Avoiders and Crowds

Ahh the age old question, which came first the avoider or the crowd? Just kidding, ignore that. A good friend of mine has recently asked me to share some of my secrets on how I was able to kind of bring my avoider out of her shell and get her to where she is now, where we have almost no problems going out and about. So if you havn’t already guessed, my daughter has a particularly hard time in crowded areas and at one point in time we didn’t really leave the house. I remember wanting to go to festivals and wanting her to have friends, but as soon as we got there she would loose control. My daughter has Sensory Processing Disorder and she is an avoider (avoids stuff).

So lets do it to it, before you can ever begin to help your child you need to pinpoint what it looks like when your child starts having a hard time or a melt down. For my daughter it looks like her starting to get squirmy, she rubs her fingers in her ears, shes all over the place with what she wants sometimes not making sense at all, these are all signs shes had enough. So pay attention the next time your out and try to find out how long it takes your guy to start to get “done” and if there is anything in particular that makes it worse. I had no idea my daughter had problems wearing shoes until one day I was desperate and just started ripping stuff off of her, sure enough as soon as the shoes came off she calmed down a bit. Knowing what things may trigger your child will not only strengthen your bond it will help you to put yourself in there shoes.

Once you know some of the things that bother your baby and about how long your kid has in a crowd you can sit down with your partner, babysitter, whoever else is around the child and discuss a plan of action. With kids consistency is key, with SPD guys trust is also key. They need to feel safe with whoever is taking them, having everyone on board is crucial. For my family our plan of action is that we do brushing on her hands and feet and compressions on her back that was recommended by her therapist before we leave the house, we also talk in great detail about where were are going, what we are doing, how loud and bright it will be, how many people will be there, and some possible bad things that can happen. We talk about our plan of action as a family and assure them that God is with them no matter what. Our family has a safe word that we can say at any time and the rest of the family knows how to fall in line. If its Autaum I take her to the nearest quiet room and we take a break, my husband knows to grab Andy and come wait for us. If its me my husband knows to take both kids and let me just be alone until I calm down and come find them. Everybody has a hard time from time to time and I think its ok to be open about it with your kids. Our safe word is “i’m having a hard time”, yours can be whatever you want.

Now go out and start putting the plan into action. Start small like the library on a day where there is no programs going on and its real quiet. Go in with no expectations, don’t try to check out books and talk to Becky for 45 minutes, dedicate this time to growing with your kid. In this SPD game you will have to walk out on many of programs, parties, and just fun in general. That’s ok, try to go into everything with no expectations. Try not to make commitments to go to stuff because you never know when your going to wake up and your toddlers “hair feels itchy”. My favorite thing to tell people when they ask me if I will be at something or if I will meet them there is “we plan of going”, that’s neither a yes nor no. No extra stress on you or your babies. I remember when I first started working with Autaum we would get all dressed, get all the way up to the library, be in for maybe 5 minutes at the most, and then have to leave. Keep practicing and it will get easier, it may take MONTHS. I am so glad I never gave up and kept working at it.

The last thing that I can say is there is almost always some sort of manipulative that you can bring to help your child. For Autaum I made a “lap snake” out of an old sock and some rice, sewed some different texture ribbon on it, that helped her sit still and not think about the chaos. This will not work for Andy, its an over loader for him, too much input. Andy needs a therapeutic necklace that is super hard to chew on, this gives him something to do with his mouth and give him the sensory input he needs. All children are different and you will have to talk to your child’s therapist, pediatrician and just see what works and what doesn’t. I will post a link below on where you can explore the different options you have. Also, teeny tiny things like putting seamless panties on and not brushing her hair that morning may not stop a meltdown from happening but they are tiny pieces of sensory input into one big multi-highway. If you can eliminate some of the puzzle pieces that aren’t necessary than you are left with only the important sensory pieces. Suddenly your chaotic mess is a nice clear puzzle. If your child protests wearing shorts but will wear pants, let him wear pants. He does not care if it is a hundred degrees, his body is telling him function only and that’s what you may need to switch your mind over.

