LDS social group...how was your Sunday?

[MamaSheep]

My Sunday...hmmm.....

 

Woke up with some pain (from current temporary medical issues) so I took some meds for that, which meant dh had to do the driving. Dd has had a stomach bug for a couple of days so I checked in on her and she said she didn't feel very good and just wanted toast for breakfast. So I figured I'd be staying home with her. Went downstairs and found ds sprawled on the couch. He said he had eaten a couple of Pop Tarts (which he does sometimes when he's up much earlier than I am and gets hungry) and was seriously regretting it because his stomach felt like he'd been eating rocks and he might throw up. At that point I figured he could stay home with dd (they do well together at home alone and the church is less than 5 minutes from our house so we could be there fast if they called dh's cell phone) so I made toast for dd and then went and took a bath (because we have 11:00 church now and I had time to soak a little, which helps with pain management). When I got out, everyone had their church clothes on and were ready to go to church. Apparently dd decided that she felt well enough to go to church after all, at least for sacrament meeting, after she'd been up a little and had her toast. Ds decided that if SHE could stick it out, HE could too. So we all went to church. After the sacrament and about 2 testimonies, ds said he didn't think he could stay at church anymore after all and could we please take him home now. Dd said that she wasn't feeling well either and had been going to ask to go home at the end of the meeting, but she didn't want to make dad drive back and forth that much (she's thoughtful that way). Dh said he wasn't comfortable with the two of them home by themselves when they were both sick because although they're usually fine, ds can sometimes be a bit "off" in unpredictable ways when he's sick (a very valid point), and since I couldn't drive due to the meds and it's also not smart for me to be out walking on the ice, dh dropped me and the kids off at home. I put on a conference session and pieced two squares for my Dear Jane quilt with the puppy curled up by my hip while the kids had a long snooze upstairs. It was very peaceful. I think I'm going to have to listen to some more of the talks from that conference again, I had forgotten how good they were.

[DianeW88]

AMY!!!! So glad you're back!! We missed you! :D

[MamaSheep]

Thanks. :)

 

I'll probably be a little sporadic for a while still. I'm feeling like I've got a lot on my plate and trying to focus on the essentials. I'm getting a "day off" today due to my student having a stomach bug.

[ashfern]

I got moved to the room with the attached bathroom. :hurray: It has the tiny toilet and shorter sink. So much easier for my Sunbeams. And I can control the temperature & we have windows & it's at least 3 times the size of the other room. :thumbup: This year we're working on having the kids memorize the Articles of Faith. I need to write a letter for the parents to let them know to work with the kids at home.

 

My younger two were horrid during Sacrament meeting. My husband sits on the aisle and somehow ignores it all. I'm stuck in the middle and can't get out without tripping over kids. :glare: I'm about ready to sit in overflow instead of the comfy padded pews.

[garddwr]

Stepping tentatively here...I've been thinking about the discussion of special needs kids and church. I keep having the nagging thought that challenges people describe with their autism spectrum kids sound an awful lot like my 7 year old son. It's not the first time I've wondered if I'm dealing with something more than just a quirky kid. I know the special needs board would be the best place to ask this question, but I'm going to ask it here because I'm comfortable talking to you guys and I know some of you have experience with these kids. I need someone with more perspective to tell me if I am dealing with just a quirky kid or something more.

 

This is my 7 year old son: http://growingwisely.com/2012/05/22/the-cartographer-at-work/

He's always been a unique kid. Here are a few things that stand out:

 

Numerous sensory issues--from sensory-seeking behaviors like running and banging into people, to wearing only soft, loose clothing (for a whole year he wore nothing but nightshirts--that is, adult size t-shirts--and boxer shorts in the house; he would put on regular clothes when we were going somewhere, but change back the moment we got home). He is also my picky eater, and I think that is also sensory.

He talks differently than most people. I've never quite been able to describe what he does; it seemed when he was learning to talk that it took a lot of effort (mental effort) for him to talk. He used to have a very sing-song tone to his speech, though that has lessened over time. I still get the feeling that expressing himself in words takes effort--often there will be pauses between words, as. if. there. were. periods. in. between. He has a few articulation issues as well, which we are finally getting speech therapy for.

