School Holidays.

'school holiday' - adjective. a phenomenon that occurs four times a year once a person has children of school age. Known for sending many a parent to the crazy house, or to consume excessive amounts of alcohol. **BEWARE**

I may or may not be entering this winter holiday period with a little trepidation. Originally, I planned to drive to the Alpine region for a few days, and make day trips to the smaller mountains. But then my mother called and mentioned sale flights, so I ended up purchasing things to go with our Christmas holiday and now need to budget like a pro in order to have enough cash to have a little fun at Christmas time. YAY! At least the flights are paid for - thanks parentals! ;)

I've been raiding the Big W 'drop zone' frequently over the past month, hunting down cheap bargains to use as a kind of lucky dip for these holidays. Every couple of days, Spawn will pull something out of the bag before bed, and that will determine what we do the next day. There are craft activities, baking recipes, workbooks, toys, and then bigger 'outing' type things such as zoo membership cards, museum passes, train rides, and Sovereign Hill. We're going to have a fun time, lol.

Still, I'm scared. Perks of having a rambunctious child of Satan, I suppose. Love his guts, but he can be a little intense at times. Much like those Snickers ads - he gets a little ragey when he doesn't get his way, lol.

As an aside, have you seen Fowl Language Comics on Facebook?? Best ever. 

I feel this particular image is appropriate for today, considering the U.S. has legalised gay marriage across the nation! Now, if only we could convince Barack Obama to come to Australia once he has finished his term as President of the United States, then we could have someone guiding Parliament to make great choices for Australia that DO NOT screw over the people!
Hooray Obama! Here's hoping the next US President is on the same scale of awesome as you, and that Australia's next Prime Minister is learning a thing or two from what you've achieved!

Peace out.

- L. xx
(the Tony Abbott despiser.)

Kinky Linky.

Do you ever accumulate so many links across your electronic devices, that you realise, "oh my gosh, I really need to put these all together so I can decide what to do with them!"???
Yeah, me either.

Nothing to see here; these are just recipes I've found and tried and need to tweak to taste. Sick of having so many tabs open on my phone, lol.
Feel free to copy them, if they're you're thing. ;)

Meatballs.
http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-italian-meatballs-92095

Brownie heaven!! (The sickly sweet mint brownies that have potential)
http://www.domesticsluttery.com/2013/04/baking-for-beginners-after-dinner-mint.html?m=1

Banana bread.
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3118/banana+bread

Lemon panna cotta & Madeleines.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/756638/lemon-panna-cotta-with-blackberries-and-honey-made

Monkey bread
http://www.marthastewart.com/353261/monkey-bread

Vegetable carbonara
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/35451/spaghetti+carbonara+with+zucchini+and+yellow+squash

ASD diet recommendation (some useful tips)
http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2009/07/gluten-free-casein-free-gfcf-diet-for.html?m=1

Oh, my gosh. Did you really make it this far?? Okay, well peace out!

- L. x

It's Official.

I really am Crazy.....

Well, it's midnight, damn right, we're wound up too tight.
I've got a fist full of whiskey, the bottle just bit me.
Ohhh, that shit makes me batshit crazy.
We've got no fear, no doubt, all-in, balls out.

Quoting lyrics that mention batshit somehow felt appropriate. Possibly because I'm of the strong belief that I may just be BATSHIT CRAZY.

So I have received Spawn's official diagnoses. It reads more like a shopping list of 'how to make parent's go crazy' LOL. The diagnoses include Autism Spectrum Disorder (high-functioning), ADHD, ODD, anxiety and Motor Dyspraxia (DCD). We're currently trialing Ritalin to see if it helps Spawn behave more appropriately in school and so far, so good! Originally, I was never into medicating... I always thought there was some 'magical' way to manage a child's behaviour that didn't involve drugging them. But Ritalin is some kind of wonder drug. The paediatrician told me that it is one of the most studied drugs in the world and doesn't so much 'drug' a child, as it enhances things. Like glasses, except for the brain, not the eyes. Whatever; it's all super confusing and I'm basing decisions on what I feel is the best option for Spawn. It's early days, but so far I'm of the belief that I definitely made the right choice!

As you can imagine, getting a diagnoses as big as the one we got, is scary. Terrifying. Somehow I made it through the appointment without breaking down! I think I was kind of numb? I knew some of it was coming - namely the ASD and ADHD. The rest was a bit of a shock. I didn't even know what 'motor dyspraxia' was, and am still mildly confused about it.

The actual diagnoses don't scare me too much, though. They're just labels, really. It's knowing that one day, Spawn is going to have to deal with these labels. Possibly get discriminated against. Maybe get picked on... Nobody wants their child to endure things like that. Well, nobody in their right mind.

At least now I can rattle off the labels and have people understand what I've been dealing with for the past....well, 5.5 years, really. No wonder my sanity is dissipating so rapidly! Here's hoping that now we have gone through this mammoth process, we can now implement strategies to help Spawn reach his full potential without too much stress. And understand his complex little mind a whole lot more!

Well, that's me for now. I have to go embrace my domesticated side and clean this mess before I pick Spawn up from school in a couple of hours (yay, half days.). Can't believe another term is almost finished!!! Crazy.

Peace out.

- L. x

Oh, Hello.

If a female ferret goes into heat and does not mate, she dies.

How's that for a morbidly curious opening?!

Things are interesting around here at the moment. I turned down a job at a prestigious law firm in Melbourne to play 'good mum' to Spawn. It's not his fault though; I have to admit that turning it down was partly out of fear. I have no doubt that I could have found a way to manage Spawn's crazy school hours and everything else so that I COULD work - I just didn't really want to. I don't want to spend 2.5 hours a day (which equates to AT LEAST 12.5 hours a week, just quietly) commuting to work. Even if I would be doing amazing work that I love, that commuting would kill me. Spawn would be exhausted and no doubt grumpy after having such long days, and I would more than likely spend my weekends wanting to do nothing more than sleep. Never mind the therapy sessions I'd have to find the time to take Spawn to! Jeepers.

So yeah. That happened. Now I feel crap. Nothing worse than realising a dream needs to be postponed until certain circumstances change.

Enough gloom, for now!

Spawn has the big paediatrician appointment tomorrow. I've come to accept it! I have spent the past couple of weeks doing a LOT of research on medications associated with ADHD, along with other management methods. Hopefully the good Doctor is impressed with my research skills! :)
If we come to the conclusion that Spawn may be better off with medication, I can accept that. If we decide on an alternate method, I'm good with that too! I'm just ready to regain a little sanity, after several years of chaos!

As for the ASD aspect of things... I'm ready for that to go to the next level, should the Doctor feel it necessary. I have moments where I think to myself, "I don't see enough ASD traits in Spawn for a diagnosis..." Then there are days where it is super obvious that he could be on the spectrum, albeit on the super high functioning end. It's the behavioural diagnoses that make me happy; everything else is merely details. Details that may help us get funding, but nothing that really changes anything.

So this was a great ramble, wasn't it?! I forgot how good it feels to just write everything down and get it all out of my system! So relieving, like that first pee in the morning...

Peace out.

- L. x