weeks seem worthwhile.
Caroline seems to excel in almost everything she does. The exception would be her singing. Luckily she realized this early on and while her guitar sits in her closet she’s out riding her horse, Ernie, or in a gymnastics class. I don’t know how she finds the time to help her dad on the computer.
Can you believe Ben will turn nine in December? It seems like Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is the preferred method of treatment today even though it was originally developed in the 60’s. The focus is on teaching motor, social and reasoning skills with positive reinforcement when the child shows the correct behavior. Ben receives one-on-one treatment from a teacher at his school who has tailored a program specifically for him. She also tries to discover what triggers his unwanted behavior.
Maggie continues to be very active in fund raising for the autism charity and has become somewhat an expert on the disorder. I don’t know how she finds time but she does. Luckily Sarah is still with us and she’s been a fantastic help. The kids just adore her and Ben has really bonded with her over time. I’m not sure if I mentioned that Sarah has grandchildren, but she’s got six. She was thrown into being a single mom in Oakland at the age of twenty-five when her husband just left one day never to return. She worked six days a week cleaning houses to support her family but still found time toraise a beautiful son and daughter who both graduated from college.
Sarah really has become part of our family and makes our lives so much easier. We’ve had a minivan for a couple of years and for last Christmas we surprised Sarah and her family with their own brand new Dodge minivan. We invited her two children, their spouses and all her grandchildren out for dinner and gave her keys to the minivan which was in the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant. She certainly deserves it.
Actually, the idea to buy Sarah a minivan was not mine. I suggested we send her on a trip to Hawaii (My usual gift suggestion) but was overruled by the coalition of Maggie and Caroline. When I told them I thought the van idea was a little extravagant Maggie quickly replied, “What’s extravagant is the amount of money you make.” This was the first time I felt the collective weight of girl power in my family and I’m afraid it’s a force I can’t overcome.
Unfortunately I’ve had to stop running because of an injury, plantar fasciitis, which is caused by straining the ligament that supports your arch. It’s my left foot and the only way for it to heal is to stop running. Interestingly, I’m still up by 5:00.
All-in-all it’s been a very good year. I hope yours has been the same.
Tess,
It finally happened. I turned forty in February.
I remember when that seemed so old and so far away. Today, I don’t feel very different than I did at twenty-five although Maggie takes joy in pulling out what she claims are grey hairs from the back of my head. One of the guys at the office insists forty is the new thirty and I’ll buy that.
We sold our house in about two weeks for 50% more than we paid for it and bought our new dream home to replace our last dream home. This 8,000 sq. ft. brand new two story has 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 3 fireplaces and my favorite, a pizza oven. I think furnishing the house cost almost as much as our first house. I’ve given up trying to understand why most of the perfectly good furniture from our old house doesn’t work in our new house. The good news is that we’re in the same neighborhood and that makes everything easier for all of us.
It’s been a challenging year. Poor Ben had a couple of incidents. The first was a meltdown while we were out to dinner. We don’t know what set him off but I had to carry him to the safety of our car and just hold him for twenty minutes until he settled down. The second problem came at school when he took a swing at another boy. This was particularly significant because,
Caroline seems to excel in almost everything she does. The exception would be her singing. Luckily she realized this early on and while her guitar sits in her closet she’s out riding her horse, Ernie, or in a gymnastics class. I don’t know how she finds the time to help her dad on the computer.
Can you believe Ben will turn nine in December? It seems like Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is the preferred method of treatment today even though it was originally developed in the 60’s. The focus is on teaching motor, social and reasoning skills with positive reinforcement when the child shows the correct behavior. Ben receives one-on-one treatment from a teacher at his school who has tailored a program specifically for him. She also tries to discover what triggers his unwanted behavior.
Maggie continues to be very active in fund raising for the autism charity and has become somewhat an expert on the disorder. I don’t know how she finds time but she does. Luckily Sarah is still with us and she’s been a fantastic help. The kids just adore her and Ben has really bonded with her over time. I’m not sure if I mentioned that Sarah has grandchildren, but she’s got six. She was thrown into being a single mom in Oakland at the age of twenty-five when her husband just left one day never to return. She worked six days a week cleaning houses to support her family but still found time toraise a beautiful son and daughter who both graduated from college.
Sarah really has become part of our family and makes our lives so much easier. We’ve had a minivan for a couple of years and for last Christmas we surprised Sarah and her family with their own brand new Dodge minivan. We invited her two children, their spouses and all her grandchildren out for dinner and gave her keys to the minivan which was in the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant. She certainly deserves it.
Actually, the idea to buy Sarah a minivan was not mine. I suggested we send her on a trip to Hawaii (My usual gift suggestion) but was overruled by the coalition of Maggie and Caroline. When I told them I thought the van idea was a little extravagant Maggie quickly replied, “What’s extravagant is the amount of money you make.” This was the first time I felt the collective weight of girl power in my family and I’m afraid it’s a force I can’t overcome.
Unfortunately I’ve had to stop running because of an injury, plantar fasciitis, which is caused by straining the ligament that supports your arch. It’s my left foot and the only way for it to heal is to stop running. Interestingly, I’m still up by 5:00.
All-in-all it’s been a very good year. I hope yours has been the same.
Tess,
It finally happened. I turned forty in February.
I remember when that seemed so old and so far away. Today, I don’t feel very different than I did at twenty-five although Maggie takes joy in pulling out what she claims are grey hairs from the back of my head. One of the guys at the office insists forty is the new thirty and I’ll buy that.
We sold our house in about two weeks for 50% more than we paid for it and bought our new dream home to replace our last dream home. This 8,000 sq. ft. brand new two story has 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 3 fireplaces and my favorite, a pizza oven. I think furnishing the house cost almost as much as our first house. I’ve given up trying to understand why most of the perfectly good furniture from our old house doesn’t work in our new house. The good news is that we’re in the same neighborhood and that makes everything easier for all of us.
It’s been a challenging year. Poor Ben had a couple of incidents. The first was a meltdown while we were out to dinner. We don’t know what set him off but I had to carry him to the safety of our car and just hold him for twenty minutes until he settled down. The second problem came at school when he took a swing at another boy. This was particularly significant because,
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