This week for Try This Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs, I am sharing more about how our summer has been and some of the challenges we have faced with regard to Michael’s progress. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it, especially as it will be my last one.
Yes, I am stepping down from the 5MFSN team. It has been a wonderful year (plus a little) since the site began, but I just feel the need to draw back from some of my commitments to focus more on my home and my family. I cannot express how amazing this experience has been and how blessed I am to have met so many amazing moms and dads of special needs children through that community.
Of course, I’ll still be commenting there and blogging here, and hope to be a bit more regular once school gets started at the end of the month. I just didn’t want to disappear from the site and have people wonder what happened to me!
Not much has changed since last week, except that I did get my notes together for the IEP meeting, which is good since it was on Friday. I’ll try to write more about it, but I am still waiting for a revised IEP before I sign anything.
Try This Tuesday for next week.
Finish guest post for Writing to Serve. (Update: it’s almost done.)
Continue with Problogger challenges.
Go through folder of bookmarked post ideas/things to check out.
FOR MICHAEL/ASD HOPE –
Finalize childcare and work schedule for summer.
Finish last bit of paperwork for visit to DAN! doctor. (almost done!)
Work on end of year thank yous.
Catch up on pending items for ASD HOPE.
Prepare agenda for ASD HOPE board meeting.
WITH BOB -
Work on photo book for Sally.
Copy files from desktop to laptop for backup.
Start planning trip to Illinois.
What a contrast this weekend was to the previous one; we were so busy! But it was a lot of fun doing things with Michael and as a family. Work has gotten a tiny bit less stressful, and my main concern this week is being prepared for the big IEP meeting on Friday afternoon (prayers for calmness and clarity appreciated!)
There’s a bunch of stuff staying on the list from last week, but that’s okay. I’ll get there eventually!
My To Do List:
FOR BLOGGING -
Try This Tuesday for next week.
Finish guest post for Writing to Serve.
Continue with Problogger challenges.
Go through folder of bookmarked post ideas/things to check out.
FOR MICHAEL/ASD HOPE –
Get rest of notes together for IEP meeting.
Finish last bit of paperwork for visit to DAN! doctor. (almost done!)
Work on end of year thank yous.
Firm up date for next Parent Chat and get flyer sent out.
WITH BOB -
Review and update budget.
Go over schedule for the next week.
Work on photo book for Sally.
Copy files from desktop to laptop for backup.
Start planning trip to Illinois. (Step One – call Dad and let him know we are coming, since Mom was told last week and he still doesn’t know!)
Over the last week, the stress that I am dealing with at work has really caught up with me, and my ability to focus on other things has been limited. Luckily, my wonderful husband took my son to his parents for the weekend, and I was able to enjoy some solitude and even get in some writing time.
In fact, I actually scheduled my Try This Tuesday post at 5MFSN ahead of deadline for the first time in weeks; usually I am sitting down to finish it up after Michael goes to bed on Monday night! This week I am talking about choosing therapies, as a follow-up to last week’s post about supplemental therapies.
Life is always a balancing act between all the things you want to do and all the things you have to do, and I’m teetering on the edge a bit right now.
On paper, it looks like a blogging break would give me a lot more time for all the other “stuff” in my life, but I’m not sure I can give it up and maintain my sanity. So I am still trying to find the way to do it all, including spending the time on my home and family that they need and keeping up with all of Michael’s care and other household stuff.
My routines have been going pretty well, so I’m going to streamline my list this week. What is going to be more important to me this week is figuring out a schedule that will work so that I know when I am going to be doing all this stuff.
My To Do List:
FOR BLOGGING -
Try This Tuesday for next week.
Guest post for Writing to Serve. (Started this, but not done yet.)
Update on Read Together challenge.
Continue with Problogger challenges. (Still planning to do this one, just haven’t gotten a chance to get back to it yet.)
Go through folder of bookmarked post ideas/things to check out.
FOR MICHAEL –
Get notes together for upcoming IEP meeting.
Finish paperwork for visit to DAN! doctor.
Take Michael to buy birthday present for best friend.
Work on summer childcare/work arrangements.
Work on end of year thank yous.
WITH BOB -
Decide about hard drive backup.
Review and update budget.
Go over schedule for the next week.
Work on photo book for Sally.
Start planning trip to Illinois.
I’m really embarrassed that I haven’t posted anything since last week’s To-Do Tuesday; I think I need to add that to my list! I did manage to write my weekly post for 5 Minutes for Special Needs, but that’s about it.
So, here’s my to do list for this coming week, and I’m really hoping to spend some quality time blogging as well!
Read with Michael in the morning.
Read Little House books at bedtime.
Go to library with Michael.
MISCELLANEOUS -
Review school notes and email thoughts to team for IEP/BIP.
Close stamp party.
Complete photo book.
Do paperwork for M’s upcoming doctor visits.
Research computer hard drive options.
Start planning trip to Illinois.
I can’t believe how fast this week has gone! My routines are still going good, but the miscellaneous tasks just keep piling up. I may be getting a couple of days on my own to try to catch up a bit soon, which would be wonderful, especially since I had a bit of a meltdown on Sunday evening thinking about all the stuff that needs to be done.
A friend of mine reminded me that I usually get pretty stressed out this time of year, what with IEP meetings coming up and getting summer plans in place. There are also a couple of big autism-related events coming up. Once we get past the next month, things should settle down a bit for me.