If you take anything away from this I hope that you can remember that as a mom I have cried countless times because of how hard it can be having to miss out. I would get upset that I couldn’t “just go have fun with my kid”. I have felt angry, ugly feelings, never about my daughter, never any regret or anything like that, but because I didn’t get to do the “mommy things” I imagined myself doing. Having an avoider can make you feel left out. I promise you that what you and your kiddo are going through is a journey to be celebrated. I threw myself a pitty party for a couple months, I had to realize that just because I didn’t get to take my daughter to do things I wanted just meant that I would have to work a little harder to take here there. We would both have to learn each other, trust each other and find what worked for us. I may not have the fairy tail mommy life I imagined but you can bet damn well I am rocking this mommy thing. I just had to find where it was, and then make sure everyone there didn’t get too loud. Switching up your mommy game may just be necessary, and that’s fine. We did therapy for Andy the other day and Autaum took her pants and panties off half way through, the therapist and I didn’t skip a beat, we knew she was starting to get overwhelmed. A year ago I talked to much smack about parents who don’t properly dress their kids.

If you have a “super avoider” who can not seem to handle leaving the house, I would also recommend baby wearing when out. This was the only way I would be able to buy groceries for a good while. Even when we were at home I would strap her to me and just sit on the couch and fold laundry. I have a theory that it has something to do with your heart rate and warmth like Skin to Skin or Kangaroo Care.

I really pray that I was able to get at least one helpful tip out to you and your special one. Stay strong mamma because it will get easier. I pray that your kids do not back talk yoyou at all today. Thank you so much for your read and your support. I am happy to introduce my new E-Mail club or HappyHippyClub down at the bottom of the page. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @DatHippyDoe, Pinterest, Facebook, all of that social media stuff…Also, acceptance through knowledge about Sensory Processing Disorder is possible and it starts with us.

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Local Summer Fun 2016

A lot of moms have come to me asking how I get the latest scoop on all of the free things to do around town this summer. The truth is that I made a summer bucket list for my kids and I and we are sticking too it. A while back ago I read an article about having a “1970 summer” or something like that. I honestly do not remember too much from this article, but II do remember the author basically saying let your kids have fun. Let your kids play in the water all day, we will worry about that ear infection later. Eat all of the artificial dyes and junk you want. Have fun, don’t kill yourself trying to make homemade applesauce squeeze pouches like you always do. Go out early, come home late, nap and love life. So thats my mantra for this summer, just have fun and live life. So back to the bucket list, I have complied an entire calendar full of activities to keep up busy at little to no cost this summer. I am going to give you the tools so you can do this as well. I do not want to just sit here and compile one giant list of all the things that are happening in our town, I want you to go and find what would be fun for you and your littles, make your own bucket list.

So one of the ways I stay connected on whats going on is I follow all of the local places on Facebook. Think about your area and what kinds of places you normally take your kids or places that you wouldn’t normally take them but know you can. Basically all of your local fast food places, pools and parks, kids play places, places like that you need to be following on Facebook and sign up for their Email list. Make sure you type in the name of the place you want to follow and then your zip code, otherwise you may be following a Chic-Fil-A four towns over. Some places to follow in specific are Home Depot and Lowes, they do a free kids build once or twice a month. Follow your local City Hall, Chamber of Commerce, and Parks and Rec. Follow Chic-Fil-A, Toys R-us, Whole Foods/Central Market, your local library children’s program. These are just the ones off of the top of my head, they are constantly posting and Emailing to keep you updated on all of the fun. You may have to sign up for some of these mailing lists, I know some people refuse to taint their inboxes with that nonsense, but sometimes you have to do it.

**You do not have to stay local. Start local and then move on to cities you wouldn’t mind driving to/can afford to drive to normally. I like the two towns on opposite sides of me, we do a lot of activities there.**

Look for reading programs. A lot of local libraries do a summer reading program which is completely free and you do not have to be a member of the library to attend. You get a check list of things to do for babies and books to read for bigs, they do a weekly book reading and program for the kids. At the end if you turn in your reading log your child will be entered to win some prizes. At our local library your kids can be entered to win a Kids Kindle Fire! HEB does a reading program as well and your kid gets a free T shirt.

