This year’s mother’s day was a little uneventful, but it did have its good moments.

Good things:

1.  sleeping in until 8:45

2.  reading for an hour and a half without any interruptions (I was reading Bloom by Kelle Hampton)

3.  going for a walk with all three kids and David and ending up at the park to play

4.  not making dinner

Braydon wanted to ride his bike on our "walk".

Payton decided to ride her bike too.

Bryce's wanted in on the action too.

Our walk ended up at Paintbrush park by our house.

My active Braydon climbing on top of the slide

My other great part about Mother’s Day was all the beauty treatments Payton gave me.  She painted my nails, gave me a massage, and gave me a new hairdo.  Here’s a picture of the two of us after Payton fixed my hair.

I'm trying to show off my nails in this picture too.

Bryce self feeding

Bryce has feeding issues.  We will go into lots of details regarding this subject as we go through this.  I thought to keep me on top of doing Bryce’s therapy on a regular basis, I should blog about it.  That way, I have to do the exercises every day and blog about it every day.

We really started working again in earnest at home yesterday.  Bryce has been attending a feeding group once a week for about a month now, but we really have to work on this stuff at home too.

One of the tools we are using to help Bryce learn how to chew is the Nuk brush.  

Bryce dipping Nuk Brush in Ranch

The next step is to dip actual food into the Ranch and hope that Bryce will bite down on it.  In this example, Bryce is using a very soft, overcooked carrot to dip in the Ranch.  He only licked the Ranch off of the carrot, but it’s a small step.

Video of Bryce dipping carrot in Ranch

Finally at the end of each meal, I have to give Bryce some actual nutrition because he can’t live on Ranch salad dressing alone.  He has just finished eating a puree of something, I can’t even remember what it was, probably chicken noodle soup thickened with wheat bread.

Video of Bryce self feeding

And that is pretty much it.  Tomorrow we will try using the giant bouncy ball to work on some oral-motor therapy.

Meredith, Stephanie, and Alane before Crescent Moon Tri 2011

My alarm went off at 4:45 am this morning.  I don’t recall waking up on purpose at that time in a really, really long time.  It was so early, I woke up with a headache from lack of sleep.  I planned on going to sleep early last night, like 9pm.  But, the light finally went out at 10:30 after I ready about 20 pages in the Hunger Games.  (we’ll come back to that topic later)

So, why in the world did I get up on purpose at 4:45 am this morning?  As the title of this post suggests, it was for my first tri work out since last summer.  This is my third year to train for a triathlon and it is also my third different triathlon team with which to train.  I have liked the last two teams I trained with, but the locations and times of work outs just didn’t quite work out for my family’s crazy schedule.  Apparently no one in my family is doing anything other than sleeping at 4:45 am so I thought that would be a great time to get a work out in.  I guess I don’t really need any sleep myself.

Anyway, back to 4:45 am, I rolled out of bed and the first thing I did before I even went to the bathroom was run downstairs to start the coffee pot.  (ours doesn’t have a timer, but I had set it up the night before)  I used to be one of those people who thought it was disgusting to drink coffee before a workout.  Apparently in my old age, I have changed my opinion on that subject.  I don’t think I would have been able to focus to drive to the gym at now 5:00 am if I didn’t have that coffee.

I somehow manage to make it to the gym by 5:25, just in time to locate the cycling room and be the only moron in the class who couldn’t adjust their bike themselves.  I finally get someone to help me and I’m ready to go.  The class is completely full, like 30 people.  Apparently other people get up at this time on a regular basis.  My bike was int he last row, but usually I feel like I’m racing everyone around me and go too hard and too fast my first day.  I tried to hold back today so that I can walk tomorrow.  Plus, after we did the class for 45 minutes, we were off to run 2 1/2 miles.  Normally I can run 2 1/2 miles easily, but they don’t call them “bricks” for nothing.  I just never seem to get used to running right after getting off a bike.  I did it and I even kept pace with two of the girls training for a half ironman.  WooHoo!

Day 1 of training complete:  45 minutes of indoor cycling and 2.5 miles run.  and DONE!

Bryce's Brigade 2011

Yesterday was Denver’s 15th annual Step up for Down syndrome Walk.  The purpose of the walk is to raise funds for Mile High Down syndrome Association and to raise awareness for individuals who have Down syndrome.  This was our third year to participate in the walk.  Families are encouraged to create a team and ask their friends and family to join them at the walk for a morning of food, games, music, and of course walking.  Our team name is Bryce’s Brigade and we didn’t quite make our fundraising goal this year, but that was due to a few factors.

