Sunday 23 September 2012
Baby wipes
This is a very brief but helpful suggestion for storage of baby wipes or any other household wipes. Store the pack upside down before and during use. This will ensure that the wipes you are using are always as moist and effective as possible because the moisture will stay at the top of the pack! Simple but it works!
Wednesday 18 July 2012
TOYTs
I don't think I've blogged about TOYTs before so here goes. TOYTs are 'Thinking Of You Tokens' which were created by me to help my son who has autism to get through his day at school.
A TOYT is a hand crafted Fimo disk about the size of a £1 coin but slightly thicker and weighing approximately 5 grams. It is varnished to give a smooth and tactile finish. The idea is that the token is given to someone who is feeling down or lonely to remind them that they are not forgotten. The size is intentionally small to fit discreetly in a pocket so that when the recipient is feeling down they can feel the TOYT and remember they are being thought of.
This has helped my son tremendously at school and was also featured in the National Autistic Society's 'Communication' magazine. Although particularly useful for children with special needs, TOYTs also make great and unique gifts for anyone. TOYTs are sold in pairs so that you have a replacement if the first one goes missing. They are available in single colours or multi-coloured.
TOYTs are currently available to buy through Ebay:
Sunday 8 July 2012
my book: FAITHFULLY PARENTING AUTISM
It's been a while since I blogged about my book and it's now available in more formats so I'm blogging about it again!
Faithfully Parenting Autism is the book I wrote to help fellow Christian parents of children with autism. It tells our story and offers practical help and advice on how to parent effectively, not excusing bad behaviour because of autism but helping parents to recognise where autism ends and bad behaviour starts.
The book has sold in the UK & USA and is now available as a paperback from lulu.com or amazon and as an ebook from lulu.com or through the iBookstore (prices vary). The book was also recently reviewed by The Good BookStall who were very complimentary & who now recommend it on their website (review below).
If you know anyone who could benefit from this, please pass on the details. Thanks!
http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=faithfully+parenting+autism&sitesearch=lulu.com&q=&x=0&y=0
GoodBookStall Review:If only we had this book to hand when we first realised there was a problem with autism within the family!
Nicola Maybury has written from first hand experience of learning to deal with an autistic child. Her suggestions are full of sound common sense based on what she has learnt about the subject and what she has done to cope with the very special needs of her autistic son.
I recognised so much of what she has written. Page after page I thought, ‘Yes, that is just how it is – if only we had been able to read this book earlier’.
This is a Mother sharing what she has learnt, not pretending to know it all but offering a helping hand to other struggling families. Her guidance on teaching her son about Jesus and a loving God and her invention of a TOYT(Thinking of you token) are excellent and worthy of wide publicity.
If you think your child has a behavioural problem then it is well worth your while looking at this quite short but very clearly written title.
Available from www.lulu.com
Reviewer: Mary Bartholomew (07/07/12)
Faithfully Parenting Autism is the book I wrote to help fellow Christian parents of children with autism. It tells our story and offers practical help and advice on how to parent effectively, not excusing bad behaviour because of autism but helping parents to recognise where autism ends and bad behaviour starts.
The book has sold in the UK & USA and is now available as a paperback from lulu.com or amazon and as an ebook from lulu.com or through the iBookstore (prices vary). The book was also recently reviewed by The Good BookStall who were very complimentary & who now recommend it on their website (review below).
If you know anyone who could benefit from this, please pass on the details. Thanks!
http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=faithfully+parenting+autism&sitesearch=lulu.com&q=&x=0&y=0
GoodBookStall Review:If only we had this book to hand when we first realised there was a problem with autism within the family!
Nicola Maybury has written from first hand experience of learning to deal with an autistic child. Her suggestions are full of sound common sense based on what she has learnt about the subject and what she has done to cope with the very special needs of her autistic son.
I recognised so much of what she has written. Page after page I thought, ‘Yes, that is just how it is – if only we had been able to read this book earlier’.
