Re: School Vacations

[Guest guest]

I feel your pain Amy. I hated vacations of any kind. And I did hire

someone so I could breathe. Like it?? Well, for my son like it consisted

of being left alone to watch videos. ANYTHING else was an intrusion. So

the question is: watchvideos or have someone watch videos WITH him? or get

out of the house yourself and leave him home with someone? Or have him

leave the house - even if to go to someone elses house!!

And yes - I hired people. There were not too many people willing to

volunteer for Elie watch - especially since my son was not toilet trained

for MANY YEARS!!!

>

>

> It's that time of the year when I start to dread the upcoming school

> vacation. Asher is such a sweetie but having him home all day every day for

> even a week makes me insane. Cold weather makes it even worse since we can't

> do outdoor activities (he hates snow and cold). I wish the school district

> provided some programming for special needs kids during school breaks. I

> honestly don't know what to do with him all day aside from letting him watch

> his beloved videos. It is so hard to engage him, he doesn't do well with no

> structure. My 4 month old is so demanding and needy as well as teething

> right now that even the thought of taking the two of them out somewhere

> alone stresses me out. I am going to look into camps for this summer, but I

> am wondering how you all handle school breaks with your sanity still intact.

>

> I am going to try to take him to a children's museum or something at least

> once during Christmas break, and there is always the mall. The library tends

> to be a nightmare especially with a screaming baby and Asher pulling out

> books and throwing them everywhere, so I don't dare do that alone. Ughhh!

> Any suggestions? I'm tempted to hire someone like a mother's helper who can

> devote some extra attention to Asher but I don't think he would like that

> very much.

>

>

>

--

Sara- different pathways lead to Nirvana.

[Guest guest]

Videos, breakfast, videos, bath, videos, lunch, videos, nap, videos, dinner,

videos, bath, videos, bed. Repeat every day until school starts again.

Sometimes alter videos with watching Wii bowling. Throw in 10 minutes of book

reading or music and dancing once in a while to alleviate parental guilt.

This was Darwyn's holiday last year (at age 4) and he was sooo content. Our city

was snowed in over the holidays and noone could get anywhere (we don't get much

snow and city shuts down when it snows). The only bad day Darwyn had was when we

shovelled out the car and drove to the mall for an outing (we were going cabin

crazy). He hated the mall trip, cried and threw his socks and shoes.

He also hates snow. Won't put his feet on it. He thinks it's wrong for the

ground to be white!

So my advice would be to get more videos and just go with it for this holiday

break.

Also, if you have anyone to come play with him that he likes, that would be

great, but I find strangers don't work well, Darwyn just leaves to go

and...watch a video!

Best of luck and don't push yourself to do too much. Just get through each day.

There should be an advent calendar that counts down to the first day back at

school!

Mom to Darwyn age 5 DS/ASD

, Canada

School Vacations

It's that time of the year when I start to dread the upcoming school vacation.

Asher is such a sweetie but having him home all day every day for even a week

makes me insane. Cold weather makes it even worse since we can't do outdoor

activities (he hates snow and cold). I wish the school district provided some

programming for special needs kids during school breaks. I honestly don't know

what to do with him all day aside from letting him watch his beloved videos. It

is so hard to engage him, he doesn't do well with no structure. My 4 month old

is so demanding and needy as well as teething right now that even the thought of

taking the two of them out somewhere alone stresses me out. I am going to look

into camps for this summer, but I am wondering how you all handle school breaks

with your sanity still intact.

I am going to try to take him to a children's museum or something at least once

during Christmas break, and there is always the mall. The library tends to be a

nightmare especially with a screaming baby and Asher pulling out books and

throwing them everywhere, so I don't dare do that alone. Ughhh! Any suggestions?

I'm tempted to hire someone like a mother's helper who can devote some extra

attention to Asher but I don't think he would like that very much.

------------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

hi

I think it would be a great idea for my 8 year old to come to your house to

play. She would fit so well into your mix. She also likes to play by

banging someone up side of the head and walking off like she has done

nothing. She will watch a movie,maybe 10 min. if you are lucky, however her

mind

is on figuring out what she could be doing to aggrevate. She has ADHD ODD,

OCD, ASD,DS . I am a single mom. My adult daughter lives on her own, so

it is just me and Eb. Life can be a real challenge at times!!

