A look back and forward

Seeing as its New Years Eve just thought I would take some time to sit back and see how far I've come this year.

Looking back

This time last year I was out of my mind with worry as Becca was having a job to walk and her hip was extremely painful, plus the medication the doctor was giving her wasn't working :( We found out a few weeks later that she had Hyper Mobility Syndrome (HMS) along with some fluid on her hip hence all the pain. She ended up with physiotherapy which helped with a lot of the pain as her muscles were all tight as well in her legs from the lack of use due to the pain. She was diagnosed as having the HMS in her knees, hips, shoulders and wrists.

We even had a dog for a while but unfortuanately we had to have Timmy rehomed by the RSPCA as we just could not cope with him. Timmy was a lovely dog, a cross between a lurcher and a border collie; unfortunately he had the strength of the border collie rather than the quietness of the lurcher. The last straw was when he managed to pull my shoulder muscles and when Becca tried to walk him the last bit home he pulled her straight into a lamp-post bruising her collar bone for several weeks.

Later this year after a lack of support from school I went back to the GP and begged them to re-refer us back to CAMHS as I wasn't sure how much more I could take of her violent temper tantrums. School wouldn't except that she had problems with other kids at school, saying "girls will be girls and they are only kids after all". We managed to get a referral through pretty quick and when we were seen they thought, even from the first appointment, that she more than likely had Aspergers Syndrome. Came home and did my homework and read up all about it, what I was reading could possibly be the way she reacts to life in general. School were non to supportive, to the extend I was told by the Headmaster that I didn't need to go to CAMHS as she was just a manipulative child trying to get her own way and that if she had Autism she would kick of at school as well as at home!!!!! Due to this outdated view of Autism I decided to change schools locally for both Becca and Stevie, I've now found this was the best thing I possibly could have done for both of them. I have seen an improvement in both of them since we changed in September.

Also this year I had problems with Stevie not hearing, went for several hearing tests but he passed them all. Finally got referred to a Development Clinic to see a Paediatrician, this doctor realised there was something wrong with Stevie and referred him to CAMHS as well to be possibly assessed for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. She also found that Stevie has HMS in his wrists and thumbs which has answered another problem of why he doesn't write properly. With Stevie I spoke with his new teacher and expressed my concerns about the way he was and she said she would support me with anything that helped him, she also reported back the areas she was having problems with. Between us we have started to understand him more. When CAMHS suggested we use visual aids she took this on board and has worked with Stevie so that he understands what he needs to do and when its going to happen. The poor little thing was getting all confused because his normal routine at school was being knocked out of sync due to Christmas and practising then performing their Nativity play.

Also this year my eldest son James left primary school and went up to seniors. It really brought it home to me that he isn't my baby anymore (even though he'll always be that to me), that he is going to learn to be more independent and hopefully make more friends. So far he seems to be enjoying it there although we had a little hic-up at the beginning of the term with it being a church school and we're non-practising; he had to go to this school because the local council decreed it although we tried to appeal against it.

Looking forward

My goals for next year is that I am hoping to learn more about my children so that I can love them more than I already do. Hoping to give them as many opportunities to explore themselves as well as the world about them, hopefully these will be enjoyable experiences. If I can understand my children more than hopefully we can go forth and enjoy our lives to the full, if this means that we have a few fights along the way to get what they need so be it. I will do whatever it takes to get what they need to live life to the full.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011, hope it brings to you everything that you want plus more to make it a brilliant year.

Christmas 2010

We had a brilliant Christmas, plenty of uptimes with a small down thrown in for good measure; much better this year than we've had in the past.

Christmas for us started on 1st December when we start visiting daily to a brilliant website called NORAD http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html Each day there is a new activity for the kids to play on plus a visual countdown to when Santa will start leaving home. NORAD along with google earth allow you to track Santa and his travels across the globe; this really helps with both Becca and Stevie as they don't take to change of routine that well but because they know he is on his way it helps them both. They know that when he gets to a certain part of travels that they have to goto bed so that they can be asleep before Santa arrives; because as all kids know you can't be awake when Santa comes!!! They always know when Santa has been though cos he puts their stockings on their bedroom door handles.


