Our Weekend

So, this weekend ~

Shane, Jessica and I went to church-- and the kids didn't have Sunday School class as usual-- so they were in with me in the sanctuary--

This was a HUGE step out of the box of normalcy for Shane and me... (I?)

I am used to dropping the kids off with Miss C - who is an AWESOME kinder teacher in real life.-- and then if things go well-- I get the kids out of the classroom when church is over.

Once in a while they put the number up for Shane and I have to go and deal with a meltdown-- but lately Jessica has been staying in Shane's classroom and she has been able to help avoid meltdowns. (yay! Jessica)

Shane was baulking when we were walking to the sanctuary-- he didn't want to try something new-- I kept explaining that we were going to church and that if he wanted his reward... then he would need to follow directions. (Yup, I bribed my son!)

I took a deep breath and found us seats at the back near the exits--

During Worship Singing-- Shane did okay... it helped that the Worship team asked for the kids to jump around and dance while singing...

My biggest challenge was getting Shane to lower his voice. I did get some looks from some people who must of thought something was wrong-- I tried not to look their way I just tried to stay present in the moment and either focus on Shane, Jessica or Praising the Lord.

I was so happy, and I got to relax a bit- when the ushers brought over bags of goodies for the kids--.

Jessica had been doing fine next to me, but I think she was ready for something to do with her hands.

I kept an ongoing conversation with Shane-- by writing on a piece of paper-- Shane, show me calm body-- Shane you are doing green card work...keep it up.

A while back Shane's SPED teacher made him these cards with funny expressive faces on them-- they have descriptions of what the pictures show-- Twirly,mad,sad,happy,frightened,nervous,tired,confused,--

on the back of the cards are strategies of how to best manage these feelings-- Those cards were a lifesaver to me-- I didn't have to constantly tell Shane what I wanted to see-- I just kept showing him the happy card-- I even used the card to give him some positive reinforcement. When he was doing good... (he was on the floor coloring...) I tapped him on the back and gave him thumbs up and showed him the happy card-- he in return gave me thumbs up back-- :)

We got thru service and then towards the end my nephew,was asked to pray over the bread for communion--(He did a GREAT job! ) Shane and Jessica and I survived!

The people who were behind us were very sweet about not letting Shane disrupt them-- much-- :) After service I went ahead and explained about SPD-- they were very receptive to my comments-- they even mentioned that during service they were praying that Shane would mellow so that we all could enjoy service! It was nice to know that these lovely people had my back! It helped that Shane did turn and say good morning and greet these people quite sweetly... I think the lady liked Shane's blue eyes!

anyway...

That was the BIG thing this weekend... we also had a playdate with a classmate of Jessica's -- I took a bunch of pictures -- but I want to ask her mom before posting.

There is a great blog that I have only recently found, called lucasjourneyspd.blogspot.com -- if you click on the link-- you can go read and watch two videos-- that are all about SPD-- GREAT information and easy to understand.

Tomorrow I'll get to share some pictures of Shane getting an award at school... Stay Tuned !

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