Month: November 2010

Thanksgiving School–Day Four

On Thursday, we learned about the lives of people (both real and fictional) who lived around the time of the first Thanksgiving. We started with another book by Kate Waters: Sarah Morton’s Day. These books are very popular with Turkey and Bunny, because they really show what it would have been like to be a child in Pilgrim days, and because the children featured in them were actual residents of Plimoth Plantation (although these accounts are likely fictionalized). They learn everything from how they ate (children standing up), to what they wore (lots of petticoats for the girls!), to what kind of chores they had (lots of them!). And the photos are all set at Plimoth Plantation, so they really get a feeling for what the homes looked like.

As long we were learning about a Pilgrim girl, we also decided to also learn about an Indian girl in The True Story of Pocahontas. This is a “Step Into Reading” book, which made it perfect for Turkey and Bunny to practice reading aloud. They really like learning about real people, so this was a good book for them, even if they were once again confronted with some of the injustices found in history.

CPH publishes a book that we read every year–Thanksgiving: A Harvest Celebration. I really like this one because it doesn’t shy away from mentioning God, and the fact that we should still be thankful to Him, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day.

Since we had focused on Pilgrim girls, our craft was a Pilgrim girl which will eventually go into our paper plate Mayflowers. I found a package of these crafts at Jo-Anns for around $1 on clearance, and I’ll be able to use them for a few years, including with Ladybug when she starts school, so I’m very please with my find!

Thanksgiving School–Day Three

Wednesday found our focus on the Mayflower. We started with On the Mayflower, a book I’ve been hoping to get for the last two years. I managed to grab a used copy on Amazon this summer at a great price, and it was great to finish the series by Kate Waters that we’ve been using since Kindergarten (more on the other books in following days!).

We also got to read a book that I remember reading over and over as a child–If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. I love the “If You…” series, because the books manage to answer all the questions children have about different events in history. We learned how clean (or not) the Pilgrims were, what they ate, what they were allowed to bring onboard, and many other things.

We read a second book in the “You Wouldn’t Want To…” series as well: You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Mayflower. Even with all they learned about life on the ship, Turkey and Bunny thought that maybe they would have done it, anyway. They never cease to surprise me!

Our craft for the day was making a paper plate Mayflower. It will be partnered with later crafts from the week–we’ll be adding a pilgrim boy and girl to the ship. I love paper plate crafts!

Thanksgiving School–Day Two

On Tuesday, we started focusing more on the colonization of America. We started by reading Exploration and Conquest, book two of “The American Story” series, and discussing the treatment of the native people in North American by the European explorers. Turkey decided at this point that he doesn’t much like history, because of how badly the people were treated. It did give us an opportunity for a great discussion of the mistakes people have made in the past, and why it’s important to study history and learn from those mistakes.

We also read a more light-hearted book–You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Colonist. This is another great series, which focuses on the bad, bizarre, and occasionally gross things that have accompanied some of the most notable events in history. After much giggling and exclamation, we finished the book, and decided it was for the best that we were not early settlers in America!

In keeping with our colonial theme, we made silhouettes–Turkey and Bunny thought they looked really cool, but were definitely not fond of how still they had to sit to get the picture right. I loved how Turkey’s eyelashes were visible in his silhouette!

Thanksgiving School–Day One

On Monday, we began our eight-day long Thanksgiving unit in school. This is one of my favorite parts of every school year. We use many of the same books every year, and some of the same crafts, but we also read new titles, and find new things to make and do. There’s also always a field trip–in Kindergarten, it was simply a trip to Macy’s (after reading Milly and the Macy’s Parade), last year a trip to Cahokia Mounds, and this year, a trip to the St. Louis Art Museum to view the pre-Columbian and Native American art on display there.

So we dove right in on Monday, starting with the reading of two books. First was The Discovery of the Americas, which is the first in “The American Story” series, an excellent selection of books that introduces early American history to children.