Our stockings awaiting Santa



James with his pressies
from Santa

Becca with her pressies
from Santa

Stevie with his pressies
from Santa

The kids had a wonderful day playing with their new toys; didn't hear much from our Stevie once he'd got his DS working, he got Lego Batman to go with it seeing as he loves this game on the Wii and it was a hit. He also loved his Tonka lorry that his uncle bought him, this is one that you can take apart and rearrange. James got an ipod which he is constantly on (so much so that the charger wire is plugged into the laptop at least 2 or 3 times a day), he loves this but he didn't like the way I had wrapped it for him hehehe; to stop him guessing straight away what he'd got I had wrapped it in bubble wrap so before he opened it he didn't have a clue, his face was a picture when he realised it was an ipod so mission accomplished he didn't guess!! Becca got a tv for her room which she loves plus a Hello Kitty Lava lamp, she also loves the fact that once the New Year is here she'll be getting sky installed in her room so she can watch what she wants when she doesn't like what the boys are watching downstairs, can't wait for it to happen.

My Mum and brother came over to Christmas Day and have lunch with us, the day itself went fine with no meltdowns which was an improvement on last year; the problems started at bedtime when trying to get excited kids to calm down and go to sleep. I'm used to them not going to sleep properly everynight and having to spend at least an hour or two attempting to get them to do this; I deal with it as calmly as I can whilst trying not to lose my temper with them but not their Dad who stopped over due to no public transport, he has to go up and start shouting at them which is not the way to get them to lay down. If anything it actually fires them up, his shouting made our Stevie cry so I went up to get him to calm down so he could attempt some sleep and this is the explanation that he gave for his tears: "daddy shouted at me cos I went into Becca's room but he shouldn't have shouted cos it was the first time I'd gone in there to tell her I was going to sleep. He should have put me back in bed and taken Cuddles mummy. We should ban him from the house until he thinks about how he shouted at me" out of the mouth of babes!!!!

Boxing Day morning was full of arguments and misunderstanding of how to handle things from their Dad. For example with our Stevie you can't just say to him "go get dressed" you have to be more specific like "Stevie can you get a t-shirt, pants and trousers on please?". Dad didn't like it cos Stevie comes running to me saying "Mummy I don't want to get dressed", when I said to him did he want to help Daddy choose him a t-shirt, pants and trousers he went off happily got them out and then got dressed......it def showed that its all in the way of asking it! Dad wasn't too happy but hey never mind the kid got dressed didn't he??? Dad has a lot to learn about how to handle the kids on a day to day basis, he usually sees them on a weekend when he comes over for access time so doesn't have to deal with a lot of the crap that I do every day; I've learnt a few tricks to getting the kids into doing something I want them to do but making them feel like it was their idea hahahahaha

Well I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and enjoyed having your loved ones over. It just leaves it for me to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to send best wishes for the forthcoming year.

Apologies and updates!

Sorry I've not been updating this month, inbetween school shows, hospital appointments, stitching and Christmas didn't really have much time to be on here.

8th & 9th December

After having a 3 days off the previous week due to snow the KS1 kids put on their nativity play which was as brilliant as ever with the kids looking cute as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, animals and a big silver star. It was around this time that Stevie decided he needed to take his comfort toy with him to school so realised he wasn't handling the change in school routine very well. He took little Jerry Mouse with him as he is small enough to fit into school trouser pockets thankfully. On the Monday night they all performed to the parents, as I'm a stay at home mum I didn't go then but went during the day Wednesday and Thursday. We'd been given tickets for the Thursday but we (the ex and me) thought they were for the Wednesday, thankfully there was enough seats leftover so they let us watch it on both days - both shows were different even though it was the same script if that makes any sense. Our Stevie was a narrator, here's a couple of pictures of him.

