Santa Dog?

So back on Presidents' Day. My Husband had the day off and was home with the tribe. I get a phone call,

"Babe. You're not going to believe what just happened. (Youngest boy) yelled out 'Daddy come look!'

'What is it (youngest)?'

'Daddy...Willow(service dog) is in the chimney!'"

Yeah. Service dog decided she wanted to lie down in the fireplace-firebox we had not cleaned out or closed off. Did I mention she's a white Pyrenees?

Guess who got a bath?

Staying home?

So a couple of weeks ago our "full-time" caregiver gave notice. The trek to the new house was a bit much and causing strain on her other clients and home life. Well Husband and I advertised on Care.com and thought we had found some great candidates. One was a guy, big, athletic medic from the Army. Woo and hoo! Had him out to meet Middle and while Middle didn't completely ignore him, Middle didn't try and engage either. We were excited anyway for the prospect of having someone who could go to the YMCA with Middle and take him swimming, be out door and physical. Middle really enjoys walking and such. So we were going to have Mr. Medic come over and spend some supervised out time with Husband and Middle. But to no avail. Mr. Medic called and cancelled the outing, stating that it felt like the connection might be forced. Ok. I can respect that. 

One knew ASL and looked outdoorsy too. She wrote back, thanks but no thanks. 

Well two more phone interviews later, and I use the phrase loosely, still no candidate. 

I was lamenting at work and the girls I work with started giving me a bad time about becoming a stay at home mom. 

Went home that night and told Hubby how the girls were razzing me, which led to Husband and I starting to actually talk about my staying at home as an option. Like a plan C. After much discussion, angst, crunching of numbers and my all time favorite Pros and Cons list. It was decided that it made sense for me to take care of Middle. 

I have always worked outside the home, even when I WAS a caregiver myself (yes, I had my CNA at one point and was in an LPN program, but $10/hr is too much for help and not enough to support myself and two children on, so I went back into office work). 

I am scared to death. What if it doesn't work out? What if it does? Holy cow. Anyone who knows me knows, I DO NOT handle the "unknown" very well. I LIKE knowing what is going to happen and having back up plans with back up plans. Just in case. 

Not to mention. The girls I work with are AHmazing people, and it's freaking rocket science for crying outloud. I KNOW what I am doing, what is expected and how to get it done. 

This housewife taking care of the family full time thing? Totally nebulous in my world. And THAT scares me. 

I told Husband that I know how to run a business and projects, so we will have programs for projects, lists of tasks and projects for future accomplishments, weekly "team" meetings and the like. I guess we'll see. 

Well that's the crazy for today. 

Vacuuming Contest

One of the things that really needed to be done this evening was vacuuming the downstairs.  Willow, Middle Son's service dog, is a Great Pyrenees, which means she leaves a cloud of long white hair in her wake.  There were clumps and clusters of hair all over the place.

I'm trying to have Middle Son and Youngest Son involved in the housework where I can.  Middle will largely do what I ask, but for many tasks I he needs hand-over-hand assistance to understand what he is being asked to do and/or to stay on task long enough to finish.  I've had some success lately turning things into a contest with Youngest.  Last weekend I asked him to help mean clean the toilets, then said "Actually, that job is probably too hard for you, so I'll get someone else to help me."  So naturally he REALLY wanted to clean the toilets after that.

Tonight, I told him that after dinner we were going to have a vacuuming contest.  He, Middle, and I would each vacuum a room and see who did the best job.  He thought that was a great idea.

After dinner we were getting ready to start.  I asked Older Daughter if she wanted to be in on the contest.  To my considerable surprise she said yes.  Youngest vacuumed the family room.  My Beloved Wife and I helped Middle vacuum the kitchen.  Older then took the vacuum for her turn in the dining room.  I said I was very pleased that she had chosen to play along.  Beloved said that it was because I had engaged her competitive streak.

When we were done, Beloved, the judge of the contest, said that all the rooms were definitely much cleaner, so everybody won.

A look at our nights.

So it is Tuesday and this was our night, Monday night. 

Got home, no Nanny or Middle boy (who she is paid to watch and help with some daily things around the house to help out). It is an hour before dinner, so I recruit Eldest Daughter's help. 

Text from Nanny states they are stuck in rush hour traffic due to accident. Whatever. Dinner is under way ( irritation is a given at this point). 

So, meal gets made, people get full, dishes done(ok loaded into the dishwasher and turned on) and Eldest Son is now calling to be picked up from an Art Symposium he has been attending, just down the street. 

Apparently Husband is think of taking Middle with him because I get a shouted, "Hey babe. We have situation upstairs. Looks like someone forgot to either lock or shut the bathroom door to the kids bath and Middle is covered from head to toe," (luckily naked as a Jay Bird) in Fructis citrus something-or-other scented shampoo. And VERY excited about it because now that he has been discovered, he is squealing with delight at being in the shower. 

So I take over shower duty for Middle and have now come to L O V E my Delta hand held shower head that detaches to follow him around the shower to get all of this off if him. Now at the old house we had standard wall mounted fixtures and I would have spent a good half hour talking him into the stream of water and then resorting to a cup with water dumped over his head. 

Again love, love, love the handheld shower head. Now Middle wasn't too thrilled and was....yelling? growling? Well let's just say he is not as enchanted with the handheld as Husband and I are. :)

So, disaster has been averted, but he is clean, dressed(even if the pants are backward) and the world is safe once again, and now the evening is winding down and I want to disconnect for a little bit with some Minecraft. So, Husband is amazing and takes over and I get to disconnect and try to explain to Eldest Daughter what I am doing in the game as she tries to understand why I am enjoying it. She likes competitive games. 