S

In a message dated 12/7/2009 9:10:05 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,

macookson@... writes:

Yeah, those vacations can be rough! I have an 8-year-old with ADHD/ODD,

who has a bday over break, too...and a 6-year-old who is being eval'ed for

Asperger's, and (4, DS/ASD) and Annika (3, ???). Four high-needs

kids...summers are rough! My hubby takes Christmas break as vacation time,

as well as the 3 days in the middle of spring break. With 4 kids, there's a

lot of playmates and something's always going on. But the bad news is,

's idea of " play " is often to throw a block at someone's head and then

run away. The 3-year-old plays very nicely with her brothers (when the

8-year-old isn't being difficult), I think wants them to play with HIM

but doesn't know how to ask. It's hard.

likes some videos but he's not one to sit and watch for long. He

likes going to his siblings' rooms and making a mess...or my room.

Bubblebaths are a good activity here. Or just bubbles, playing music and

dancing,

playing catch with a big ball ( will back-and-forth a little but

peters out fast). Play-doh is always a good time, or we make crumpled-up paper

" snowballs " and have a snowball fight. Dried beans in a bin make for a

" sandbox " inside.

Hth

Sent from my iPhone

------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos

of our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by

including them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives

for our list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/

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[Guest guest]

Our local ARC provides programming during breaks. Not sure if they have a

winter program (probably do) but I know they have programming for the 2

weeks before Extended School Year starts and for the 2 weeks it ends. Maybe

check with your local ARC or other agencies and see if they have anything

available.

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

Sullivan County, NY

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

_____

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf

Of Amy

Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 11:05 AM

To:

Subject: School Vacations

It's that time of the year when I start to dread the upcoming school

vacation. Asher is such a sweetie but having him home all day every day for

even a week makes me insane. Cold weather makes it even worse since we can't

do outdoor activities (he hates snow and cold). I wish the school district

provided some programming for special needs kids during school breaks. I

honestly don't know what to do with him all day aside from letting him watch

his beloved videos. It is so hard to engage him, he doesn't do well with no

structure. My 4 month old is so demanding and needy as well as teething

right now that even the thought of taking the two of them out somewhere

alone stresses me out. I am going to look into camps for this summer, but I

am wondering how you all handle school breaks with your sanity still intact.

I am going to try to take him to a children's museum or something at least

once during Christmas break, and there is always the mall. The library tends

to be a nightmare especially with a screaming baby and Asher pulling out

books and throwing them everywhere, so I don't dare do that alone. Ughhh!

Any suggestions? I'm tempted to hire someone like a mother's helper who can

devote some extra attention to Asher but I don't think he would like that

very much.

[Guest guest]

Yeah, those vacations can be rough! I have an 8-year-old with ADHD/ODD, who has

a bday over break, too...and a 6-year-old who is being eval'ed for Asperger's,

and (4, DS/ASD) and Annika (3, ???). Four high-needs kids...summers are

rough! My hubby takes Christmas break as vacation time, as well as the 3 days

in the middle of spring break. With 4 kids, there's a lot of playmates and

something's always going on. But the bad news is, 's idea of " play " is

often to throw a block at someone's head and then run away. The 3-year-old

plays very nicely with her brothers (when the 8-year-old isn't being difficult),

I think wants them to play with HIM but doesn't know how to ask. It's

hard.

likes some videos but he's not one to sit and watch for long. He likes

going to his siblings' rooms and making a mess...or my room. Bubblebaths are a

good activity here. Or just bubbles, playing music and dancing, playing catch

with a big ball ( will back-and-forth a little but peters out fast).

Play-doh is always a good time, or we make crumpled-up paper " snowballs " and

have a snowball fight. Dried beans in a bin make for a " sandbox " inside.

Hth

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest guest]

There is paint that is specific to be used in the bathtub. might be an

activity to keep a kid occupied.

>

>

> Yeah, those vacations can be rough! I have an 8-year-old with ADHD/ODD, who

> has a bday over break, too...and a 6-year-old who is being eval'ed for

> Asperger's, and (4, DS/ASD) and Annika (3, ???). Four high-needs

> kids...summers are rough! My hubby takes Christmas break as vacation time,

> as well as the 3 days in the middle of spring break. With 4 kids, there's a

> lot of playmates and something's always going on. But the bad news is,

> 's idea of " play " is often to throw a block at someone's head and then

> run away. The 3-year-old plays very nicely with her brothers (when the

> 8-year-old isn't being difficult), I think wants them to play with

> HIM but doesn't know how to ask. It's hard.

>

> likes some videos but he's not one to sit and watch for long. He

> likes going to his siblings' rooms and making a mess...or my room.

> Bubblebaths are a good activity here. Or just bubbles, playing music and

> dancing, playing catch with a big ball ( will back-and-forth a little

> but peters out fast). Play-doh is always a good time, or we make crumpled-up

> paper " snowballs " and have a snowball fight. Dried beans in a bin make for a

> " sandbox " inside.

>

> Hth

>

>

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

>

>

--

Sara- different pathways lead to Nirvana.