We also read North American Indians, a repeat from last year, but a great introduction to some of the different tribes that have lived in America.

We started our “thankful turkey” on Monday, too (an idea inspired by previous years’ “thankful wreath” and “thankful tree”). Turkey and Bunny cut out the body and feathers, and after I hung the featherless turkey up in the school room, they each filled out a feather with something for which they are thankful. We will continue to do this every day of our Thanksgiving unit.

Our main craft for the day was designing and making Indian headdresses. This was a very fun activity, and it was fun to see how creative both Turkey and Bunny are, in very different ways!

Quote of the Day

You’ve never had a child. You don’t know what it’s like to watch your son… to watch him fall a little further behind every day. You know he’s trying, but something’s holding him back. You don’t know what it’s like to stay up every night worrying that maybe it’s your fault; maybe you did something wrong during the pregnancy, or maybe you weren’t careful enough. Or maybe there’s something wrong with you; maybe you passed on a genetic defect without even knowing it. ..This is important. You can condemn us for what we did. You can say it’s illegal or immoral or whatever you want to say, but you have to understand that we didn’t do it because we were ashamed, but because you were our son and we loved you.  Amsha Bashir, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

It’s the Little Things

When dealing with a child who has autism, it can be the smallest of things that make you feel totally helpless.

Moose hates getting his hair cut. Way back before he was ever diagnosed, we took him for his first haircut, and he totally freaked out. They basically asked us to leave the salon (I think that saying, “Maybe you could try to trim him up while he’s sleeping,” is code for, “Please get out of here before you scare the other customers away!”), and so I was faced with the daunting task of trying to cut his hair at home.

Now, this shouldn’t have been a big deal. I’ve been cutting Ryan’s hair for over a decade, and, as Turkey has his Daddy’s coarse (although not curly) hair, I’ve been cutting his hair, as well. A few passes with the trimmer, and they’re good to go. But Moose has hair more like mine–very fine, and kind of thin. So buzzing his hair doesn’t really work, because he ends up looking like he has mange–all you see is scalp (we did try it once or twice, though).

This leaves me with traditional comb and scissors cutting. But I’m not a stylist, and I’m not really sure how to go about it. I can cut the bangs straight enough (at least as straight as I see most other children’s hair–can you ever get a child to sit still enough for it to be perfect?), but the back mystifies me. I know it needs to be layered, so he doesn’t look like he has a bowl cut, or worse, look like a girl with a bob from the back, but I don’t know how to blend the layers properly. It ends up looking very choppy, and it’s obvious that it was done by an amateur.

And that’s where I feel so helpless. I already worry about Moose standing out because of his difficulties–while children with autism don’t have glaring physical differences, they do little things that make it clear that something’s off. I don’t want him to stand out even more because he has a haircut that was obviously done at home by his not-quite-competant Mommy. And yet, I have no choice. While we haven’t ventured back to a salon since that first time, I know that at this point, it’s not even an option. He still ranges anywhere from shrieking to sobbing uncontrollably anytime a haircut is even mentioned, and restraining him is a real adventure.

I just hope that when people see him, they show a little grace in their thoughts and reactions to him, instead of thinking that his parents don’t care enough about him to get him a proper haircut.

Soup Recipe: Beer and Cheese Soup

  • 4 ounces butter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup minced onions
  • 1/4 cup minced celery
  • Salt
  • Cayenne
  • 1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 pound sharp Cheddar, grated
  • Dash hot red pepper sauce

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes to make a blond roux. Add the onions and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted. Stir in the beer and stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Stir in the milk and cheese. Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and hot sauce. Reduce the heat and keep warm.

Four Little Indians

Today we started our “Thanksgiving School” studies. Our first craft was making Indian headbands. Turkey and Bunny had a great time designing and assembling their headbands, and were eager to show them off.

(In other news, I was asked *again* today if Turkey and Bunny are twins. This question neither surprises nor confuses me–as a matter of fact, most of the time, I’m tempted to just say yes. They might as well be!)