We have had mixed success with social situation. Generally he gets along well at home playing with his siblings. He will play with other children, but so far my attempts to help him build friendships with other boys have fallen flat, he just doesn't seem to connect. At church he almost always needed a parent at his side until the last year and a half. I was primary chorister when he was in sunbeams and he used to hold on to my leg or lie on the floor behind me. There are times when he just withdraws and won't interact--my interpretation is that withdrawal happens when he is not sure of himself in a social situation, not sure of expectations of that he can meet expectations. We run into this a lot with music lessons--he is very musical, and has actually made a lot of progress this year on both cello and piano--but we spend about half of each lesson just trying to get him to play something--anything--for his teacher (who has the patience of a saint!). At home he does all of his practice on his own because the more involved I am the less he will do. It's as if any outside direction or expectations overwhelm him, whatever he does has to be internally motivated and directed. We run into similar issues with school; when he latches on to something (like the map drawing in the blog post above) he really runs with it, but he doesn't accept a lot of external direction or instruction. For example, I can schedule math and tell him it is time to work on it, but he balks if I try to assign particular problems or directly teach him a lesson (fortunately math is pretty intuitive for him or we would be in real trouble.) He has also been refusing to say group prayers or to read during family scriptures--even though he reads well and will sometimes sit down and read a picture book to the younger children (so it's not a problem with reading aloud in general). I really haven't figured out what is holding him back there, except maybe a general anxiety.

We've also been having a lot of meltdowns lately--something upsets him and he goes off into long bouts of loud, wailing crying. Which upsets my husband. Which is the main reason I'm wondering seriously about whether we need an evaluation and a possible diagnosis of some kind. Only figuring all of this out seems impossibly complicated and I don't even know where to start. It has taken me several years just to figure out how to get speech therapy started. sigh.

 

So does any of this sound familiar? What do those of you with experience think--is this just as somewhat quirky but more or less normal kid, or???

 

Thanks for listening. I may delete this post eventually as it is more information than I normally share about my children.

 

--Sarah

[gardenmom5]

yes - that sounds like it's worth having him formally evaluated for spectrum issues. I would suggest going through an autism clinic with your local children's hospital or medical school. they will screen, and decide if there needs to be more testing or what areas would be helpful to get more information in.

 

I like that your son does maps. My son limits it to battleships, cruisers, subs, destroyers - and he knows the diffrence and they are remarkably detailed. and lots of explosions.

 

My son had evaluations with teams from the following areas:

physical,

speech,

audiology (if I'd know it was JUST going to be can he hear, I wouldn't have done that section. I still have to have him evaluated for auditory processing disorder somewhere else.)

psychologist

OT/PT

nutrition was another waste of time - I take my son to a DAN! and we've had some great progress with her. we discovered he has a mutation that affects biochemically and treating that has been helpful.

(my son has been seeing a developmental optomitrist since he was 11 months.)

 

 

an OT clinic specilaising in sensory processing disorder can diagnose the sensory related stuff, and help some in that area, but you really want to do more.

also, regular bilateral activities are helpful for the sensory stuff. swimming, bike riding, horseback riding (works the core), martial arts, gymnastics, climbing, etc.

[welovetoread]

Dug up some old conference talks over the last few days and I have been really enjoying them.

[welovetoread]

February 15th.

[Xuzi]

Yay!! May you and your family have a blessed day!

[Forget-Me-Not]

February 15th.

 

Congrats!

[linguistmama]

Woohoo!!!

[Heidi]

What do you guys think of the PREPACKAGED #10 cans available at canneries? This is food packed by volunteers at the cannery. So instead of going to the cannery and packing your own food in #10 cans, you just go and pick up the food already packaged.

Is the prepackaged food for people who have a difficulty packaging their own food? Or is it for anyone? Why go and pack your own food if you can buy it packed already?

 

I am the emergency preparedness specialist for my ward. The closest cannery is 4 hours away. My plan is for ward members to buy the 25lb bulk bags of food, someone goes and picks up the ward's order, and we can it at the ward building with a canning machine we have.

 

Someone from my ward is wanting to order the prepackaged cans because that is what the last ward emergency specialist did. I personally think it is taking advantage of other people's work when you can do it yourself.

 

What do you think?

 

I called the cannery and left a msg on the machine to ask about it. They haven't called me back yet.

[garddwr]

What do you guys think of the PREPACKAGED #10 cans available at canneries? This is food packed by volunteers at the cannery. So instead of going to the cannery and packing your own food in #10 cans, you just go and pick up the food already packaged.

Is the prepackaged food for people who have a difficulty packaging their own food? Or is it for anyone? Why go and pack your own food if you can buy it packed already?

 

I am the emergency preparedness specialist for my ward. The closest cannery is 4 hours away. My plan is for ward members to buy the 25lb bulk bags of food, someone goes and picks up the ward's order, and we can it at the ward building with a canning machine we have.

 

Someone from my ward is wanting to order the prepackaged cans because that is what the last ward emergency specialist did. I personally think it is taking advantage of other people's work when you can do it yourself.

 

What do you think?

 

I called the cannery and left a msg on the machine to ask about it. They haven't called me back yet.

 

I have bought the prepackaged food before, I don't see a problem with it. Yes I am benefiting from someone else's service just as I benefit from those who serve in bishoprics or in the temple or organize stake baptismal services or plant flowers at Temple Square or act as ushers for General Conference or...I try to serve when and where I am able and gratefully accept the service of others who are doing likewise. This past year my family had the opportunity to weed onions on one of the church-owned farms. I imagine some of those onions are now available in dehydrated form through the church canneries. I suppose everyone could grow, weed, dehydrate, and can their own onions if they are concerned about not taking advantage of anyone else's work when the could do the work themselves, but I don't think that is really necessary ;) That being said, the canneries usually have a lot more variety available in bulk than what the church sales pre-packed, and I believe it is also slightly less expensive; there are definitely advantages to doing things the way you plan.