Mer and Bryce at the SUDS 2011

Fundraising is a tricky subject.  Most non-profits during the never-ending recession have taken a big hit financially.  Most people do not have a lot of extra money to give to their favorite causes like they used to.  The other problem is that we are all hit up by so many different worthy causes, it is hard to decide to which cause to donate.  Before Bryce was born, our family didn’t have a big cause that we contributed to every year.  I’m a bleeding heart, so I always want to donate to anyone who comes to my front door or calls me on the phone.  Obviously now, our priorities have changed.  Currently we donate to Mile High Down syndrome Association, our children’s schools and our church.  But, there are so many other worthy causes I would like to help, but I like to stay focused on our main three non-profits.

Another factor in missing our fundraising goal is that you can only go to the well so many times.  For the past two years, we have been fundraising very aggressively for Bryce’s private school, the Rise School of Denver.  In June of this year, our family raised almost $4000 for the Rise School.  Just three months later, we felt we couldn’t really go back to the same people again for more money.  We’ll ask again next year.

Bryce's Brigade Team Tent

Do you contribute regularly to a cause, school, or church?  How do you decide where to donate your money?  How often do you think you can go to the “well”  when asking for donations.

There are other alternatives to medication.  In a recent ADHD study, children who watched fast paced TV shows like Sponge Bob Square Pants showed significantly higher signs of ADHD versus children who watched a realistic TV show such as Caillou.  I have heard this argument about commercials on TV as well.  The quick changes from one scene to the next that occur in commercials contributes to ADHD tendencies and their ability to focus in children as well.  Their minds don’t know what to do with all that action and they therefore begin to behave in the fast paced manner they observed.  The easy solution is to cut out most TV.  If that is too difficult, monitor very closely the kinds of shows your children are watching, preferably commercial free.

Another culprit in the cause of ADHD is the toxins in our food and in our environment.  Yet another ADHD study recently came out sighting pesticides found in our food can cause children to show symptoms of  ADHD.  The higher the level of pesticides found in the child’s urine, the higher the symptoms of ADHD that were observed.  The solution here is to only eat organic produce and avoid using bug spray.  There are natural bug spray alternatives available.  Experts concede that organics are much more expensive, but the price is worth it in terms of future health.

I believe that children should be able to get outside and have more free play as well.  When kids are required to sit at desks all day long, come home to do their homework, and sit around to watch TV all evening, no wonder they seem “hyperactive”.  American society seems primed to produce children who have ADHD. Between the environmental factors and our lifestyle choices, I’m surprised more children don’t show signs of ADHD.

What do you think is causing the rise in ADHD in the U.S.?  How should we as parents and educators help these children?

Recipe for Natural Bug Spray Repellent

1/4 cup Sol-u-Mel

5 drops of T36-C5 Melaleuca oil

1 tsp of Tough & Tender

14 oz of water

Mix together and spray on body.

Love, Courage, Honesty, Leadership

This weekend, my older two kids followed along with two neighborhood kids in some activities that were not OK.  They basically went around harassing other neighbors because they were bored.  My kids have never behaved like this before.  They are certainly not little angels.  My 5 year old, Braydon, is far from it.  He is the typical energy filled, active little boy who loves to ride his bike and play all sports.  At the same time, he is not mean spirited.  My daughter, Payton, has never gotten in trouble in school and has never intentionally been mean to anyone in her life.  Enter the new neighbors.  Ever since my kids have started playing with them, they have been getting in trouble all of the time.  From digging holes in the backyard, to saying bad words, to harassing the neighbors, these kids are not a good influence.

As a parent, this is new territory for me.  What do I do when my kids’ friends are a bad influence on them?  The obvious solution is don’t let them play with these kids anymore.  Easy enough said and in theory very easy, but these kids live 4 houses down from us and are always outside like my kids.  They certainly will not be having playdates with them anymore, but what about when they are all outside riding their bikes?

I did some research on this and up until age 5 parents are obviously the biggest influence on their children.  From age 5 to 15, their peers are the biggest influence.  After age 15, the values are pretty much instilled and if kids have behaved well until age 15, they will usually have enough gumption to say no when they shouldn’t do something.  Here I am at the beginning of this peer influence time and I’m already struggling.

Here’s what we did.  My kids can no longer play with those kids anymore.  For punishment, they had to do chores all day yesterday and are grounded for a week. We also had some long talks about being a leader and not following along with something when you know it isn’t right.  I have a book called 52 Family Time Ideas by Timothy Smith.  We did a lesson out of this book where you talk about what are our family’s most important values.  Then we created a family crest with the 4 most important values to our family.  We chose love, honesty, courage, and leadership.