Anyway, later in the afternoon, Moose decided he wanted a headband, and Ladybug, of course, followed suit. Turkey and Bunny were only too happy to make another pair of headbands, and Moose and Ladybug were very excited about their new headwear. I even got the rare shot of all four of them, actually looking at the camera, because they were all so happy to have matching “Indian hats!”

The Best Day of My Life

I have had a lot of really good days in my 31 years. My wedding day, the day each one of my children was born, the day we moved into our house, to name just a few. But one day stands out in my memory as the best–the day Moose was born.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that his birthday was the best day of my life because he’s my favorite child–he’s not. I love all of my children equally. But the circumstances surrounding his birth, contrasted against those of his siblings, make it my most perfect delivery (if there is such a thing), and mark it as a very special, memorable day for me.

When Turkey was born, I had already been in the hospital on bedrest with pre-eclampsia for several days. I was scared, I was a first-time mother, and I was facing the frightening prospect of a c-section, which would also be my first ever surgery. Because he was technically a preemie (although only by a few days), Turkey was taken almost immediately to the NICU to be checked out (where they found he was just fine), so I didn’t get too much immediate bonding. Not ideal.

When Bunny was born, I was hoping to avoid another c-section. And so I labored for about 30 hours, before we made the hard decision to just go ahead with the repeat section before anything bad happened to either one of us. Upon her birth, they discovered Bunny had a low body temperature, and so they insisted on keeping her in a bassinet to warm for several hours. She was in the room with me the whole time, but I didn’t get to hold her for quite a while. Not ideal.

When Ladybug was born, I was facing the uncertainty of my fourth c-section, knowing for the first time the risks that were involved with multiple sections. I had also had some semi-alarming symptoms in the weeks leading up to her birth, and so I was terrified of what would happen when they cut into me. Of course, everything turned out OK, but I was scared for the last few weeks of the pregnancy and the entire delivery process. Not ideal.

Things were different when Moose was born. I knew what to expect from a c-section, and there was no doubt that that was how he was going to be delivered–and I was perfectly OK with it. I didn’t have any particular complications with the pregnancy, I didn’t really know the risks of multiple c-sections, I had just been breezing along through the pregnancy, so I had very few worries going into the surgery–there’s something to be said for being blissfully unaware. I got to hold him as soon as I was stitched up, and they let me keep him with me in recovery almost until the time I was sent up to my room. Great bonding time.

He was also born during my favorite time of year–Fall. It was late afternoon when I got into my room following his delivery, and the shadows were already starting to fall across the hospital, as the sun sunk low in the sky. When he was brought to me, it was so perfectly cozy in that room, just the two of us, in the quiet and the twilight. I remember thinking we were just like two birdies warm and snug in a nest, and wanting that feeling to never end. The Way You Look Tonight was playing on my iPod, and I remember thinking that the first lines of that song completely applied to that moment–that I would always be able to look back on that time, and remember how beautiful and perfect and special he was.

I think that God, in His infinite mercy, gave me that perfect day with Moose so I could remember it on the hard days with him: The day he was diagnosed; the day I had to send him to school for the first time; all the tough days when it’s so hard to see the progress he’s made for the struggles he has. When those hard times occur, I look back to his birth, and remember how happy I was that day, and I know that no matter what struggles we face, we will always still be those two birdies in the nest, content and peaceful to just be together, and I will always remember the way he looked that very first night.

Someday, when I’m awfully low

When the world is cold

I will feel a glow

Just thinking of you

And the way you looked tonight.

Soup Recipe: Cowboy Soup

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 1 can navy or great northern beans
  • 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies
  • 10-16 oz. frozen corn
  • 1 package dry ranch dressing mix
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • 2 cups water

Brown ground beef and onion. Add all canned ingredients, including liquid, and corn. When heated through, add taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix, along with water. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.