Open House

Tonight is one of those nights that I wish and wish and wish my kid was not in Special Education...

Open House at my kids' school was tonight.  Most of it was been there, done that.  A couple of changes that sort of irk my nerves, but nothing major.  ie New rule: if a kid forgets their lunch at home, they are SOL.  You can no longer bring it to them/to the office for them...supposedly it's all about holding them accountable.

We went to our oldest son's class first.  His teacher is very nice.  I told her that we are taking him out of school next month and that I would fully explain in an email.  She gave me a knowing smile and nod, and said that K has been telling her all about it!  I asked her how he was doing and she said she would fill me in when I emailed her.  I figure it can't be anything too pressing since she didn't want to schedule a conference like she did with some of the other parents.

So we moved on to A's teacher.  Let me stop here and mention the goings on of A's first few days of school.  As I mentioned in another post, I brought him to his 1st grade class on the first day of school.  I told his teacher who he was and that he should be spending some time in the Special Ed room as well as her class and that we need to adjust his IEP because he needs to start Speech Therapy as well.

Well, as the week goes on, I ask A how school is doing.  One day he comes home and tells me "School is OK, but I didn't get any candy today..."  I asked what he meant, and he said "Teacher said if we make our numbers we get a candy, but I couldn't do my numbers, so I didn't get a candy."  I asked him if he had someone helping him (I even referred back to last year's Aide) or if he asked for help and he said "No one was helping me, I asked for help but no one was helping me..."

Um...What?!  He is supposed to have an Aide or Para....why would she give candy to some and not all...why is she giving out candy at all...why would she single out a SPED student???

I then ask if he has been going to his other class and he says "No I spend all day in Mrs----'s class.

Again WHAT?!  A full 7 hours in a regular 1st grade class when my son is mentally about 4-5 years old!

Then the straw that broke the camels back...the note cards.  In 1st grade they write note cards in class so the kids can practice certain spelling words.  Well with no help this is what A came home with

 Those I could make out...these below I could not...

Now look I get it.  A doesn't "appear" different from most first graders.  However, as soon as he starts talking you can tell that he is a little behind.  His has an IEP.  Plus I sent his new evaluation in the first week, so it's not like the school doesn't know!  Per his homework, he was to study these cards for a test in a few days.  How were we to get him to study if we couldn't even make out what they were supposed to be?!  Not to mention A can barely write his letters and numbers, let alone words on his own. 

So I complained to Facebook, and waited to call the teachers until I was much calmer.

I call Mrs---- the 1st grade teacher, and leave a message.  She calls me back and says she doesn't know why A is in her class all day, but she will contact the SPED teacher and find out.  She calls back later to say starting the next day A will be in the SPED class and 1st grade class 50/50. No explination, no further instructions, nada.  OK

A keeps coming home with regular homework, no modifications...so we have spent every night painfully getting through this work.  The only way A can write a word or whatever is to have us write it out for him, then below that make dot outline or write it in highlighter and have him trace over it.  After every 3 or so letters he starts "Idontwannadothisitstoohard" and usually goes limp and falls to the floor a few times.  This process takes about 1 1/2-2 hours!

So I had really hoped to talk to his 1st grade and SPED teachers to find out ways to make this better, plus we really need to update his IEP and get him in Speech.

So we go see his 1st grade teacher and she looks right at us and says "A doesn't really come in here at all much, just for journal time and then he spends the rest of the day in Mrs==='s class." and turns away.

Um SERIOUSLY?!  WTF!  Just totally ignored us.  Before we left I walked up and told her that we were taking him out of school the last week of September...as I am saying this her eyes bulge and a look of disgust? maybe washes over her face.  I told her I would email the details, and left.  Really?!  UGH

The SPED teacher was out sick, so I didn't get anything resolved and now I am just pissed off all over again.  The most frustrating part is that this school is the best school for SPED in the parish...and I have never had a major issue before!

So for now, I am just going to...

Once a Month Cooking...August

Sorry I haven't posted this sooner but with the start of school I have been preoccupied!

I decided to give Once a Month Cooking another try.  I had a few issues with last month's recipes and how much money I spent on food, plus the amount of food I wasted.

