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Rolling over Ghost Child's Speed Bump

As our homeschooling continues, the expected ebb and flow of learning has cycled through a few times.  For any child learning it is normal to do a roller coaster of sorts. For Ghost Child- the highs are euphoric and then you plummet with a few plateaus somewhere in there.  Today we have hit all stages from raging tears to victory shouts. It's draining on the both of us.  Especially fighting Red Reign of Terror's fascination with the sink and lust for pouring glue.  I was torn between stopping a flood, teaching, counseling, and preventing sticky situations.  Some sanity points were lost along the way today.  How do we survive this daily?  This:

Do what works best for your family.   Balance is key- do what ever works to accomplish what you need to with time to relax- consistently.

Get involved and pace yourself.  I read constantly and now joining webinars on my daughter's disorder with a few reputable organizations.  It can suck you in deep.  Small bites. 

Cover the basics: sleep, hydration, and nutrition.  Sleep is a priority for kids and adults.  Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.  Nutrition is more than just a well balanced diet.  It is something you can leverage for your good.  For Ghost Child - we upped protein and added supplements known to help specifically with executive functioning issues.  Ask questions and do your research.

Plan and Unplan.  I love the idea of writing things on a calendar.  That's about as far as it goes.  I do it because we have at least 123,176,824 people living in this house.  Okay much less than that but it feels like that many.  If writing a time schedule is of benefit then make the habit.  I list our goals on a dry erase board of what to accomplish that day for our semi free spirit selves.  Then the kids wipe them off as they get done.  It regulates all of us but doesn't tie us down too much.  I also use an online planner to loosely plan so we don't get too far off track or forget the extras we want to learn.  Even in that that planning or half planning, you gotta be ready  to ditch it.  We had to ditch two assignments today because of processing speed and limits.  We unplanned and worked through what  we could.

Break and breathe.  After lunch is a quiet play time.  Then we hit it again early afternoon followed by serious outdoor play.  If there is school or work, break and breathe after: work, dinner, kids go to bed.  Kids greatly benefit from active play right after school.  We were created for breaks and that is not limited to sleep.

Get connected.  We are still working on this part.  Talking, reading, joining groups has helped share the load.  There are an insane amount of communities and organizations for people with special needs and subcategories to go with that.  Makes you feel a little bit more normal. That's a place to start. Go to the park and teach social skills- from "how are you?" to turn taking. Then step back and watch.  Find a community group from sports, arts, facebook, play group, clubs, etc. 


The biggest thing is to allow grace and time to find your footing or many times- refooting.

 Namaste to keep what sanity you have left.







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