[MamaSheep]

Sarah - I agree with Kristin that it sounds like it would be worth having him evaluated.

 

welovetoread - :grouphug: !! Wish I could be there!

 

Abigail - I don't know all that much about it, but my understanding has been that the pre-canned food at the cannery is whatever was left in the opened bag after someone who was purchasing and canning food got the amount they wanted. You don't have to buy a whole bag, you can buy just a can or two, but once the bag is opened you have to can all of what's in it so it doesn't get spilled or contaminated. So then they put the extra cans on the shelf for whoever does want to buy it. The last time I was there they were having us check the already canned stuff to see if there was enough for what we wanted before we went and opened another bag. But I'm not really sure if that's the case everywhere, your cannery might have a different arrangement or something.

 

I also know that in at least one ward we've lived in we weren't allowed to use the church meetinghouse for canning because of food handling regulations and insurance issues, but we were able to have a canning party like you're talking about at a ward member's house because the regulations were different for private homes than for public buildings or something. I forget all the details, as I wasn't in charge and it was a while ago.

 

I suspect the people at your cannery will be able to answer all your questions and some you haven't thought of yet. Good luck!

:)

[Heidi]

I have bought the prepackaged food before, I don't see a problem with it. Yes I am benefiting from someone else's service just as I benefit from those who serve in bishoprics or in the temple or organize stake baptismal services or plant flowers at Temple Square or act as ushers for General Conference or...I try to serve when and where I am able and gratefully accept the service of others who are doing likewise. This past year my family had the opportunity to weed onions on one of the church-owned farms. I imagine some of those onions are now available in dehydrated form through the church canneries. I suppose everyone could grow, weed, dehydrate, and can their own onions if they are concerned about not taking advantage of anyone else's work when the could do the work themselves, but I don't think that is really necessary ;) That being said, the canneries usually have a lot more variety available in bulk than what the church sales pre-packed, and I believe it is also slightly less expensive; there are definitely advantages to doing things the way you plan.

 

 

Abigail - I don't know all that much about it, but my understanding has been that the pre-canned food at the cannery is whatever was left in the opened bag after someone who was purchasing and canning food got the amount they wanted. You don't have to buy a whole bag, you can buy just a can or two, but once the bag is opened you have to can all of what's in it so it doesn't get spilled or contaminated. So then they put the extra cans on the shelf for whoever does want to buy it. The last time I was there they were having us check the already canned stuff to see if there was enough for what we wanted before we went and opened another bag. But I'm not really sure if that's the case everywhere, your cannery might have a different arrangement or something.

 

I also know that in at least one ward we've lived in we weren't allowed to use the church meetinghouse for canning because of food handling regulations and insurance issues, but we were able to have a canning party like you're talking about at a ward member's house because the regulations were different for private homes than for public buildings or something. I forget all the details, as I wasn't in charge and it was a while ago.

 

I suspect the people at your cannery will be able to answer all your questions and some you haven't thought of yet. Good luck!

:)

 

 

Thank you! That makes sense. I guess I just need to talk to the cannery.

[prairiewindmomma]

1. MILs.....Diane W., my MIL has very similar issues....down to the weekly need to bleach her hair and get it blown out. She's a compulsive shopper as well.... Thankfully we are the ones living way far away. We offered to have them come live with us years ago when they were about to lose their house, and I'm grateful they turned us down.

 

2. spectrum issues: my ds no longer qualifies as being on the spectrum (on a good testing day), but he has major attention and sensory issues. I would suggest getting evaluations done if you think the behavior is a problem or he thinks behavior is a problem. We have had many autistic children (all along the spectrum) come through our primary. I've dealt with it on both sides...both as a teacher/leader and also as the parent of 3 special needs kids.

 

3. cannery food: I don't have a problem with ordering stuff through the distribution center, which comes shipped to your house. I view it as a blessing. That said, I find it cheaper to bulk order grains through some place like Walton Feed and then put it in buckets with dry ice and hammer on lids. We have also picked up food from the cannery in bulk and cans and borrowed the canner that our stake has. We had a little canning party. IMO, if you are really ordering a lot of food, the space that the cans take up in your vehicle makes it such a pain that you are better off scheduling a canning session at the cannery itself. Our cannery books up months in advance, though, so I understand if that's an issue. As far as picking up whatever is already canned at the cannery when you swing by, it is hit or miss....whatever cans are leftover from an open bag are offered first to the people who are canning....it's rare that I find more than a can of onions or carrots....There is never hot cocoa available. ;)

 

4. Sunday.....we are still on lockdown per neonatologist's orders. It is the longest winter ever. I really miss seeing our friends at church....but I'm also enjoying not having to deal with the hassle. It is going to be hard to go back....