So this time I read all the recipes first.  I got them here.  From that list I decided to make Roasted Tomato Bisque, Dijon Baked Chicken, Crockpot Mongolian Beef, Spinach Stuffed Chicken, BBQ Meatballs, Orange Teriyaki Pork, and Chicken Cacciatore, plus I had some left over pork chops so I made an addition Pork marinade.  The other recipes just didn't appeal to me this month, so I skipped them and made these to 6 servings.
I decided this time to do my shopping at Sam's to save money on certain bulk items.  From there I purchased a large pack of chicken breasts (containing 6 VERY large breast, that I portioned out for 6 meals), a large pack of THICK pork chops (enough for 4 meals), a package of Flank Steak (which had 3 HUGE steaks, enough for 2 meals plus I cut up the last one for breakfast...steak and eggs!), about 6-7lbs ground chuck (enough for 2 meat loaves AND I portioned the rest into 4 ground beef servings to cook later), and 2 roasting chicken that were on sale...Add in most of the produce, eggs, milk, and diapers, etc and I spent $250. I did have to go to Winn Dixie for a few things I didn't need in bulk, but I only spent a little over $50.  So strictly counting the food for these recipes I spent about $225.

  Altogether, this yielded me 14 meals, plus 4 servings of ground beef left and 2 whole chickens!  Minus the soup, because I only cooked half, which was still a HUGE pot and between my husband, my oldest son and I we ate a whole pot of it in less than a week.   That figures to about $16 a meal or $4 a person...and it really is a bit less because of the soup!

I thought it went really well, and I really liked the recipes I chose.  In the next few days I will go through each recipe!

Yes I booked my dining 5 months ago...

You may have heard...I am going to Disney World next month!

In the last Disney post I mentioned that you need to plan ahead for Disney.  One of the major planning points is booking dinning reservations (ADRs) 6 months in advance.

Ok, ok I hear you.  How do I know what we are going to want to eat on which day for a vacation 6 months from now?!  Well that's the tricky part.

What people used to do (I never did this but I have read about it) is make multiple ADRs for mealtimes and go to the one they felt like.  Well Disney caught on.  Now they don't allow your ADRs to overlap, plus the popular places now charge a no show fee of $10 per person if you don't cancel your ADR at least 24 hours a head of time.

So what to do?  Well You can over plan, like we did in 2009.  I made an ADR for every meal, for every day of our trip.  It was miserable.  Especially since one of A's panic attack/fit triggers is noisy crowded restaurants, where he doesn't know what kind of food they serve.  Of course we didn't know this at the time.

So I learned from that for this trip.  This go round, I planned out my days better.  First I checked out touringplans.com for their best park for each day of our trip.  It's pretty cool, they compile data from past years, they factor in tour groups or events in the area, plus I think they even factor in the weather that week.

Once I had that info, I planned one sit down meal or dinner show per day.  Now we are going during the Free Dining promotion, so we have a meal plan.  We upgraded to the Deluxe version of that plan, and we get 3 meal credits per day, and 2 snack credits per day.  Most meals cost 1 credit, but the dinner shows cost 2.  For sit down meals we get 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert, and 1 non alcoholic beverage per person, and for counter service meals (fast food) we get 1 combo meal or 1 entree plus side and a non alcoholic beverage.
The meals I didn't plan for we will wing it.  Just grab something at the resort's food court, or if the kids see a restaurant they want to try we will go there.

I prefer the dining plan because it allows us to pre-pay for all of our meals, excluding tip and any alcohol we drink.  I prefer to make at least one reservation per day.  It makes sure we don't have to wait too long for that meal (walking up to a table service restaurant without an ADR is tricky, sometimes you have to wait 45 minutes and longer, and sometimes they have no availability!).

Some of the places we are going to eat at...

I have made ADRs to eat at Hoop Dee Doo Review- a GREAT dinner show, vaudeville style show and they serve fried chicken, BBQ ribs and fixins'...
Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show-another great show that features fire dancers and such while you feast on traditional Luau foods like roasted chicken and pineapple pork...
Cinderella's Royal Table- Dine in the the castle while Disney Princesses and Princes visit your table!
Liberty Tree Tavern-this restaurant is themed like colonial America, my husband loves this restaurant because the dinner is just like traditional Thanksgiving...
50's Prime Time cafe-Very cool restaurant!  Feels like you are dining in Mom's kitchen from the 50s and 60s...they serve the BEST fried chicken!..
Rose and Crown Pub-English food, I love this place for the fruit and cheese plate, the stew and Woodchuck Cider on tap!