Basically, your trying to find fun ways to take up the majority of the day that doesn’t cost a lot and then you can go home and your kids take an amazing nap. You will be driving a lot more than you may already so you need to counter that with little to no cost for your fun and food. Gatti Land, for instance, moms eat free on Mondays. Kids 2 and under eat free so my kids can eat free, I can eat free, and then I buy $10 to go play. Its super cheap and I can drag it out to take forever. If you want your summer fun to be cheap than your going to have to look for deals and look holes like that and make it work to your advantage. My favorite thing right now is that the local pool is $2 for people over 5 and you can bring your own food, super cheap for us. To really drag out my experience I do a little research on the place were going to the night before and try to learn all about the different amenities and free things they offer. On Sundays every museum in Austin has free admission, so when we go to the Bob Bullock museum we take a little longer in the parking garage counting stuff and talking about colors, we play on the statue upfront. Taking an hour to get inside of a place may sound horrible to some, but to me that’s an hour were not sitting at home bored out of our minds. There are a bunch of ways to “drag out” your summer fun that really are just teaching moments.

Try to pack your lunch as much as possible. You definitely do not want to go into this summer trying to “just eat lunch there”, every now and then is fine. You will end up spending a ton on gas and then a ton on food and that’s such a horrible habit to teach your kids. I hate packing my lunch but if I keep switching it up I find that I don’t bored so fast, and when I do get bored I just eat out, then pack my lunch next time. Try to factor in how long you will be there vs. the appetite of the kid vs. activity they are doing and pack snacks accordingly. I always pack at least one bottle of water for us to all share. I collect quarters regularly (they are everywhere) and keep them in a play doh container in my bag to buy bottled water there if we need it. Why a play doh container? So when I put bills in there they won’t get wet, its tiny and discrete and no one will ever suspect there’s money in your play doh. I have also almost ruined my new wallet bringing it to the pool. To add on to this thought, I have one giant “summer” bag that I empty as soon as I put the kids down for nap, hang in the closet, and then its ready to be packed up the next time we go out. I keep bug spray and sun block at the bottom of the bag at all times, I have showed up to too many events not knowing they would be out doors and almost burnt my babies!

One big thing that I do want to shed some light on is that Schulman Theatres Lost Pines 8 does a fifty cent movie every Tuesday this summer at 10 am. They are playing some of my kids favorite movies, and they do a raffle and give away prizes before the movie. When we went to see Despicable Me 2 I brought our Minion blanket and a stuffed animal for each kid, I also brought in a coloring sheet from the theaters coloring contest so when they got bored half way through they could color. The biggest thing about this is that all proceeds go to the Boys and Girls club, which the movie theater has let them use an entire room in the back of the theater to host their meetings. That is so cool. So not only are they raising money for the boys and girls club they are letting them do amazing work right there in the back of the building. If you go I encourage you to sign up and volunteer, even just once, or maybe give a donation.

Last, my least favorite way to have fun this summer is hit the dollar stores. Kites, Frisbees, water toys, sidewalk chalk. you can find so many easy ways to occupy your kids for just a dollar. The trick is to stock up on a lot of different stuff and make one item the activity for the morning. Buy a kite, go fly it at the park while stalling. This could easily take a few hours and then you kids can go play on the play ground. Pinterest is your best friend, you can find uses for these cheap items that you would of never thought of. Dollar tree and Five Below are your best friend. Dig deep into your childhood summers. What made them so great? Find out what it was and make that your summer traditions. I went and bought Fritos and bean dip, pop cicles that screw up your mouth on the sides, we are always in the water because I remember living in the lake, we are looking up my favorite kid cartoons on Youtube, those are some of the things that made my childhood summers.

Somehow through keeping a tight connection with all of this my calendar is full. We have not had one “stay at home” day this summer AND my husband doesn’t want to kill me for spending all of our money. So if I can do it you can too momma. Since I was lazy and will not be posting a big master list of all things coming up, I will post the links to the websites so you can get yourself set up.

https://bastrop.schulmantheatres.com/family-game-night

https://lowesbuildandgrow.com/clinics

FREE Kids Workshop | First Saturday of Every Month at Home Depot

http://www.elginpubliclibrary.org/kids-teens/children-s-programs.html

http://www.elgintx.com/270/Morris-Memorial-Pool

https://www.heb.com/static-page/article-template/H-E-Buddy-Reading-Club

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Events

 

Making Your Own Baby Food

There are a few different reasons for making your own baby food. I personally want to gag at the idea of a pureed carrot sitting in a jar for MONTHS somehow without preservatives. Riddle me that one. Others may just want to cut back on their grocery bill, whatever the reason, I applaud you and say lets do dis. There are several different ways to make your own baby food and they only take a few extra minutes of work, so if you have doubts about it taking forever, I assure you I am super lazy and do not have any extra time. These two methods are my tried and true, my plan A and plan B, my only two ways of making baby food of all the many ways I had tried.