So proud of himself

10th & 20th December

On the 10th I took Stevie for his first appointment with CAMHS and the lovely lass we see their (Cathy) went over the referral letter from a consultant at the hospital and by the end of the meeting said she thought he was showing signs of having Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but unlike his sister wasn't sure which part of it as yet. I always thought there wasn't something quite right with Stevie just like I did with his sister but having someone confirm had a delayed reaction on me. I was fine in the office and until we got down to the car again. I rang his Dad to let him know and then as I was explaining what had happened in the appointment it hit me like a runaway train that I now have two possible autistic kids...brain just went AAARRRGGGHHH and left me feeling quite weird in some ways all weekend while the shock wore off. We went back on the 20th and during the session Cathy and Stevie were talking, apparently some of his actions he was displaying showed symptoms of ADHD as well as the ASD, this though didn't bother me as it actually makes sense with the way he is when at home or going out and about. For instance he doesn't handle going shopping into supermarkets or other medium to large shops very well, there is too much going on for him and its like having information overload so he gets distracted extremely quickly and all the way around the shop. Yet if he gets taken round the shops in his old buggy he's fine apart from wanting to know what we're going to be doing next; have to keep repeating which shops we're going to and what I need in there, not allowed to go in a shop that wasn't on the list unless he suddenly needs a drink or a biscuit. When others ask me how it feels to cope with it all I explain it as having a 2½yr old in a 6½yr old  body.

We were also advised in the first session of CAMHS that he might respond to visual aids as when Cathy spoke with Stevie he explained that he gets confused when told something but if someone shows him he understands more especially when its a teacher. Did my homework and this is what we came up with:

This is our bedtime routine; its stuck on the board with velcro
then we can change the pictures from morning to night-time

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

We here on Teesside have had the snow since Wednesday evening/Thursday morning. Kids are loving it and even though my daughter has her painful wrist due to her HMS she's enjoying playing out in it. To avoid too much after pain I'm limiting her to an hour at the most in the cold. We've had several heavy snowfalls over the last few days, we should have been due some overnight last night but it doesn't appear to have been as heavy. Both the schools my kids go to are open as normal which is good as the kids aren't gonna be home and getting bored; the senior school was open as normal from 8.50am but the primary school isn't opening until 10am to give staff a chance to get in so there is the correct ratio staff:students which is fair enough.

On Saturday we went to the birthday party of my Godtwins and a great time was had by all that managed to brave the snow and attend. My car was clear of snow when I parked up at 11.30am but by the time we went to leave just after two hours later I had to de-snow the car again as it had about 2-3 inches of snow on it *completely awestruck at how much came down*

Haven't managed to capture my daughter in the snow yet but here are some photos of the snow from the last few days:

The snowball was launched by youngest towards oldest.....

Back of the head mwahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

Take care everyone in this snow and cold weather.....if you haven't received it yet in the UK you will over the next week or so!!!

A winter's tale......with a twist!

As the venturer steps outside there is a quiet eery stillness that sweeps around you as the air temperature drops to a bone chilling zero; he pulls his hat down around his ears as the clouds although high in the sky show their hidden weight and threaten to let it gently fall to the ground at the right time as they swirl across the sky in front of the moon. The venturer walks along the path as quietly and gently as he can but every step he takes it sounds louder and louder as the crispness of the snow underfoot crunches and cracks.

A gate bangs in the dark breaking the silence as a cat jumps over it on his way home to curl up somewhere warm. A distance bark reminds the venturer of the quietness as he makes his journey further along the path. The path lights up and glistens, as if a child had spilt its tub of glitter, as the moon shines through a parting in the clouds so bright there is no need for a guiding light for the path ahead. There's a rustle to the side as the night time creatures go about their business while there's no-one around.