See at Walt Disney World eating isn't just something you have to do, it becomes an experience.

Now that we have a plan, what can we do to help A, who doesn't like strange restaurants?  Well Disney is very accommodating.  I will be able to email and call someone in the dining department and explain our situation.  They will contact the chefs at each restaurant and let them know that our child has eating issues due to his Asperger's and they will try to make some of his foods available.  For instance at the Hoop Dee Doo, the chefs will make A a pepperoni pizza or a grilled cheese.  I would not have known this if it wasn't for planning, and I wouldn't know which restaurants to contact if I didn't make my ADRs back in March!

So it is worth it to book your ADRs 6 months in advance if you can!

Been a busy week

Where to begin?  Well now that the kids are back in school, I am working 5 nights a week.  If you didn't know I am a cake decorating instructor.  I normally teach at one account 3 nights a week, now I am teaching at a second account for an extra two nights a week.

I started last week at the new account, and it was the breath of fresh air that I needed.  First off, I am replacing someone.  Very weird/crazy circumstance that I can't go into here.  Let me just say that everyone is glad I am there now, and the students were very thankful that I am shall I say normal!

The kids started school last week.  I brought them to there classrooms, and I think the teachers must think I am nuts!  First to K's class.  I met his teacher and in all of the chaos tried to explain to her that he is newly diagnosised with ADHD.  That maybe she should sit him next to her, and that his doctor also suggeseted giving him tasks to do throughout the day that required him to get up.  I know I sound strange, but I just want the school year to start off on the right foot.
She kind of nodded and then turned away.  I hope to talk to her again soon.

Then to A's class.  Now normally he checks in with the Special Ed teachers and they bring him to class.  However he wanted me to bring him this time.  So we get to his class and again amid the bustleing halls I try to explain to his teacher that he has Asperger's and this morning he decieded not to bring his blanket to school for the first time ever.  And how he uses his blanket to calm himself when he has panic attacks...and where can I find his SPED teacher so I can repeat all of what I just said to her...

Again I get a nod before she turns away.  I get it...it's the first day of school.  I look like that crazy mom not willing to let her babies out of her sight...

I assure you, I am really not that mom.

 

I guess all of this is also compounded by the fact that in a week I am going to tell the teachers that I am taking my kids out of school for a week to go to Disney World.  I just know I am going to be their favorite!

More of A's photos

My middle son A, the one who has Asperger's loves to take pictures.  Here are a few more that I just uploaded.

Planning a Disney vacation...aka....Universal is not part of Disney World

As you may have heard, we're going to Disney World in less than two months.  I have been planning this trip since March.

I heard a statistic that 70% of all people traveling to Walt Disney World (that's the one in Florida) are "Once in a Lifetime" visitors.  Meaning that those people go to WDW once and that's it.  I have an idea why those people never go back.

Sure the easy answer is money.  Disney is freaking expensive...more on that later....

I truly believe the reason most people only go once is because of poor planning.

For instance, if I want to go to the beach...All I have to do is book a hotel room, and pack my swimsuit.  Done.  No planning, right?  Of course that isn't how I would travel to the beach...I would spend hours scouring the inter-webs for the best accommodations for our budget, research the best spots of beach to visit in that area, look into what restaurants they have on the way and nearby, and also plan a day trip to something educational as a back up/when my kids are tired of being at the beach!

Disney is NOT this kind of vacation.

I always hear from people returning from Disney, that it was too hot, too crowded, lines too long, no availability at the restaurants(character meals, dinner shows, and signature restaurants fill up 6 months in advance!!!), and everyone was tired and miserable on the 1 hour drive back to the hotel that claimed to be "minutes" from the main gate!  Oh and our ticket to Disney didn't include Universal Studios!

I get it.  Walt Disney World is huge, 47 square miles...twice the size of Manhattan!  It's confusing! It has 4 theme parks (none of which are Universal Studios), 2 water parks, a huge shopping and dining area, and over 20 resorts (all with different themes and levels of amenities).

Overwhelmed yet?  Look at it this way...if you were going to throw down a couple of grand on anything else, you would do your research first!  That is the best was to approach a Disney trip.

Now take that into consideration, then add a toddler, a child with Asperger's, and a child with ADHD.  Yes it does take me 7 months to plan a Disney vacation for my family.

Over the next few posts I will walk through what I go through to get ready for a vacation like this.