Search Results for: blog helping your child find joy

Finding the True Meaning of Christmas

My 8-year-old has a severe case of the Christmas gimmies.  Unfortunately, I have myself to blame for her very unmerry malady. Whereas I am by no means showering the kid with pre-holiday presents, I haven’t been doing a very good job focusing on the “reason for the season” either. I’ve been swept into the chaotic tsunami that is the month of December.  Gifts to buy, wrap and mail; cookies to bake, decorate and distribute; cards to take photos for, write and stamp; and the list goes on and on. As a parent, it’s easy to get caught up in the … Continue reading →

Help Your Child Cope With Fireworks Displays

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Traditionally, the way to celebrate the Fourth of July is to observe a loud, colorful, fireworks display. Kids with certain types of special needs may have difficulty coping with what many adults see as an enjoyable form of entertainment. Here are some tips parents can use to help their child cope with the sensory aspects of Independence Day. The Fourth of July might very well be the loudest holiday of the entire year. We have bright and booming fireworks displays at night, and start the day with the screaming sirens of fire engines in the Independence Day parade. This can … Continue reading →

Helping Your Kids Keep Their Books Under Control

Children’s books are the one thing that I have a hard time saying no to when the kids ask. While we make liberal use of our library, children’s books still seem to find their way into our home, through yard sales, library sales, school book sales and hand me downs. With three kids at different reading levels, there isn’t a lot of overlap, so each child needs his or her own set of books that they can read and re-read. Let us just say that I have a lot of experience organizing children’s books and keeping the books under control. … Continue reading →

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – May 6 – 12, 2012

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Once a week, the Special Needs Blog Week in Review gives you a quick summary of all of the blogs that appeared here in the past seven days. It is an easy way to find the blogs that you might have wanted to read, but, didn’t end up having time for when they first appeared. What did you miss this week? The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on May 7, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of “Hold the Gluten”. The episode is called “Celiac Awareness Month”. One host shares her experience of being on … Continue reading →

Jack’s Helping Hand Reaches Out to Offer Support

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What does your child play with? It isn’t easy to find engaging, and appropriate, toys for kids with certain kinds of special needs. Organizations like Jack’s Helping Hand are making things a bit easier for parents, by creating a toy lending library. This is just one of the ways that Jack’s Helping Hand can offer assistance to parents of kids who have special needs. Jack’s Helping Hand is an organization that was created by Paul and Bridget Ready, in memory of their son, Jack. He had a rare form of brain cancer, and lived to be three years old. He … Continue reading →

Helping With Homework

When Hailey was younger one of our biggest challenges was homework. After work and school there was so much to do that often homework was the last thing we thought about and it would be done in a hurry with no other thought than getting it done so we could go to bed. When you are a single parent it is hard to make time for everything but our children’s education is so important that we have to make time to let them know how important it is. I wish I knew where that dream family lives, the one with … Continue reading →

Making The Night Shift Work For Your Family

Yesterday I talked a little bit about parents who choose to work the night shift. If you are wondering how it works on a practical level, I have decided to discuss that today. After trying a couple of different approaches to adjusting your family’s schedule to accommodate a parent working the night shift at home you will most likely find a solution that works for your family. When a family or a couple thinks of each day as a twenty four hour period of time, it is easier to find creative ways to do or have the things that you … Continue reading →

Helping Your Child Overcome Shyness

My son is naturally shy. Researchers claim that it’s a genetic trait. So in reality, my son’s shyness does not surprise me at all. As a child, I wouldn’t even play games at my friend’s birthday parties. I had an intense fear of failure and I was worried the kids wouldn’t like me. Looking back, the fears were highly irrational, but try telling that to a six year old little girl! I had a few close friends, but I didn’t branch out too much. I was well liked and very focused in school, but when it came to social settings, … Continue reading →

Scrapping the Joys of Motherhood

Your mom doesn’t have to be a craft queen to appreciate a Mother’s Day scrapbook gift. What’s more, you don’t have to be particularly crafty to make a Mother’s Day scrapbook gift. All it takes is a few fabulous photos, some embellishments and a whole lot of love to craft a memory book mom will cherish for years to come. If you are truly craft-impaired, then consider making a mini album rather than a traditional 12 x 12 scrapbook to honor mom. Mini albums are basically smaller versions of the larger models, but feature 6×6 or 8×8 pages. You still … Continue reading →

Do Your Books Take A Beating?

Story time can go one of three ways in our house: 1) Our daughter sits nicely and listens, sometimes helping turn the pages; 2) Our daughter has no interest in reading books and squirms until we give up; or 3) Our daughter does everything she can to rip the books out of our hands. Out of the seemingly thousands of books our daughter received as gifts when she was born, she did not receive any cloth or plastic books. Every book we own is cardboard or paper. This is fine and dandy when my husband or I are holding the … Continue reading →