Earl and I took the kids to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" at the high school tonight. We knew the boys would like it, but weren't sure about Abby, so we went in two vehicles.
As it turns out, we could have all piled into the van. Everyone enjoyed the movie, which was a little scary at times, but mostly just silly. All five of us got in and the kids had a treat at intermission for under $20. (I heroically resisted the peanut M&Ms, even when Brian decided he only wanted half of his little bag.)
The best part about the whole evening was that we fully anticipated having to bring Abby home early, either because she didn't like the movie, or, more likely, because she might have gone into sensory overload, between the visual input, the audio, and being in a big hall with a lot of people. None of that was a problem for her. The hall wasn't crowded at all, and she thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which, mercifully, wasn't too loud for me, either.
It was...dare I say it...a normal family outing.
I'm feeling so blessed that those are happening once in a while, now. We actually took all the kids out to dinner a few weeks ago, and it was fine, too. No meltdowns. No throwing up. No sympathetic or curious or uncomfortable looks from strangers.
Tonight, after the movie, Timmy was pretty cranky, as it was way past his bedtime by the time he got into bed. I think that's normal, too.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Nuestra hija, la lider
We spent much of this past week preparing for Abby's annual IEP meeting. This involves reflecting on her current social and academic performance levels and figuring out how to move her ahead in both those areas. It's a big job, and sometimes it can be a bit of a downer, thinking about all the ways in which Abby will need special help in order to be successful.
We had a welcome boost this week, however. Abby came home on Wednesday with a leadership award from her school for her work in Spanish class. Her Spanish teacher cited her for her vocabulary proficiency, and wrote on the certificate that she "leads by example."
Here's the happy linguist with her award. We're all very proud of her.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Trina Aitken feature
Here is my feature on local singer/songwriter Trina Aitken. It ran in today's Patriot Ledger.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
This weekend's column
I've noticed that the Ledger is putting my weekend columns online on Sundays rather than Saturdays. I'm just glad they're still posting them!
Here is today's column, for your viewing pleasure (ha!)
Here is today's column, for your viewing pleasure (ha!)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Heavy metal pretzels
Now, if I were Dave Barry, I'd probably say that "heavy metal pretzels" is an excellent name for a rock band. But I'm not, and it probably isn't, anyway.
What it is, however, is an apt description of my first foray into pretzel-making yesterday. I love to bake, and have slowly been conquering my fear of baking anything that involves yeast. I've made a few simple loaves of bread, tea rolls last week, and I decided that yesterday, for a playdate with two of Abby's friends who love to bake, we'd try pretzels.
The playdate never happened, but the dough was ready, so I got Abby and Timmy to roll and shape it, which they enjoyed.
Then the recipe called for a boiling-water-and-baking-soda bath, using a large pot or a roasting pan. Figuring a wider, flatter pan would be easier to get the pretzels out of after 30 seconds, I got out my roasting pan.
The boiling water bath was easy, although the pretzels got quite plump as soon as they hit the water. Even though the recipe says it makes 8 pretzels, I bet I could have made at least 12 and they would have been big enough.
After the jacuzzi dunk, the kids brushed the pretzels with a beaten egg and sprinkled salt. A few minutes in the oven, and out they came. They were beautiful! We couldn't wait to try them.
When they were cool enough, I took one pretzel and divided it in thirds for Abby, Timmy and me. And they were delicious...except that somehow the baking soda bath had picked up the aluminum taste of the roasting pan. The outside tasted metallic and yucky, although the inside was very good (I hollowed out another whole pretzel to make sure!)
We will definitely try making them again, but I'll use my stainless-steel stockpot instead. No one likes heavy metal pretzels.
What it is, however, is an apt description of my first foray into pretzel-making yesterday. I love to bake, and have slowly been conquering my fear of baking anything that involves yeast. I've made a few simple loaves of bread, tea rolls last week, and I decided that yesterday, for a playdate with two of Abby's friends who love to bake, we'd try pretzels.
The playdate never happened, but the dough was ready, so I got Abby and Timmy to roll and shape it, which they enjoyed.
Then the recipe called for a boiling-water-and-baking-soda bath, using a large pot or a roasting pan. Figuring a wider, flatter pan would be easier to get the pretzels out of after 30 seconds, I got out my roasting pan.
The boiling water bath was easy, although the pretzels got quite plump as soon as they hit the water. Even though the recipe says it makes 8 pretzels, I bet I could have made at least 12 and they would have been big enough.
After the jacuzzi dunk, the kids brushed the pretzels with a beaten egg and sprinkled salt. A few minutes in the oven, and out they came. They were beautiful! We couldn't wait to try them.
When they were cool enough, I took one pretzel and divided it in thirds for Abby, Timmy and me. And they were delicious...except that somehow the baking soda bath had picked up the aluminum taste of the roasting pan. The outside tasted metallic and yucky, although the inside was very good (I hollowed out another whole pretzel to make sure!)