 

3.

[welovetoread]

I think you ladies are in my head. My next questions were all on food storage. I'd love to see pictures of your food storage and how you got there.

 

No coffee. This should be interesting.

[ashfern]

I think you ladies are in my head. My next questions were all on food storage. I'd love to see pictures of your food storage and how you got there.

 

 

I have no food storage. :D We're renting so we have no room for anything.

[TKDmom]

What do you guys think of the PREPACKAGED #10 cans available at canneries? This is food packed by volunteers at the cannery. So instead of going to the cannery and packing your own food in #10 cans, you just go and pick up the food already packaged.

Is the prepackaged food for people who have a difficulty packaging their own food? Or is it for anyone? Why go and pack your own food if you can buy it packed already?

 

I am the emergency preparedness specialist for my ward. The closest cannery is 4 hours away. My plan is for ward members to buy the 25lb bulk bags of food, someone goes and picks up the ward's order, and we can it at the ward building with a canning machine we have.

 

Someone from my ward is wanting to order the prepackaged cans because that is what the last ward emergency specialist did. I personally think it is taking advantage of other people's work when you can do it yourself.

 

What do you think?

 

I called the cannery and left a msg on the machine to ask about it. They haven't called me back yet.

 

 

In our ward the food storage specialist is retired. He likes to go get the food for everyone and then can it in his garage (along with some if the other retired folks to help). His philosophy is that he wants to make it easy for members of the ward to store food and this is a service he can do for those of us who would otherwise be too busy to can our own food.

 

I'm not saying you should do that. But I think it reflects the church's viewpoint in general. The last order I made, our food storage specialist got the prepackaged food for everything that was available prepacked (oats, rice, wheat, etc.). There is more variety in the bulk food, though. I think the church started providing prepacked food to make it easier for those of us far from canneries to build up our food storage. Yes, it is taking advantage of someone else's service. But this is a church of service. We all serve in different capacities. And sometimes we are the recipients of others' service.

[TKDmom]

Nm. I didn't read carefully enough.

[TKDmom]

I think you ladies are in my head. My next questions were all on food storage. I'd love to see pictures of your food storage and how you got there.

 

No coffee. This should be interesting.

 

We have two closets in our bedroom. I moved into dh's closet. ;) Then I got a bunch if shelving from IKEA and converted the walk-in closet to a storage closet.

 

I stared out our food storage by ordering a couple big orders from Walton Feed with a local lady who organizes a huge multi-stake order a couple times a year. I got a bunch of things in 5-gal buckets, but I don't think I'll do that again. There are only a few types if food that I can use up a 5-gal bucket before it goes bad. I also made the mistake of buying a lot of pancake and muffin mixes. The cans started bulging after a year and I had to throw them out. When I contacted Walton Feed, they told me I should have been storing all my food below 70F. Sorry, I live in FL. My a/c would be running contantly 11 months a year to keep the house under 70 deg. And I can't have a basement here either.

 

Now, I'm just focusing on getting basic supplies that I will use. Things like white wheat ( I have a wheat grinder and love fresh homemade bread), sugar, rolled oats, rice, powdered milk, and beans.

[MamaSheep]

Our food storage is somewhat depleted at present, as I have been using it to supplement the grocery budget because the economic issues have affected dh's work, and also he has had to spend a number of months over the past year and a half or so in another state taking care of each his parents before they passed and not working. And now, of course there are medical bills relating to my recent health issues that will have to be paid off. I've been glad we had it. Here in a little bit when things even out a little again (please!) I'll start building it back up again. I usually do it a little at a time. When things I know we use regularly are on sale at the grocery store I buy several. One of the stores here has a "case lot sale" several times a year when they sell basic items by the case at a discount price and I usually take those opportunities to stock up on canned fruits and vegetables and spaghetti sauce. We have a fair sized pantry in the kitchen and several metal shelving units in the basement where it's cooler. We also have a big chest freezer that I use for perishables. I know that if there were ever an actual disaster that knocked the power out we'd have a limited time to use those items, but we could always share with the neighbors, who would probably need it under those circumstances, and in the mean time it's nice to be able to buy meats and veggies and butter and juice concentrate and things like that in bulk when they're on sale and freeze them so I can just send one of the kids out to grab one when I need it. And it's nice to know we can get through to the next paycheck (which, when you're self-employed is often sporadic and of unpredictable amounts) with some fresher options that what comes out of a can.

 

(Does anyone else feel like they're wandering "off topic" when we talk about things other than how Sunday was? Lol. Probably it's just me. )

[welovetoread]

Sow hat is the official church view on food storage, the reasons and social help programs like WIC or Food stamps and Medicaid?

