I have so many blog post ideas! I wish I could write them all now but I will save up and share with time 🤭 sneaky sneaky.
Good afternoon, my beautiful people! It’s Saturday, which means a chaotic morning with my son. Out of nowhere he started to have a nosebleed. No reason, it just came. So that was stressful for us, but he was actually more calm than me. Crazy indeed!
“I want buy ice cream” < My son’s words that he repeated all morning. So after a lot of nagging and repeating, M gave in. So he and I went to the store and bought a pack of 8 ice creams. When I opened the door (I was home), E had apparently run back home, so he was breathing a lot. I asked M why he was breathing like that, and he told me. I burst out laughing! THE CRAVING FOR ICE CREAM WAS REAL, FOLKS!
“Popcorn. I want Popcorn”. He knows its Saturday and Popcorn is one snack he gets.
mind you that he use signs when he talks. It helps him to get understood. Im still learning all the signs he is doing but luckily he can say words and some he tries to tell.
not a picture from today.
Right now I’m currently sitting on the sofa with E, and we cuddle up while watching Bing. In GERMAN! That’s crazy! He watches Bing in different languages. Same with Daniel Tiger and PeaPea. I honestly don’t know why.
Today is supposed to be a deep cleaning day, but right now I’d rather sit and cuddle up with my son. For deep cleaning, I can do later.
What are you doing today?
I will also continue to work on the posts that is coming up with time. Stay tuned 😉
Hello, my loves! I know the blog is a bit quiet now, but I promise it will get better! I will try to make at least one post per day, and if I do more posts, that will be a bonus. Haha!
Apparently I had an appointment at the dentist today. So I had to rush to the bus after I discovered the text message (apparently I had read it before, but it had completely gone out of my head).
I was in time thought! Luckily the bus wasn’t late and this time I almost ran to the dentist. lol!
I walked in just my socks when I went to the dentist. Many people were looking at me, but like I have said before, I dislike wearing shoes and socks during summers, but due to the fact I have diabetes, I must wear at least socks.
The visit went well!I have a phobia of the dentist, but the woman I had today was super careful and gentle. Which is very appreciated! She told me every step, and I am going back on September 10th to talk to another dentist about a mouth guard for the teeth.
My jaw locks up (which the woman felt today and got scared when I “cracked” it back) and I explained to her that it happens often plus I get so much pain in my jaw and up towards head so she recommended a mouth guard but first I had to do an evaluation and see what they say.
Hopefully I can get one but honestly, im scared of it.
Reason? Because I had one before when I was 16 or something. Had it on one night, and the day after I woke up completely deaf in my right ear. We also had to use forks to get the mouth guard off because it was so darn tight and awful to try to get off.
That’s why I am scared of getting a new one. What if I wake up deaf again? I don’t know how to read lips or how to do sign language.
Has that ever happened to you or anyone you know? Maybe not using a mouth guard, but all of a sudden became deaf.
I was deaf for a month, and it was so horrible. Today I have sound reduction (is that the word?), and I am sensitive to loud noises/sounds. It’s pretty hard for me to go to public places, for example, when there’s a lot going on.
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How to Overcome Your Fear of the Dentist: A Step-by-Step Guide
For me to get over the fear of going to the dentist is a challenge.
Do not cancel the appointment!
When you meet your dentist it is very IMPORTANT to let them know why you are scared
Talk to your dentist and come up with an agreement on how the visit will go. Want the dentist to explain every step? Or you want the dentist to just do the work and be quiet?
Work out together with a sign for them to stop if it becomes too much for you
Remember to BREATHE! Deep breathing!
Music (or if you prefer audiobooks or podcast!)! If that doesn’t work, listen to music! They are very accepting for a patient to listen to music in headphones / ear buds while being there.
Sunglasses! I know this one is weird but trust me on this. I ALWAYS wear sunglasses on at the dentist to make it more “calm”. No harsh lights and you can actually close your eyes and just listen to the music/podcast/audio book
If this doesn’t help you and ease up the tension and feelings when visiting the dentist. You can always ask for “relative analgesia,” which is the name of “happy gas.”
You can also take some sort of medication that helps you with the anxiety and helps you to remain calm.
You can also plan in advance with your dentist about your fear, how you react, etc., and come up with a plan to maybe go under anesthesia when visiting. Sure, that has to happen at the hospital, though. (My son went under anesthesia when he had to go to the dentist and let them have a real checkup).