Suddenly, the venturer feels the temperature rise a little as the clouds allow their heavy load to break through and flutter gently and silently to the ground. Soon the venturer is finding his steps are getting softer with every step taken as the crisp ground under him is transformed into a soft carpet of white velvet. He stops to admire the sereness of the world in that magical moment where he feels like he's the only soul around in a deserted town with the buildings slipping under the covers of the carpet around him.


The venturer remember his purpose and walks on enjoying the atmosphere around him. The flakes get heavier and thicker as he walks but it doesn't deter him from his mission, he knows he has to walk on through it as he is nearly there. He turns the corner and sees a warm glow appear down the road, he walks on steadily towards it; as he approaches the glow he satisfies himself it was worth his mission................




...........to take the daft mutt round the block for his nightly walk!!!!!!

Baby Matinee Jackets and sore joints

Hi there everyone, thought you might like to see the finished products of my knitting achievements. I've made these two jackets as birthday presents for my Godchildren who will be one at the weekend. The pattern I've used is a family favourite that was taught to me when I was still in primary school so I've been knitting it for about 25-26years now. The first time I knitted this pattern I made it for my school teacher who was leaving to have her first child, she was thrilled that I'd sat there and made it myself (mum had to stitch it up for me). I find this pattern is so easy to do up now that I rarely look at the pattern apart from to check if I'm still doing it right lol :P

The wool used here starts of yellow then fades to a big block of white then you get the green then it fades to the white again before going into yellow etc its a really nice ball of wool to knit with.

On another note the cold weather is already starting to play havoc with my daughter's joints. She's come home tonight with her right wrist hurting that much she can't complete her homework, then by bedtime her shoulder was starting to hurt as well. I'm just glad that at the minute its sticking to these joints and not entering her hips as this makes walking very difficult for her as her joints end up extremely painful and stiff. The pain relief that she can have as a young person doesn't even take effect against the kind of pain that she is in. Tonight she can't get to sleep because of the pain that she is in and at the moment she is at the maximum amount she can take. Paracetamol and Ibruprofen hardly touch it; the only thing that she can possibly take is codeine but that has to be used sparingly because of her age. As I'm in such a quandry as to what is the best move I've contact the out of hours doctors and awaiting their help to make a decision over her pain relief. It hurts me to see my daughter in so much pain at such a young age :(

Thank you

I would just like to say a big thank you to The Stitchin' Chicken for choosing me as the winner of her stampers competition.

Here is a link to her blog: http://stitchinchicken.blogspot.com/

I really look forward to receiving my prize. This was a very much welcome bit of good news after 3 days of hell from my daughter.

Take care everyone xxxx

Children In Need 2010 - Show your spots!!!

Just thought I'd share some beautiful pictures that I was allowed to take this morning lol :P

It shows just what can be done to a plain t-shirt and shirt with some colourful pens and a bit of imagination :D

These pictures are of my daughter and my youngest son - eldest one wasn't getting dressed for the occasion lol

Enjoy your day!!!!

Victorian Day at school

My daughter had a victorian day at school today as part of her topic work for this term covering the Victorians. We were told a few weeks ago what they had to wear; a list for the boys and a list for the girls....well that in the first instance caused problems with her because she HATES wearing skirts or dresses and guess what the girls had to wear????? We spoke about the day with her therapist on a recent visit and it was decided she would go as a matchstick girl but dressed as a boy...she accepted this so thought it was fine.

We've been talking about the day coming up and I'm assuming the school have been working up towards it as well. The teachers were going to be dressed up as victorian teachers and were going to play the part by being really strict with them. She went into school fine but something must have happened during the day to make her not cope; obviously I'm going to have to talk to school to find out what happened over the day to break it down as to what it was that has set her off....oh the joy of dissecting a school day *sighs*

With her only telling you stuff on her terms I only found out just before teatime that apparently one of the teachers had said they were going to be given "gruel" at lunchtime but they weren't they had their normal school lunch meals; unfortunately because of the Aspergers she takes things literally so thought she really was going to be having "gruel" for her lunch so wasn't happy that this didn't take place. The teachers aren't at fault for this, they probably didn't realise how literally she takes things when you say them to her. Tried to explain to her that the teacher was only playing his part for the victorian day and that is what children would have had in those days; she just didn't get it and said she didn't find it funny and he shouldn't have said it if it wasn't going to happen....have a funny hunch its this small detail of the day that has set her off.

