Cheering - of different sizes

[smallworld]

beware, he's playing the long game

[Kathryn]

Yesterday my daughter called me into the study to say she had discovered a really strange insect. She wanted me to take a polaroid of it.

 

Me: It's actually a spider.

 

L: But it's got six legs, it's an insect.

 

Me: It's a spider with two legs missing, look, two on one side and four on the other.

 

I took the pic anyway, brown spider on brown wood in semi dark room, so it isn't really in the running for nature photograph of the year.

 

I mention this now because the same beastie has just walked across the wall in front of me, evidently not too hampered by its disability.

[baddad]

I mention this now because the same beastie has just walked across the wall in front of me, evidently not too hampered by its disability. 

No, he's limped across the wall in front of you...

A spider story: Used to have a huge phobia (had to overcome it for Ben's sake)... Somebody told me that if you sprayed them with hairspray they would set, and then you could just pick 'em up in a tissue and flush.

One in corner of room got a good spray - two hours later, hadn't budged a millimetre. BD stands on chair and cautiously extends tissue wrapped fingers. As he grabs spidey round middle, spidey 'wakes up' and scuttles up the wall. BD flies backwards off of chair, lands on cringing girlfriend (who's even more arachnaphobic), who knocks tv over on her way to the floor...

Round one to Boris, then...

BD

[KarenT]

We used to have one lived in the back of the fireplace and would come out for a walk of an evening. I've never seen a spider so huge - I swear to god the thing had biceps. He could cross the floor in ten strides. We used to call him Arachnid Schwarzenegger. Wonder what happened to him?

 

Karen

x

[big mamma]

I'm the spider catcher in our house - only because I'm slightly less scared of them than hubby ! Colossal one on the wall this morning - I usually do the humane thing and catch them in a glass and put them outside ( so they can come back when they feel like it complains hubby ). I knew there was no way the expanse of the beast's legs would fir the glass so vaccumed it up at full throttle.

 

Now we just have to get my mum round to empty the bag !!

[forbsay]

I actually really like spiders. When I was younger (ALOT younger). I used to have a pet spider in the greenhouse and I used to feed it green flies.

 

My little girl (aged 2 years) also loves spiders - in fact I bought her a huge plastic one for her bday (much to her delight!)

[baddad]

I'm washing up in the kitchen, and Ben's playing RayMan on the playstation. I can hear the usual 'running commentary', then hear an almighty scream:

"*UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!"

 

 

"WHAT did you say? Shouts bd in best 'angry dad' mode...

 

"I said 'Duck'... Stupid idiot got shot again by that one with the gun"...

 

Thankfully, he was to engrossed to start thinking about what i thought I'd heard him say...

 

bd

[Kathryn]

 

Talking of beasts on the loose, as well as numerous arachnids, we have a mouse in the house. It was spotted the other day behind the tv but alas, was too swift for anyone to catch it, let alone a geriatric cat with 50% vision.

 

Does anyone know how to get rid of a mouse humanely?

 

(I'm expecting Bid for lunch tomorrow - if she doesn't turn up I'll know she's read this thread. )

[KarenT]

You can get humane traps from hardware shops, you put a bit of jam and bread inside (cheese is a myth, apparently) and it catches the mouse safely for you to dispose of at your leisure in a field many miles from your home. It's a few months since we've had a mouse in here because the cat's too old and wizened to bring them home now. Thank God.

 

Karen

x

[Kathryn]

Thanks Karen,

 

I'll get one of those.

 

Our cat brings them home but can't catch them if they get away.

 

I'm worried the mouse is still inside chewing away on a vital cable somewhere...

 

K

[baddad]

Does anyone know how to get rid of a mouse humanely?

 

(I'm expecting Bid for lunch tomorrow - if she doesn't turn up I'll know she's read this thread.    )

Hold on, were you thinking of giving her mouse for lunch, then - or am I missing something here??

I wouldn't call live feeding it to someone particularly humane, either!!

[baddad]

(cheese is a myth, apparently)

No It's NOT!!!!!

They've tons of the stuff in tesco's...Or am I missing something??

[baddad]

Thanks Karen,

 

I'll get one of those.

 

Our cat brings them home but can't catch them if they get away.

Your cat brings home humane mouse traps??? Has the world gone mad?? Or am I missing something here?

