Once there we did some drawings and had walk round to the park, looking at the birds and plants as we bumbled along. Mum is not well at the moment and is under investigations for heart issues, so she tired easily. The Doctor has given her a telling off for not taking her medication and I could see how worried my Dad is, so I made time to talk it over with her. I know she is keeping a lot from me but between us we have persuaded her to persevere with the medications and I reassured her that it was good things had been picked up on early. I concerned me that she seems to be blaming herself for these issues, despite there being a history of stokes, angina , heart attacks in the family. Despite being in her mid 70's, she is finding it hard to accept that she needs to slow down a bit more. I helped her with lunch and we enjoyed a roast dinner.
Sam wanted to build a wind powered car and as it was a windy day, it seemed a good plan. We bought a kit whilst at Enginuity so got to work. Some of the small parts, particularly the gears were tricky to handle but Sam managed really well with some help.
As Owen had informed me earlier that he needed a 'personal day' , he decided to work on his own projects with friends online. He did join us for lunch and a chat but disappeared again until it was time for tea. Both boys went to jujitsu that evening as usual and despite some initial grumbling from Owen about leaving the house he enjoyed his session very much.
Next day Owen wanted to work on a new coding project from Bitsbox.com. It teaches the basics of app coding. In the past we have tried various coding lessons but they haven't grabbed the children's interest. Owen and I spent a happy time trying out the various projects and he was soon adapting the coding to customise his own apps. It was an impressive learning activity and you know it's a winner by how much laughing goes on. Sam came in to have a look at what we are doing, but is more hesitant to try the activity as yet, so he was happy to watch Owen for a while.
Owen and Sam are wanting more autonomy over their money these days and whilst I feel this is a good thing, there are certain issues I am concerned about. Mainly that they still loose things frequently and will become very distressed about it. This is one of the sides of ASD that is perplexing. Owen is very good at working out his money from a maths point of view, however he can go into places, buy what he needs, then just give the rest of his change ( no matter how large or small) to anyone..or leave it on the till. In his mind, he has what he wants , therefore has no further need for the rest of his money. It never occurs to him to save it. Sam is brilliant at saving but gets incredibly attached to certain notes and coins. He once had a £5 note he wanted to spend but expected it to be given back because he had formed an emotional attachment to it. He will also hide his money all over the house but forget where or why he hid it and get very upset when he can't remember . Usually the first thing we know about this, is him accusing us of taking his cash. It's tricky.
I noticed another parent had put a link on Facebook about GoHenry so decided to take them up on their 3 month free trial. It's aimed at 8-18 year olds and gives them a debit card, that the parents can top up as necessary. You can't overspend on it and you can tweak it to suit your child's needs. I ordered a card for each boy and we shall see how it goes. I know it annoys them when they have to wait for me to authorise online payments for them...this way they can do it safely with their own money and I have the peace of mind of being able to top the cards up for them as necessary. Should be interesting. I have yet to think of an acceptable system for them not to loose the cards..watch this space.
There were battles on the PC with each other and friends today. Owens kindle arrived, so I showed him how to use it and added some of his pocket money on there so he could order the books he wanted. Rudie Dudie was the first he added and he was very happy when I told him how long the battery life lasted. We then watched some Horrible Histories before tea time.
There were copious games of Pizza fractions, Owen read and read and read and read. Sam finished his latest Harry Potter book and decided he would like a kindle reader too. We played Frustration, did more coding..and more coding...and more coding..and I fear there will be burn out from coding.
We had the plumber round and managed to fit in my ECG at the hospital ..the children read whilst they waited and I grabbed some lunch on the way home.
Discussions over breakfast included but we're not exclusively about:
Joining the army and subscription.
Both world Wars, Afghanistan, some of the very many and often, dubious reasons why wars start.
The national debt, why you should never judge anyone buy their religion, skin colour or nationality.
Why desperate people are risking death to reach Europe in unsafe boats and ' why some people really don't like Katie Hopkins and Peers Morgan'.
Just a normal breakfast debate....*blinks*
He next day we had a stoat in the garden...much excitement and reading about stoats followed. Sam and I then played Buy it Right and Cat in the Hat game whilst Owen played online with his friend.
Blokey has finished work and we are pleased to have him home for the long weekend, especially as I haven't been well this last few days. Sadly, this means the three menfolk going to the cinema without me to see the new Marvel film. Which I was informed 'was the best one yet!'
Before coming home they visited Blokeys parents and then we all did I our own thing for the rest of the afternoon. Sam and Owen playing with friends online and just generally chilling out. As I was going out with friends, Blokey took the boys for a pizza after dropping me off. The children and him spent time playing and watching films together until it was time to collect me.
We all had a bit of a lie in the next morning, then Sam and Blokey decided to go swimming. Owen and I watched a BBC historical programme whilst enjoying a leisurely breakfast.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05p3077/story-of-britain
Nanny and Grandad are visiting London this week and texted to say they were on top of the Shard, so we looked it up and the view that they would see from up there.
Afterwards we took the boys to see some more of the Ironbridge Gorge. This week we visited the Tar Tunnels and the China Museum. After the tar tunnels we walked along the canal and visited the Boat pub and the landlady spent some time talking to the boys about the times it has flooded. We took a photo of the various markers up the wall, showing how high the water had risen over the years. As they were not doing food there she directed us back across the River Severn and we had a fantastic lunch at the Shakespeare. There was a lovely play area and the food was delicious ..none of us managed to eat it all, due to the humongous portions we were given. The walk back along the canal was much slower going back towards the China Museum.
We weren't sure if the children would enjoy the China museum, however they did, despite getting a bit tired after all the walking. We completed the Bear Hunt and spent quite a long time chatting to the lady doing a pottery demonstration. This led on to chats about alsorts of aspects of the workers lives in the pottery factory.
We visited the Glass workshop and sales centre but with the very expensive glass for sale, both of us got very anxious about Sam and Owen's flappy hands and arms and didn't stay long in that bit. We didn't fancy paying £950 in breakages and there were some fantastic prices of glass in there.
As always the staff at every part of the museum were wonderfully helpful about answering the children's many, many questions.
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