Getting Things Done

Haley knows what needs to be done.

This summer when I did the laundry Haley would go upstairs and get her dirty clothes and bring them down and put them in the laundry room.  I never asked her to do it, she just did.

When the dryer alarm went off she would make a noise and come and get me.

Once I had folded the clothes, if I didn’t take them right upstairs she would come and get them and take them up to her room.  She didn’t put them in her drawer.  She put them on her bed, which is interesting because when we come home from a shopping trip she always puts her new clothes in her drawers.

Now that she is in school I usually have the laundry done by the time she comes home so I am not getting as much help.

Yesterday Haley came in to the family room and noticed that she had a pile of clean, folded clothes on the couch.  She picked them up and carried them up to her room.

Today I packed clothes for her and myself because we are going to start our college visit tour this weekend.  Haley’s Big Sis is a senior and we are starting to plan for next year.  I told Haley that we are going on a road trip this weekend, but I didn’t tell her that we were leaving as soon as she got home from school. 

When she got home we told her our plans and she started gathering her things.  She kept asking me about her clothes.  I told her that I had already packed her clothes.  I told her about ten times.  She didn’t seem to believe me.  Her Dad had already put the suitcase in the truck so she didn’t get to verify what had been packed.   

Thinking about it, I realize that it really wasn’t fair to her, but it is too late now.

Haley took her purse and her magazines and her stuffed pillow pet horse JoJo out to the truck.  I was busy getting ready so I assumed she was just sitting in the truck waiting to go.  Eventually we were all ready and we were off. 

About two hours in to the trip I looked in the rear view mirror and as my brain was forming the question “What the H…?”  Haley’s Big Sis exclaimed “Haley!  Why did you bring your pumpkin?”  I was laughing so hard that I had to really concentrate to stay in my own lane on the road.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.   

I guess Haley had pulled her pumpkin out from under her Big Sis’s pillow where she had stashed it.  She had plenty of time to carry out her plan, I just don’t really know why she did it.

So today I am thankful that my daughter helps me around the house and is a good planner and packer.  I am also grateful for laughter.   It is the best medicine.   

I hear it keeps you young too, so that’s good.

~Haley's Mom, Thankfully

This month I am focusing on Gratitude.  What are you thankful for today?

Look What I Got

Are you on Pinterest?  I am.  I love it.  

I spend a lot of my "free time" on it.  It is useful, we have been eating really well lately.  I have found fun new recipes for meals and treats and I have found some really cool gadgets.

I love a really cool gadget.  Don't you?

So this is what I found.

This is not my picture.

 It is called MagicTap.

You put it on your bottle and put batteries in it and it pumps your beverage with the slightest touch of the glass.

I thought that if I put Haley's "juice" in it she could get her own juice. 

We got it a couple of weeks ago.

I filled it with juice and tested it.  It is awesome.  It doesn't even drip.

When Haley got home from school I showed her how to do it.  I made her hold her glass up to it while it was in the refrigerator.  She wanted to put her glass under the blue lever, but I showed her that she has to have her glass on top of the blue lever.  Magically her glass filled with juice.  I told her to take it away and the flow stopped.  

Haley drinks from a double walled cup with a lid and a straw.  I have to put the lid on for her, but other than that she can get her own drink.  She knows how to get the glass down from the cupboard, she knows how to put ice in it and now she knows how to get her own juice.  Then she can get a straw and a lid and I can help her the rest of the way.  If she didn't have to put a lid on her cup she could do it all by herself, but I like the lid.  I know it won't keep her cup from spilling, but it makes me feel better.  

The truth is that she drinks her juice so fast it never would have a chance to spill.

So that was the idea.  I had no idea how long it might take for my plan to work.  She kept bringing me her cup and then I would say "You can do it."  and I would walk over to the refrigerator with her and have her open the door and hold her glass under the MagicTap.  After I put the lid on for her I would say "Good job, you did it!" and we would high five.  

Even though she knew what to do and she could do it herself she still wanted me to get her juice for her, but I was strong.  I made her do it herself every time.

