More Drought

Woke up this morning and got on computer and then I realized it was droughting again. Damnit. An extra damnit because I realized that I had left clothes on the line all night. Damn. Went out and got them, fortunately not too soaked but the inside now has clothes strewn all over. Lovely. Great start to the day.

This is used to be one of my so-called "free days" but now that Connor is in this prep for school program, so much for that. It's just 2 hours but hopefully it'll be enough to help her with going to school in January. Connor also has a birthday party to go to in the morning. It's nice to see her having some social interaction.

So another day in the Tencza family, not terribly exciting but you never know with this crowd. Teddy is supposed to go see Clone Wars this weekend - that should liven things up a bit.

Not Much to Say, I'm Afraid

Sorry not to be witty right now. A lot going on and very little to be humorous about. I'm working on a new dress for Connor and if it weren't for the damn sleaves being too wide for the elastic it would be done. Maybe I'll get it done next week. Maybe.

Busy downloading a bunch of shows that I can't get on Aussie tv. Thank God for that. Haven't developed a taste for Neighbours and Bondi Beach Rescue and I'm sorry Project Runway Australia is a poor, poor substitute for the original. Not bitchy and catty enough.

Saint Tess

Yesterday Tessi's Building Blocks coordinator (Tessi's Autism therapist) came with us to the shops so she could see Tessi's meltdowns in action. Tessi always acts great when Mary comes to the house. So yesterday we all went to Woolworth's to do a little shopping to set a situation where Tessi would blow up. Naturally, Tessi did not.

Mary started going on about things for me to do when Tessi did blow up and I just tuned her out. When Tessi did start to act up a tiny, TINY bit Mary was able to stop, bend down and reinforce the life story she had written for her, get her to stop and we went on. What was I doing? I was grocery shopping and keeping an eye on Connor. How in the Hell am I supposed to grocery shop, keep an eye on Connor and keep Tessi going before she loses it and get this all done under 2 hours?

Oh that's right, I can't.

If nothing else, life on the spectrum does highlight all your failings. Just what I needed.

Off to start another fun-filled day. Today we have speech therapy, swim lessons, Teddy wants to have a friend over after school. and Ted works until 7. I bet I'll be in bed by 7:30 again.

Weather Curse Strikes Again

Once again, I say we're going somewhere and the guaranteed weather flitters away. Not bone chilling cold, just some chilly moments. No snow, it came last week and is sure to reappear next week.

Oh well. Yet another Tencza vacation not quite what was planned. Should start planning with Costanza precision so we can get what we want. If we ever go anywhere again, I'll have to try that.

Kids had fun, looks like the Blue Mountains has a lot to offer if I ever get a chance to go sans kids...fall down laughing now. Anyway, the kids loved the chocolate store and riding the railway. World's steepest incline - 52% - pretty serious. Tessi loved riding a pony, kept yelling, "Yee Haw" and Teddy loved playing tennis and catch with Ted. Connor was happy as long as the various animals didn't chase her. All of them liked making smores over a campfire but really just preferred to eat the marshmallows off the stick.

Blue Mountains HERE WE COME!

That's right! We're going on HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!! We leave Friday and come back Sunday. We're staying at a cabin in the middle of nowhere so the screaming (the kids, not mine) doesn't bother the neighbors. We're going to tour the Three Sisters and do the whole Blue Mountains thing. Here's a website to give you all an idea. No snow, but WAAYYYYY cold! A high temp of 34 degrees!!!!! Ted is sobbing into his scarf just at the thought.

http://www.bluemts.com.au/

Of course my Aussie friends feel a little bad for us since we're only going for 2 nights. I had THREE separate people tell me when I said we were going away for the weekend that means we should be leaving Thurs and coming back Monday. Sigh....I wish, but for us this is a big deal. Here's a link to the cabins we're staying at. http://www.werriberri.com/ It's going to take 3 hours to get there. God help me....3 hours in a small station wagon with the triumvirate of terror....oh well, I'm bringing wine and my iPod and I'm not sharing!

Are you in trouble if I don't say you are?

