Turn-Around Day!!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Today has been a turn-around day. I love turn-around days.

Chores were extremely dragged out (literally all afternoon puttering with dishwashing that was started yesterday and is still not complete; we truly do not have THAT many dishes!) BUT the stairs and the front entrance floor are clean and the "on strike" phase is over. Hooray!!

Chef planned and made his lunches for the week (homemade potato patties with onions,tofu,hot chillis; sliced cucumbers; rice crackers; apple), ate two snacks, and ate two meals! There were no inappropriate verbal expressions, no inappropriate physical communications, and no disrespecting of boundaries. There were a lot of "yes, Mom" responses to reminders of what was needed to be done, and there were independently-initiated, appropriate strategies used as well.

We also spent some time talking about tomorrow. Given the weekend we've had following the first week of school and the reports of Chef's choices while not being presently able to have the supports that work best for him, I believe it is in everyone's best interest that we take a one-day-at-a-time approach to Chef being at home for the time being until the school hears back from the division regarding the requested emergency funding for full support for Chef. I talked with Chef about it this evening and we've made some plans for tomorrow. (I also called his bus driver who told me that Chef had told him he only got up a couple minutes before the bus on Thursday which was why he was getting dressed on the front step when the bus arrived. I let the bus driver know that Chef has 50 minutes to get ready every morning (including last Thursday) and has the opportunity to earn extra time by using the 50 minutes appropriately. While on the phone with the driver, I informed Chef that the driver was telling me what Chef had told him. After the call, I talked with Chef again about the importance of honesty and about his goal of what type of person he wanted to be and how he wants people to think well of him. We then talked about tomorrow's plan.) He'd like to do some WWI research online, and I'll also direct him towards some food-related research along with a related activity. We'll take the camera along and do a fall nature walk. Chef also said he wants to get back into learning how to draw and paint. Very cool. I hope he isn't just saying that because he thinks I'd like to hear that - though that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world either.

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....