 

Like the new Avatar, K... anything to do with the Cinderella Boy?

[Suze]

........We get alot of mice and I,ve tried the humane traps.Had one bad experience with one though.I was lying in bed one night when I saw a shadow moving and scratching in the fireplace,upon closer inspection when I,d summoned the courage to get out of bed I saw it was a mouse caught in the humane trap.It had obviously tried to exit the trap and was caught by it,s whiskers ....hubby was away and I was heavily preggers at the time, had to go down stairs and sleep on the setee and grab my kind nieghbour the farmer the next morning to remove it .It scampered off into the field a few whiskers short.

[baddad]

had to go down stairs and sleep on the setee and grab my kind nieghbour the farmer

Why was he asleep on your sofa?

Why did you have to grab him (never heard of 'let sleeping farmer's lie?)

Or am i missing something?

[Suze]

Thought I told you to go to bed..............you are in trouble old/young man.......on the subject of the Farmer...lovely chap called Dennis short squat, about 70 yrs old just how I like them ..............oooohhh Mavis

[Kathryn]

Does anyone know how to get rid of a mouse humanely?

 

(I'm expecting Bid for lunch tomorrow - if she doesn't turn up I'll know she's read this thread.� � )

Hold on, were you thinking of giving her mouse for lunch, then - or am I missing something here??

I wouldn't call live feeding it to someone particularly humane, either!!

 

Still couldn't catch the mouse, so I gave Bid stuffed peppers for lunch instead.

 

Baddad, humane mousetraps are different from the ordinary kind - the mouse gets counselling to cope with the stress of being caught.

 

Glad you like the avatar, a special commission from littlenemo. (See "signs of stress" thread for full details).

[baddad]

Went to feed Ben's fish the other day, lifted the hinged lid and a horrible stink wafted up.

"Oh, no," I said, "Something must have gone wrong with the stat... either the waters stagnant or we've got a dead 'un"...

After looking for around thirty or forty seconds, could find nothing amiss, and the smell seems to have dissipated... '"That's funny," I said.

"Ah", offers Ben, "Maybe it was my fart we were smelling!"

 

 

Yes, we're back to that level again, folks, but I thought it was priceless!!

L&P

BD

[call me jaded]

Today I read in my son's home/school book that he'd used a picture to say 'I'm happy'

 

 

He's happy.

 

 

I've waited eleven years for that.

[nellie]

Jaded,

 

Enjoy the moment.

[oracle]

 

What a wonderful moment for you - enjoy

 

Carole

[helenl53]

Jaded - it amazes me at just how wonderful these moments are and what they mean to parents.

 

Enjoy and glow with pride.

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[KarenT]

That's fabulous Jaded, I'm thrilled for you.

 

Karen

x

[call me jaded]

From what I can gather it was completely spontaneous at the end of a play session. He's a love.

[bid]

 

Bid <'>

[baddad]

Now you can draw him a picture of a pig in poo so he can put the two together...

A lovely reason for cheering, so:

 

L&P

BD

[mossgrove]

I wonder if anyone who has nor cared for an autistic child would ever understand how much that means.

 

Thankyou for sharing it with us.

 

Simon

[forbsay]

Priceless- call me jaded!

 

I had a good day y'day with my son. We went for a huge walk - all the way he walked beside me or held onto his little sister's buggy. He behaved so well! It was a very good feeling as I was told that I couldn't do this with my autistic son.

 

 

He also said today that something was "too very heavy" in the correct context. This is the boy that 2.5 years ago couldn't speak!

[oracle]

David has just arrived home having just attended a Birthday Meal with several of Rob's friends in a neighbouring town. Yes he actually went 50 miles out of our area to attend this party Now from the lad who sometimes would not go 50 meters down the road this is quite something.

 

He is on a roll at the moment as his friend who has been working away for the last year and a half has returned home, and our house was one of his first port of calls. This made my day never mind David's. His job is now at an end and he could be home for a week or a month? But whatever else has happened in the past year and a half he did not feel that he has left David behind. It is a nice feeling.

 

Carole

[Kathryn]

That's great news Carole. It's good to hear that David is doing so well these days - it says a lot for the care you have given him and gives me hope for the future.

[nellie]

It is a nice feeling.

 

Bask in the glory, you deserve it!