Since we came in from school she has been sniping/whinging/screaming at everyone if something happened that she didn't like even if it was something that normally happens in the normal routine of the day after school. When you have a child doing this for several hours it can be mentally tiring to deal with but today it was more so because her older brother has been unwell all day and he was biting and snapping back at her which of course hasn't helped anyone. Then add to this mixture her younger brother who wasn't happy because I told him his school friend couldn't come for tea as per arranged due to his older brother being ill. I met the younger one from school and explained to him straight away that his friend would have to come play another night; this induced a set of tears to form and fall down his face. My friend understand completely that her son couldn't come play with mine and we both explained that we'd arrange for another night for them to play together when everyone was well again.

So tonight has been "fun" in the loosest sense of the word *sighs* and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day as its a non-uniform day due to Children in Need. I think the school are going to be doing different things throughout the day because of this charity day so I'm hoping she copes with it better than she has coped with today. Will have to inform the teacher before school starts about what has happened today.

I would have loved to show you how she looked when she was in her outfit but this morning we didn't have time and tonight she wouldn't allow pictures to be taken without a mouthful of abuse so gave up.....ho hum!!

Take care everyone and thank you for reading my rant :)

Updates Galore!

Sorry no updates for a few weeks its been a busy month with appts etc.

First of the updates is that my daughter went for her appointment with her therapist the other day and we got told that she is going for her multi-agency autism team appointment hopefully sometime in May 2011. I know this seems a long way off but it takes this long as there is so many people being referred now.  My youngest son has also been referred to the same therapist as they seem to think he has similar problems so that should be fun "dissecting" him as well as my daughter. His problems are different to hers but the doctor we saw in the development clinic only a matter of weeks ago seems to think that it could be under the same ASD umbrella of things. With him following instructions are harder for him to do than with her, not sure if that is because he is younger or not.

Bedtime the last few nights has been horrendous and has been getting worse and worse since we put the clocks back an hour at the end of October. It getting harder and harder to get the youngest to go to sleep when he's put in his bed at 7.30pm. Daughter is going up at 8.30pm and son is still awake but then causes problems by talking to her or shouting down what she is doing. Then my eldest one goes up between 9pm and 9.30pm, last two nights all 3 kids have still been wide awake at 10.30pm!!!!! ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! With my sciatic nerve playing me up as well the last few days the going up and downstairs to try to get them to go to sleep has not been fun....some people pay good money to go to Step Aerobics, perhaps I should start hiring out my stairs at bedtime for people to use as their exercise :P

Anyway enough of my whinging, here's another update on my stitching that I've been doing lately:



I'm working on the backstitch on the pink flower at the moment then I'll move onto the other flower that is missing from the bottom left corner. I've also been finishing off the knitting up of a baby jacket to go with one that I've already completed for my Godtwins who are going to be 1 year old at the end of the month; where has their year gone, this time last year I was still taking their mum for her ante-natal appointments on a Wednesday morning lol ;) mind it meant that I got to work on a beautiful piece of cross-stitch for my brother of an army man (he's ex-army). Here's the completed Army Man for your enjoyment:

I'll post a picture of the baby jackets when I've finished sewing up the seams and put the buttons on.

Hope you all keep well xxxx

Stitchy Time

Just thought I would share with you my latest stitchy project. I'm doing a cushion for my mum on Union Linen which feels a bit like a heavy duty evenweave almost hessian style fabric.



This is a picture from the front of the kit and what its supposed to look like



These next few pictures give you an idea of what progress I've made on it so far. I started it on 25th August this year and been slowly working on it over the last couple of months. There has been times when I haven't worked on it for a week or two.