This is a Mother sharing what she has learnt, not pretending to know it all but offering a helping hand to other struggling families. Her guidance on teaching her son about Jesus and a loving God and her invention of a TOYT(Thinking of you token) are excellent and worthy of wide publicity.
If you think your child has a behavioural problem then it is well worth your while looking at this quite short but very clearly written title.
Available from www.lulu.com
Reviewer: Mary Bartholomew (07/07/12)
Sunday 6 May 2012
Night Terrors
Night terrors are something which affect numerous children including my own son, so I thought this post might help if you too are having problems in this area. My son Archie suffered with night terrors really badly. At one point he was having several every night which was exhausting for all of us. Night terrors can occur when a child is stressed or worried or when there is a change in circumstances (such as moving house) but they can also occur spontaneously.
A night terror is different from a nightmare because with a nightmare, the child wakes up upset after a bad dream & wants to be comforted. With a night terror the child has no idea what is going on. They are effectively still asleep while crying out, screaming, hitting, kicking, biting, being very aggressive, yet have no idea they are doing it. As a mother, the thing you want to do is comfort your child if he/she is in distress. The frustrating thing about a night terror is that although your child is distressed, no amount of comforting will help, and in fact he/she is likely to push you away or become more distressed when you try to help them. The only thing you can do in this situation is try to keep your child from hurting himself/herself. The night terror will eventually stop and it will be completely obvious when it has because the child changes completely. They are no longer distressed, but calm, and confused about why they are awake, and why you are there. They have no recollection of what just happened, and will at that point normally settle back to sleep.
If your child is suffering from multiple night terrors or a night terror every night, I can recommend a solution. Our GP told us to try this and said it was the only thing she had found to work with night terrors. Basically, you wake your child up about 30 minutes before the time they normally wake up with a night terror. Give him/her a drink of milk and settle them back to sleep. This simple technique breaks the sleep cycle and is enough to stop the child entering the phase of sleep where the night terror usually occurs. This worked amazingly with Archie, and we found that he was so sleepy when we tried to wake him that we didn't need the milk to get him back to sleep, he simply fell straight back to sleep again. In fact we often couldn't wake him up but just rousing him was enough to stop the night terrors. After a few nights of doing this, Archie's night terrors stopped. I'd highly recommend this method and hope it works for you too.
A night terror is different from a nightmare because with a nightmare, the child wakes up upset after a bad dream & wants to be comforted. With a night terror the child has no idea what is going on. They are effectively still asleep while crying out, screaming, hitting, kicking, biting, being very aggressive, yet have no idea they are doing it. As a mother, the thing you want to do is comfort your child if he/she is in distress. The frustrating thing about a night terror is that although your child is distressed, no amount of comforting will help, and in fact he/she is likely to push you away or become more distressed when you try to help them. The only thing you can do in this situation is try to keep your child from hurting himself/herself. The night terror will eventually stop and it will be completely obvious when it has because the child changes completely. They are no longer distressed, but calm, and confused about why they are awake, and why you are there. They have no recollection of what just happened, and will at that point normally settle back to sleep.
If your child is suffering from multiple night terrors or a night terror every night, I can recommend a solution. Our GP told us to try this and said it was the only thing she had found to work with night terrors. Basically, you wake your child up about 30 minutes before the time they normally wake up with a night terror. Give him/her a drink of milk and settle them back to sleep. This simple technique breaks the sleep cycle and is enough to stop the child entering the phase of sleep where the night terror usually occurs. This worked amazingly with Archie, and we found that he was so sleepy when we tried to wake him that we didn't need the milk to get him back to sleep, he simply fell straight back to sleep again. In fact we often couldn't wake him up but just rousing him was enough to stop the night terrors. After a few nights of doing this, Archie's night terrors stopped. I'd highly recommend this method and hope it works for you too.
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Reduce the frequency of your child/children getting ill
There is a very easy way of reducing the number of times your child gets sick, by following a few simple hygeine rules. This may sound over the top but I've found it very helpful in reducing the number of times my children get sick.