PRACTICE! Make a plan with your dentist to visit them every 3 months or so to practice and work on your fear. (My son goes twice a year to get used to going to the dentist and to train on how it works, what happens, etc). They are not impossible.
Always have a conversation with them. Be honest. Ask for tips, tricks, and ideas.
Good luck! And remember, there’s nothing wrong with being scared of the dentist. Many are!
Today I had to go to the town for the first time in a long time. Due to my bad mental health, I haven’t had energy, etc., to just go. But I have noticed since I came home from Italy, it has gotten a bit better. Thank God.
Today’s outfit. I had a long shirt and a pair of shorts. I still try to get out of my comfort zone, so today I went to the town like this.
The shoes I have on are from Primark in Italy. I’m trying to “walk in” them, so luckily I had an extra pair in my bag.
(Also, don’t ask me what I’m doing in the second picture because I have no idea.)
While waiting on the pharmacy to open after lunch, I decided to go and have my first caramel caffe latte in a long time. Thank God I took water because, oh my god, how sweet the latte was. I had totally forgotten how sweet it is. I forced myself to drink it all (blood sugar was going down) and also eat the bun. But it… made me struggle, I’m not gonna lie.
While sitting here, I charged my headphones. All of a sudden, while I was listening to music on the bus, a person said in my headphones, “Low battery” and I hate that, so I was charging at the cafe while playing some game on the phone.
When i was done with my fika I went to the pharmacy but they still weren’t open. Frustrating for me, im not gonna lie, so I decided to go “window shopping” except it wasn’t through windows.
I didn’t purchase anything. It was alright just looking around. Found these cute little handbags; I was tempted to buy them, but what would I use them for? I tried to come up with something to use it for, but I couldn’t, so I left them.
Normally I just walk past the bookstore, but today my head actually told me to go check the books out, so I did. I havent read a book since 5th grade, so for me actually wanting to buy one book to read is super duper rare. Unfortunately I didn’t find anyone that caught my interest.
So this was a short, little brief post about what I did today.
I’m actually going to bed now. Dentist tomorrow and I am not ready for it 😭 # phobiaofthedentist
Goodnight my loves!
Tomorrow I’m going to sneak-charge the tab I own (and lend it out to E) so I can start writing on my blog through that one as well.
Anyway, my eyes is heavy so I’m going to put down my phone and sleep.
I had an idea to actually start a little series of posts with words and sentences to learn when visiting/traveling to Sweden.
I am a Swedish person, and I know many struggle with learning Swedish, and because I love to teach people, I decided to have fun and teach you Swedish!
Some sentences will be long so I recommend you copying the words and sentences and use an app or website so you can listen how they can be pronounced.
A bit of information about Sweden and the Swedes
Okay, whether if you have been to Sweden or are planning to travel here, you should know that we are very friendly and helpful. Most of us are honest people, so if you accidentally forgot something like a wallet, a piece of clothing, or so, we will turn the wallet over to the closest shop or police station. The clothing we will add to a higher spot at the same spot you dropped it. Not all are honest, though, so be prepared for that. Almost everyone of us who has Facebook will also post in the groups where you are in about the stuff.
Now to the class #1
Formal words & sentences and how to greet and interact with people.
Hej means Hello
Hej då means Bye
Hur mår du? means How are you?
Jag mår bra, tack! means I’m good, thank you!
Ursäkta, men var ligger X (the location’s name)? means Excuse me, but where is X (location name)?
Tack så mycket! means Thank you very much!
Transportation
Ursäkta, men jag ska till X (location) men vet inte hur jag tar mig dit. Kan du hjälpa mig? means Excuse me, I’m going to X (location) but dont know how to get there. Can you help me?
Buss means Bus
Tåg means Train
Spårvagn means trolly / tramp
Tunnelbana means Subway
Taxi is the same as Taxi on English
Let me know what words or sentences you would like to learn. Comment, and I will translate them to Swedish for you.
Good morning, my beautiful people! I hope you all are doing well. I’m currently back home. Was supposed to get E to school, but he had tantrums outside, so he woke the neighbors, so they were looking through their blinds.