A philosophical point brought up by Teddy yesterday. The neighbor kids were over yesterday and with 5 kids under the age of 8 running around literally, you count the seconds until someone starts crying. We lasted 32.
I'm inside..hell it's cold, these kids can handle it but I'm staying in. I hear Tessi crying, nothing unusual, it's how she gets an extra 5 seconds of attention these days, only difference is that she' not running inside to scream about her war wounds. So, I trot outside. Teddy and Lachlan are slowly trying to slide past me with their heads down as Tessi sits in the wagon sobbing and Connor and Caitlyn try to race up the hill to get away. So I tell Teddy to confess, the boys looked shocked that I figured out it was them (yeah, I'm a genius) and Lachlan says, "I was throwing the food (fake , plastic food) and it accidentally hit Tessi" Fari enough, that was honest. I pick up Tessi, no cuts, no blood. Ter her she's fine and I go back in.

Go to the back of the house and Lachlan has come to the back yard and is pouting. I try to figure out what's wrong but he won't talk and I'm cold so back in I go. A few more minutes later more crying. Tessi again. Only this time she's trying to come in but Teddy is chasing her and trying to hit her with a rope. I give him Hell, not that much even and back in I go. 5 minutes this time. Now it's Connor. Same thing, hit with food, by accident, only this time it's Teddy. I tell Connor she's fine and go in.

Now 5 more minutes pass, only this time I hear, Lachlan saying, "I'm going in to dob on you!" I've been here long enough to know that means he's telling on someone. In he comes and he tells me that Caitlyn is standing on Connor. Teddy has Lachlan's back and races in to confirm the horror. So out I go, ask Caitlyn what she's doing, tell her not to do it again and tell Connor to get off the ground.

Apparently this wasn't enough. A few minutes later the kids had to go home and Teddy comes in crying because he got in trouble the WHOLE time and Caitlyn didn't at all. Apparently when Lachlan was pouting it was because he was in TROUBLE. I never said he was in trouble, I thought the whole thing was an accident Now I did yell at Teddy for chasing a sobbing Tessi but all I said was, "Use your head!" I never said the boys were in trouble, I didn't take anything away from them, nothing. I told Teddy he put himself into trouble and that was not on me.

So at what point are you in trouble? Is the first statement, "What the Hell are you doing?" Is it having to explain your actions? Is it having a consequence bestowed upon you? Stupid me, I though it came when I said, "Man, you are in soooooooo much trouble now" But that's just me.

NJ/TX Accent trying to Understand OZ/Eng Accent

Oh good Christ, I am hosed. At the girls swim lessons there is a little girl from Connor's preschool class. Her mom is a really nice lady and we talk in between refereeing girls - she has 2 herself. She's originally from England, married to an Irish National and they live here. I, obviously am from America but I have some TX euphemisms mixed in with my hardcore Jersey slang. Most of the time we have no flippin clue what the other is saying. We keep blaming it on the loud noise of the indoor pool but who are we kidding? We're trying to translate between several different languages.
For example, she said her name is Esta. Now, I'm not sure if it's actually Esta or if it's Esther. Aussies' seem to hate er endings just like our friends from Boston...don't be angry Bostonites - you know damn well it's true.

We've talked about getting the girls together for a play...at least I think we have...I don't know, maybe I've just signed Connor up yodeling camp. We'll see if anyone shows up for her. At least Esta/her is in the same boat as I am. I can see the smile form when I talk and the furtive looks from her eyes trying to pinpoint the moment I speak to the moment it'll be something she understands.

I'd offer to start using Sign Language but I've found out the hard way that Aussies have their own damn sign language too. Sigh...maybe I'll just make up flash cards.

Another Exciting Day Down Under

Just the normal mad dash around the house to clean, get kids up and fed, dressed and then we'll take Teddy to school. After that Mary from ASPECT, the local Autism support program will come and we'll talk about Tessi for 2 hours. I get a little frustrated with this because as my luck goes, Tessi is a model child every time Mary comes. Mary has yet to see one of the "fun" temper tantrums.

I know I should be grateful because this does mean that Tessi can control it a bit, which is usually not possible, but I am tired, I really am. All I seem to see of Tessi is her anger and negativity, I wish I got to see the angelic child that others do. Because she is a gorgeous child and can be so much fun, if she wants to be.

Anyway, no more fun for me for a few hours. I have laundry all over the place so I need to get that folded and put away...either that or grab it all and throw it on my bed until Mary leaves...hmmmmm.

The TV POPPED!

Sigh, another fun filled night at the Tencza's. The power blew for a bit. That happens a LOT here. Not just our house, but about 5 or 6 houses, as far as we can tell, it is a bit dark you know.