Well I have disconnected for a little bit and Middle wends his way about the house and plops himself in my lap. Ok. I probably should take a break since my eyes are hurting anyway. We snuggle and "chat" and I ask Husband the time. It is almost 10pm. Well that would explain why I feel so tired. Pumpkin time for this girl. So I announce that and end with a, "Looks like its time for bed." Shoo Middle off and go about closing the house up on my way to bed, which includes:

Check the front door lock

Check the back door lock

Check the windows are locked (he'll sneak out one if given a chance)

Remind Husband to put the lock on the dogs kennel before he comes up for bed(Middle has been letting the dogs out of the kennel lately - unusual new behavior on his part)

Make sure the napkins and paper towels are locked up in the pantry

Lock the bicycle lock on the fridge (so he does pour stuff out, take bite of something and then change his mind and put it back, or decide to open a favorite of his, the Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls and try to "cook" them)

Make sure all doors with keypad locks are closed and locks engaged

Make sure that the toilet paper is locked up

Which in the new house takes me on a nice little circuit around the first floor, which makes me realize, I haven't seen Middle. But ok. Dad/Husband is up so he'll watch out. 

I make my way up the stairs and see that Middles door is slightly ajar and lo and behold, he is in bed with his covers up to his chin just lying there. I smiled. Apparently my bed announcement meant that EVERYONE had to go to bed. 

He is such a joy and makes me smile so. 

Yes. His diagnosis is frustrating. 

No. He cannot "communicate" traditionally. 

Yes. He's smart as a whip.

No. He will never live on his own. 

Yes. I think I totally "get" him somedays.

No. I don't always "get" him. 

He is an amazing, intelligent young man trapped in there. One day we may be advanced enough to meet him. How amazing would that be?!  Personally. I have a sheep load of questions for him. 

Well that was our crazy for the day. Have a great one. 

Toilet Paper Safe

Several weeks ago, we signed the lease for our new abode and we were sitting around the dinner table discussing the home with it's many features.

Since the home has 2 and 1/2 baths, one in the master suite, one for the remaining bedrooms upstairs and a 1/2 bath or "powder room" downstairs, it was decided to lock the upstairs bath for use by the rest of the kids and leave the one downstairs open for Middle to use at all times, including the middle of the night.  What most people don't expect is the next conversation, that has been shamelessly borrowed from my husbands blog @Thoughts from the Asylum.

"The downstairs powder room will be left with a regular doorknob so that there is a bathroom that Middle can use whenever he needs it.
The question was raised, where are we going to keep the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom?  Someone said we should get a safe.  I had to admit, that would keep the toilet paper secure.  Then someone said that the burglar who cracks that safe open is going to be very disappointed."

Which of course had us all in stitches.  Can you imagine the looks on the burglars face(s)?

Anyway, what we settled on was a locking two drawer filing cabinet.  Still makes it a target for thieves, but will be less likely to keep me from having to hand the phone over to someone else to finish explaining the theft to the police.

Truthfully.  Not sure how one would explain, how a safe theft would be quite that funny and hysterical because I'm chuckling just writing this, but then again, they don't live our crazy life.

That's the crazy for today.  Have a great one.

Button, button, who's got the button?

Let's just state that moving, packing and the subsequent unpacking are not my favorite activities.  With that being said, it all seems to be going somewhat fairly well.

We have tons of stuff unpacked, and most of it even has been put into a "home" location.  I am sure several things will move about as we settle in.

Our kitty seems to be the most well adjusted of all of the inhabitants.  She has been with me and the girls since she was a tuft of fur from the shelter (8 or 9 years ago).  Second on the well adjusted grouping seems to be Middle boy.  For an individual who is, by the "standards," supposed to dislike change of this magnitude, he seems to be the least affected.  He knows that there is a door now, with food behind it, that he wants.  How do I know this?

1. He has been fiddling with the key-pad to get into it, and
2. SOMEone left the door ajar when they got into it last, and made a mad dash with a very large handful of sour gummi worms.  He is watchful when he wants something.  Note to self:

Dear Self,
Leave some gummi worms in Middle's snack cabinet once in a while.

Thanks,
Yourself

We have since had a reminder to all household members to make sure that the door is securely shut when you get what you wanted.

While the majority of us may be struggling with "where is this," and "where is that," Middle and his photographic memory, goes to wherever he has seen something and simply gets it.  Like the glasses, if he wants a drink, he gets a glass, end of story, except that I have discovered, that he seems to prefer the small "rocks" glasses to the other sizes.

Well, that's the crazy for today, so far.

Happiness and safety are...

So, in my previous post I had talked about securing everything with locks. Specifically key-pad locks. Well, I believe my little family should own stock in Schlage, because just like Frank's Red Hot Sauce, we put that sh*t on everything.

What we love about Schlage products. 

Ease of installation, ease of use, they just look good and they are sturdy. We have tried other manufacturers and they have been complicated at installation or there was a step to remember to activate as you leave each time. Some just seemed...flimsy(?) I guess is the word or like something I would give a kid to play with, you know, toy-like. 

Again, we know most people use them externally, however for the safety of Middle Boy and the sanity/happiness of the rest of the family, we use them on internal doors. The other great thing? We can give the teens privacy while maintaining a parental override on these locks as well, thanks again to Schlage. I have a sneaky suspicion someone might be a parent on their development team. 

Safety features:  meds behind locked doors, anything we think he might think is "fun" but is actually harmful. 

Happiness features: toilet paper can be left out, shampoo and conditioner can be left out. We can control the food/snack situation for Middle, because in true teen fashion, he would eat his weight in junk food if we let him. 

So here are some pictures of our happy safe doors. 

Well, that's our craziness for the day.