Man's Best Friend

This is our pooch, Poppie Yo Yo Neck Rumpelstiltskin Mudge Pluto Goofy Olson. No, she's not a purebred, she's a mutt and Ryan named her. She's half Golden Retriever and half Springer/Cocker mix. We got her from the pound when she was a pup. She's just the sweetest thing! It wasn't always that way though!

When she was a puppy she was a handful, as most puppies are. She was adorable but tried our patience no end. She wanted to mouth everything, mainly us, in her soft retriever mouth. She had so much energy I could walk her for two miles and she was just warming up to play ball. She ate my houseplants, dragged pillows over to and slept on couches, watched TV upside down hanging off the couch and in general was all over the place. You couldn't hold her, she wouldn't stay still long enough. There were times when I just sat and cried. Other times I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself.

She's 11 now and some calmer, I don't think she was civil until she was seven! She has been an amazing friend to Ryan and a great source of entertainment for both of us. Make no mistake about it, however, dogs are work and they need their "pack" at home.

A friend of mine watched Ryan with his dog and decided to get her child with special needs a dog. She went out and purchased an expensive pure breed. Shocked at how much work and attention a dog needed she ended up taking him to the pound. A sad story, I think.

Make sure you know dogs before you get one. Dog sit for a while for someone. Investigate breeds that fit your family, not just those that "look cool" or "tough". A Chow is a cool looking dog but is also known as a "One-man" dog who is possessive and jealous. Not one you'd want around kids. Think hard. Are you home enough to train the dog, keep it company and pay attention to it? You need to be.

Poppie has been amazing for Ryan, mutts are usually pretty sweet tempered. I wrote an article on Pet Therapy once and believe me, the health benefits are there! Just make sure you get your pooch from the pound, there are so many that need homes!

See you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Karen

Summer Daze and Getaways - An Alphabet of Saturdays

Summer Daze and Getaways - An Alphabet of Saturdays

Summer is almost here…finally, and most of us will have children home. I gave a little thought to a number of things that we can do to get away on a Saturday either as a couple or as a family, including the child or adult with special needs. Have a great summer!






A - Automobile – jump in the car and turn onto every street with a name that begins with a the first letter of your last name. For children who do not know the alphabet you can turn at a particular type of landmark. Pack a picnic lunch and plan to be away the entire day.

B - Bicycle Trail – with a snack of bread, cheese, fruit and sparkling water pedal to a shady outdoor scenic area to have lunch.

C - Café it – find an outdoor café and order a latte and biscotti, enjoy one another’s company alfresco and people watch.

D -  Deck chairs – enjoy a day at the beach. Bring an umbrella, sunscreen and spend the day walking on the beach, building sand castles and swimming

E - Elope! – get someone to take the children overnight and the two of you head for a bed and breakfast in a neighboring town.

F - Fishing – go fishing for an afternoon. Practice the technique of catch and release. Measure each fish before you throw it back. The one who catches the largest fish gets to pick the restaurant for an early supper.

G - Games – go to a summer afternoon or evening baseball game. Sit in the bleachers and bring your glove. Wear a baseball cap, jersey and jeans. Loosen up and have fun!

H - Hike – hike a trail together. If you can bring backpacks and set up camp for the night so much the better…don’t forget bug dope and make sure to check the fire risk before you go.

I - Ice Cream – go to an ice cream shop and order flavors that you have never tried before. Then set them in the middle of the table and taste them together, rank them on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being your favorite.

J - Jazz it up! – head for an establishment that has jazz musicians and spend the evening as a couple.

K - Kickball – get friends and their children together for an afternoon of kickball. Make it the best two out of three. Losers take winners out for pizza.

L - Laugh!! – make arrangements with friends to go to a Comedy Club together. Tip the waitress extravagantly; sit toward the front where the comedian can tease you.

M - Music – in the park! Head to a park with a band shell in the early evening. Bring a stadium blanket to sit on and listen to the music.

N - Night Run! – Just before bedtime yell “Jammie Run” and everyone pile into the car. Go through a drive through window at a restaurant and order everyone a cookie for a bedtime snack in your PJs.

