Wordless Wednesday: Dental work

This is a couple of weeks ago. Monkey is ready to go to the dentist to get 2 of his upper teeth extracted. He was very excited to be a brave boy! We talked a lot about what would happen and even practiced with the dental hygienist at the previous appointment. She helped Monkey understand everything and I was so happy to have her work with him. She has an adult son with Asperger's! I love people who "get it!"

Feeling a tad loopy from the laughing gas, he shows off his loot from the dentist. He's biting down on gauze to help with the bleeding. The whole procedure took less than 10 minutes. Monkey was awesome! By the way, the sticker says, "Careful! Tooth, Lips, Tongue Asleep!" He really hated the numb feeling and wanted me to take it out of his mouth.

Still feeling a bit weird because of his face being numb, he cuddles with dad for a few minutes to feel better.

The numb feeling is gone and it's time to head to school! He shows off his new grin, minus 2 teeth. Way to go, kiddo!

Spring Regression, Summer Transition

Did any of you experience a regression with your child during the spring? I can’t tell you how many people I know had chaos bloom in their children when spring hit. It’s like all of our kids drank the same water and spontaneously started freaking out. It happened in my house, times two! It’s a miracle I survived. Seriously.

The boys fought like rabid animals when they were at home. I got phone calls home from teachers several times a week. One of the most interesting calls home was when I found out that Prince Charming told another classmate to “kiss my boobs.” Yep. My little boy. I was mortified. Luckily, the teacher found the humor in the situation and knew that there was no way he would have learned it from home.

Latest post on SPD Blogger Network

Back in April I wrote “Yet another fat lip.” And no, we're not talking about collagen injections or a silly novelty! 

Over the weekend SPD Blogger Network ran my post on their site! The post was about how I tried to get a hug from Prince Charming and I ended up getting kicked in the face. I ended up with a split and bleeding lip from the experience.

Injuries can be quite common for parents of kids who have sensory issues. That experience was not my first fat lip and it probably won’t be my last.

I’d love to hear your experiences with your children. Have you ever received any injuries as part of being a parent to a special kiddo? Share your story below in the comments.

And, please don’t forget to visit SPD Blogger Network to view my post. I hope you have an injury-free day!

Autism families earn less

Here’s another one from the “No, duh!” category… I read an article that discussed how parents of children with autism tend to earn about 1/3 less than typical parents.

“Autism is associated with an average drop in household income of 27 percent, or $17,640 per year.”

The article goes on to say that the reason that families with autism earn less is because the “mothers of children with autism are less likely to work and when they are employed these moms tend to earn less than others.”

Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Not me. Not at all! I’m living proof. Most autism moms I know sacrifice quite a lot to parent their children. If they work, they have to find a boss who is willing to be flexible with them and all of their various requests for time off. You know, for times when you are being summoned by the school principal when your kid does something socially unacceptable and gets in big trouble, or you need to take your child in for an evaluation that you’ve been waiting almost a year to get and there was a last minute cancellation on the waiting list. The list goes on and on.

Then, for those of us who stay home, we are full-time moms (with all of the parts of the job that entails) as well as the fact that we have to chauffeur our kids to all of their appointments and then try to also be their therapists. We have to become magicians with our budgets in order to not go broke with all of the added costs, and we have to somehow carve out a few moments every so often to connect with our spouse.  

You know, a lot of people just don’t get it. They have no idea. Have you ever heard an off-hand remark about being “just” a stay-at-home mom? People have no clue about the additional complications and complexities of dealing with an autism diagnosis and all of the special things you have to do just to get your child through the day. Sometimes you can’t even aim high, you just hope to survive.

I guess the good part about articles like this is that when people seem to make light of your situation and basically dismiss you, there is some small feeling of satisfaction knowing that you are indeed correct. To all of my autism mommy friends, I know what you go through and I applaud what you do for your child. You are amazing. And, you do it all with less money. You rock, mama!

A Keurig-style machine for baby formula?

I think you can easily gather from my name that I LOVE coffee. I consider myself to be a coffee aficionado and connoisseur. Some of you might call me an addict. Whatever… I may or may not resemble that remark!

Have you heard of Keurig? It’s the latest thing in making your morning routine simpler. A lot of my friends love their Keurig machine and think it makes a great cup of coffee. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the Keurig machine. I admit it. Don’t boo me if you own one. To each their own! Right? I like being able to buy my organic beans, grind them, use filtered water and make the absolute perfect cup of coffee my way.

I was flabbergasted when I happened upon an article about a Keurig-style machine that Nestle created for the sole purpose of making baby formula. At first glance the concept seems sort of scandalous, while at the same time strangely interesting and novel. Nestle calls their machine “BabyNes,” and it’s being marketed as a “new lifestyle consumer machine.”

The machine costs almost $300 and the capsules of baby formula cost almost 4 times as much as their coffee equivalent. One feature is a built-in water filtration system to eliminate concerns over bad water being consumed by infants. The BabyNes is being trialed in Switzerland before Nestle determines if they will expand into other markets, including those in developing nations.

Critics of the BabyNes say, “The current trend is manipulating young mothers into believing infant feeding is a lifestyle event like drinking Nespresso.”

Nestle has had problems over the years when it comes to their baby formula products, including some quality control issues related to bacterial contamination. Some people believe that the machine would feed into “rampant commercialism that could come at the expense of infant health.”

I breastfed both of my boys and I can tell you with some confidence that I would probably never own a machine like this, had they been around when my boys were babies. That’s not to say that for some women it would be a wonderful thing, particularly those who are unable to breastfeed their babies. But, you would probably need to have a fairly large wallet to afford it!

Is this a product you would like to buy? I’d love to hear what you think about this machine! Please leave your comments below.