This was the first dahlia and  border completed
including the backstitch on the main flower;
the backstitch didn't half make the difference
stopped it looking so flat







the little flower at the side will be repeated  in the bottom
left hand corner once i've completed the other dahlia





This is the start of the second dahlia;
its what I call a double flower as there are two
rings of petals. The inner ring is complete and I'm
working on the outer ring now. There is a border to
go around this as well, then a little flower to the
left of this before I make it up into a cushion.



Happy stitching everyone, thanks for reading xxxx

Decorating

After the stress of the kids I have managed to destress with a bit of painting and wallpapering. My late father taught me many years ago to decorate while I was a teenager and still living at home. He taught many a good skill that I still use today whether it be decorating or doing general DIY around the house or even just simple gardening.

My lounge has been in need of redecorating for sometime now but I finally found the time to get around to it. Started on Monday with a bit of glossing of the dado rail and skirting boards with a soft cream which has complimented the cream/peach colour wallpaper I managed to get up on Wednesday with some help from a good friend. The tin of gloss has done well as its already managed to previously gloss a bedroom and think I had about 2/3 of a tin left over when I started on the lounge. The wallpaper I bought months ago when on a visit to B&Q, now I can't help snatching a bargain up so when I saw 5 rolls of discontinued wallpaper (all from the same batch I hasten to add) reduced from £8 a roll to just £1 a roll I couldn't resist. They've sat in the cupboard in the garage for a couple of months but I've now got enough left over after doing the lounge to do the dining end of my kitchen/diner. I'm in the process of putting light terracotta emulsion on the walls as well as taking the gloss further around the room.

Yesterday I had a right numpty blonde day which is good considering I aint a blonde :P

Numpty Moment No1  Now I knew I'd painted the doorframe with the gloss and had moved along the wall to do the dado and skirting board further round, was busy concentrating away when the mobile went off in the kitchen. On me way through to answer I decided to trip over the stool that was in front of me....put me hand out and yep...you guessed numpty episode number 1 put me hand right out to grab the wet door frame!!! I didn't half calle meself  a few choice words lol didn't have anyone else to blame cos I knew I'd left the stool there AND the doorframe was wet..didn't stop me though hehehe

Numpty Moment No2  Put our tea in the oven and was that busy chatting on facebook I forgot to set the timer duh! I'd thankfully set my status to let my friends know as somedays we all share online what we're having for tea....so there I am playing on facebook thinking errr what time did i put that casserole in? Oh I know I'll check my status lol to see when it went in hehe

Numpty Moment No3  Shared the moment No2 with everyone and having a good laugh at myself as well...went to stir the casserole and as I went down on my haunches to check it I went and split me trousers argh!!! wasn't just a little bit it was a massive great big airvent lmao

Really think after yesterday that I should just go and dye my hair blonde next time the greys get too much lol

Well no that everyone is having a good laugh I'll bid you goodnight my friends. Wish you all a good weekend, mine will be a fun one as I'm having my God Twins for the day while my best friend and husband are moving house. I can't physically help with the move but I can help by taking these gorgeous little bundles for the day so that they don't have to worry about keeping them amused and trying to feed them around people going in and out with furniture etc. I'll return them by teatime by which time the main stuff in the house should be in place for them like cots etc xxxx

Daily battles...ho hum!

The morning battles are not getting any easier, from the moment I am up until 9am I feel like I'm a horrible mum to my kids...constantly asking them to do something (sometimes repeating myself several times over), constantly reminding them what the next stage is, reminding them how much longer we've got until we have to leave, seperating the fighting factions and so on.....there is many a morning I wake up and think "oh no not another school day argh!" because I know what is ahead of me before I even get up. Don't get me wrong guys I love my kids to pieces and wouldn't be without them just I am mentally worn out after being up and awake for about 60-90 minutes.....I'm so glad that I don't work because come 9am Mon-Fri I am absolutely no use to an employer as it feels like I have already taken on a days full of stress in the short time I have been up. In some respects I love weekends and school holidays as I don't have the stress of attempting to get them up, dressed and out of the door.