Another part of the problem is that I take so much on my shoulders – trying to keep the house together since I only work part-time, handling all the paperwork and bills, researching and advocating for Michael, managing everyone’s schedule – and I don’t take the time to share it with my husband so we can tackle things as a team.
So my biggest goal for this week is to spend a few minutes each day talking with Bob about our schedules and our priorities so that we are on the same page with what’s going on and what needs to be done.
As for the rest of the list, I’ll do as much as I can!
Go through ASD HOPE pending items.
Check for library books that are due or on hold.
Check alternate email accounts.
Catch up on filing.
BLOGGING -
Update links on the rest of the posts imported from Blogger. UPDATE: I can’t believe I finally got this done!!
Research blog backup options for WordPress blogs.
Post update on reading challenges.
Write Try This Tuesday for next week.
READ TOGETHER CHALLENGE –
Read with Michael in the morning.
Read Little House books at bedtime.
Go to library with Michael.
MISCELLANEOUS -
Review school notes and email thoughts to team for IEP/BIP.
Make table cards and name tags for Mother-to-Mother Luncheon.
Follow up on approval for STAP.
Work on arranging childcare for this summer.
Research computer hard drive backup options.
Clean and grocery shop for stamp party Friday night.
Ask Bob to select photos for photo book.
Once photos are selected, upload them and finish the project.
Have Bob call stupid credit card company who won’t talk to me despite the fact that I am the one who makes sure they get paid every month.
Remember that security questions are for Bob and they don’t really care where MY dad was born.
I had to have a tooth extracted this week (yuck!), and I was already committed to helping with the local ASA Walk/Run last weekend (great turnout!), so my routines fell by the wayside for a couple of days. Luckily, I have been keeping up with them enough that the house is not a total disaster.
I am also adding my goals from the Read Together challenge to my list for the next few weeks. Hopefully, I can make some progress on knocking some things off the list this week!
My To Do List:
DAILY (I expanded on my routines on my other blog in case you want details.) –
Check for library books that are due or on hold.
Check alternate email accounts.
Go through ASD HOPE pending items.
Look through post ideas and start one new post from them.
ASD HOPE –
Update evaluation form for Empowerment Workshops and add topic survey.
Email flyer to professional contacts for distribution/posting. Print flyer and take to library to be posted. (We are completely out of printer paper, and I really can’t add one more errand to my schedule, so this is just not going to happen!)
BLOGGING -
Mail out books to giveaway winners.
Write about progress on Spring Reading Thing Challenge.
Write Try This Tuesday for next week.
Update links on the rest of the posts imported from Blogger.
READ TOGETHER CHALLENGE –
Read with Michael three mornings a week.
Start reading Little House books at bedtime.
Go to library with Michael once a week.
MISCELLANEOUS -
Follow up that STAP paperwork was submitted.
Review IEP and other team communication to prep for new IEP.
Make table cards and name tags for Mother-to-Mother Luncheon.
Make photo book (yes, this was supposed to be my SIL’s Christmas present, but in my defense I am waiting on my DH to make time to help!).
Buy cat carrier.
Get car washed.
This is the day to Change the Conversation! I can’t say it any better – this is the call to action from www.r-word.org:
It is time we SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD and this March 31 is a national day of awareness for America to stop and think about their use of the R-word. That R-word is not “recession,” but something more hurtful and painful – “retard.” Most people don’t think of this word as hate speech, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends. This word is just as cruel and offensive as any other slur. Visit www.r-word.org to make your pledge today.
There will be an “End the R-Word” post going up later today at 5 Minutes for Special Needs. If you post about this special day, please come over later today and leave a comment with the link to your post.
On a bit lighter note, we’re sharing about the fun and adventurous things we can do as families for this week’s Try This Tuesday. Come on over and check it out!
What would you say to someone who has just learned that their child has special needs? What do you wish someone had said to you?
If you have any thoughts to share on this topic, please leave your comment either here or on the official post. Or if you want to write a post that addresses this topic (or already have one in your archives), add your link to the Mr. Linky at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.
On a side note, I realized that at some point I stopped posting a link to Try This Tuesday here lately, so here are the ones you may have missed:
I am always brainstorming for new topics to use for this column and would love to hear any and all of your suggestions. (I’m begging here – a girl can only think of so many ideas all on her own!!) So shoot them at me, either here or by my contact form. I greatly appreciate the help.
Today is my son Michael’s 7th birthday! I can hardly believe it – I remember being amazed when he turned 7 months old, and now here we are with this big kid running around our house.
A few weeks ago, I got an idea to make him a scrapbook for his birthday. The plan was to fill it with positive words that describe him and would build up his self-image, which can often be very negative. He loves the alphabet, so I decided to make it go in alphabetical order. I used bright colors for the backgrounds and put them in rainbow order, which is also a must for him!
My friend Lisa and I got together last Friday night and actually put the entire thing together in a six-hour marathon scrapbooking session. I could never have done it without her help and expertise, and I am so amazed by the finished product that I had to share it with everyone.
Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more Tackle It Tuesday. I’m also over at 5 Minutes for Special Needs today, talking about Teaching the Value of Money. Whether you have a child with special needs or not, we’d love to have you join in and share your ideas on this topic.
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Autism/Special Needs
Tags: 5MFSN, being overcommitted, saying goodbye, simplifying, Try This Tuesday
