WAKEY,WAKEY!

Who needs an alarm clock when you have a thunder and lightning storm that wakes you up at exactly 5:15am and is finished by 5:20am! That was a short but massive storm. I awoke wondering what had woken me and then I saw the lightning........and the heavens opened. AND the pressure in the air caused me to have a really splitting headache! Weird!
I'd rather Beauty as my alarm clock-not so violent.
When Beauty was 6 weeks old we went on holiday to Portugal, one night we had the scariest storm you could imagine.The storm took a long time building up and had travelled across the Mediterranean and we were in its path when it finally went out into the Atlantic ocean. When it hit us I thought that a bomb had hit the hotel it was so loud, I have never heard or seen a storm so loud and noisy. Even the storm of 1988 that took the roof off SnoWhite's nursery school was quiet in comparison.
Last night I watched a TV show called Never Did Me Any Harm,

From the makers of Channel 4's acclaimed series That'll Teach 'Em, this new four-part series is for every parent who has ever said "It wasn't like that when I was young." The McIvers' house in Morecambe is packed to the rafters with toys, gadgets and gizmos.

They have six televisions, six DVD players, three video players, five games consoles, two computers, six hi-fis, four digi-boxes and a karaoke machine. Mum Cheryl's childhood - only a generation ago - couldn't have been more different. When she was young there was no indoor toilet, let alone the latest technology. There was just the one television set and the family watched it together. She saved up for a cassette player to listen to her favourite band: The Bay City Rollers. Cheryl has worked hard to give her children everything she didn't have when she grew up. But now she is starting to question what it is doing to them. She wants to know if a dose of her strict no-nonsense 70s upbringing will sort out her lot. In tonight's third episode of Never Did Me Any Harm, the clocks are turned back for two weeks to when Cheryl was young, so that her family can get a taste of her no-nonsense childhood. Mum is desperately hoping that this experience will help them to learn how to communicate better with each other, how to work together more as a family and how to entertain themselves, all without the aid of modern technology.

it was really uncomfortable viewing...........this was my childhood!
Except for the 2 weeks holiday in Blackpool, the nice clothes and the good food she had when she was younger!
I was impressed with how well behaved her children were, for a walk along the beach the boys allowed their mother to dress them all alike in grey trousers, shirt and jumper.........yes the boys did look smart but not for a walk along the beach! I really have never grown-up because when the mother kept saying,'Well when I was a young girl' it really started to get on my nerves and I mentioned it to Fiona and she laughed and said that she was thinking exactly the same thing.
The program confirmed what I have been saying recently that pre-internet days was literally The Dark Ages in it's own way.I did my degree without using the internet but one of my lecturers on my masters course recently said,'if it's in a book it's out-of-date'.
I know that the internet has all the bad stuff on it but it is still a powerful tool for good.
Think of all the stuff you couldn't do pre-internet.........now we can easily buy
Britney's hair, view people making nit-wits of themselves on YouTube and even online dating! What more could we ask for?
I don't often tell Beauty off because I am not sure how much she understands. However when she does something dangerous I do tell her forcefully that she has done something that could hurt her and if she has touched something that could hurt her I usually tap(not hit) the back of her hand to reinforce what I have said. Yesterday in a fit of pique that the computer would not do as she wanted she pushed the screen, the keyboard and the mouse on the floor. Yes I did tell her off forcefully and she put her hands over her ears and started to cry! The little moo made me feel so guilty but at least I felt that she knew there was something not right with what she had done. I can hope!
Later on she was having difficulty with one of her internet games and she started to get a little over enthusiastic with the computer so I said, 'NO..........I don't think so' and instantly her hands covered her ears BUT she did calm down so perhaps it worked.
When Beauty was little and first diagnosed with autism her first speech therapist said to simplify commands and speech so that it was easier for her to remember and understand what was being said and it really seemed to work.

This is going to sound like all I do is watch TV but like I've said before YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE and I am pretty selective about what I watch. Last night I was watching Dog Borstal, I really cannot believe the behaviour of some of the dog owners, some of them seem to have no commonsense whatsoever and I feel sorry for the dogs. One of the dog owners was teaching his dog to sit, stand, walk etc..........you know , follow basic commands. Instead of giving giving strong basic commands the owner kept waffling on and I remember thinking.'oh shut up and say things like sit, stand etc and keep the waffling for the shows of affection'. AND the trainer said exactly the same thing. Beauty to me acts very much like a puppy at times and responds very well to simple language and predictable , consistent behaviour. When I was training to be a nurse I remember being shown the embryos of different animals , including humans , and being surprised at how similar they looked. As long as I am not being patronising and I talk to Beauty with respect, I can see how teaching and learning can be similar in humans to certain animals. Obviously development , emotional and physical does eventually separate and take a different path in humans to animals but early development in the very young does seem to have similarities.
Years ago I remember a TV advert where a father is looking after his young son whilst his wife is in hospital just having had a baby. The father asks the young son what he wants for dinner and the son says,'Choc ice and chips' and that is what he gives him! Well it sounds good to me, only one dish to wash. This morning I found Fiona making herself breakfast of raspberry ripple ice cream! She was surprised when I laughed at her less than traditional breakfast!

What joy a child on the autistic spectrum can be.........never a dull moment.
Brilliant News!
SnoWhite has caught the girly bug..........she now has a beautiful hairstyle!