 

By the way, congratulations on managing your first quote.

 

Nellie xx

[oracle]

By the way, congratulations on managing your first quote. 

 

Thankyou

 

Carole

[annie]

Carole,

 

I am so pleased for you and David <'> <'>

 

Annie

XX

[oracle]

I am pleased for David to - any myself because it does give you hope. The hard part is now keeping it going. But we still have the down side to. He had an outburst on Sunday Night - but they do appear to be more of a flash point than a full scale rage most of the time now. David is learning the art of walking away and slamming into his room But that is better than the head to head battles that I found terrifying. Maybe the later has come about because he does have outside interests now and he has found that he can fit in and be himself without having to try to much.

 

Rob's friends continue to amaze me. Last night had been a real family gathering in a restaurant as well as friends being there. David had sat beside the Birthday Boy's Dad and got on with him like a house on fire Sitting talking to strangers has always been a very big issue for David so this is indeed progress for him.

 

Carole

 

PS he would still like to throttle Matthew most of the time though

Edited October 11, 2005 by carole

[KarenT]

I have a cheer today!

 

J used to have a close friend (A) from nursery days and into Reception, but after a few months in school A could no longer cope with J's loudness and domination in games. In the early days he used to come to tea regularly but hasn't been now for two years, even though J has often asked him to come. He's had a couple of play visits with his mum to try and keep things smooth, but they haven't really gone too well.

 

Well, recently things have been looking up for J, since the treatments at the cranial osteopath. So much so that his behaviour has calmed down and his relationships with school friends have improved. We had a very successful play visit from a boy whose mum attends the same AS support group as me, and last week one of his classmates came home for tea (only one brief incident and they are both still alive to tell the tale). He also has a friend coming over tonight and has been invited to someone's house on Saturday afternoon.

 

As if that isn't enough to cheer about (and believe me, I've been cheering such a lot lately), this morning on the way to school we saw A and his mum ahead of us and J ran to catch up. The boys walked along together, playing and chatting (yes, that's walked and chatting - told you he'd come on a bit) and after a while I saw A whispering something to his mum, who replied "I don't know A, why don't you ask her?" A then turned to me and asked "When can I come and play at J's house again?"

 

I'm utterly overjoyed at this, especially that it's come direct from A and not being engineered by parents trying to maintain the friendship. It's also a clear illustration that J is so much better socially in school that children actually want to play with him again.

 

Happy days, eh?

 

Karen, a happy mummy.

x

[helenl53]

Well done David - and hey - throttling your siblings is one of the fun parts about being a sibling

[katkin]

Just a quick cheer. On my last day at school last week we took two children into town to the pub (lounge bar - honest) School go there quite often to do social skills so they are quite used to us and our major buggys and wheelchairs. Have been working with these two children on their communication and social skills. Well... the little lad particularly sat and used his pecs beautifully to ask for drink and crisps, lass excellent also. This is a hotel that seems to have mainly older people in it; you know the sort - bristling bosoms and raised eyebrows. Man comes over as we are leaving, our heart sinks.... and says " I must congratulate you, your children are excellently behaved" Well we both nearly blubbed on the mans shoulder!! Just so chuffed as six months previous neither of these two could sit for 1min let alone go into a pub for a drink. A good high to end on. Love kat

[Kathryn]

It's great to hear all these positive stories.

 

Another small step forward for us: L was alone in the house yesterday when my friend's husband and his two daughters knocked on the door - they had come to ask if my son could come out to play. Usually she ignores the door and won't voluntarily speak to people she doesn't really know, but she was able to talk to them and tell them that we were all out and she remembered to tell us later.

[nightingales]

Had to put this under 'cheering' --

 

Yesterday, driving all three kids to littlest one's swimming lesson after the usual stressful, bad-tempered attempts to get out of the house with everything, I skidded the car in the rain. We spun completely round and ended up facing back the way we'd come BUT by some miracle we ended up on the grassy strip between the carriageways, in the only bit without a signpost or other nasty sticky-up pillar, out of the way of both traffic streams. Everyone was a bit winded from the seatbelts but fine. HURRAY!

 

Both boys were white with fright, but DD just wanted to do it again!

 

Drove on very cautiously in a much more child-loving frame of mind than ten minutes previously (I'll admit I'm still shaking a bit as I type!)