We will definitely try making them again, but I'll use my stainless-steel stockpot instead. No one likes heavy metal pretzels.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Vacation blues
This hasn't been the best vacation week ever. We had planned to go to Rochester, but our plans changed at the last minute.
Because we had planned to travel, I did not structure the week with activities here, so we've been winging it. I don't recommend this as a vacation week strategy. It was fun for a few days, but by the time the Tuesday snow arrived, we all had cabin fever and I realized I had to swing into planning mode.
I'd like to say we scoured the community calendar in the paper and packed our days with one educational, fun-filled activity after another. What we actually did was go to the Y in the mornings and plan a few playdates. I also had the singular privilege of making a huge food shopping run with three kids in tow. (To be fair, they really were very well-behaved in the store, but still, it's not my favorite thing to do.)
We've also gotten back into our practicing routines, which has been good. Abby is starting Minuet I, and Brian has pretty much conquered French Children's Song. He also put London Bridge together for the first time yesterday.
One highlight was that we took one of Timmy's friends and her mom to Boston Bowl yesterday afternoon for some candlepin. The kids had never been before, and I'd only been once, myself, having grown up in tenpin land. The kids had fun, but Brian was ultra-competitive and got very sad and disagreeable when he realized he came in second, even though it meant he had outscored me and all the kids. We had a long talk about sportsmanship last night, which hopefully will stick the next time we plan an activity like that.
Of course, no outing would be complete without at least one mishap. This time, Abby dropped her bowling ball on my friend's foot. Poor J never saw it coming, and was hobbling around for a little while. She later said she saw stars. I do hope she's okay today.
Abby had quite a bit of difficulty bowling. Her motor planning and spatial awareness problems both came into play, and the resulting efforts became painful to watch for me. (I feel strangely defensive, writing that. Please save your harsh comments and hear me out.)
I've been encouraged in recent months about Abby's progress in so many areas. Yesterday's bowling expedition was an undeniable reminder that she still has a long way to go. It left me feeling deflated and sad, even though she said she enjoyed the experience and didn't seem bothered by her difficulties in the least.
For me, it brought into focus that despite my belief that Abby fits in with her peers in most situations, there are some in which her disability becomes painfully obvious. I didn't appreciate the reminder.
Bowling mishaps aside -- if nothing else, this week has proven once again that several days of unstructured time is no good for Abby, or for any of us, really. She even said to me yesterday, "Going back to school will be a relief." I couldn't agree more.
Because we had planned to travel, I did not structure the week with activities here, so we've been winging it. I don't recommend this as a vacation week strategy. It was fun for a few days, but by the time the Tuesday snow arrived, we all had cabin fever and I realized I had to swing into planning mode.
I'd like to say we scoured the community calendar in the paper and packed our days with one educational, fun-filled activity after another. What we actually did was go to the Y in the mornings and plan a few playdates. I also had the singular privilege of making a huge food shopping run with three kids in tow. (To be fair, they really were very well-behaved in the store, but still, it's not my favorite thing to do.)
We've also gotten back into our practicing routines, which has been good. Abby is starting Minuet I, and Brian has pretty much conquered French Children's Song. He also put London Bridge together for the first time yesterday.
One highlight was that we took one of Timmy's friends and her mom to Boston Bowl yesterday afternoon for some candlepin. The kids had never been before, and I'd only been once, myself, having grown up in tenpin land. The kids had fun, but Brian was ultra-competitive and got very sad and disagreeable when he realized he came in second, even though it meant he had outscored me and all the kids. We had a long talk about sportsmanship last night, which hopefully will stick the next time we plan an activity like that.
Of course, no outing would be complete without at least one mishap. This time, Abby dropped her bowling ball on my friend's foot. Poor J never saw it coming, and was hobbling around for a little while. She later said she saw stars. I do hope she's okay today.
Abby had quite a bit of difficulty bowling. Her motor planning and spatial awareness problems both came into play, and the resulting efforts became painful to watch for me. (I feel strangely defensive, writing that. Please save your harsh comments and hear me out.)
I've been encouraged in recent months about Abby's progress in so many areas. Yesterday's bowling expedition was an undeniable reminder that she still has a long way to go. It left me feeling deflated and sad, even though she said she enjoyed the experience and didn't seem bothered by her difficulties in the least.
For me, it brought into focus that despite my belief that Abby fits in with her peers in most situations, there are some in which her disability becomes painfully obvious. I didn't appreciate the reminder.
Bowling mishaps aside -- if nothing else, this week has proven once again that several days of unstructured time is no good for Abby, or for any of us, really. She even said to me yesterday, "Going back to school will be a relief." I couldn't agree more.
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