bountifulplate

I think sometimes people need to have what I like to call a "filter."  You know those people I'm talking about, they pretty much say what they're thinking without thinking about how their words come out.   Words can be used to tell someone how great you look or they can be used to criticize how you look.  My aunt (who I absolutely 200% adore, admire and love with all of my heart) lost one of her adult children in March of this year.  It wasn't that long ago that my aunt lost her husband (my uncle) and her mother-in-law (my grandmother).  I can't even wrap my mind around what that must be like.  My aunt is one of the strongest women I know and I get a lot of my strength from her.  She told me something the other day that just about broke my heart.  My cousin (her daughter) is one of a twin.  I grew up with my twin cousins along with their younger brother.  Neither of my dad's siblings had children, so I only  have those first cousins...

Recently I went to the local  grocery store (as always looking for a great deal).  Looking around the produce section I saw that carrots were on sale for 3 pounds for a buck.  Of course, into the cart they went!  I love to bake so I had visions of looking through my cookbooks (at last count, over 100) thinking sure, I can find a good carrot muffin recipe, no problem.  Well, after looking through several  cookbooks and even getting a few more cookbooks from the library,  I couldn't find one that I thought my family and I would actually eat at "Cathy's Kitchen."  So, I decided to invent my own recipe!  Here are the ingredients:  2 large eggs (slightly beaten), 2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar,  1 1/2 cups peeled and coarsely grated carrots, 1 1/4 cups all purpose white  flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal, 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon...

When you become a parent, one of the first things you hope your child does is reach those developmental milestones (crawling, walking, talking, etc.).  When you're a parent of a special needs child sometimes those milestones are reached, sometimes they take a little longer, sometimes they are not reached at all.  For my little guy, he was right on track for everything but talking.  Until he was almost 3 we could barely get any eye contact or any talking.  For someone like me, who loves to talk,  it was almost unbearable.   One thing you definitely learn with children, special needs or not is the art of patience.   I totally 100% admire those parents who have non-verbal children.  I remember reading something in a newspaper or magazine before my little guy talked about a woman who was complaining about how her child wouldn't stop talking and asking questions.  I remember thinking, wow, I would love to have that problem!!!!!!  I alway...

Once you have come to terms with the diagnosis that your child has special needs, now what?  I remember when I first got the diagnosis of Autism for my son,  I felt like I was drowning in information. It seemed like everyone around me had their own opinion.  It is so hard to know where to start.  My son also has ADHD which a lot of the time goes hand in hand with Autism.  If your child is less than 3, you most likely will be beginning with an early intervention program through your county/school district that you live in.  As soon as your child hits 3, he or she usually  "ages out" of the early intervention services and progresses to school.   Depending on the severity of their Autism they will most likely be in a regular classroom with possibly an aide or in a special education classroom. Even if your child is in a private school, there are still services available.  There are lots of free resources out there, you just have to know how to lo...

When you first hear those words, "Autism" there are so many different things that run through your mind. Will my child go to school, college, get a job, get married (the list goes on and on).  I think one of the first thoughts a lot of parents have is anger.  Why did this happen to our family??  Autism just doesn't affect the child, it affects the WHOLE family.  Parents are already completely 100% exhausted both physically and emotionally, sometimes there is very little left to give to your other children.  If you're a single parent, than it is really difficult.  Sometimes parents blame each other for their child's Autism.  One of the best things you can do when you first get that initial diagnosis is to grieve.  It's okay to scream and cry.  I spent  two weeks feeling sorry for myself and coming to terms with the diagnosis.  Other parents take longer to come to terms with the diagnosis. The most important thing is that you do come ...

Hard to believe that it has been almost 10 years since September 11th happened.  I remember when I heard, my first thought was that it wasn't real.  I really couldn't wrap my head around it.  We were still living in the DC area. My stepson was in high school, my daughter was at elementary school, I was at home and my husband was in DC working that day.  Interestingly enough, my husband rode his bike to work that day, which turned out to be one of the few ways out of town later.  People were offering him money for his bike so they could get out of  DC!   Once he arrived home safely, we went over to my daughter's school which  was a few miles from us.  The school had decided to go into  "lock down" mode and I can remember a group of us kind of wandering around the school trying to get our kids out and the doors being locked.  The school finally released the kids after a bit and we were able to get our daughter and bring her home....