How do you instill family values with your children?  Have your kids’ friends ever been a bad influence?  How did you handle it?

My husband and I along with Bryce and big brother, Braydon (Payton was at school) all headed to the meeting.  At the meeting were Bryce’s social worker, a school psychologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and Bryce’s special education teacher.  That is 7 adults total in one room talking about my little Bryce who is barely the size of a two year old.  The team was so great that they took turns playing with Bryce and Braydon while David and I listened to the assessments and the goals.  Some of this is really hard to hear.  It brings you back down to reality so fast when you hear exactly how delayed your son really is.

In our day to day life, we don’t have to think about his delays as much. Every time I take Bryce to a doctor’s appointment or therapy appointment, I am clearly reminded of what challenges we are facing with Bryce.  Usually after any appointment I have with Bryce, it takes so much out of me mentally that it’s about all I do for the day.  So, I go in spurts when I can handle going back to the doctor.  Right now, for example, is a huge spurt of appointment activity.  In two months time we will have seen or have already seen the pediatrician, occupational therapist, speech therapist, dentist, ear-nose and throat doctor, eye doctor, had a swallow study, had a school evaluation and now an IEP meeting.

My husband usually doesn’t accompany me because he is working.  He went today.  I think it just about destroyed him.  He didn’t say much during the meeting and afterwards he could hardly work.  He eventually just went outside with Braydon to play some basketball.

After a slap in the face of some reality the thoughts creep back in, what if he had been different?  What if Bryce didn’t have Down syndrome?  What if he was just a typical kid?

What was your first IEP meeting like?  How did it affect you?

Consider all of the activities that must be crammed into this time frame.

homework

sports practice/games rehearsals

dinner

playtime or rest time

How is a student going to fit it all in?

1.  Prioritize: You can’t do it all.  I personally struggle with this one.  There are so many worthy ways to spend your time, but it is imperative to choose your activities wisely.  How do you do this?  Ask yourself:  What are my goals?  Why do I want to participate in this activity?  What will I gain from it?  What will I lose from it?  Will I enjoy it?

2.  Personality:  What kind of person are you?  Can you handle being extremely busy, running from one activity to the next?  Do you need a lot of down time to keep a handle on your school work?  What are your family responsibilities?

3.  Performance:  If your grades start to slip because of your extra-curriculars, you are doing too much.  Re-evaluate in which activities you are involved.  Which activity can you take a break from to get your grades back to where they should be?  Can you cut back on part of an activity to allow for more study time or family time? There is a lot to consider when choosing extra-curricular activities.

How do you decide in which activities to involve yourself or your children?  How do you find balance?

1.  To make friends:  If you are a freshmen or a new student at your high school, extra-curricular activities may be the most important thing you chose to do in high school.  Most high schools these days are very large.  The one I taught in had around 1000 students per grade!  That’s 4000 kids in one school.  As you go through your day from class to class, it is sometimes difficult to meet new people as everyone is rushing this way and that way to get to class.  If you are involved in a club or sport, you will have more time to get to know some new people.  You also won’t get lost in the crowd as easily.  You will have a core group of friends upon which to rely.

2.  To have fun:  Let’s face it sitting in classes all day long, doing homework, and studying for tests may not be your ideal way to spend time.  If you choose an activity you enjoy doing after school, it will make your school life more interesting and fun.  If all you do is go to class, come home, do homework, and go to bed, you will probably burn out very quickly.  An activity you enjoy will make going to school much more bearable.

3.  To stay out of trouble:  This reason may be more for the parents.  Students that are involved in structured after school activities tend to have better grades and get in less trouble than their classmates who do not participate in extra-curricular activities.  If a student has no supervision between 3 and 6 in the afternoon with nothing to do, kids will find something to do.  Usually these activities are not productive.  Think sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.

4.  To get into college:  Most people know this one.  Colleges are looking for students who have passion for their interests.  If you play volleyball, tennis and are President of the French club, a college likes to see this type of involvement from their applicants.  It shows you can handle more than just school and are willing to go above and beyond what a normal student will do.

5.  Teaches time management:  When you are involved in extra-curricular activities, you will be much busier than the average student.  You will have to plan your time out between school work, practice or meetings, down time, and family time.  This is a very important skill to have for college and for life.

It is also very important to remember not to over-schedule yourself or your child.  In American society today, this problem occurs all too often and I will be writing a follow up post addressing over-scheduling.

What extra-curriculur activities do your children participate in or what did you participate in when you were in high school?