The Big Zoo Lesson

On Wednesday I went to the Potter Park Zoo with Zachary's 3rd grade class. He is spending the entire week there! They get to study one animal in depth as well as learn many other fascinating things. He is LOVING it. I was lucky because we went early so we could be a part of the penguin feeding! It was so fun and interesting. We even got to go behind the exhibit and see a few penguins very very up close. Here is zoo keeper Dennis feeding the penguins their breakfast! Here is a photo of Zachary (in the center) with Tommy (left) and Jonathon (right) by the penguin exhibit.

We had an hour of observation at the lemurs. What a treat!!! This day we were focusing on habitats. As soon as we arrived they came out of hiding and walked over to the corner of the exhibit with sunshine. They would sit with their legs out in front and hold their arms out to the side soaking up the sun. One child said it looked like yoga. I said they were doing their sun salutations! They loved this idea. They did look so calm and happy. I feel that way too sitting in the beautiful sunshine soaking it up. A few of the zoo staff stopped by and were intrigued. They stopped and took pictures too. So it can't be that common? This one in the picture is checking me out. The girls loved that the females make all of the decisions for their group and are matriarchs. The females are in charge. . . but really, aren't we always?

Here are a few of the kids doing their best lemur impression and their own sun salutations. Regina (left) Zachary (middle) and Cora (right). We really lucked out that day. It was glorious. As you can tell by the lemurs, and the kids!

Thursday morning Zachary was going off to school and he said, "mom, yesterday was the best day at the zoo yet." "We got to watch the penguins get fed, the lemurs were active and the best part is you were there too". Thanks Zachary. I had fun with you too! What a sweet kid.

The first chilly day of the school year

Well today was the day. The day I dread every year. The day that it is 50 degrees in the a.m. with a high of only 63 degrees. Now I will start off on a positive note and say things are millions and millions of times easier than they used to be. It used to literally take me WEEKS of screaming to get Daniel to make the inevitable switch from shorts to pants. It was a long and painful process and usually, when we were finally there we would have a rouge 80 degree day, then he would scream because he didn't want to wear shorts. It was, in a word, exhausting.

But things have improved greatly. More than greatly. This morning I was on the way to the bus stop with Zachary. Our schedule is I tell Daniel I'm going to the bus stop. This is when he usually gets off of the computer, goes upstairs, gets dressed, makes his bed, brushes his teeth and then goes back to relaxing until it's time for school. Today I rather breezily said, "oh, by the way, it will be cooler today, you might want to wear pants and a short sleeved shirt". Daniel says, "ok". Then I RAN out the door before he could change his mind. (Wimp)

I came back rather quickly from the bus stop. (sometimes I stay and chat for 5 or 10 minutes) because I thought, "I wonder how his pants will fit him?" I never go out school shopping in August when everyone else does. It's always 85 degrees and I can't seem to get the kids to try on their clothes (ok, I mean Daniel) and I would rather sort through them when they are at school. Well, between the lice week, my friends father dying and organizing things for her, and volunteering, I hadn't gotten around to it yet. So today snuck up on me. So I get home and sneak upstairs and Daniel is sitting on his bed with pants in his hands. He is trying to put them on and they are literally stuck on his thighs. "I can't get them on". So I start going through pants. About 12 pair of them. All the same. Can't get the on. He's a bit upset, but not really, I can see him teetering on the edge. I finally pull out a pair of Gap sweatpants that used to be rather large. Jackpot! Off he goes.

So what did I do today? Shop. Rather unsuccessfully I might add. It's not easy finding him pants. He needs "Husky". Daniel is not overweight, at all. In fact I'm always told he is in perfect proportion. He is wide and solid as a brick wall. He's 5'4". So in other words, he needs at least a 16 husky. Did I mention he can't button? So in addition to a husky size 16 they can't have buttons. So I went to Sears where they now carry Lands End. For those who need a tip. Lands End has the perfect pants for kids on the spectrum. They look good, they hold up really well, they have elastic waist and they come in slim, regular and husky. Something for everyone!! Well, Sears didn't have any husky. I went to Gap, neither did they. Children's Place was empty practically. I came home, went online and spent over $300 at Land's End.com. They'll be here in about 4 days. Hmmmmm. maybe I SHOULD have done this in August.

Food Glorious Food

For a parent with a child on the autism spectrum you only have to say the word "food" and that parent will start twitching. It is a source of torture. What do they say (whoever they are)? That for a "regular" kid you have to present a new food to them, I don't remember, 50 times before they may try it? OK maybe not that long. But my perspective on this topic went out the window a loooonnngg time ago. Whatever the number is you must have to multiply it by 100, at least, for a child with autism. Daniel's food repertoire is very limited. For those who are earlier in this process of autism, the only thing I can say is keep trying. Daniel turns 12 next month (what?!?) and in the past few years his vegetable intake has increased dramatically. It took only what, 8 or 9 YEARS. But it happened. That sums up the lives of people living with autism. Slow but sure, try try again. It all fits.

What I'm getting to is pizza. Ahhhh pizza. It's a food that I could eat, pretty much at every meal and be perfectly happy. Maybe 100 pounds heavier, but happy. I don't get sick of it. Ever. Now Daniel has a thing about cheese. He has since about age 3. That is when a lot of his food habits changed. Dramatically. But at a young age I made him macaroni and cheese. Every kid likes that right? I put it in front of him and he started gagging. Immediately. I quickly swept it away and never did that again. We don't eat it either, but I was trying to find SOMETHING he'd eat. That is sort of opposite most kids with autism. A lot of them that I've encountered live on mac and cheese. Not us.

