children

Children: Our most valuable natural resource.

Following My Father, Palo Alto, Part Two
Our move to a house right across the street from Jordan Junior High School proved to make for a miserable year for me. Throughout my childhood, it often seemed that we lived in a place I liked a lot, moved to a place I didn't like, moved to a place I liked, and so on. This was not always the case; sometimes there were two places, even three, in a row where I felt unhappy.
By Caroni Lombard6 years ago in Families
Living in Uncertain times with a disability
Scary times! No politics here. No opinions here. Just uncertainty and fear! All I can do is speak from a perspective of someone with autism. These times would be scary to a typical person so to say that it is scary for someone on the spectrum, would not be surprising. Living in a house with four people on the spectrum can be challenging, to say the least, but trying to keep peace in a world that is so challenging is difficult right now. School has been disrupted in our house. Work has been disrupted in our house. Kids that knew and understood their schedules have been thrown into an unpredictable maze with no way out. Teachers are trying to reach kids through a computer screen that are hard to reach in a physical classroom. Kids that need a structured schedule are falling apart. I, for one, thought I could do this. I really did think I could reach my child on the spectrum. I had no idea that she would go out of control and her world would be so turned upside down that she would be unreachable. The only thing that helped, at all, was to put her back into school. Is it safe enough to put her back in a physical classroom? I have no idea, but it comes down to quality of life. I have three kids on the spectrum and myself. Crazy! I know! My sanity became a factor as well. I love teaching my kids at home, but at some point, I had to recognize that if I don't have my space, as well, I was going to lose it. I always say that people with autism need time to be in their autism bubble every single day. We work so hard trying to fit in and act like we are not on the spectrum. It is crucial that we make time for ourselves and get lost in our own passions. I have many passions that I have not been able to do in months. I love to write. I love to read about marvel. I love to blog and work on my photography. I love to work on projects I have at home. I love to play games with my kids. I love to watch binge-worthy shows on Netflix, etc. These are all so important to me. I'm obsessed with antenna tv and trying to find the most channels without paying for them. I love scanner radios. I love taking a bath. I love just having a few minutes to breathe. In these uncertain times, a lot of what allowed me to breathe easier, has been taken away. A few minutes just for me. A few minutes to calm is so crucial to the rest of my day. I have a passion for the news and being informed, but during these uncertain times, that can bring about more anxiety. The world we are living in, is very scary and I'm not even sure what tomorrow is going to look like. Two of my kids are back in school, but one has to be home because he is immunodeficient. We are just trying to make it through until tomorrow. We all are. We are all just trying to find our new normal, but there is really no way to find it when there is NO new normal. Every day is different and there is no place to settle. Imagine being on the spectrum during these times when your entire life depends on structure and certainty. Two of my kids with autism, well, I think I can say all three of them have anxiety issues. One of my kids on the spectrum has generalized anxiety disorder and her behavior has been out of control. Her fears have been dictating her every move and she is stuck in fight or flight. We can't blame her at all because after watching our news, from people taking over the capital to covid, we are all living in uncertain times just trying to find our new normal. I feel like our world is under attack and it is coming from within. I pray for our country and I pray for those on the spectrum that is trying to make sense where there is no making sense.
By Ann Kagarise6 years ago in Families
Following My Father: Palo Alto, Part One
My family left San Francisco at the end of fifth grade. Why? Beats me. Dad still worked at John Blum's firm downtown. We moved many times during the years he worked for him. I've written before about how nonsensical most of our moving seemed. Dad had wanderlust in addition to a tendency toward the geographical cure.
By Caroni Lombard6 years ago in Families
My Favorite Place
There is no speed control on the recliner so I have to gradually lay back into a comfortable position. Until I get to this place everything is a rush, hurry and go from here to there and quickly do that. The sound of the recliner slowly taking pressure off of every aching part of my body is like a lullaby to my thoughts. By the time it reclines completely, my thoughts are at rest and the worries of the day have almost disappeared. I close my eyes just for a few second and I am transformed from a world filled with worry and stress to my own world of no worries. Each element in this space has its own story.
