after school speech 14, 15, 16 & 17

There was a big lull between summer and 8th grade after school speech. We needed an evening, but there was a shortage of evening appointments. We finally got one two months ago, but we had to cancel a bunch of appointments due to basketball games.


The first two appointments the therapist was conducting a bunch of speech tests, so I don't have much to report on those sessions. The third session she worked on feelings. She gave him a feelings word and he had to give her a sentence with that feeling. These were their results.

1. Happy-When I'm happy, I smile.
2. Scared-When I'm scared, I run away. When I'm scared, I get it over with.
3. Sad-When I'm sad, I frown. When I'm sad, I'm crying.
4. Surprised-When I'm surprised, I gasp and have a shocked expression.
5. Angry-When I'm angry, my face turns red.
6. Calm-When I'm calm, I feel brave.

Then, she had him tell her how he could turn a bad feeling into a good feeling. See his answers.

1. Scared-I need a safe place.
2. Sad- I need something to entertain myself.
3. Surprised-I need to take a second to figure it out.
4. Angry-I need to calm down.

This comprised the bulk of the session. At the last session, they continued to talk about feelings. After they finished their talk, she moved onto his conversational skills. She had him practice this skill, by having him ask her appropriate discussion building questions. When they finished their practice, she gave him a sheet with written tips for having a great conversation.

1. Maintain appropriate eye contact.
2. Always stay focused on the other person.
3. Have good body posture (big problem for SJ).
4. Face the other person.
5. Ask the speaker questions about their topic.
6. Make comments so that the speaker knows you are listening.
7. Your voice should sound like you are interested in the conversation.
8. Change the topic in a way so that your listener is aware of the next topic.
9. Let the listener know that you are ending the conversation.
10. Keep your hands stills on your lap or on the table (probably the biggest struggle for SJ).

I had to cancel the next two upcoming weeks for basketball, but he will back at it soon!

   

christmas crawl 2015

Another very late post...A week before Christmas, we had our 4th annual Christmas Crawl with our friends. Usually we start at our house, but this year we started at Meryl and Goldie's house. Everyone has a signature drink (adults only) and something to nosh on. At Meryl and Goldie's house, the appetizer was mashed potato bar and bacon crack (a delicious treat of bacon, brown sugar and cinnamon). The drink was great too. Something with berries...yum!


Next, we went to Topher and Mags' house. They had shots of Bailey's salted caramel and sparkling grape juice for the kids. Their mom served a "grinchy" treat (grapes, bananas and cherries on a toothpick) and pepperoni rolls. While we were at their house, we took photos with Christmas props. The kids decided to open their presents at that house, since Bob had a soccer game that evening (he was to miss the third house). They all got fun gifts (mostly from Five Below). Bob got a fun game called Basket Case and SJ got a voice changer.


Then, we went to Willie and Ami's house. They had Moscow Mules and juice for the kids. Their mom served Italian beef sandwiches and buffalo chicken dip. At their house, the kids were busy playing with their new toys, so the adults opened their presents. We can home with quick wine cooler and a bottle of wine.


Last, we went to our house. Bob was back from his game (they won!). The girls decided to watch a movie while the boys played video games. The adults hung out in our movie room watching White Christmas. We served an awful (was supposed to be yummy) cranberry whiskey sour, pop for the kids and Christmas brownies. Our friends stayed until about 11:00. We had a great time as usual. Love when we get to spend time with our friends.

it's okay to still believe in santa at 13, right?

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been such a long time since I posted (over a month), but the holidays kept us very busy. Today's post is going to be about Christmas, specifically Santa Claus. Bob, our oldest son-now 15, has not believed in Santa for about 4 years. SJ still believed last year, but I thought surely at 13 he would no longer believe. I could not have been more wrong.




A few times before Christmas day, he mentioned Santa Claus. I wasn't sure if he was joking, but on the chance that he wasn't I kept quiet. If he does still believe, Christmas will still seem magical. Also, an excellent tool to use to keep his behavior in check.




On Christmas Eve, we had my husband's sisters and their families over. Most of our nephews and one niece are much older than the boys, so they brought their girlfriends/wife/husband. We mostly hung out and chatted, but we did play one game before presents. SJ had everyone playing a game called Bean Boozled.


                        


We had A LOT of fun with this game. SJ was "emcee" and offered an extra toothbrush to anyone who got a "gross" flavor. The funniest was when my husband's nephew got dog food followed by skunk spray. He tried to kiss his girlfriend, but she cleverly avoided him. We played that game for over 30 minutes.




After we opened presents, Bob started an indoor snowball fight (a fun item that I got a few years ago at our Christmas Crawl). This "fight" went on for at least 30 minutes.




We continued to hang out with the family and around 10:00 p.m. SJ came downstairs with his "Santa" list. Oh crap, I thought. What if there were things on his list that "Santa" didn't get. (Of course, there were a few that he didn't get, but Grammy and the aunts had those covered.) He also carefully picked out some cookies and poured a glass of milk for Santa.

                  

My sisters-in-law left around 10:30, but the nephews were still at our house. SJ came downstairs at 11:00 and was shocked that we still had company. He said, "Santa isn't going to come if people are still here." His not so polite way of saying "go home now." Jackson and his wife got the hint and left shortly after.

Santa wasn't able to come until around midnight. We had some cleaning up to do after the party and it took a long time to bring all the presents downstairs.

Promptly at 5:53 a.m., SJ was awake and excited that Santa had arrived. He tried to wake Bob, but he was sound asleep. He did wake my husband and I and we tiredly made our way downstairs. SJ looked so happy when he saw his pile of presents. He was disappointed when he would occasionally open a box that contained a clothing item. He even said, "I thought I told Santa no clothes this year." We told him to stop complaining and to continue to open his presents. He got his prized PS4 and was disappointed that he did not get Lego Dimensions from Santa. I reminded him that he had asked Grammy for this item. "Oh yeah," was his reply.

Bob woke up around 10:30 and opened his presents. He was happy, but did not have the magic in his eyes that those who believe in Santa do. So here is my quandary. Should I allow SJ to keep believing at the risk that some teenage kid is going to make fun of him? Or should I not say a word and let the magic continue? I took a poll of those questions from my dear friends and the consensus is just let the magic continue. So that is what I did. Hopefully the magic will still be with him next year!