Locks

At our house we have lots and lots of locks. We have locks for cabinets and locks for doors. We have locks for all sorts of things.

Shown here is a lock for our bathroom. It is placed on the outside of the door just as high up as I can reach (which isn't all that high since I'm really short).

Why, you ask, do we have so many locks? And why would anyone need a lock on the outside of the bathroom?

Because we don't like stepping into mysterious goo messes at random times during the day. Because there are short, energetic creatures who will open each and every drawer and cabinet in the house and empty the contents of each and every bottle into the bath water. Because if we didn't have the locks we would certainly have many more trips to the emergency room.

We put up locks on the the front door to keep the child inside so he doesn't roam the streets wearing only his diaper. We put up locks on the back door so that he doesn't go out to dig in the back yard when it is blizzarding outside. In short our house is not just child safe - it is autistic child safe.

Thomas And Friends

Maybe you've heard of Thomas and Friends? Its a little show about a blue train and all of his friends. By now I can name off each of them and tell you what colors they are, their names and thier personalities, despite the fact that I'm personally not all that interested in them.

Mr. Energy, on the other hand loves Thomas. It is one of the very few ways we can ensure that he will sit quiet for a little while. There are lots of other shows out there, some with singing and music, some with brighter colors and more interesting plots, but none of them holds his attention like Thomas. I'm not sure what it is about the trains that gets to him but it holds a power like no other.

He will sit (and to my mind that is a miracle) for over an hour, sometimes even two hours and watch the television. No grand feat you may say. But when you consider that if anything else is on he generally won't pay any attention to it at all, I find it pretty interesting. My other kids enjoy their t.v. when I'm nice enough to let them. I have to prod them to mobilize, but not Mr. Energy.

Bubbles

If you ever want to see a kid run and scream and holler then just break out the bubbles. I don't know what magical property they have but it works like a shot of pure lightning to set Mr. Energy running around a room at top speed.

We got a little bubble machine - a hand held one like a bubble gun - and believe me you never saw a kid more excited. Sure my daughter was happy too. She's four and four year olds love bubbles. I never knew a kid who didn't like bubbles. But Mr. Energy got so wound up he couldn't even begin to hold it in. Jumping, hollering, running in circles.

He's quite the sight to see when the bubbles come out and of course its a pretty good way to wear off some of that energy so maybe he will sleep a bit better tonight.

The Little Carnivore

Okay, vegetarians out there you might want to skip this post. It turns out that Mr. Energy is a huge carnivore, except for apples and bread. Okay he likes some fruit too but for whatever reason wheneve we are eating meat be it chicken, beef, fish, pork or wild game all he eats is the meat.

He will eat 2 adult portions without batting an eye and if we offer him anything else and I do mean anything else he just pushes it aside and goes back to the meat. I'm really not sure why it is. We eat a rather balanced diet at our place. There is usually fruit at snack times and veggie sticks (no dressing) and a wide variety of healthy sandwiches and soups - all of which he will eat in their proper time and place.

But if you put a pork chop on the table he acts as if it is the last meal being served and everything else is poison.

The Diaper Dilemma

Mr. Energy wears pull-up type diapers. They work just fine and since every attempt at potty training has failed miserably so far they are the status quo.

However he is very particular about his diapers. He prefers just one brand. Okay that is only the half of it. Prefers is the wrong word. He would rather strip butt naked and run around with nothing on than wear anything else. And it isn't just the one brand. It is that specific brand with one specific color of truck printed on it.

So this means that out of every package of diapers we buy he throws a fit about wearing half of the diapers and jumps up and down for joy for the other half. Don't manufacturers realize it would be easier to make the diapers with no prints at all?

Refrigerator Locks

So we finally had to break down and get some locks for the fridge. Mr. Energy likes to snack throughout the day. In fact if we let him I don't think he would sit down for a meal ever. I don't mind that so much, but he has a habit of making messes if left to his own devices in the kitchen.

So all of the crackers are locked in the cupboards, all of the cookies (when I get around to baking them) are put up high. And now the refrigerator has a pair of safety locks on it to keep him out as well.

Not only does he tend to make messes he also tends to leave the fridge door wide open and around here it gets pretty hot which means that I can't really have all that cold air being replaced with a bunch of hot air. So locks on the fridge it is. I hope he grows out of this stage soon.

Counting Competition

So I held a little counting competition this morning between my nine year old son and four year old daughter. Now she's cute as a button but she has a streak of stubborn in her as wide as Texas. She loves her brother but also loves to win.

So today for the first time I got her to count to ten willingly. How was this miracle performed? By challenging her to count more correctly and quickly than her brother. Naturally whis was an impossible task but she sure put her little heart into it. In the end we all had a laugh but I'm thinking if we can harness that stubborness in a good way then just maybe my little girl might go far.