[Xuzi]

Sow hat is the official church view on food storage, the reasons and social help programs like WIC or Food stamps and Medicaid?

 

If you are in need of those services, and you legally qualify for them, then the Church will not discourage you from seeking that assistance. :) Food storage, social safety nets, church assistance, family assistance, etc. are all valid sources of help in time of need. The Church would only frown upon it if you were using fraud to qualify for any of those above services.

 

ETA: We're encouraged to try and build up a minimum of a 3 month supply of food and money, as well has have 72 hour emergency kits on hand. Obviously not everyone will be able to reach that goal, while others will be able to far exceed it, but it's to be a goal. Talk with your ward or branch's emergency preparedness advisor (I think that's what their official title is) they can help guide you to the various resources available, both through the church, and through your local community.

[prairiewindmomma]

We have dipped/are dipping pretty hard into our food storage as well. We eat so little canned food in "regular life" that it's interesting to go from eating mostly fresh whole foods to canned stuff while we pay off medical bills. I'm really questioning a lot of what I've stored in the past. Still, we've lost all of our freezer contents from power outages in the past; I know I have to have shelf-stable food on hand. I think when I start to rebuild, I might focus more heavily on freeze dried fruits and veg and buy more beans and rice.

 

As far as storing it goes, we have a section of our basement set aside for stuff. We live far enough away from Costco that it's nice to be able to buy toilet paper and paper towels in bulk and have a place to put it!

 

So....what are your favorite Sabbath day activities? Dh will be gone the next two Sundays all day attending ward conferences, and I'm looking for some new ideas. (Lately we've been watching BYU tv on the Roku and playing board games.)

[Live2Ride]

My food storage is everywhere in my little house...under two beds, in my large closet, along the wall in my bedroom in boxes and loose cans, bottom of pantry and some in each kids closet. I'd actually like to get a shelf and put it into the one closet that my dd does not use and store all of it instead of the two kids closets. It would be much better.

[melbotoast]

(Does anyone else feel like they're wandering "off topic" when we talk about things other than how Sunday was? Lol. Probably it's just me. )

 

I think it's great that we are discussing all kinds of things! I hope when social groups are working again we can all remember to go over there and keep up the conversations. Our social group was usually pretty slow.

 

So....what are your favorite Sabbath day activities? Dh will be gone the next two Sundays all day attending ward conferences, and I'm looking for some new ideas. (Lately we've been watching BYU tv on the Roku and playing board games.)

 

Confession: Usually we let the kids watch TV while DH and I pursue our own interests (reading, crafting, calls to family, etc.) I'd love to hear if anyone has any good ideas for young kids. I think the main problem is that we are both exhausted after church/the weekend, so I don't feel like being creative and entertaining.

[melbotoast]

Re: food storage

 

We're not currently doing much, since we are moving around so often. My parents built up their food storage when the recommendation was one year (with 5 kids at home) and now (down to one kid) they are trying to figure out how to get rid of it all. It was originally stored under beds and in closets all around the house, until we moved to a new house. My dad filled the formal dining room with shelves and it is now a giant pantry/food storage room.

[Xuzi]

As far as going off-topic, I'm actually rather glad about it! After all, we're not a Sunday-only church. ;)

 

So, now I'm going to go OT just because I've been wanting to gush this out somewhere, but didn't know where else to do it! :laugh:

 

My DH comes home tomorrow night!!!!! I haven't seen him since New Year's Day, and I'm feeling all giddy. He took a new job out of state back in November, and other than a few days at Thanksgiving, and a week or so at Christmas, I've been doing the "single mom" bit, all the while homeschooling AND getting our house ready for market and keeping it clean for showings - and I'm tired! :p We were blessed with the HUGE blessing of having finding a buyer for our house after less than 3 weeks on the market (went on the market Dec. 9th, got our offer Christmas Eve), and Monday we will *finally* be closing on it.

 

Another blessing we received is that DH's new company sent him to a training school this week, and agreed to fly him to our nearest airport, instead of flying him back to our new state, so we were saved the cost of flying him up here to help out with the move.

 

When DH first applied to this job, all we felt was peace. Even though he had a pretty good job here, we felt peace that it was time to move on. When we prayed about me and the kids staying behind to sell the house, we felt peace. I had plenty of very good and valid reasons for freaking out (slow housing market, etc), and yet whenever I would try to dwell on them, the Lord would put peace in my heart instead, and I was able to remain calm and optimistic, which is SO not me. I'm a planner who hates uncertainty. :lol: Where my DH is one of those "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" type people, I'm the type who likes to know when to expect the bridge, what kind of bridge is it,and what are the various options for crossing the bridge in safety?

 

Our family motto has become "We'll see what happens" because it's what we often say to each other whenever we've talked about the uncertainties that come with a huge life change like this. We know this is where the Lord wants us to be, and we've been so very blessed by putting our trust in Him.

