This blog was initially set up as a means of communicating with my son's team. Since then, I've heard from other parents with similar stories. If you are living with challenges or journeying alongside someone who is, you are not alone. There are many of us. I'm a single adoptive Mom (http://richesofsimplicity.blogspot.com/) of a young man who lives with many abilities and many diagnoses. We have journeyed together through many challenges and a few adventures over the years as my son has tried to find space in this world that makes him feel more comfortable, an attempt made especially difficult when living with Attachment Disorder, PDD-NOS (Autism), Developmental Coordination Disorder, ADHD, prenatal substance exposure, etc. Some of the strongest elements used in this journey have been music, visual arts, therapeutic parenting, team-connection, boundary-setting, boundary-setting, boundary-setting, communication skills, community-building, continual lifeskills training, and elements of Theraplay. (Click here for some written resources.) On this journey, there is laughter and tears and growth and hope. The greatest of these is hope.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Summer, 2010

The air is crisp with the promise of Autumn. Did someone famous already write that? I have no idea; I just know that the sky is clear, I've heard both ravens and crows today, and there is a crisp breeze nudging the branches of the evergreen tree outside my window.

School starts in two days. I'm still amazed that my son isn't damaging objects or himself in an attempt to make it all go away. At this very moment, he is doing one of his favourite activities in the world; cooking. He is singing and boiling eggs and looking forward to spending the rest of the afternoon learning how to do up different mayos/sauces. We might still go hiking later.

My mind has been reviewing the summer and comparing it to some of the "let's do" ideas we'd come up with before the summer holidays started. Camping? Check. Go-Karting? Was planned for the week we were in the city but was missed out on in exchange for sleeping by my teenaged son. Spending time by the river? See above. Picnics? We had two, and are planning to squeeze in more before the cold weather sets in. Birthday? Yes! My son helped prepare for and attended an at-home birthday party this year!

Summer, 2010
-Camping for a week with extended family
-Spent a week house-sitting and performing/volunteering at large cultural event in the city
-Some geocaching
-Apple-picking
-Attended our local Fringe festival's outdoor performances, an indoor venue, and a couple galleries
-Attended a local outdoor concert
-Time with new nieces/grandbabies
-Started collecting supplies for homemade Christmas gifts for our "no-buy Christmas"
-Cooking. Lots of cooking. See below.

One of our plans for the summer was to increase my son's food-prep repertoire. We succeeded.

Cooking/food-prep is an area we both enjoy. I love coming up with new ideas in the kitchen, and my son loves the hands-on experience of the actual creations.

This summer, we've - well, you can see for yourself! My food blog is at http://www.findthesimplefoods.blogspot.com/

Today we're aiming to work on homemade, flavoured mayos and exploring what else we can do with rice paper....
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