schedule. What I have so far is just a work in progress. Its not perfect, but using this first design should help me find the flaws so I can make it perfect for her.

To make this, I simply wrote "Daily Plan" on the top of a piece of card stock then laminated it with two sheets of heavy duty lamination. (The velcro didn't go on until much later.)

Then I went online and found all the little pictures I wanted to use. I used Google Image search to find them all, and hit the Search Tools to narrow my search parameters. I specified an exact size of 100px by 100px that way I knew I'd get something small enough for this. Then I copy and pasted each image to a word file and added the words. I made sure to set it to 3 columns to make sure I had as many on a page as I could fit.

These were then printed on regular paper, cut out, and pasted onto card stock. Then those pieces were cut into 2 inch squares. I still had leftover laminate sheets, but I wouldn't have had enough to cover all the pieces. So I redneck laminated them.

The back of each square is covered with duct tape. I was forced to use two strips for each square because the squares are larger than the tape. But once I had them on the tape, I trimmed them so that the tape didn't hang over the edge. Then I used packing tape to cover the top and let that hang over the edges. To give the pieces extra strength and to make sure I covered all the edges, I used three pieces of the packing tape for each square.

Each square got a piece of velcro (the soft side) and was then placed in a ziploc bag. After I (finally) finished all the pieces, I used a few squares to add the other side of the velcro to the main page. There is even a square at the very top of it for one of two squares that say "School Day" or "No School" to help us with the constant question (and subsequent meltdowns).

Unfortunately, I am seeing now that I may need to have more than one sheet for a whole day. No big deal, I'll just have to take care of that soon. I'm also noticing I left a few things out when making the squares. Again, no big deal, I'll add to the collection as we go along.

We shall see how this works for us, see if it helps her transition throughout the day. I'll keep everyone updated here, and maybe (eventually) get my list of squares put up on here so everyone knows what I'm using.

Do any of you use schedules with your kids? How do you do it? Let me know in comments!

You Made Me Mad

Why are you being so mean today?

"You made me mad."

Wow, remind me to not do that again...

Today was a challenge for us. Princess Kitten was showing some rather un-Princess-like sides to her today. Between telling me she doesn't like our game time anymore and yelling at Grandpa like he's her slave, my patience was whittled down to near nil. Never before has it become painfully obvious that one of the two diagnoses the school tried giving her was spot-on. ADHD. Wow.

Of course, I'm not one to sit around and let them try to pull the wool over my eyes. They tried diagnosing her with "General Developmental Disorder", which is the newest way of saying she was mentally retarded. Nope, sorry, not happening. They tell me that she knows her academics, then try telling me that she is retarded? Nope, go check that autism spectrum again babe. HFA fits her better.

I finally get a call from her therapist, she'll be seeing Kitten every Wednesday at school. Great, awesome, but there are only two Wednesdays left in the school year. So, now I get to decide if I want to take her to the school for an hour once a week or have the therapist come here and invade my space.

I haven't started on her daily schedule for home use yet, I'm still trying to figure out what schedule we even have. There's one there, I'm just not seeing the pattern. I'll chat with my dad tomorrow and get his input, perhaps between the two of us we can get this designed. Naturally I'll post pictures when its done.

That's about all for now. Torie James? I read her your comment, but she was in this mean mood today and decided to take it out on you too. Forgive her, she smiled about it when I read it to her the first time. You can hear her comment, as well as her own recap of the day in the video below.




Keep commenting, friends and family. I'll have her respond to all of you in her recaps!

~Kat

I Have New Chalks!

Mommy was tying for artsy pics, but I caught her!

Mommy bought me new chalks, and I got to play outside with them today! I drew all over the driveway. Its pretty now!

Princess Kitten had a blast today. She spent the first half of the day lazing around while playing with her new iPad and playing with her toys. Well, she had some of the usual fight in her when it came to the toys. "Can I play blocks instead?" Nope, you need to play with your other toys too.

After a short nap, she got her outside time, and I got to play with my new camera. I was able to get a
few pretty shots before she caught me, then took the obligatory shots she always demands any time she sees a camera.

These chalks of hers are made by Playdo, of all things. Crayola I'm used to, as well as cheap off brands, but this set had so many colors, I had to grab it for her. It even includes brown and black. Weird, right? She loves them, but rarely draws pictures.

Most of her artwork involves writing random letters and numbers, or drawing shapes. Now and the she'll draw a monster or other odd picture, but those times are rare. I don't mind though, it gets her outside into the sun. The worst thing is seeing her glance across the street to A's house. The girl, A, rarely plays with Kitten. I'm not entirely sure it is because she is being a bully, but it does feel that way.

It kills me when Kitten gets hopeful that A will play with her. I know that 9 times out of 10 A will end up running down the road to N's house, a boy also Kitten's age. N's mom doesn't let him leave the house though, so I understand him not playing with Kitten.

The rest of the day was restful, just what we needed after the past two weeks we've had. Cuddle time, and an extra hour of iPad time, and she was one worn out little princess. Of course, she is getting in the habit of doing night time videos, so naturally she demanded one tonight. I had to pry some, but she gets a little more talkative than she has in the past. Enjoy the video. Remember, any comments left get read to Kitten...




Hey, look, a bonus reel with really crummy audio! Sorry, but it was windy today...

I Have My Own Blog Now!

Isn't this cool? I have my own blog all about the bestest princess around, me!

This is just going to be a brief post. When I take her final video today, I'll post a blog all about her adventures today. Feel free to comment below, even if it is just to say hi or mention that you giggled about something. Kitten eats it all up, and I love seeing the smile on her face when someone "talks" to her.

For now, she has something to tell you... (click the video.)

~Kat