I have been giving Daniel "my crusts" when I eat pizza for a long time. He loves the bread. He would inspect it very carefully to make sure there was nothing that resembled cheese on that crust. Then eat it. Well, last week at our neighborhood picnic someone brought 2 pizzas. I grabbed him a piece and put it on his plate. Try try again, right? All he had eaten thus far was cantaloupe, watermelon, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. He won't eat hot dogs, which were being grilled by a neighbor. He did at one point, but that is long gone. I handed him his plate and walked away. I came back to find out he ate it. The whole thing! Now I know he would never eat a pizza that was really cheesy. Those long strings of cheese would send him running from the room. But a cheap $5 pizza that barely has any cheese. He seems to be accepting. He had pizza for lunch yesterday. He asked for it again today. He is trying to eat it right now as a I type but he is barely getting it down. It doesn't seem to be going well. He keeps saying "it's just dough". Trying to convince himself there is no cheese. I haven't said there is or there isn't. I just smile. I am so desperate for an alternative. I don't even care if it is healthy.

Currently he eats; a plain hamburger, a brat, or plain waffles (a very specific kind you understand?) Granted he may have a variety of fruits with it. Or he'll eat green beans, broccoli, carrots, corn on the cob, a "salad" (it is actually a bowl of plain romaine lettuce). I try to balance the fattening foods with the good ones. As much as possible. But pizza is accessible. If you are on vacation, you can find it places. It would give us some small amount of flexibility. At least with him. I still have Zachary who is allergic to milk and eggs. Try feeding him at a restaurant!

Bus Stop

I thought I'd show evidence of Zachary's new haircut. I didn't do too badly considering it was dark and we were outside on our deck (not to mention in a panic). He's happy with it so that's a plus!

Our bus stop is awesome. We are lucky enough to get dropped off at our neighborhood's park. This year there are a ton of kids. Pictured to the right in order are Gavin (2nd grade), Zachary (3rd grade) Jacob (Kindergarten). Don't they all look so happy? It's a great day in the neighborhood. Especially if everyone else stays lice free. . . . . .. hope, hope, hope, pray, pray, pray.

Creepy Crawlies

Well, it finally happened. After years of dodging bullet after bullet, the Sneathen's finally came down with the L word. Only parents of elementary school kids, would think of the the L word as the dreaded lice. Zachary, my poor unfortunate child, REALLY came down with it. I thought I was diligently checking since a neighbor's family had it. Ok, maybe not diligently, but I was checking. Todd said he was too. Zach was itching some, yes. But you would think with what we eventually found in there he would have been screaming from the rooftops. So Labor Day night after his shower I was drying his hair and looked and saw actual bugs crawling around. My body and brain immediately went into overdrive and started itching. Now when you are a hypocondriac like myself as soon as someone says the word lice I am scratching my head and asking Todd to check me.

My next thought was that we had just been to two separate houses on two days with parties full of kids. Oye. I am so kicked out of the 'hood! Plus Zach had spent most of the last week a boys house 3 doors down who was starting his first day of kindergarten the next day. I pretty much started sobbing just thinking of calling these people.

But back to poor Zachary. We ran out to the drugstore to buy a lice treatment immediately. (again, by we I mean Todd). So after washing my 8 year olds head in a neuro toxin (not easy to do when your other child is not neurotypical), picking through his hair for hours and starting the endless process of washing everything in your house in hot water and drying it within an inch of it's life. By then it was about 1:30 am. Todd fell asleep and so did I for exactly 90 minutes. Then I woke up to stomach cramps (due to complete panic) and was up the rest of the night praying that Daniel wouldn't get it. How do you treat someone who will barely let you wash his hair? Of course by this time I was worked into a total frenzy thinking I was covered in bugs. Zachary was upset because he would be missing the 1st day of 3rd grade. Daniel was wonderfully oblivious to the whole thing.

Tuesday I was calling my Dr. trying to get my head checked and get a prescription for Ovide, recommended by my neighbors who used it and swore by it. But talking about neuro toxin! So by Tuesday night, after spending about 5 hours thus far nit picking (now I know where that saying comes from) I was still finding very tiny newly hatched live lice 24 hours after initial treatment. NOT GOOD. So I said "Zach, how do you feel about a hair cut?", his response, "whatever it takes mom". So my child who has the most beautiful hair on a boy. It gets auburn highlights in the summer, he had a great cut. I brought him onto our deck at 9:00pm, in the dark, with one spotlight on him, and proceeded to cut. All the live lice were in the longest part of his hair. It had to be done. This is one of my best decisions to date. After another exhausting day I called the pediatrician (for the second time) and chatted (ok begged) for something else to do. My neighbor Alice had a suggestion of the "Cetaphyl treatment". Whatever, I'll try it. I got the supplies, went back to the deck (it's messy) and got to work. It's quite a treatment, but it is not a neuro toxin and if you try it, follow each and every direction and don't think, oh I don't need to do that, I'll just massage it in. Nope do it all. see www.nuvoforheadlice.com. We went from, I am not exaggerating, maybe a thousand eggs, to about 20 that night and no live lice. From Cetaphyl. It was a miracle. We are still checking him twice a day and using the nit comb. As well as checking Daniel with the comb every day. I did give Daniel the otc treatment, but I don't think it works. I was just impressed with myself that I got him to use the shampoo! Todd used the otc and the prescription. Yesterday combing with the nit comb I found some in my hair. (after the Dr said I had none). I used the prescription on me. You leave it on for 8 or more hours. So I'm walking around looking like I don't know what and had to go to the school. So sad.

So here I am, 4 days later, my washer and dryer have never stopped. I am still thinking of things I need to clean. Everyone's at school, but we are still picking through hair twice a day. What a way to start the school year. None of the neighbors have found anything yet. Not that I've heard of anyway. But then again, maybe no one is talking to me!