 

And NOW DH is finally on his way home, and we'll be back to being a whole family again, and we can really get this new adventure started. :)

[Heidi]

Re: food storage

 

We're not currently doing much, since we are moving around so often. My parents built up their food storage when the recommendation was one year (with 5 kids at home) and now (down to one kid) they are trying to figure out how to get rid of it all. It was originally stored under beds and in closets all around the house, until we moved to a new house. My dad filled the formal dining room with shelves and it is now a giant pantry/food storage room.

 

The commandment is still to have a year supply of long term food.

[Live2Ride]

Some of our sunday activities may be frowned upon ;) , but dd and I (or I alone) will ride our horses quietly along the roads together. We don't often have much time to ride and it's nice to get out and do so. DH and DD like to nap. I'll plan my music for the next week..or work on Girls Camp stuff. I'll spend time in the barn messing around...organizing, clean a little tack, just mess around a little. I'll read, do any number of hand crafts or scrapbook. Kids will play legos, read, play a game (board or video). We'll watch a movie together, etc. We'll visit with friends and neighbors. And many Sundays we'll have the missionaries by to feed them. We love having them over.

[thebacabunch]

Some of our sunday activities may be frowned upon ;) , but dd and I (or I alone) will ride our horses quietly along the roads together. We don't often have much time to ride and it's nice to get out and do so. DH and DD like to nap. I'll plan my music for the next week..or work on Girls Camp stuff. I'll spend time in the barn messing around...organizing, clean a little tack, just mess around a little. I'll read, do any number of hand crafts or scrapbook. Kids will play legos, read, play a game (board or video). We'll watch a movie together, etc. We'll visit with friends and neighbors. And many Sundays we'll have the missionaries by to feed them. We love having them over.

 

Your SUnday sounds heavenly! I will sometimes go to the beach with my daughters for a leisurely walk or to watch the sunset. We aren't swimming or hiking, just a restful time in nature.

[thebacabunch]

Stepping tentatively here...I've been thinking about the discussion of special needs kids and church. I keep having the nagging thought that challenges people describe with their autism spectrum kids sound an awful lot like my 7 year old son. It's not the first time I've wondered if I'm dealing with something more than just a quirky kid. I know the special needs board would be the best place to ask this question, but I'm going to ask it here because I'm comfortable talking to you guys and I know some of you have experience with these kids. I need someone with more perspective to tell me if I am dealing with just a quirky kid or something more.

 

This is my 7 year old son: http://growingwisely...rapher-at-work/

He's always been a unique kid. Here are a few things that stand out:

 

Numerous sensory issues--from sensory-seeking behaviors like running and banging into people, to wearing only soft, loose clothing (for a whole year he wore nothing but nightshirts--that is, adult size t-shirts--and boxer shorts in the house; he would put on regular clothes when we were going somewhere, but change back the moment we got home). He is also my picky eater, and I think that is also sensory.

He talks differently than most people. I've never quite been able to describe what he does; it seemed when he was learning to talk that it took a lot of effort (mental effort) for him to talk. He used to have a very sing-song tone to his speech, though that has lessened over time. I still get the feeling that expressing himself in words takes effort--often there will be pauses between words, as. if. there. were. periods. in. between. He has a few articulation issues as well, which we are finally getting speech therapy for.

We have had mixed success with social situation. Generally he gets along well at home playing with his siblings. He will play with other children, but so far my attempts to help him build friendships with other boys have fallen flat, he just doesn't seem to connect. At church he almost always needed a parent at his side until the last year and a half. I was primary chorister when he was in sunbeams and he used to hold on to my leg or lie on the floor behind me. There are times when he just withdraws and won't interact--my interpretation is that withdrawal happens when he is not sure of himself in a social situation, not sure of expectations of that he can meet expectations. We run into this a lot with music lessons--he is very musical, and has actually made a lot of progress this year on both cello and piano--but we spend about half of each lesson just trying to get him to play something--anything--for his teacher (who has the patience of a saint!). At home he does all of his practice on his own because the more involved I am the less he will do. It's as if any outside direction or expectations overwhelm him, whatever he does has to be internally motivated and directed. We run into similar issues with school; when he latches on to something (like the map drawing in the blog post above) he really runs with it, but he doesn't accept a lot of external direction or instruction. For example, I can schedule math and tell him it is time to work on it, but he balks if I try to assign particular problems or directly teach him a lesson (fortunately math is pretty intuitive for him or we would be in real trouble.) He has also been refusing to say group prayers or to read during family scriptures--even though he reads well and will sometimes sit down and read a picture book to the younger children (so it's not a problem with reading aloud in general). I really haven't figured out what is holding him back there, except maybe a general anxiety.

We've also been having a lot of meltdowns lately--something upsets him and he goes off into long bouts of loud, wailing crying. Which upsets my husband. Which is the main reason I'm wondering seriously about whether we need an evaluation and a possible diagnosis of some kind. Only figuring all of this out seems impossibly complicated and I don't even know where to start. It has taken me several years just to figure out how to get speech therapy started. sigh.