*Disclaimer*

I am not shaming anyone for buying canned baby food, you do you momma. I am simply stating my personal feelings on the matter. I will say that I have bought organic baby foods and kept them on hand for times when it was too much of a hassle to bring my own or emergencies. If you are going to buy canned baby food some advice from me to you is, always check the label. There should only be two ingredients, maybe three. Water, whatever veggie, and possible lemon juice (citric acid) for preservatives. There should never be any fillers of any kind, it may also say something like “starch”. You do not want fillers in your babies food because they shouldn’t be there. Simple, your babies tummy is learning how to handle these new foods and developing the enzymes appropriate to break them down, no need to put extra stress on your babies body. Starch is not something your babies tummy needs at all let alone during this delicate time. Another tip is always buy organic. Organic means that there will never ever be any GMO or Genetically Modified Organisms in your babies food. GMO carrots for example, are carrots that were changed in a lab and then sprayed with pesticides. That’s a discussion for a later date, but everyone definitely needs to educate themselves on the topic. Also, there is no definition for the word “natural”, this means companies can claim anything they want is “all natural” and never get in trouble for how close to plastic it really is.

Lets get started, Plan B is my second, more in a hurry way to make baby food. I recommend this method for mommies just starting baby food. You will not need a whole bunch of baby food at first maybe 1 ice cube, so one tray can last you quite a while. You will need a large pot to boil the veggies in, an ice cube tray, and a food processor. I found my food processor at my local grocery store for $10. This is an appliance you really do not need to invest any sort of money on, once your baby gets the hang of eating you will need to get something bigger. So all you do is boil the veggies for a really longtime. The goal is to make sure there is absolutely nothing for your baby to choke on. So for broccoli I cut it up into pieces big enough to fit into my food processor and boil for 25-30 minutes. For sweet potatoes I cook them extra long since they are so hard, you will be able to use your judgement. Remember to take out any possible seeds,remove all peels, and I shouldn’t have to say this but fruits do not need to be cooked. Simply mash and enjoy. Once you have boiled your veggies, drain all excess water. I have even taken a paper towel while the veggies are still in the strainer and soaked up any excess water on top. Blend all of this up for a good while. Stir the bottom up and then re-blend several times. This will make sure there are no chunks or strings for baby to choke on. Poor the goop into the ice cube tray, cover with tin foil, and freeze. When you wake up in the morning pop out how ever many cubes you will need per meal into bowls with lids. I suggest using glass bowls with lids, I will post links to everything that I talk about at the very bottom so you can get an idea of what to look for.

*Tip about plastic is it wears down over time. Its coated in harsh chemicals, its just bad news. It is very hard in the baby world to get away from plastic but it is doable!

Plan A, my favorite plan, is for hungrier babies. It is one big meal prep at the beginning of the week and your set. For both plans I suggest everyone buy a steamer. You can get a double steamer for around $20-25. The steamer is so much faster than trying to boil all of these veggies, it doesn’t stink up your house as much and you don’t loose as much of the veggies. The double steamer allows you to make two different kinds of baby food at once, which gives baby some variety. I did not know this at the beginning and I bought a butt load of different products and they all sucked. You could make like a cup of baby food at a time that way and my chunk of a daughter was eating like 2 cups a meal at one time. So if you know in your heart that you want to make all of your guys food that you need to go big. Double steamer for $20-25, blender for $20, and breast milk storage bags (hubba wha?). Let me explain, if you want to make your own baby food chances are that you breast fed, I just have a feeling. Breast milk storage bags are on average 8-10 ounces and are designed to freeze and thaw precious liquid. So when producing mass amounts of baby food you are going to need to store mass amounts of baby food, ice cube trays would take up your entire freezer. So if you already are buying these bags or just have a zillion of them from your baby shower, why not put them to good use? So the process is the same, you peel and chop up the veggies. Steam them, you don’t have to strain them, that’s nice. Blend them all up and then fill up the baggies. Every night you defrost a baggie in the fridge, the next morning poor into containers for the day. Super simple.