Every time we get back home from being out, the first thing we do (after taking coats and shoes off) is to wash all the childrens hands properly. This way I know that whatever germs were on their hands from being out are now gone and won't enter our house - or indeed my children's mouths! I do this when we get home from being out anywhere, as I'm sure you know, children touch everything! A day of school results in very grubby hands, including toilet trips(!); a visit to a mother & toddler group where toys have been played with for years without being cleaned is another germ fest; even when we just pop out to the shops, the potential number of germs picked up on hands is amazing - door handles, shop shelves, items for sale etc, so you can imagine how many more germs could potentially be picked up by a trip to the doctors waiting room, where everyone who touches anything is ill. It's a very simple rule but works fantastically well. I also ensure I keep hand cleaning antibacterial gel on me whenever I'm out so that if the kids need to eat or somehow get very messy hands, I have a way of making them clean again. This may all sound over the top but it definately works!
Every time we get back home from being out, the first thing we do (after taking coats and shoes off) is to wash all the childrens hands properly. This way I know that whatever germs were on their hands from being out are now gone and won't enter our house - or indeed my children's mouths! I do this when we get home from being out anywhere, as I'm sure you know, children touch everything! A day of school results in very grubby hands, including toilet trips(!); a visit to a mother & toddler group where toys have been played with for years without being cleaned is another germ fest; even when we just pop out to the shops, the potential number of germs picked up on hands is amazing - door handles, shop shelves, items for sale etc, so you can imagine how many more germs could potentially be picked up by a trip to the doctors waiting room, where everyone who touches anything is ill. It's a very simple rule but works fantastically well. I also ensure I keep hand cleaning antibacterial gel on me whenever I'm out so that if the kids need to eat or somehow get very messy hands, I have a way of making them clean again. This may all sound over the top but it definately works!
Friday 16 March 2012
Keep packed lunch food chilled easily
Keeping packed lunch food at the right temperature when it's going to be kept all day in a hot school is not always easy. The last thing you want is your child to get ill because they've eaten something that's become too warm. You can put an ice pack in their packed lunch box but I find the easiest thing to do is freeze the food you want to be chilled or place it next to something frozen to keep it cool until it's time to eat. I do this for sandwiches and fromage frais. Check on the packaging if things are suitable for freezing before trying this. I freeze the fromage frais that come in tubes and place them in the lunch box on the morning of the day they will be eaten. I also freeze bread and rolls. If I'm making a sandwich which needs to be kept cool, I take the roll or bread out of the freezer the night before to butter it, then place it back in the freezer overnight. In the morning I simply add the cheese or other filling, then place the sandwich in the lunch box ready for school. It stays suitably cold until it's time to be eaten but also has enough time to thaw properly.
Pets help to get your child to eat!
This is something I've just found to work in the last few days, but it works really well! My daughter has become a fussy eater recently and often pushes her food away from her before even trying it. One time when she did this, our dog (Hardy) was sitting beside her chair (hoping to eat anything she dropped), so I asked her to show Hardy how she ate the food. Her face lit up (she dotes on our dog), she grabbed the food and started eating really happily! Each time she got a bit bored I said again, can you show Hardy how you eat that? and sure enough, she would tuck in again! It worked fantastically! I guess this would also work if you had other pets too - any animal (or toy!) that could 'watch' and be impressed at the eating. The great thing about a dog is that he wants the food too, so he naturally watches each mouthful just in case it drops on to the floor and he can eat it!
Tuesday 13 March 2012
NEW BOOK 'Faithfully Parenting Autism' NOW AVAILABLE!!! with 20% off!
Just to let you know that my book is now published and available to buy from Lulu.com. The book is called Faithfully Parenting Autism and is aimed at Christian parents of children with autism, or for parents who suspect their child may have autism. The information in the book would also be suitable for non-Christian parents as long as they don't mind the Bible references. If you'd like to buy a copy, please use the link below:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/faithfully-parenting-autism/18954719
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/faithfully-parenting-autism/18954719
Friday 2 March 2012
Boost your energy levels (great for busy mums!)