I know this will make me sound like an ungrateful mother but nothing could be further from the truth.

The normal routine is as thus:
7.30am Alarm goes off and I wake all 3 kids. Followed by umpteen asking of the kids to get up - they are normally all up and downstairs by 7.50am. I then spend the rest of the time reminding the youngest two kids to get their pjs off, then to put their pants on, followed by vests, t-shirts and trousers (middle child will NOT under any circumstances wear a skirt or dress even though I have tried and tried......its a sensory thing). Then we have the fight with youngest one to actually put his socks on instead of using them as either a weapon to hit his sister with or two swing them in the air like an old fashioned football rattle. Then each morning its a fight over what they're going to have for breakfast (oldest kid is fine he'll just help himself and is out the door for school now he's at senior school)....daughter always wants sandwiches with Nutella in but no butter/flora etc...youngest is not allowed to have the same as her cos its HER Nutellla and HE isn't allowed any *rolls eyes* she now thinks I've got two different jars mwahahaha or if she is really kicking off then youngest will have to have strawberry jam. Then we spend 10 minutes attempting to get school shoes on with being reminded too many times that the shoes need to be put on whilst I'm reminded by daughter that her shoes aren't shoes they are actually boots!!!

You'd think by now they'd have run out of steam but no not these two (I might well be running of fumes by now but not them, I'm sure the breakfast gives them a second wind). Can get the car loaded with school bags and front door locked but these two are normally running around the close on the pavement pretending to be trains...I might hasten to add that whilst this is happening they won't answer me until I tell them its time to get the trains into the station (the station being the car)...then daughter won't like that the car seat belt has gotten itself twisted or that son has got in and accidentally knocked her (but she thinks its on purpose)...then they can snipe at each other all the way in the 5 minute journey to school (me...I turn the radio on, turn the volume up and sing to it to try to drown their noise out...only way I can concentrate enough for the journey). Yes I know that walking them to school would be healthier and possibly tire them out enough for a small amount of time but its actually safer taking them in the car. Youngest won't hold my hand without a fight, if not holding my hand he'll run off in front followed by daughter not to be out done as to who can run the furthest first! Neither will answer me when I try and call them back because of the road...they have no sense even at 9 and 6 that there might just be a car wanting to come along the road when they want to cross, this is not for wanting of trying over the years.

Well enough of me moaning....next blog is about the decorating I've been managing to do whilst kids have been at school this week. Take care readers xxxx

Bedtime frustration

Tonight I have felt like I've been a tape on constant replay by repeating over and over and over the same instructions to the kids! This is the same feeling I have most nights so not surprisingly I dread the bedtime hour or two or three.....

It will start with me asking my youngest son to get undressed but of course listening to mum is not the cool thing to do so I have to get his attention and tell him it time to get undressed for bed. We then have to break this down into take your shoes off, take your jumper off, take your t-shirt off........ this is repeated several times at each stage whilst trying to get daughter to do the same thing!

They will both be asked to do this going into the double figure number of times.....it leaves you so frustrated but you know you can't show them that you're frustrated as they won't understand that I'm getting frustrated and irritated with it all so then you get frustrated that they don't understand you...vicious circle number one coming up lol :P

Eventually two youngest are in bed. Youngest son is normally dead to the world once I managed to get him into bed and all covered up. Just wondering how many times I'll be asking the other two to be quiet and go to sleep......mmmmm me thinks it could be quite a few but hey surprises are nice to have lol

Daughter has gone to bed with painkillers as the HMS is already starting to cause problems tonight in her legs as we have had a sudden drop in temperature today and tonight...weather forecast is for freezing temperatures overnight......something made me check the boiler and the sodding gas has ran out so gotta put the emergency credit on til the morning, b****cks!!!!!! - Emergency Credit now on both the Gas and the Electric argh!!!!