I will be doing another blog on how to introduce baby foods. I will be covering how to know when your baby is ready, what to introduce first, what products can I trust? So stay posted for that. I hope this was of some help to you and your little one. Ultimately, whatever decision you make you are doing a wonderful job and at the end of the day you are feeding your baby. So hats off to you mom, you made it out of bed and fed your baby today, you deserve a glass of wine.

These are the products that I used. The blender is a little more expensive online than I found in the store.

The Thinkery

So if you read my stuff a lot, which every one should btw, you will understand what Family Fun Day is for our family. I am a very big supporter of Family Fun Days, every family should have at least one a week. A “Family Fun Day” is where we all wake up early and go do an activity with no cell phones or distractions. Friends are not allowed to come, we can’t meet anyone anywhere, its just us. Parents are required to actually get up and go play with the kiddos, because honestly we don’t always. You get the idea. So today we picked the Thinkery, in Austin. We have been here a few times before but today we went for a special reason. While at the splash pad last week I overheard two moms talking about a special way to get into the Thinkery for free. Say what? So here is the details…

This is the coolest thing I have ever heard and I think it is so awesome. The Thinkery has an “open door policy” meaning they will never turn anyone away. All you have to do is just ask, its that simple. We gave it a shot today and it works, no questions asked. The lady was super nice, we got in super fast just like everyone else. It was the coolest thing. So anyone, no matter what can always come and learn at the Thinkery. Prices otherwise are 0-23mos free and everyone else is $10.

Besides that, I really love that this place truly is childproof. You can let the craziest of toddlers free and not have to worry. I am not saying everything is padded and they can’t hurt themselves, but they can’t mess anything up. There’s not really any rules, maybe don’t take toys into other rooms. There is an upstairs that is more for the babies to toddler age. I love the baby gated area, you just take your shoes off and have a seat while they go explore. Upstairs they also have a chicken coop and farmers market and another room that changes. Sometimes its hula hoops, sometimes its foam blocks to climb on.

Down stairs is more for the older kids. There is another baby gated area to drop off the babies and go help the bigs explore downstairs. So if you need a break or your back hurts from baby wearing all day this is your go to place. There is a light room with a few different light games. There is an electricity room and a whole bunch of cool stuff down stairs. Like I said, we usually stick to upstairs.

There is three areas that you will get wet. Upstairs to the left is the water room. They offer Crocs and a apron. Put the Crocs on, it is slippery. If you do not want your kid to get wet don’t even go there, the apron will only stop them from getting soaked. Downstairs there is a area where you can paint on glass and spray it away. This area is fine, you get an apron here as well, at most they will get paint on their hands. Outside there is a fountain kids can lean in and play in.

There are family bathrooms all throughout the building as well as nursing rooms upstairs. The other cool thing about this place is that there is stroller parking almost everywhere, complete with diaper bag hooks on the wall. I leave my stuff on the walls all the time and have never had a problem. If your not comfortable leaving your stuff they offer lockers to rent, I think they are like a dollar. There is a small area with tables and healthy vending machines if you need to stop and eat a snack. If your real hungry there is a Snap kitchen outside and you can just take your lunch to the super cool park across the street.

One thing I have not talked about is how much I hate the parking. I have almost always have problems parking. All you can really do is just pray you get a good one, if not there is a free parking garage like nine miles away. So ponder if its really worth venturing on that journey if you don’t get a parking spot close.

Keep a close eye on their Facebook page and website to keep up with special days they have. I know I heard of a “5 senses” day they recently had. I know there is also “Baby time” or something like that Monday mornings.

So these were just my thoughts and opinions, my expediences. I really want to encourage everyone to go visit the Thinkery at least once with their children, I promise you will never regret it. Well unless you hate fun and happiness, then you should probably stay home anyways.

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