I finally managed to get us back home (tantrum for 40 minutes outside with no luck), so today he will be home from school. With lack of sleep and this morning, I can honestly say, I am tired.
Yes, I am keeping my life in the blog raw and authentic. I’m not going to sugarcoat the reality. I’m sharing my life because I know I have other autistic families who read the blog, and we know the struggles sometimes. Some days are good, and some days are a bit of a struggle. It’s the reality of a family with a person who has special needs.
So today will be a day to stay home. This has started to happen daily now, so I have notified the school what’s going on and that we will be at school when the situation is calm and better. They are ok with that. Sadly, today will be a stay-at-home day.
So this was my morning. How is your morning?
Choose your battles.
~ Unknown
No, I do not have pictures of the situation and what happened. My focus is to calm the situation, and taking photos/videos during a breakdown is nothing I do.
Reason for this morning’s meltdown: bus.My son loves busses and these mornings for the past few days has been very difficult. He wants to go for a ride in the buses, but we don’t need to take the bus to the school. The situation escalates every time, but what can I do? All I can do is handle the situations by remaining calm, try to calm down the situations, and keep my son safe.
“Autism doesn’t come with an instruction guide. It comes with a family who will never give up.”
Good night my beautiful pumpkins! Yes we have passed mid July and is now in August which means its Halloween time . If you like Halloween you know what im talking about.
It’s hard for me to try explain it though.
Anyway, The clock shows 22.55pm (10.55pm) and I am currently in bed right now with a start of migraine. Sounds lovely eh?
Today has actually been a very energy killing day for me. E has had hard time regulating and control his feelings. Super hard on him and he was so so exhausted. No I do not sugarcoat things. We managed to calm down (he calmed down and as a parent and his safe person, I already have to be calm), do a little bit singing, cuddling and mini jokes on each other in-between every moments.
While he had a calm moment after his stressful and overstimulated moment while watching some TV I jumped onto the cleaning up side.
Stupid Christmas ornaments (that E refuse letting me store in the basement storage unit) was on the floor and I accidentally stepped on one so it broke. Let me just say.. bandaid wasn’t enough. Thank God I have something calls sports tape. So now the bottom of my left foot is covered in that.
Declutter, tossing & so close to rent a dumpster to just throw everything out. I declutter so often on my home but yet .. where things come from!?
With an autistic child comes challenges but that doesn’t stop us.
My son wanted to go to the grocery store so off we went. Social training for him is extremely important after the preschools he has attended isolated him completely from other children etc so now we are working hard so he can be accepted by the society and to make him (most important) to grow up to a wonderful man.
We do not only social training around people. We also train and learn about safety when walking outside. To look at both ways before crossing the road. To stay aware of the surroundings and people.
We also do daily activities at home such as learning how to learn to clean, how to do laundry, do the dishes and sometimes how to make dinner/lunch (Only stir though. I’m still scared when it comes to the stove and oven).
My son is obsessed with laundry machines and can almost move to the laundry room just to sit infront of them and look. He knows how to load and unload, where and how much detergent to apply, how to start etc. He has grown so much as a person and embracing his abilities and be there as a support makes him more independent.
Throw trash, grocery store & reward
When we go to the store, we always throw trash (even if we dont have trash we go there) so he knows where to throw the trash correctly. Recycling and how it works.
1 / throw trash
2 / grocery store & remain calm
3 / reward
At the grocery store today he didn’t have a tough moment. It went on smoothly. No meltdowns, no nothing. I was so (still am!) proud. I dont know about you but when my son is calm, behaving and is kind he gets a reward. This time was an ice cream.
Normally it is very loud noises, children screaming and alot of people so when E is in his zone to grab stuff and add in the cart, he don’t really see and is careful. I always apologize to people if accidents happen or if he isn’t careful. I also explain that he has autism and we are socializing training. 99.9% of the people is so understanding. Thank you so so much!
I am also very strict on how to talk to people and how to respect everyone (even workers, doesn’t matter which job they have) so after we have paid (yes he pay with my card and learns that as well) and we exit the store, I always say “Bye! thank you!” and my son has heard me say that so many times so he tries to say the same (sometimes you can hear the words, sometimes its just the sound that you can make out what he is saying) thing as me. Today he actually said, clearly “Thank you so much!” and a woman with two children said “aaaw” and smiled.
