At 3.08 am, I hear your first scream. The fluorescent light from the cabin bathroom is flickering unpleasantly, giving the cramped room a strange, nightmarish quality – but we cannot turn off the lights or you will not sleep at all. “Sweetheart – everything is okay. You are safe. We are on the big boat.”… Read More
*Please note this is a collaboration with Johnson’s. We have been avoiding cutting Littlest’s hair for some time. It is a running joke in the family that just moments after it has been washed, brushed, and carefully made neat and tidy, it is “Poof! All over the place!” again. Like most three-year olds, Littlest does… Read More
Over the course of our first year in school, many people have been charged with the care, education and welfare of my son. There are his classroom teachers, of course, and his permanent one-to-one TA, and other members of staff who deal with him frequently. These people know him well and the vast majority know… Read More
This time last year, we were frantically collecting evidence for an EHCP assessment. We were buying uniform, arranging visits, trying to liaise with school and nursery. We needed to arrange a transition that would make things as smooth as they could be. September was looming, a great immovable block – I could not see past… Read More
With two small children, dinner time can often be the most stressful time of the day. There is just so much to worry about. Firstly, you must try to juggle work, and other commitments, with actually planning and preparing food. Then there is the fact that there is huge pressure to make sure that meals… Read More
In honour of the Tour de France, this month’s Bostik blogger theme is the bicycle. Running from Saturday July 7th to Sunday July 29th 2018, the 105th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,351 kilometres. Bostik are official partners of the Tour de France this… Read More
Please note, this gift guide is a paid collaboration with Braun. What would we do without Daddy? He works long hours as a teacher and then comes home and cares for us all. He cooks and cleans, he shops and fixes. He reads bedtime stories and plays games. He lets Littlest thrust a ‘Birthday Cake’… Read More
I have written about how hard it can be for neurodiverse families to get out of the house quite a bit over the years. Both Biggest and I are homebodies. We love our comforts, hate crowded places and love having the time and space to indulge our passions in peace and safety. However, we both… Read More
Every morning, the boys and girls in your class write their names on the lunch lists. There are dozens of names, with mismatched letters, curling around the edges of the paper. The letters are uneven. Some are huge, some small. ‘D’s and ‘B’s are back to front. Lower case and capitals dance on the page,… Read More
Littlest has always loved more traditional toys like stuffed animals and dolls. She can often be found dressing them, caring for them and setting them up for pretend play like tea parties and staging plays. I knew that she would love an interactive doll such as Baby Born. When Baby Born contacted us to ask us… Read More
Little boy, few weeks ago, your teachers suggested that we could do some extra things to help you develop your gross motor skills. Perhaps, we could try soft play, take you to more adventure parks. Even a little may help. PE, you see, is such a difficult part of your week. More often than not,… Read More
It is hard to overstate just how important routines are in many autism households. Planning Biggest’s days, letting him know about things well in advance, and repeating the same routines in the same order are so important in helping to make sure that he stays calm and happy. As it happens, I have also always… Read More