Boots do a fantastic range of vitamins aimed at boosting energy! I discovered these a number of years ago while constantly feeling tired and zapped of all energy while trying to look after my children. They do a Vitamin B complex which currently has a green label and they also do a Vitamin B6 10mg (currently a yellow label) specifically for women. These can be taken in addition to a normal multivitamin and should really help boost your energy levels. I take the vitamin B complex every day and take the B6 at one particular time of the month when I can be more stressed than normal! Recently I've also discovered Evening Primrose Oil which comes in a capsule and is meant to help keep hormones more balanced. I've also found this to be great, and again take it daily. The added benefit of using Boots for all of these is that vitamins are always on 3 for 2, so you save money too! Hope they help you mums out there to feel a little more energised and able to cope with the day!
Friday 24 February 2012
Find the perfect gift for everyone
In my experience, it is possible to find a perfect gift for anyone by simply listening to them. In every conversation, listen out for what people enjoy, like, would like, wish to do etc, and this will help in searching for a perfect gift for them when you need one. If someone loves ice-cream, look at buying them an ice-cream maker - this may sound expensive but if you shop around, it's amazing what you can find. If someone enjoys craft, buy them a voucher for a craft shop so they can buy what they'd like.
Also think about experince gifts as this can be a great and memorable gift to someone, e.g. buying a gift voucher for 'Build-A-Bear' for a child or someone who loves cuddly toys, will give a great experience and a gift to take home.
In addition to this, look out for bargains both online and in local shops. It's amazing what can be found if you keep your eyes peeled! Don't just look in regular shops either, many charity shops now stock their own ranges of new merchandice, which are lovely and very well priced.
Another tip is to stock up on gifts when you find them on offer, that way, when a birthday comes along that you'd forgotten about, or there's a child's party you dodn't know about, you may have something appropriate in your stock that you can give.
Also think about experince gifts as this can be a great and memorable gift to someone, e.g. buying a gift voucher for 'Build-A-Bear' for a child or someone who loves cuddly toys, will give a great experience and a gift to take home.
In addition to this, look out for bargains both online and in local shops. It's amazing what can be found if you keep your eyes peeled! Don't just look in regular shops either, many charity shops now stock their own ranges of new merchandice, which are lovely and very well priced.
Another tip is to stock up on gifts when you find them on offer, that way, when a birthday comes along that you'd forgotten about, or there's a child's party you dodn't know about, you may have something appropriate in your stock that you can give.
Liven up lunch! Inventive packed lunches for fussy eaters
My 2 sons are both extremely fussy eaters and because of their fussiness, have always taken a packed lunch to school as they generally don't like cooked food. I found very early on that just making sandwiches every day would soon become very boring for them and tried to come up with some other ideas to make their lunches more interesting while remaining fairly healthy (I state 'fairly healthy' as I do include chocolate spread, but it is occassional and the school don't mind). Here are some alternatives I've found to work, I hope they help you too:
Cheese scone with butter
Plain scone with butter and jam
Brioche with jam or butter or chocolate spread
Scotch pancakes with butter
Bread rolls with filling
Pitta bread with filling
Bagel with filling
Cheese scone with butter
Plain scone with butter and jam
Brioche with jam or butter or chocolate spread
Scotch pancakes with butter
Bread rolls with filling
Pitta bread with filling
Bagel with filling
Finding affordable fabric
If you need fabric for something and find that buying from a fabric shop is too expensive, I'd recommend buying clothes to cut up instead. Often charity shops have a great range of clothes (therefore fabrics) to choose from or clothes shops with sales on can be also extremely cheap. I recently managed to get a ladies top from a factory shop for only £3. I also made sure I got the biggest size (as they were all priced the same) therefore getting the most fabric possible for the money.
Monday 23 January 2012
Bigger nappies at night!
At night, put your baby in a nappy 2 sizes bigger than her/his normal size - it will ensure s/he sleeps for much longer as the bigger nappy holds more liquid so s/he is much more comfortable! (Just make sure you fasten it tighter than normal to allow for the bigger size).
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