Today I was sitting at the kitchen table and she walked in to the kitchen.  She never said a word to me.  She got a cup.  She got some ice.  She got her drink.  She got a straw and a lid and she brought the cup to me so that I could put the lid on for her.  

I was so proud.

It took less than two weeks for her to do that.

I told her Dad.  He said "Yeah, she did that for me last Friday." 

Shoot!

Oh, well.  At least she did it.

I am still so proud.

~ Haley's Mom

p.s. -  I was in no way remunerated for my unsolicited appraisal of this product, but if you want one for yourself check it out at buymagictap (dot) com

I am participating in 31 for 21 Blog Challenge this month. The challenge I have accepted is to blog every day in October to raise awareness for Down Syndrome. Learn more about Down Syndrome at the National Association of Down Syndrome.

Independence can Backfire

Lately, I have been experimenting with different types of "incontinence protection" as the Department of Developmental Disabilities puts it.

Haley is too big for the L/XL Goodnights pull-ups that we have been using.  They are tight on her and sometimes when I am pulling them up her legs they rip.  I have even put my finger through the sides on occasion, but that may have been due to the fact that I needed a manicure.

She is outgrowing them for other reasons besides size.  They just don't offer her enough protection, so to speak.

I bought several brands of adult incontinence protection products a month ago and we have been testing them.  At first the testing was rather difficult.  Nothing seemed to work.  Then I decided that part of the problem was that Haley was just drinking too much.  It was kind of a "look for the root of the problem" thing.

So I started limiting her intake and then we settled on our current plan.

She wears the Goodnights to school and then I put her in Depends at night.

I chose to leave her in the Goodnights because the school is better at taking her to the bathroom on schedule than I am and they fit her better.  The Depends have a lot of extra material that shows through Haley's pants.  When she wears the Goodnights it looks like she isn't wearing them, unless they sneak up past the waistband, which they do on occasion.

I was able to find Unisex Depends with adjustable velcro sides.  That was great.  Even though the smalls are still way to big for her I could pull the velcro straps as far as they would go and they fit a lot better.  The adjustable sides make them easier to put on and take off too.  We used them on our trip to Montana and it made going to the rest areas so much more convenient.

So here's the problem.  The stores that I have been shopping at have stopped carrying the adjustable Depends.  I have been all over town.  They are gone.  I have only been able to find small Depends for women and they are too big for Haley.  There is way to much fabric and she leaks through them, or around them to be technically correct.

So Haley has been wearing the Goodnights to bed again.

There is another problem.

She has been getting her own drinks lately.  I taught her to get a drink of water at night if she is thirsty, because I didn't want to give her a full glass of Nesquik or orange juice.  Next thing I knew she was getting herself a glass of water whenever she wanted to.  Occasionally during the day I would hear the cupboard close and the water run.

I was so proud.

She chooses her own glass.  So she started choosing the one we got at the zoo, probably because it has a lion on it.  That glass holds 32 ounces of liquid.

She started putting a straw in it.  She tends to drink a lot more through a straw then when she sips.

Note that I taught her to use a small plastic glass and to sip it.

So when I got her a glass of Nesquik or orange juice I knew what she had and when she had it.

I had some control.

Now, with a little bit of independence she is drinking 32 ounces of water at a time, quickly.  And I don't always know when.  Last night I think she had more than one.

Haley woke me up at 2:00 am.

She was soaked from head to toe.  Her bed was soaked.  She has a water proof pad on her bed.  It didn't handle it.  Even her pillow was wet.

I had no choice but to make a bed for her on the floor with some blankets.

She got up about a half an hour after I put her in her makeshift bed.  She went downstairs and turned on her laptop.  I went down and got her and put her back to bed.  I don't know if she slept very well on the floor.  She was up when I got up this morning.

So I will have to watch her a little closer from now on.

Independence can backfire.

What Can She Do?

I met with Haley's teacher, her speech therapist and the school psychologist yesterday afternoon for Haley's Three Year Evaluation.  Afterward I spoke with her teacher Mr. B about her upcoming stint in the Apartment.  We learned about the apartment during her last IEP.

Haley will be in the Apartment next week.  I plan to go in on Wednesday and observe her.  I am so excited!