O - Outdoor theater – yes, there are still a few around. Find one and go. Get popcorn and bring the mosquito coil. Park in the rows that still have the old fashioned speakers that hook on your window…if its been a while since you attended…don’t forget to put the speaker back before you drive off, remember high school?

P - Plays – get tickets for a local production and attend, if you know some of the actors so much the better. Go for a walk afterwards.

Q - Quidditch – Read the Harry Potter books as a family. Take turns reading them aloud to each other on a rainy Saturday.

R - Ride Horses – learn to ride horses together at a neighboring stable. If you already know how to ride, reintroduce yourself to the freedom of it.

S - Sketch – even if you are not an artist, sketch your children, your husband or wife, the dog, a pot of flowers, a tomato plant, whatever strikes your eye. Concentrate on lines and form, not perfection.

T - Tennis – bring a couple of rackets and head to the nearest tennis court.

U - Umbrella – grab an umbrella and boots and walk in the gentle summer rain on a warm afternoon. Don’t miss any puddles! (Do make sure that there is not lightening before you set out.)

V - Video Night – Rent movies and pretend that the couch is a boat. Bring all items needed for an uninterrupted movie. The only reason to get up is to go to the bathroom.

W - Wax on, wax off – wash and wax the car together. Wear old clothes and be playful.

X - xxxxxxxxxxx lots of kisses for your family. Kiss your mate while waiting in line for theater tickets, in the grocery store, or some other place where you don’t usually think of it. Kiss the kids when they least expect it. Make it a contest. Whoever gives the most kisses, wins.

Y - Yahtzee! Have a game night. Invite friends over. Tell them dress is casual (shorts or sweats) and to bring a board game and appetizer. Women, hair requirements are ponytails and headbands, Men wear caps and tennis shoes or sandals. Snack on appetizers and play games all evening. Cap off the night with a toast at midnight and souvenir dice or cards for each couple attending as a memento. Things like silly decks of cards and fuzzy dice for car rear view mirrors go over well. The children can have their game night too with older children or caregivers running the show in another room.

Z - Zoo – spend the day taking pictures of each other acting like the animals in front of their respective cages. Pick your favorite animal of the day and buy a stuffed version of it at the gift store. Hang a tag on it with the date and each write a message on it. Bring it out the next time you go to the zoo and take more pictures of the family with its newest member!

Enjoy your alphabet of Saturdays!

Much love and Joy!
Karen

The New Bathroom

I loved this bathroom! It was so cozy and unique. But, it didn't meet Ryan's needs and a total remodel was needed to do that! So last summer we sucked it up and did it. Ryan's adult services helped and the chaos began!

 We discovered holes in the wall when we took down the medicine cabinets! The cabinet on the right literally had a slice in the back for plumbing pipes. That meant that dust in the walls etc. had access to our toothbrushes and the like. Ryan is allergic to house dust among other things so this wasn't a good option! We had to drywall patch.

 We need to move a wing wall to accommodate the therapy tub Ryan needed. Unfortunately, this meant I had to say good-bye to my stackable washer and dryer on the first floor! I'm doing laundry in the basement, which is okay, it's just not the first floor, you know?

The toilet was too low and didn't have grab bars so we installed a comfort rise toilet with a non-peened grab bar to increase independence and safety. We put 18 inch peened vertical grab bars on both sides of the new tub and a 36 " diagonal peened on the back wall. (Peened just means textured, so you don't slip).

We priced a tub/shower surround but because of the size of the tub it would have to be custom made. The price was outrageous. We priced putting up tile instead and it was about the same money. To decrease the "institutionalized" look we went with tile.

The tub itself has two grab bars so we had, count 'em, FIVE grab bars in the tub area. We didn't put a deck on the tub because it wouldn't been too hard for Ryan to get in and out, plus there was somewhat of a space limit.

