Cookies and Crayons

Connie spends much of her day trying to avoid injury from her brother. He loves her but doesn’t understand that he can’t sit/kneel on her.

Constant state of high alert

When she feels like she can finally let her guard down, she takes time to notice the subtleties of life.

Whoa, where did those socks come from

She’s always quick to turn on a smile though for anyone willing to look at her.

Ack, the camera, look cute!

And at the end of a long day, it’s nice to just relax and be herself.

When it was just Dougie and me at home, it was easy enough to get things done or let them slide. Dougie didn’t care if I didn’t get to the dishes, or the office needed to be dusted. He cared that I was there when he cried and that his needs were met. Life was easy… well, easier.

Then came Connie. She is much the same as Dougie was, her needs are easy to meet. Except now, Dougie’s needs are more complicated. He wants to go to the park, play games, dance and generally enjoy life. A lot of times, that doesn’t coincide with Connie’s need to sleep or just sit and be held. So I have this:

I actually bought this when Dougie was just a baby but didn’t use it much unless we were going out. With Connie, we use it all the time. It lets me bring her along without losing any mobility myself and still having both hands free. It is built like a backpack so her weight is well distributed and I don’t get too sore. I even toss her in there to clean the house (we use mostly homemade cleaning products so it isn’t toxic for her).

Right now, we’re restricted to front carries because she’s still so young but once she gets a bit older, she can be in a back carry. That really is the ultimate in mobility! I’m so glad that we’ve found a way to make sure that Dougie’s changing needs are still met while ensuring that Connie feels the same love and closeness that Dougie did.

This post was inspired by the first time Connie fell asleep in this carrier. Normally, she is very interested in what is going on and just looks around but today, she got comfortable enough to fall asleep.

With two kids and four dogs, having the immaculate house I dreamed of is, difficult, to say the least. I have tried so many different cleaning plans. All of them have elements that I like but, inevitably, something that makes them impossible to stick to. I love the idea of having the house completely cleaned in a single day but I just don’t have that kind of time anymore. We tried FlyLady and, though she has some great ideas, I just couldn’t get past the constant e-mail and some of the “rules” that I didn’t agree with (we’re Canadian – we don’t wear shoes in the house!).

So, I’ve turned to the only resource I have for help – the kids.

As you’d expect, Connie is of no help cleaning but Dougie is starting to get the hang of it.

He’s actually pretty good at it.

He really enjoys helping around the house as well. We have talked several times about assigning him some chores and based on this, I think he’s really ready.

In the meantime, Connie has settled into a supervisor role.

There is no rest for the weary – unless you collapse on the floor.

We had a long day today. By the end of it, we were all more than ready to be done but, with an hour until bedtime, we had to find one more activity. Dougie suggested play-doh. I agreed. So, out came the play-doh and Dougie went to town making various creations.

Play-doh is serious business.

We actually really encourage Dougie to play with things like play-doh because it helps develop his hand muscles. The occupational therapist that Dougie saw encouraged him to play with therapy putty (funny that is what Scott used to make) and play-doh is a bit more fun and has the same benefits.

Once Dougie got the play-doh soft and ready to mold, he started making “animals.” Now, you need to get your imaginations ready and just trust me that this is what he told me each one of them was.

Turtle

Goldfish

Cat

Alligator (he’s making it go “chop chop” in this picture)

Mummy and Daddy (Daddy is green) – I helped with my head

Dougie – with pieces constructed by Mum

While we played, musical stylings were provided by Connie.

I think she was as surprised by her new found talent as we were.