Those Old Plates

Kids, here's a story for you.  And it's not a story about homemade lemon poppyseed muffins for Sunday brunch.  It's a story about the plate the muffin is sitting on.

When your dad and I were in college, we rarely had extra money.  But one summer we were going to live in an apartment in West Virginia so your dad could complete an internship at a power plant.  We had an air mattress and some bedding which basically sums it up as to our useful household possessions at that point.

Out of obvious necessity we bought a set of dishes, 16 pieces, off the clearance shelf at K-Mart.  It cost four dollars.  We felt like kings having found this treasure and we gave no concern to style or color.

To this day, we have some of the dishes from the original set of 16 in our kitchen cabinet.  And every time I use of one them, I think back to a different era in our lives, a magical adventurous time where so much was still ahead of us and we knew that together we could take it on.  So perhaps to you it's just an ugly old plate, but to me it's a memory and a promise of things to come.

December 2022 Home School

I learned in my first year of home schooling three children (2020) that no one in this family is well served by a challenging home school curriculum in this particular month.  So, we always plan December with few academic demands and lots of connective and regulating activities.  We had a book for the month, but it was a bust, so I won't mention the title.

This month's home school adventures included many hikes at local parks, making cinnamon ornaments, various seasonal crafts, a trip to the driving range for Middle Kiddo and a short, live holiday concert for Little One.  We read aloud books and sang carols.  Social skills were practiced at holiday gatherings and in the community.  

And lots of free play!  Like independently creating a harp from household items and performing a Christmas angel concert.

Christmas 2022

When you have an exquisitely sensitive child with vulnerable mental health who loves the holidays, you have to be very intentional with how you thrive or survive through the season.  We carefully and gently paced ourselves through the month, seeking a balance between meaningful special events and a lot of no pressure downtime at home as well as outdoors when the weather permitted.

Week 1 November 28- December 4

A visit and party with a Sensitive Santa and decorating the tree at home

Week 2 December 5 - 11

St. Nick's Day at home and a performance of Hot Chocolate at the Aronoff

Week 3 December 12 - 18

Lights in the Woods (a Christmas walk with friends) and a holiday open house with extended Ohio family 

Week 4 December 19-25

Our traditional Christmas Eve picnic on the living room floor and a quiet Christmas Day with just the five of us at home - Santa couldn't have made her any happier than he did with this record player

Week 5 December 26- January 1

Christmas/birthday/New Year's combo gathering with our Indiana family and a mini icecream social with our cousins who live one street over

IAC Results 562-569

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 562 held on October 7, 2022:

1) Spanish dossier from November 2014 referred a male child aged 7 years and 1 month

2) US dossier from December 2019 referred a make child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status

3) Canadian dossier from February 2020 referred a male child aged 3 years and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Maltese dossier from July 2021 referred a male child aged 1 year and 11 months with features in health status

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 563 held on October 14, 2022:

1) US dossier from November 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from February 2022 referred a male child aged 1 year and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from September 2022 referred a female child aged 10 years and 10 months with a family history

4) Italian dossier from October 2022 referred a brother and sister aged 6 years and 8 months & 9 years with a family history

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 564 held on October 28, 2022:

1) Spanish dossier from April 2015 referred a female child aged 9 years and 7 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from September 2016 referred brothers aged 2 years and 10 months & 4 years and 10 months

3) Canadian dossier from April 2017 referred a brother and sister aged 3 years and 1 month & 4 years and 1 month

4) Italian dossier from December 2020 referred a male child aged 11 years and 6 months, clinically healthy

5) US dossier from March 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from October 2022 referred an identified waiting child

7) US dossier from October 2022 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 565 held on November 11, 2022:

1) Italian dossier from July 2022 referred a female child aged 10 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

2) US dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

3) US dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

4) Italian dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

5) US dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 566 held on November 18, 2022:

1) Spanish dossier from November 2013 referred a male child aged 7 years and 6 months with features in health status

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 567 held on November 25, 2022:

1) Italian dossier from August 2015 referred a male child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

2) Canadian dossier from September 2019 referred a female child aged 5 years and 1 month with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from April 2021 referred a female child aged 12 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 568 held on December 2, 2022:

1) French dossier from December 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 8 months with features in health status

2) Luxembourg dossier from June 2022 referred a brother and sister aged 4 years and 9 months & 3 years and 8 months, part of a larger sibling group that must remain in contact

3) Canadian dossier from July 2022 referred a female child aged 1 year and 6 months with features in health status

4) Luxembourg dossier from October 2022 referred twin sisters aged 7 years and 6 months, part of a larger sibling group that must remain in contact

5) US dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 569 held on December 9, 2022:

1) Italian dossier from November 2015 referred brothers aged 6 years and 3 months & 7 years and 5 months

2) Italian dossier from August 2020 referred a brother and sister aged 4 years and 3 months & 6 years and 8 months, part of a larger sibling group that must remain in contact

3) Italian dossier from August 2022 referred brothers aged 9 years and 1 month & 5 years and 7 months, part of a larger sibling group that must remain in contact

4) Canadian dossier from September 2022 referred a female child aged 6 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from December 2022 referred an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from December 2022 referred an identified waiting child

7) US dossier from December 2022 referred an identified waiting child

Happy New Year

 Wishing those who stop here to read a healthy, joyous 2023!  

- The Martinis

P.S. I had an informal goal of blogging more this year than I did last year and I succeeded.

Hip Hip Pooray

I was cleaning out some stacks of old papers over the weekend and came across this laminated visual aid that had been created for Middle Kiddo at some long-ago point.  Looking at it made me realize how far he has come.  He is independent with toileting skills now.

Once upon a time when I was a brand-new mom, a geneticist told me that I should prepare myself to diaper my adult son.  While I would do whatever is needed for my child, he, his dad, his therapists and I worked hard to defy the odds.  It took time and many quirky steps along the way, so much practice and encouragement, as well as figuring out some medical stuff along with his own intrinsic motivation to see him succeed.  This week, with the visual aid still fresh on my mind, I caught myself watching him as he exited the bathroom, toilet flushing behind him and hands smelling of soap with his shirt just slightly askew across his back... and I smiled.

My son's human worth has never been and will never be determined by his skills or by how he navigates the world. I would love him the same wearing a diaper as I do when he sports boxer briefs.  But I still want to acknowledge and celebrate his hard-won victories toward increased independence and a wonderful quality of life unique to him.

November 2022 Home School

Our main book was Leaf Man and we also read Seeds Move.  It was a science and art focused month.

Middle Kiddo: types of trees, grocery sort

Little One: wind/wind power, photosynthesis, 50 states

Despite the lovely weather throughout the month, our trees lost their leaves early this year, so instead of all the nature crafts I had planned, we had to divert to Thanksgiving related projects for art.  We took multiple field trips, including forest hikes and a performance of Black Violin.

I also wanted to mention, in case you're wondering, that the teachers and therapists that work with our 6th graders in-home address the majority of the material in the core subjects of math and language arts, so what I primarily do with them is "everything else."