We replaced the medicine cabinet with one that was enclosed and that Ryan could open more easily. When it was all said and done we had a bathroom that fit Ryan's needs perfectly. While I missed my sweet amethyst colored bath, I'm learning to like this one. It's such a joy to see Ryan in his whirlpool! He got out one night and said, "Mom, I feel great!" The quality of his sleep has improved with regular whirlpools to say nothing of the sitz bath effect. All in all, worth the four months of hassle!

Here's the finished project:

You can see the tub surround in the mirror. Ryan chose the color Baja Breeze for his bathroom. Everything else is neutral.

Oh yeah, one more WONDERFUL feature of the tub is chromotherapy. Ryan is profoundly hard of hearing, ergo he is highly visual. We put in a chromotherapy light and now he can choose a color each bath (out of about six) for his water. A light shines on the water and gives health benefits.

There's a booklet that comes with the tub that gives "recipes" for various ailments for lack of a better word. For example, relaxation requires only the small therapy bubbles, the lavender light and medium intensity of bubbles. Joint or muscle pain (Ryan has Cerebral Palsy) is counteracted by the Orange light and large, slow massage bubbles.

This is a picture from the booklet showing the blue chromotherapy light. Our bath doesn't have the great artwork or lovely candles!

The tub also had the option of aromatherapy but Ryan has so many allergies we decided that it could be more trouble than it was worth.

At any rate, the bath is done and meets his needs beautifully. I LOVE the new toilet with grab bar and Ryan is fond of sharing that information! At any rate, thanks to Ryan's adult funding he is toileting more independently, getting numerous massages from his tub, able to use the medicine cabinet safely and sleeping better! So very many benefits with such a simple answer!

Take care and see you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Karen

Weight Management

Ryan is a part of the Best Buddy program at UWEC. This is his buddy, Sam. They won first place this year in the golf outing. I can't even imagine what wildness ensues there. I've talked about Best Buddies before but wanted to upload this photo. Ryan has lost almost 10 pounds since it was taken in May. He's working so hard at taking off some weight.

I'm trying along side him. It's hard when you're genetically prone to a larger size. I've always had to do TONS of exercise if I want to even maintain my weight at a decent level, to say nothing of lose weight. He's somewhat the same but he's also twenty years old and a guy. We all know how much easier it is to lose! For his sake, I hope the pounds just slide off.

We're using the Richard Simmons program. It comes with the little plastic book like think where you slide windows over pictures of food exchanges.

Adding calories involved math skills and was out of the question. We also purchased the Richard Simmons exercise DVDs. One is a Sweatin' with the Oldies type workout, the other is a work out you can do SITTING DOWN. Huge for people who use wheelchairs, in fact he has a number of people with disabilities in the video. I highly recommend the program so far. He also sends Richard Grams in the email, has an online support group etc. I read the emails to Ryan. We haven't been on the on line group for him yet but we entered his weight in a weight tracker which should be affirming and positive. Speaking of affirming and positive, I like the way Richard includes that on his tracker as well:

The above photo give a sample of what's on there for affirmations. Great, huh?  At any rate, a nod to Richard for making an eating plan that someone with disabilities can be included in. You can get all of this on line at his site.

How do you work with your child's weight issues if they have them?

Talk to you soon,

Much love and joy,

Karen

Blogger weirdness

I decided to try a new template that blogger made available today ... yikes! I think I jumped the gun! I've got fields overlaying fields and a real mess on my hands. It looks fine in my edit screen but not on the view screen. Can't get through to Blogger so .... I'm stuck with this mess until I can. So sorry!

I'll enter something decent when I can,
God bless,

Karen

I worry about Ryan and high blood pressure. We take it and its fine but sometimes he looks a little bloated. I've had his thyroid checked (I'm hypothyroid and on meds) but it comes out normal. I used to bloat too before I was on meds. However, I went into the lab many many times and had normal readings until I finally said, "Let me have carte blanche, I'll come in whenever I feel the worst" and my numbers were off the charts.

I was about his age too. Anyone else dealing with either thyroid, bloating or blood pressure issues? It's so frustrating, you know?

I'm on the fly today so will check in tomorrow. Take care of you. Prayers for a wonderful, peaceful day.

Much love and joy,

Karen

Head to the Park!

