Procrastination

I am sitting here writing a blog post in order to postpone ordering supplements. I know, it's bad. I love the supplements and what they do. I know that they are necessary and to put off keeping the supply up is just not a good idea. It's just the drain on the bank account that I dread.

Earlier this week I stopped in for parent-teacher conferences. I heard my son sincerely described as "highly intelligent." I actually chuckled. The irony was not lost on me. You have to understand that I have never doubted the intelligent nature of my child. It's just that I have spent lots of years just trying to help him be a normal, functional, happy boy. My seven year old son who has developed his own method of speed reading is still learning how to tie his shoe. Ironic, yes?

I am extremely grateful for the experience I had a the conference. Learning more about how my son functions academically helps me to understand his lack of patience at times. He already gets it, and he is bored. He wants to move on and explore his ideas and create.

Understanding this is already helping me to be to appreciate his creative side even more. It is helping me to be more willing to make myself available for his projects he wants help with at times. We made airplanes this week from a children's book that was published in 1978. (That really appealed to my vintage-loving side.) I understand why he is so relentless about soliciting my help at times. I was a creative child as well, and when I could not follow through with my ideas because, 'Oh, I can't find the scissors,' that was way frustrating. I am hoping that by encouraging his projects, he will also make gains by way of fine motor skills, which he really needs.  

Painting Together

This is just one of those moments that make a mom happy. My son often needs suggestions of activities to do after the video games and TV are turned off. Lately when I suggest that he paints, he is very enthusiastic about it, and insists that I paint with him. He fills the water jar, and I pull up a big sized chair to his little desk and we use brushes with his bottles of finger paint. Super fun!

Picasso

Pablo Picasso once said,

"Art washes away from the soul
the dust of everyday life."

I love this quote.

I think that at least for me, the word "autism" and "art" are interchangeable in this quote. My son with autism always forces me to look at life in a new way when we are are going about our everyday things. It is very "present" and usually very creative. In the "present-ness" of the way we experience life together, there is no dust collecting.

Cupcake Crayons

Here's a fun little activity that's great for creative children. I call them cupcake crayons, but they really are just broken crayons melted together in a muffin tin. I made mine out of the broken crayons I found in my son's stash that were too small for his little fingers.


First you take the wrappers off the broken bits and put them in cupcake liners in the pan. Since I had a hard time cleaning up my muffin tin after, I'd recommend using a "retired" one, or trying the aluminum Reynold's brand cupcake liners.

After placing them in the oven and baking at a low temperature just until they are melted, take them out and let them cool completely. They take awhile to cool, so putting them up somewhere where little ones can't tip them over is a safe idea.



When they are cool, take off the liner and turn them over! My favorite part is seeing how the colors melt together on the bottom! They really are beautiful. I went ahead and made another set for my son's creative young uncle. The really fun thing about this activity is that these new crayons you have just created can be used to draw in multiple colors.