Eldest one is the one who causes me the most grief at bedtimes though. Lets see tonight how many times he comes down with one excuse or another as to why he can't just go straight to bed and damn well stay there!!! Tonight's excuse number one was that he reckons he wet the bed last night but I know he didn't tell me this morning otherwise i would have changed it after doing the school run. (he sometimes wets the bed as he has had constipation from being a small child but now we are getting enuerisis (wetting) as well..lets hope he grows out of it)

Now off to change some bedding and then hopefully sort out my front room so that I can decorate it tomorrow with some help from a friend as I've got to wallpaper one wall and if we get finished in time i might just start on the emulsion that is going on the rest of the room. Night night friends and foes xxxx

An introduction to me

Hi there everyone just thought I'd introduce myself a bit with this being my first blog.

I am 34 and a single mum to 3 kids a son aged 11years, a daughter aged 9years and another son aged 6years. My main interests are procrastinating on facebook (which somedays can take longer when it decides to go on a go slow lol), cross-stitching, knitting and crochet. I also like to sit and soak in the tub with a good book, if I have to "top-up" the bath its a good book :P

This blog will be mainly how I have coped with the day-to-day problems of my daughter and younger son, as well as my crafting as I go along. Any medical opinions expressed in this blog are not to be taken as black & white information as this is just how I see things and how I understand my children.

My daughter is currently being assessed by CAMHS to see if she has Aspergers Syndrome. She has problems with social skills and sees situations differently to others which can cause problems. CAMHS are being great with us and giving us the tools we require to help live with her outbursts and sensory issues. We've been with CAMHS since June and now (October) I can start telling when she is having problems dealing with things as her tantrums get worse. Her behaviour has improved since we changed primary schools this summer; seeing as the headteacher at her old school decided that my daughter doesn't have Autism and that I should never have contacted CAMHS as she is just manipulating me to get her own way mmmmmm me thinks he should go back to teacher training school cos he certainly isn't trained as a psychologist as far as I'm aware! On top of this going on my daughter also suffers from Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) which she is affected by it in her knees, hips (including fluid on her left hip), shoulders and wrists. The HMS causes her to have pains not only in her joints but also to get muscles cramps especially in her calfs, thighs and soles of her feet. It is hard to see any child in pain but when you know that they have to learn to live with it for the rest of their natural lives its more so especially when the medication that they are on doesn't touch the pain that they are in. Lets just say we are not looking forward to the winter; we've already a coldish snap of weather which has resulted in her getting pains in her right leg already and we've been told by the weather forecasters that we may get snow in the next few days.....me and my daughter are both going AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! and it hasn't even landed on the ground yet as we both know how painful her day is gonna be for her :(

My youngest son has just been referred to CAMHS by his paediatrician from the Development Clinic as he is presenting with problems related to social skills side of ASD. He also has been diagnosed with some HMS in his wrists and thumbs which would explain some of his problems with his school work. His teacher has been saying that he is slow at completing his work and he has complained that his hands hurt when writing.....now we know why.

My eldest son is a bright boy (he finished primary school with Level 5b/5a for his SATs results). He is also musically talented and can remember tunes very well once he has started learning them. He plays a 3/4 violin but is able to play a keyboard which he has semi-self taught himself to do. He is very good on the keyboard at working out a tune if he has heard it and can play several tunes from memory with no music in front of him. He still has his moments though; the term I use with him at times is "for one so bright you can be so dumb", this is not meant in a derogative way its just that he can do the most stupidest of things at times!

I am currently working on a cross-stitch pattern which will be turned into a cushion cover for my mum. Hopefully it will be finished before Christmas as I hope to give it to her as a present. In future blogs I will post some pictures of it as I go along; can't find the camera cable at the moment.

Hope I haven't bored anyone so far, take care everyone xxx