It appears as though Elliott has developed a tree nut allergy. He's complaining that his throat hurts every time he eats an almond. He then breaks out in these weird bumps, sorta like hives. This has been going on for awhile but with everything else going on, we hadn't put 2 and 2 together. We are calling his immunologist first thing in the morning. I'm really hoping he doesn't have a peanut allergy.
I was wondering how everyone in the east coast was fairing during this unbelievable storm? I'm in North East Ohio and we are getting unbelievable winds right now. I can't imagine how everyone is doing on the coastal states. We've lost power twice tonight already. I've got some flashlights ready and our phone batteries charged. Hopefully, we won't need them. Please know that the thoughts and prayers of the Lost and Tired family are with you. Stay safe and take care of yourselves.
My younger brother is getting married this weekend. Tim and Jenna make an amazing couple and we welcome Jenna to the family with open arms. Lizze and I are both so happy for them and support them completely. Sadly however, we will be unable attend the wedding. Things for my immediate family - Lizze, Elliott, Emmett, Gavin and myself- are not going so well. Lizze is in the worst place she's been in since her whole health crisis began many years ago. There is absolutely no way she could physically handle going to the wedding. The lights, smells and noise would simply be to much for her. Gavin doesn't live with us anymore and Elliott and Emmett are already struggling enough right now without being overstimulated by everything they would…
Recently I had the unique opportunity to take a look at a really special board game. I’m not talking about Candyland or Monopoly.
This is a game geared towards special needs children and helping them develop social skills.
The point of the game is pretty straight forward and simple. You spin the wheel and move accordingly, answering questions and collecting little red chips along the way.
The questions are in 3 different categories, feeling, doing and talking.
The Feelingquestions are geared towards getting the child to better understand feelings. Here’s an example question.
A boy’s mother bought ice cream for his sister but not for him. How did he feel? Why do you think she didn’t buy him any ice cream?
The doingquestions are geared towards towards helping the child to better understand and express emotions and the reasons behind them. Here’s an example question.
Make believe you’re crying. What are you crying about?
The final category, Thinking, is designed to help the child better understand themselves. This is an example of the questions in this category.
A child passes a note to another child. The note says something about you. What does the note say?
I’ll be very honest with you here. When the Lost and Tired family sat down to play this game, we didn’t get very far. The reason for this is because even though the box says ages 2 – 6, these questions were confusing for my kids.
My kids are considered highly intelligent but they really couldn’t wrap their brains around these types of questions.
Having said that, this game would be fantastic in a school or clinical setting. In fact, Gavin explained that he played this exact game while he was in the psychiatric unit of Akron Children’s Hospital.
To me, that makes way more sense than using this in the home environment, especially with younger kids like Elliott and Emmett.
That’s certainly not to say that your child wouldn’t benefit from this at home. It just isn’t ideal for my 2 youngest. Gavin on the other hand, really seemed to enjoy it and is more likely to benefit from it.
Truthfully, I would love to see this game in my kids school.
I could see this being of great benefit, especially in the social skills classes.
I feel that this game has much to offer the right people, in the right environment. It’s just not for us, at home.
However, I will also be hosting a giveaway. The winner will receive their own Talking, Thinking and Feeling Game, direct from Childswork.
This is definitely geared more for the younger crowd. I was just wondering what your kids like to do for fun? Do they have a favorite toy, video game, board game etc? This would be cool to talk about because it may help to give others ideas of different things to do. I love how my kids can be laser focused with certain things. However, I do like for them to experience new things or try something they haven't tried before. My kids are really into drawing, coloring, TMNT, Legos, Angry Birds and Bad Piggies. I would love to deepen the pool of things they can do for fun. I'm always looking for fresh ideas.
I wanted to share this with you fine folks and than ask you a question. Earlier this year, Elliott's classroom was focusing on The Lorax, by Dr. Suess. Elliott ate, slept and breathed The Lorax for a long time. In fact, for trick or treat at school last week, Elliott was dressed as The Lorax, complete with orange (face paint) mustache. When I dropped him off at school, I said to him, I love you my Lorax. It's sorta stuck around and Elliott seems to like it. It's become a term of endearment and it's very fitting for him. The Lorax speaks for the trees and animals that have no voice of their own. Elliott is always looking out for his brothers, especially Gavin. When I say, I love you…
I wanted to update you all on the status of Operation Hope. Honestly, nothing has changed. I'm waiting to hear back from Wraparound on the status of funding. Gavin is still living with his grandparents and so far things are going well. The boys are still struggling but hanging in there. We're finally making some headway with Lizze's health at the Cleveland Clinic. That's really about all there is to the update. Nothing too exciting. However, we are surviving and sometimes that enough.
This is going to be another busy week. Aside from all the regular therapies and appointments, Lizze will be back at the Cleveland Clinic. This trip will be the sleep specialist. While she's there, she's also having x-rays in her hands because the rheumatologist is concerned that there is arthritic damage to the joints in her hands. The only way to know for sure is x-rays. Later in the week, Lizze also be having an EEG to rule out seizure activity. Her neurologist is concerned because she can smell and taste cigars. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that these are actually present. The doctor says these can be a sign of seizures. I had never heard that before but he's the doctor. These are just…