 

So does any of this sound familiar? What do those of you with experience think--is this just as somewhat quirky but more or less normal kid, or???

 

Thanks for listening. I may delete this post eventually as it is more information than I normally share about my children.

 

--Sarah

 

Big hugs! Go get an eval, it will only ease your mind either way. My dd wasn't diagnosed until she was 7 because she was so high functioning and it took a major screaming jag at the dentist to get an evaluation. I don't know where you live, but here in CA we just have to call a regional center and they will do the diagnosing free of charge.

[Lisbeth]

Our storage is a room in the basement. I went out and bought heavy duty shelves from Sam's. That said, we DON'T have a year's worth and I'm working on that. Also, I have a sort of 72-hr-kit- bug-out-bag confusion. ;) I think I'm just going to have two separate ones. One for staying put, and one for getting out of dodge.

 

What confuses me the most is how to store water. Bleach out milk jugs and store tap? Buy bottled?

[MamaSheep]

To clarify, I like discussing a variety of topics too. That is very much my preference. It's just when I look for this social group thread it always says, "How was your Sunday?" and for some reason that makes me feel awkward when I post about other stuff. But I guess it's just me so not something to worry about. :)

[Live2Ride]

Storage of water: contact a local soda plant (coke/pepsi) and see if they sell their syrup barrels. They did here for a time. They were cheap too! I've got four of the 50 gallon ones and 4 -15 gallon ones. Water in glass jars is ok. Milk jugs have to be watched. They get little holes and start to leak.

[welovetoread]

My daughter who is 15 is afraid of losing friends over her church affiliation. She is so up and down about it. If you can sick her in your prayers that would be great.

[Live2Ride]

My daughter who is 15 is afraid of losing friends over her church affiliation. She is so up and down about it. If you can sick her in your prayers that would be great.

 

Though it is hard to tell our children this, but they weren't true friends if they dump them over being a different religion. I remind my children that Christ did not differentiate people like that and neither should we.

 

Prayers here and hugs! It's tough sometimes for teens. I hope you can get her to some Wednesday activities or stake youth activities. It will take a little time, but she should be able to find a few new friends :)

[welovetoread]

She is/was much better today and is SO excited. She has been to Wednesday night activities for a few months now and has even been to a stake event. It is all going to be okay. Another reason I love the church. The teaching of tolerance to people different from us, even though we believe this is the true church makes me all warm and fuzzy lol

[Xuzi]

We just had a 16 year old girl baptized into our ward, without her family.(but with their permission of course.) The spirit youth converts bring with them is just amazing. Good luck to your daughter!

[welovetoread]

It was branch conference today. Our first one. It was interesting with the wonky schedule etc, but neat topics and talks.

[MamaSheep]

Lots of coughs and sniffles at our house this week. Dh stayed home with the sick kids this week since I stayed home with them last week with the stomach bug that's been going around. So I got to go to church by myself today. It felt a little strange not to have anyone tugging or whispering or leaning on me...lol. But nice, though. The Sunday School lesson was really good; Sister C is a truly excellent teacher. The RS counselor asked me to sub teach in RS next week. Ch. 4 in the Lorenzo Snow book, if anyone wants to offer suggestions.

[welovetoread]

I am really enjoying the Lorenzo Snow book, but of course, it is currently missing. It apparently grew legs.

 

Our branch President is working on getting my oldest enrolled in online seminary. We live in the country about thirty minutes from where the kids meet at six am every morning and meet for an hour. It is just not feasible for me to get her there with 5 other kids at home and a husband that leaves for work early. I hope the online seminary is okay.

[MamaSheep]

Lol...you have walking books at your house too, eh? I've been looking at the lesson. It's about the Holy Ghost, which is what our Sunday School lesson was about today, and I'm feeling like Sister C the Sunday School teacher did such a great job with it that whatever I say on the subject is going to just sound lame. I guess I have a week to pray about it and figure out how to come at the topic from a different angle so the ladies don't feel like they're just getting an inferior repeat.

 

Online seminary sounds like a great option. I wish they had that when I was a kid. When I was a teen we lived only about 15 minutes from the church, which is where we met for seminary. My first year was a home study course where we did reading and worksheets at home and then met once a week to go over the information as a group. But the next year they found a teacher that could meet with us every morning, and my brother was old enough to get his driver's license, so we met at the church every morning at 7:00am. Looking back I wish I'd taken it more seriously than I did. Our teacher taught at a very "primary" level and being a rather angsty teen I resented being talked to like I was six, so I didn't really pay much attention to the lessons. The "scripture chases" were fun, but only because my brother and I were very competitive with each other. The problem with THAT is that the teacher didn't realize we only cared about beating each other, she thought we were competing for the Smarties candies she always gave to whoever got there first. There were only 4 kids in the class, my brother and me and the teacher's two daughters. To this day I cannot eat Smarties anymore. But looking back I think Sister L was very brave to take us on at all. Especially that early in the morning. She was always prepared and cheerful, and there's definitely something to be said for that.