By Skittlez Sneed6 years ago in Families
Obsessed with Cookie Dough
Do you ever smell something and it immediately takes you back in time? It happens to me every time I smell vanilla, any type of vanilla, scentsy burner with vanilla scent, perfume with a hint of vanilla or baking and adding vanilla into the ingredients. All of a sudden it’s like I am 11 again. That was the age I was when my sister and I first tried to make my moms chocolate chip dough cause we loved it so much. We wasted so much ingredients that summer trying to make that dough that our parents thought we were eating it, eating bags and bags of brown sugar, chocolate chips and vanilla. Ok now, we were unsupervised kids but we weren’t animals we weren’t scarfing down brown sugar by the spoonful. In fact if my parents ever went onto the deck attached to their room they would have found all the missing ingredients in a bucket full of dishes , dishes we bought at the thrift store so we didn’t have to do extra dishes because of our new baking hobby. We may have been kids but we were smart, we can try to make the dough and throw all the garbage and dishes from our failed attempts into the bucket we kept on my mom and dads deck. Looking back I don’t know if we were just dumb or if we were smart to put it out on their deck , they never did find it so I suppose we fall into the smart catagory. We even moved out of that house and cleaned everything except for that deck that held our secret failed cookie dough attempts.
By Crazieone6 years ago in Families
Who Cut the Cheese!?!
Once upon a time at an animal circus there was a curious baby skunk. After finishing her lunch the curious baby skunk wanted to find an answer to a question on her mind.
By Emmanuel Pace "Uncle Stinkee"6 years ago in Families
Helping a Child Adjust to Moving
Let me put this out there, I firmly believe that moving to a new house, and subsequently a new school, is good for kids. They learn that the world doesn’t end when they don’t see the same people every day. It teaches them to maintain relationships from a distance through phone calls and Instagram, and it helps prepare them for when they do actually move out on their own. There are a lot of good things that come out of it; however, that doesn’t make it any easier on kids.
By Alison MacMillan6 years ago in Families
My Wanting Approval, Asking Permission Life
I grew up in a poor Catholic family of eight children. My mother worked as a nurse’s aid when I was young, but quit when she knew she was going to have more kids. I ended up with four older brothers and sister, and then me, with one younger sister and two younger brothers. Being the oldest of the last four kids, I took care of them as if they were my own. I don’t remember much about it except my Mom seemed to be nicer when she was working.
By Jo Ann Harris6 years ago in Families
He's a little comedian in the making...
When my son Landen was almost 10 years old, his personality started to unfold. People would say, “he’s so cute…so well-behaved…is he always this quiet?” He is not. Cute yes, very handsome, he has his dad’s cute little face (I used to call him “sweet face” when we first started dating), but Landen inherited another trait from his dad - his sense of humor. I often think it was the laughter that captured me. I laughed my way right into motherhood, and then I stopped laughing.
By Zaira Grant6 years ago in Families
365 day journey
Today I think I want to talk about the boys. For the sake of my kids and me possibly putting this online, I am going to call my boys by little and big. This way, I can keep their identities safe. Or at least feel like I am. So for reference. Little is my three years old. Big is my 11-year-old.
By lakishia partridge6 years ago in Families
Three activities for kids while working from home
This school year has been one that looks like no other we have ever witnessed. In these weird times trying to work from home with kids running around—having a few activities for them in your back pocket is a necessity. That way when they come in for the 13,045th time to tell you that they are bored you have something to *hopefully* give you a few minutes of uninterrupted work time! How can this be done without sorcery!?!?! Allow me to share with you my magic—I mean activities!
By Birdie Smith 6 years ago in Families
Following My Father
We moved from the Oakland Hills to St. Helena in the Napa Valley shortly before the end of the school year in first grade. Dad's decision to move us at that time led to a crisis between my oldest sister. About to graduate high school from Oakland Tech, a school Winnie loved and felt proud to attend, she felt betrayed and refused to go. She arranged to stay with a friend for those last weeks of school.
By Caroni Lombard6 years ago in Families