Simple Summer Bucket List

Summer is here!!! No more filling our days with homeschooling and ABA therapies. We have time to breathe. As much as we can while remodeling a kitchen that is. It is time for fun and adventure! 

I had big grand plans for a fun summer bucket list but as the days went by, the idea kind of became more impractical. Next summer when we are fully settled we will have a cute bucket list. This year, the theme is simplicity but the activities are awesome!

For the list itself, I picked up some cork board tiles, post it notes and cork board tacks. I had a bunch of colored sharpies at home...because I {heart} sharpies. We then hung it on the wall in the play room because that is where we spend most of our time. Simple, simple, simple.

Last night we sat down as a family and wrote down the fun things we want to do this summer. So many fun ideas, hopefully we can accomplish most of them. The best part about a list is getting to check stuff off, am I right?

This is what made it to the list:

1. Craft Day

2. Girls Day Out

3. The Museum

4. VBS

5. Bake Together

6. Park Playdate

7. Play as a Family

8. Have a Picnic

9. Go Swimming

10. Sensory Friendly Movie

11. Pajama Day @ Home

12. Look at the Stars

13.Go to a jumping place

14. Pick Flowers

15. Water Gun War

16. Angels Game

17. Go Shopping

18. Water Play at Citrus Park

19. Pajama-Rama at the Library

20. The Zoo

21. Outdoor Movie

22, Beach Day

23. Go on a Hike

24. Chuck-E-Cheese

25. Messy twister (post coming soon)

26. Have a sleepover

27. Aquarium

We are so excited to start checking things off our list. What would make it onto your summer bucket list?

Five Tips for Helping Special Needs Kids Adjust During Life Changes

Life changes can be so difficult for kids. Add in special needs and even a good change can become somewhat traumatic. Preparation and accessibility to essentials can be key to making a life change easier to adjust to.

After our recent move went much smoother than we anticipated, I thought I would put together a list of things that worked for us and our little guy. By no means did things go 100% perfectly but his struggles were minuet. We had a few days of him crying that he wanted to go home but in the grand scheme of it all, it went remarkably well. I attribute the success that we did have to some tips we were given and some previous training tools that we implemented.

**Although the things we did were directed towards helping our 3 year old who has autism, it helped with all of our kids, autism and Nuero-typical alike.**

1. Inform of change as soon as possible. For us, it was selling our house and moving to a new home. For others it could be going from one school to the next, having a new sibling, losing a loved one...the possibilities are endless. Whatever the change is, let them know sooner than later. Give them time to adjust and talk about it a lot. If the change is a positive one, help them get excited about it.
For example, we showed Nixon pictures of the new house almost daily, talked to him about his new room and let him know what to expect when he got there. He was able to pick a theme so we talked about his "new monster room" whenever we got the chance. There was no element of surprise. He knew what to expect and when the change was coming.

2. Set the Rules and Remind them often. At least for my kiddo, being proactive is always more effective than correcting and bringing him back from a meltdown. Let them know what is expected of them. When triggers come about remind them of the rule and/or be prepared to intervene. This step can seem tedious but has always worked well in his ABA therapy. It has worked well during our transition as well.

A simple example for us is our stairs. Nixon is a sensory seeker, which means he will get a thrill out of jumping off as many stairs as possible, all while risking injury or giving me a heart attack. He was told right away that he could walk down slowly or crawl on his belly. As he approaches the stairs we simply ask "would you like to walk or crawl?". He knows the choice is his but there are only two options. Mind you he still jumps off the bottom 2 when he thinks I'm not looking. It's a work in progress.

3. As I mentioned before, keep necessities accessible. Whether everything is going to be packed or you will be away from the home a lot, it may be crucial to have certain items handy as much as possible. Special blankets, toys and comfort items can be placed in a separate bag that is grabbed last minute or always thrown in the car and ready when needed.

4. Keep up on routines or schedules as much as you can. There is already so much change happening, if you can keep some normalcy in life, do it! We are not super strict schedule people and that works okay for our little ones. We do, however, use visual schedules throughout our day so that he always knows what is going to happen. Even though our days are always different, he can see what is coming and when. 

He even gets to help lay out parts of the day, which is incredibly motivating for him. On top of just motivating them, giving them back a little control over their world when everything is changing can be a huge help.

5. Lastly, Be willing to make adjustments as you go. Kids all react differently. Goodness, kids change so much daily that they sometimes don't even seem like the same kid from one day to the next. If something isn't working, don't get discouraged. Be okay to make changes where needed. Consistency is key with kids but we also need to know when something is not right for our children. Parenting if tough but you've got this.

Remember, you know your child best. What works for us may not work for your family and that's okay. And of course, cover them in prayer. God has got it in His hands, when we feel like we can't do it anymore, He will take it from there. We are never alone in this.

I would love to hear from some of you on what tips you would give to help out another mama. Leave a comment and let us know.