He Dances

By Sandy on October 6, 2013

I’m not exactly sure when it started. But recently, our very bouncy, always hopping on his knees boy, stopped bouncing. He stood up. He lifted one foot at a time and shifted his weight. Ever so slightly, he swayed.

Josiah held on to the edge of the kitchen counter and rocked his body back and forth. There was no music playing and it didn’t last long. As quickly as he started, he stopped. Josiah dropped back to the floor, content to resume bouncing. But I saw it happen. The next time, I was ready.

When Josiah stood and started to sway I held his hands and swayed with him. Picture two very awkward Jr. High school kids at their first dance, not really sure what they are doing. Josiah pulled away after a few brief moments.

Will Work for Beads

By Sandy on September 21, 2012

Josiah will do just about anything for a shiny string of Mardi Gras beads. Dangle a strand just out of reach and that boy snaps to attention. It’s best to keep a nice stash of them on hand, which is why I frequent the Dollar Store to load up. It’s why I try to keep some in my purse and in the van and in Rick’s car. It’s also why the aides on Josiah’s morning and afternoon buses each keep a string of beads.

I’m telling you, life is just much easier with beads in tow.

Family Vacation

By Sandy on June 10, 2011

We are packing up today. In the wee hours of the morning we will be heading out for a family vacation. This will be the first one we have taken with all 7 of us together, in a very long time. Josiah was in a residential treatment facility last summer. He did not go with us when we drove up to Ohio and Pennsylvania to visit family and friends.

This year we are driving a much shorter distance. We are heading to Florida. It should only take us about 9.5 hours to get there. It’s best to do as much of the driving as possible while the kids are all sleeping. 7 of us with all of our necessary belongings in a 7 passenger van makes for a rather tight squeeze. There is not much leg room for stretching. If we travel during daylight hours there is more opportunity for sibbling squabbles. We learned many years ago traveling at night works best for our family.

Daily Routines

By Sandy on June 6, 2011

I absolutely love to create schedules and routines. I love to plan everything in advance, on paper. It’s in following the routine or schedule where my system breaks down. I don’t always like to complete the necessary tasks once they are scheduled on paper.

However, that has not deterred me from creating routines for the summer. This morning I gave Jesse and Chandler each an open ended routine template for them to complete. It’s meant to be filled in each evening so the next day will be planned before it even arrives. The older girls have work and busy social schedules. Their time is already well mapped out. But the younger kids need some type of structure to their days.

Will You Help?

By Sandy on May 24, 2011

My last blog post was about Josiah not being able to communicate with us. It was about him needing a voice, some type of equipment to help him express his wants and needs. Josiah has a Voice Output Device right now. He’s had it for 4 years. It’s big and bulky. It’s heavy and very expensive. The school district provided it for him, free of charge. It goes with him in his backpack to school every morning. It comes home with him in his backpack every afternoon.

Ideally, Josiah would use it to let us know what he wants. He doesn’t though. He knows how to use it a little. He knows how to tell us what he wants to eat. He uses it at school during calendar time as well. The problem is we have not let Josiah use it all the time. He broke it once. Shortly after he got it, Josiah hurled it across the room. The screen shattered. We were mortified. It is a $7,000 piece of equipment.