[Live2Ride]

Well...where to start...Yesterday was nuts (see this post), but after all of that my youngest (18 yr old) brother showed up at 7:30pm...from Georgia! I live in Louisiana. He was upset with my dad and just drove out to me. He's a goof. I wish he could have stayed a bit longer, but rash decisions aren't well thought out and he has school tomorrow...

 

We all got up (brother included) and headed to sacrament. That was all I could handle with the pain I'm having. I do the music in sacrament (my calling) with a huge black eye. I've never had so many people actually looking at me and paying attention, lol! I had my friend take over in Primary for music. She used to do it years ago. My littles love to hug me and stand near helping, sit on my lap and all that. I could not have them bumping me with my sore left side...its horrible when it happens. We did have the missionaries over for dinner: barbecued pork ribs (oh. my. yumminess!), baked beans, potato salad and oatmeal raisin cookies for desert. I love our current set of missionaries and one leaves soon, but plans to come back and visit again. I hope he does. The two of them are such pranksters with each other and we laugh about the things they do. Of course they were both expecting a good story from me after seeing my black eye in church. I even had my piano player in primary call and she's been at home for the last two weeks after surgery! People were really talking, lol!

[dangermom]

Looking back I wish I'd taken it more seriously than I did. Our teacher taught at a very "primary" level and being a rather angsty teen I resented being talked to like I was six, so I didn't really pay much attention to the lessons. The "scripture chases" were fun, but only because my brother and I were very competitive with each other. The problem with THAT is that the teacher didn't realize we only cared about beating each other, she thought we were competing for the Smarties candies she always gave to whoever got there first. There were only 4 kids in the class, my brother and me and the teacher's two daughters. To this day I cannot eat Smarties anymore. But looking back I think Sister L was very brave to take us on at all. Especially that early in the morning. She was always prepared and cheerful, and there's definitely something to be said for that.

 

 

We lived right behind the church building and I could roll out of bed and be at Seminary in 2 minutes flat. It was very convenient. I enjoyed the social parts of Seminary--seeing my friends and sitting next to that one guy I kind of had a crush on--but my teachers were pretty much bonkers. I don't know what it is about my home town, but it has a very high proportion of really strange people. I think I heard just about every FPR and crazy theory there is in Seminary--I don't know how my testimony survived, but I seem to have just ignored it. One of them spent 10+ years in jail after I graduated...I guess the others were cheerful and brave all right, just kind of out there. I'm so grateful for the great Seminary teachers here in our town and am looking forward to it for my girls.

 

 

I had a very nice time at church, both SS and RS were great. The conversation in RS had me mentally comparing it to Pilgrim's Progress the whole time. In the afternoon I settled in on the couch and fell asleep for a few minutes, and the next thing I knew it was 6pm. Oops. I don't normally nap on Sunday afternoons.

[La Condessa]

Today was my 2nd edition of the Primary one-man show. The other family in the branch didn't show up. Their oldest son was supposed to give a one minute talk for sharing time. I hope they didn't skip because I asked him to give the talk. In retrospect, I should be reviewing the Sunbeam lesson as well as preparing the Jr. Primary one, just in case the other family doesn't show up. My girls are fine doing the Jr. Primary lesson if they are following along with the bigger kids, but it was just too much for my 2- and 3-year-old on their own. My oldest cried when I was set apart for my calling and I explained to her that I was going to get to be in primary with them from now on. I wish I could believe it was just because she loved her last teacher, but really it was because I make her sit for the lessons and I banished the sugary snacks like fruity pebbles.

 

We'll adjust. With the Lord's help I can do all things that are required of me.

[gardenmom5]

I am really enjoying the Lorenzo Snow book, but of course, it is currently missing. It apparently grew legs.

 

 

there's an app for that. :) really, there is. ldstools (well several versions) it has the manuels, scriptures, hymn books etc. I have them on my phone. (or tablet, etc.) so much easier to haul things around - weighs considerably less.

[blondeviolin]

Primary was rough for us today too. I had one little boy get physical with me, which required a lot of extra attention, which turned to irregular contractions for the rest of the time. BUT, he decided to sit and finish out Sharing Time and then when he went to leave he said something along the lines of, "We should behave at Church because Heavnly Father wants us to?" I think paying the extra attention to him made a big difference. We'll see in two weeks, though. Next week is stake conference! :)

[Amber in SJ]

The Lorenzo Snow book is in Kindle form as well for $.99. I know the other is free, but I don't like to read on the ipad and I have not lost my Kindle yet.

 

DH was called to be Scoutmaster. I am very, very, very unhappy about it and I don't want to be scolded about it so just ignore that comment.

 

Amber in SJ