Ryan loves parks. I've seen more County and State parks with him than I have at any other time in my life, including the Girl Scout years. This is Coon Forks accessible fishing dock. It's amazing. Many trails are paved so are wheelchair accessible. The camping is supposed to be as well but we didn't head over there. I'm a hotel girl, past the age of laying on the ground all night.

If you haven't explored some of the parks you really need to. There's a lot out there for people with disabilities. Fishing licenses are discounted in our state. It's not really about catching fish as much as enjoying a day out. Yeah, we want to catch fish, but we catch and release so it's not a huge deal for us.

Have a wonderful summer day! Wondering what to do? Head for a park!

Much love and joy,

Karen

Rainy Cocoon Day

Ryan and I both have vicious colds today. We slept until 9:00 which is unheard of for either of us. Although, in our defense, it is raining and twilit out there. The windows are open a crack so you hear the rain and feel the cool moist breeze. To snuggle under the blanket and breathe all that wonderfully humidified air felt awesome!

My mother will sometimes do respite for me when I'm sick and Ryan's not, but she has this crud too. Ryan was sick with it last week and we both must have caught it from him. He was over it by the weekend except for the residual crud so he's just got the tail end of the cough now. I have to watch that too so it doesn't escalate suddenly.

However, no rest for the weary today. It's OK. It's a good day to cocoon what with the rain and all. Yesterday was GORGEOUS and I plowed through, grilling and making dinner which is saying something when you don't feel like eating. And I ALWAYS feel like eating, ya know??

I'm Ryan's PCW so there's no taking the day off. I provide those cares no matter how sick I am. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well ... it'd be nice if someone would cook though. I hate cooking when I'm sick. I'd just as soon make canned chicken soup and be done with it.

Hope your day is a good one, healthy and happy.

See you tomorrow,
Much love and joy to you and yours,
Karen

My Knight in Shining Armor

Sometimes Ryan is my knight in shining armor. He fights battles I will never know. He faces enemies of his attention, time and body that I will never experience. And through it all he is chivalrous, maintains grace and is stronger than I'll ever be. He has grown into a young man that I'm proud of. He gives everything one hundred percent.

I wish I could take all the "disability crud" away. The picture above with Ryan in the beaver suit is a glimpse of the person behind all the disability. The person that might have been. I LOVE the person that IS and wouldn't trade him for all the world, but I'd like to make life easier for him. A LOT easier.

Take care and we'll see you tomorrow.

God bless,

Karen

Follow Your Own Path

Don't you love summer? No commitments to school, the days slow down and move at a sane pace and we have options on the weekends, unlike the winter months when we either shop or go out to dinner!

I used to push for summer school for Ryan when he first started school, mainly to stave off any regression in skills he experienced during the summer. I changed my tune after time and decided summer was a perfect time to NOT have school. I would've been soooo disappointed to have classes in the summer as a kid, why would I do that to a child with disabilities just because he doesn't know there is another option? Honestly!

So we quit summer school, continued with PT for a while (primarily because it was at the pool and he loved it!) but spent our summer months on road trips, going to concerts and just experiencing those wonderful warm events. You know what? Ryan blossomed. So did I. We have such a good time that it's hard to face fall again. When he was in High School he asked to be home schooled. I said yes and we've never looked back. Next year at 21 I will graduate Ryan. He's planning a big party.

All this to say ... don't let other parents, professionals or family members decide what is right for your child. Try on a size that fits! If school works for your kid, go for it. If home school works for him, try that. Do whatever decreases stress and gives you back your joy!

Have a great weekend!

Much love and joy,

Remember, I'm praying for you,

Karen

The Collecting Kid

Ryan is a collector. Big time. I don't know about your child with special needs but this one ... he LOVES getting entire sets of things. Happy Meal toys took over our house for a while.

Funny story. One Saturday morning, when he was little, Ryan was watching cartoons or should I say commercials. He didn't pay much attention to the show until a loud brassy ad came screaming onto the set. I looked over to see my son struggling to put his jacket on.

"What's up?" I asked. "What are you doing, big guy?"