However we have the added bonus of the Foxtel box (Australia's cable/satellite company) (yes, there really is only one and they handle both cable and satellite, it's bizarre) makes this LOUD popping noise when the power is killed suddenly. And worse...Connor is terrified of it. Scared to death. So she's laying sobbing on the floor and I'm making a mad dash for the flashlight...sorry, I just can't call it a torch. The super good, expensive one, the one I bought to use in these situations is dead. Dead because even though it charges 24/7 and should always be on, the fact is that it has a limited battery life...only about 1000 hours or so. And when your 7 year old likes to borrow it to help his friend stalk his cat under the back porch and then uses it as a nightlight 9-10 hours a night, every night for a couple of months...well it died.

So I race into Teddy's room to get the wind-up flashlight. The one I bought after realizing he had killed the last one. Since it's DARK I can't see the stupid thing. I grab what I think is the light and try to open up the arm to wind it and only then do I discover that it is a Transformer. I'm winding the arm. DAMNIT! Finally find it and make my way out to living room and there is poor Connor crying her eyes out, poor Teddy looking bewildered trying to get her to stop and of course Tessi, who sees me and starts shrieking, "My turn, My turn!" She wants to wind the flashlight. Of course, what else did I expect.

A few minutes later the lights and more importantly the tv came back on. Connor spent the next hour until bed time reminding us that the tv popped and that she didn't like that.
Yes, Connor I know. I think even the neighbors figured that one out. I'm off to the shops today to get another spiffy flashlight and a spare wind-up one for Tessi. One must be prepared for emergencies.

WARNING! Science in Progress

Hope Tory from Mythbusters doesn't mind, I stole his title. We got the science kit stuff from Steve Spangler Science from the States and WOW!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!! If you have children under the age of 10, maybe older if they aren't too "cool" yet...stop what you are doing...open another browser and go to http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ right now and buy his geyser kit and extra menthos geysers tubes. Incredible fun! For my Aussie friends, get a friend in the States to have it shipped to and then shipped to you. Steve only uses Fed Ex shipping and MAN it's pricey.

Here are pictures of yesterday morning's events. We learned that rock salt is AMAZING for achieving height. We also learned that it's ok to have little girls help with the science experiment as long as both get the same number of turns of putting the menthos in the tube. Then we learned that Connor and Tessi don't like Mentos but want to like them so they tried to eat them 3 or 4 times before I cut them off...don't want to diminish the supply. Learned also that Teddy is gullible. We told him to put Diet Coke and menthos in his mouth and he did...of course this was after Ted did it. The Y chromosome sometimes.....

We ran out of soda early and had an emergency break to the shops to get more. No offense to my friend Judie but we had the BEST results with the cheap Home Brand cola rather than Diet Coke. Maybe they've altered the formula? We figure we got between 20 and 25 feet...I'm not sure how many meters that is....8? Just guessing, I hate converting!

Off to the shoppes again today, need more soda!

Connor's Going to Kindergarden!

Ted and I decided yesterday, after my meeting with the psychologist, to send Connor to Kindy this January. This is a big shock to the system as she will only be 4 1/2 then but the psychologist and her preschool teacher think another year of preschool would not only not be helpful, it could be detrimental. She's made incredible progress the last few months, simply incredible.

This does NOT mean that Connor is cured or that we're even out of the woods with her. Connor will always be Autistic, she will always have to struggle in situations that other's don't. Kindergarden will not be easy for her, not by a long shot. But at Normanhurst Public we'll have a pretty good set up for her.

The school is small, very small. Every teacher there will know Connor. Several of them know her now.
The principal and one of the Kindy teachers are planning to go visit Connor at her preschool to evaluate her.
Normo has it's own prep for school program for kids who need a little extra help.
The neighbor girl loves Connor and is your typical 6 year old girl, she'll squeal like a stuck pig if she sees anyone being mean to Connor on the playground.
Connor's best friend from preschool is going to Normo and may possibly be in the same class- there are 2 sections.

Right now, more than any other day I am grateful we are no longer in Justin, TX. Connor would not have survived at all at Hatfield Elementary, Teddy's old school. 6 Kindergarden sections, over 800 students, riding the bus....no way, Connor could not have handled that. But here...starting today we'll start going into the Kindy building and looking at things and ease her in slowly.

Wish us luck. I'm still sick to my stomach over our decision. I imagine that I'll be throwing up in the weeks to come before school starts!