Everyone who works at the grocery store (and many in the area we live in) knows about my son, how he works, how to handle situations with me if it gets too much. I have explained everything and they are so understanding (the staff at the store).
When E said “thank you so much”, the woman in check out got so excited and happy so she said “you are so welcome E!” . That makes my heart so happy. The acceptance, the understanding and that they have heard plus seen how everything works.
I am grateful that I moved here. Sure the preschool was awful for my son but after he started school, he has grown so much. If we lived where we did before, this development would never have happened.
Mind you that not every time goes wonderful. sometimes it’s completely horrible, I’m not gonna lie and sugar coat things. Sometimes E has ran out from the store with items when he has been super overwhelmed with emotions and it has been too much for him. The staff is understanding and is OK that those situations happens. They know I always pay, either the same day later (depending what the time is during the day) or the day after. I always call when I come home after situations like that and tell them what items was taken and when I’ll come to the store and pay. The fact that they trust me so much makes me forever feel grateful for them. I also always take pictures of the items or video where I explain what happened and which items it is. Never had a problem and the “team work” between us and the staff is amazing.
I am so happy and proud of myself that I took the decision to move from our old place to this new home.
Goodmorning all of you beautiful souls! I hope you all are doing good and that you have a calm and stress-free Sunday.
Today on my little agenda / planner it says self care, clean & pack son’s backpack for tomorrow.
Sundays for me is home spa day. Facial masks, hair mask, deep deeeeeep cleaning of my skin etc. I will also maybe dye my eyebrows, now I have no eyebrows – haha!
I will also try to start planning weekly dinners and become more productive with my life and get myself out of my bad mental health. babysteps though!
I do not drink coffee so my Pepsi max has to act like coffee for these pictures.
Raw and authentic
I’m keeping my blog raw, nothing is perfect in life. Having a child with special needs (I dont know how parents with children who dont have special needs lives so this is just my experiences) can make daily life a challenge. Before it complains about how the floor looks like, let me explain.
Due to the fact that my son is non-verbal (can not talk), his way of communication is showing things and try to say words but enlarge the words etc with signs. Him not being able to speak and express his feelings, wants and needs completely like other can makes him frustrated and sometimes he has tantrums and breakdowns which is super hard on him. My focus is to calm the situation down and to keep him safe.
The rooms etc with cleaning will come afterwards when the situation that had occurred is calm.
Today, this morning, E had one small moment when he tried to show me what he wanted and got frustrated. That’s why you can see some stuff on the floor. He throws stuff to make himself heard and understood.
and no, we dont not live filthy, dirty or any of that. Temporarily we have messy with stuff on floors but like I said, when moments and situations are calm I clean it.
Right now, I’m sitting down to breathe. To collect myself from the moment that happened. This is why my agenda / planner says cleaning.
If the moment didn’t occur, I wouldn’t need to clean.
Please don’t attack me / bash me/ insult me for how I handle things and how the living situations are temporarily when moments happen. My focus is to calm my child down and the whole situation.
How do I manage to calm E down when having tantrum/meltdowns?
Remain calm and I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it’s hard to stay calm and not stress out due to the neighbors but I manage to remain calm. Hugs, kisses, sitting down on the floor, safe hands works. Whisper in his ear that he is safe. That I understand, see and hear his feelings and that I am here with him.
Every parent handle situations differently, I know that and this works for us. Keep Esafe and protected is all I care of.
Like Daniel Tiger in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood sings “Take a deep breathe and breathe out”.
I sing multiple times of the day to remind E to breathe. I only sing/say the part “take a deep breathe” and he continues with “and breathe out”.
If you have a child/ren, how do you handle situations? No judging, no shaming. Accepting and Respecting only.
Remember to take a deep breathe, remain calm and handle the situation with love and understanding.
Hello my loves! I have so many photos from Italy I want to show you all but unfortunately the blog would only be full of them with no text or so but some are some “work of art” in my opinion.
Note that I edit these on my phone (and I blog on my phone) so I have honestly no idea how they look on computers.
Our way back from Burano we went to this area. Unfortunately I dont remember what this location was called but maybe some of you know.
this was the area I had to “run” through really fast. The stress i had when I only had 5% in battery here but wanted to try capture some photos. I have more to show but I just share these for now 🥰
Let me know if I share to many photos in one post or if you want me to continue.