"I ha' to go now," he answered.

"Go where?" I asked.

"'Donald's. I ha' to get my toy NOW," he glanced at me with fear in his eyes. I realized he was talking about the commercial he'd just seen.

"Oh, honey. They don't mean RIGHT now. They mean while supplies last ... you know before they run out and switch to a different toy." (Did I not know this kid at all??)

"Run OUT?!"

"Well," I backpedaled. "They have a lot of them. They're just telling you which one they have right now."

Needless to say, I didn't fair well in that discussion. I helped him with his coat and we headed for McDonald's to get his happy meal toy.

The Big Bird cupcake is part of a recent collection. Sesame Street character cupcakes from the local bakery. I finally convinced him to take photos and collect those so he'd eat the cupcakes. He knew he couldn't save food but he'd have let them sit there too long and they would've grown mold on the bottoms, etc.

What am I supposed to do with all these collections? We have snow globes -- dozens, we have those expensive display houses from Michael's -- a whole town of them with multiple seasons! Old action figures ... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles anyone, and yes, Happy Meal toys ... What is a mom to do? It's easy to say, "get rid of them" but not easy to do. He's worked hard on his collections.

Open to all reasonable suggestions ....

Have a great weekend!

Much love and joy,

Karen

Therapeutic Scrapbooking

Ryan is somewhat of an amateur photographer. He is profoundly hard of hearing so uses his vision more than the rest of us.

When I wrote for the newspaper one of my photographer friends was interested in Ryan's pictures because they were so unique. (This is one of his at the left.) He's very much into shape, shadow and perspective.

I teach therapeutic scrapbooking to parents of children with special needs and often times I encourage them to give their children cameras so they can put their own photos in a scrapbook that processes their feelings.

If you'd like me to teach your group about therapeutic scrapbooking just give me a hollar at Karen's Therapeutic Scrapbook Workshops and we'll set something up. There is a fee for materials. (I'm not rich enough to pay for every person's materials.) Put the words THER SCRAP WS in the subject line please.

That's it for me today. I'm off to bed, I'm feeling a little off today like I might be getting some kind of bug. Hope not.

See you tomorrow,
Much love and joy,
Karen

Check out my column

Ryan is sick today with an upper respiratory infection and cold virus. One of several hundred he's had growing up. He goes down so hard though that a cold isn't just a case of the sniffles. In fact, that's why I ended up home schooling Ryan for High School, at least ONE of the reasons, I had many, most notably, he asked me to home school him.

I love it. I graduate him next spring at age 21. He has been a fantastic student and gained so much in confidence and basic living skills that I couldn't be prouder. He's developing into a fine young man. I know, I know, I'm his mother. But really, he's a good man and works hard at that.

At any rate, check out my column in Family Times on Ryan's Garden. It brings in basics in Horticultural Therapy, a therapy I believe in whole-heartedly.

I hear my son so I'll need to cut this short today. Take care and I pray that all of you are experience good health  and happiness,

God bless,

Karen

Teachable Moments

Ryan has expressed an interest in the Renaissance now that he was at the faire. Talk about teachable moments. We're watching films on Victoria, Elizabeth and Henry the VIII just to acquaint him with the monarchy and what it means. Granted, we're talking Hollywood in most of them but because Ryan is a visual learner the films make a good jumping off point.

It'll make a nice segue into early American history too. I never really know how much Ryan absorbs but we love working together and he enjoys every moment even if it isn't all retained forever. His memory is so up and down.

For example, the other night I made brats for dinner and overcooked them a little. We're eating dinner and Ryan says, "These brats remind me of grandpa." Now, it sounds like nothing but ... grandpa died 16 years ago when Ryan was 4 years old. Grandpa ALWAYS overcooked the grilled food. He claimed he was killing bacteria (since he was an entomologist-PhD in all things insect) we didn't argue. Ryan remembered that!!! How?

So, I teach in those teachable moments, not knowing what gets through and what doesn't.

God bless you and your special someone. I pray that today brings joy and laughter into your life!

Much love and joy,

Karen