People irritate me and I'm not going to let them get away with it when they are inappropriate.
This is the email I sent to Great Clips customer service today. I couldn't say anything then because I really would have lost it. I waited a few days to calm down before I wrote it. Not sure if that helped. Does anyone hear this crap everywhere like I do? maybe I am just more in tune with it.
I took my daughter to the Lockport Great Clips last week and the conversation I overheard between stylist Jenn and her client made my blood boil. She was talking about the kids that come in and the way they behave, kicking & screaming and yelling at their parents and how she would not put up with that and then mentioned they were "like 5 & 6". I have a 6 yr old Autistic son who struggles everyday with sensory input that most of us take for granted and to hear a person who should be able to deal with children nicely talk this way make me furious. I would have left right then but I didn't want to upset my daughter. The hairstylist needs to keep her customer comments to herself - or at least in the back room. She has no idea what some parents have to go through to get a child's hair cut, it's not cut and dry and the child isn't always being a brat. How wonderful for her that she does not have a child who ever acts up. Ignorant and uneducated people like Jenn are the reason I do not bring my Autistic son to a hair salon anymore. Maybe a little more training for the stylists wouldn't hurt either.
Thank you for your time.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sleepless in Lockport
It's 6:00pm and Mitchell has been awake for at least 15 hrs. Currently he is on the couch playing Angry Birds on the iPad with the volume high enough to compete with itunes on the laptop I am using and Angelina Ballerina on TV.
I woke up at 3am to the sound of the ipad and the glare of the hallway light streaming into our room. I don't know how long he was up by then, he looked pretty cozy in the chair and was laughing at heaven knows what. This is the second time in the last month I have woken after he has made himself comfortable downstairs. Usually I hear him open his bedroom door but either I am sleeping more soundly these days (ya, right) or the door isn't creaking anymore when opened. I think it's the air conditioner removing the humidity in the house so it doesn't stick now. Next step is bell on the door knob to alert me.
Of, course he never wakes up at these hours on the weekend so Steve & I can take turns resting or when I go to bed early. Last night Steve & I watched TV until 11 then I read in bed until midnight. I did manage to go back to sleep for 2 hours this morning. I couldn't help it. Grace asked me to read her Snow White and I told her my eyes could not stay open to do it. She got mad & I got even madder at her whining and realized I needed some rest before I really lost it. So when Mitchell requested squishies up in his room around 7:30am, I laid down on his bed and stayed there until after 9:00am. The house was still standing when I got up and I was in a hell of alot better mood. Steven seemed to hold down the fort OK ~ Caroline spent the night at a friend's so she wasn;t here to fight with anyone. And Mitchell was playing in the girls room....without pants.......and poop next to him.
It could be much worse, so I'll take it. Not the way I planned on starting my 2nd morning today but it was doable.
So after throwing toys this morning and requesting squishies a million times this morning, Mitchell went to camp at noon, swam for a couple hours in 85 degrees and still shows no signs of slowing down. Hopefully he will be asleep when I return from the school board meeting tonight where I get to witness the YES votes for the ipads. Yay!!
I woke up at 3am to the sound of the ipad and the glare of the hallway light streaming into our room. I don't know how long he was up by then, he looked pretty cozy in the chair and was laughing at heaven knows what. This is the second time in the last month I have woken after he has made himself comfortable downstairs. Usually I hear him open his bedroom door but either I am sleeping more soundly these days (ya, right) or the door isn't creaking anymore when opened. I think it's the air conditioner removing the humidity in the house so it doesn't stick now. Next step is bell on the door knob to alert me.
Of, course he never wakes up at these hours on the weekend so Steve & I can take turns resting or when I go to bed early. Last night Steve & I watched TV until 11 then I read in bed until midnight. I did manage to go back to sleep for 2 hours this morning. I couldn't help it. Grace asked me to read her Snow White and I told her my eyes could not stay open to do it. She got mad & I got even madder at her whining and realized I needed some rest before I really lost it. So when Mitchell requested squishies up in his room around 7:30am, I laid down on his bed and stayed there until after 9:00am. The house was still standing when I got up and I was in a hell of alot better mood. Steven seemed to hold down the fort OK ~ Caroline spent the night at a friend's so she wasn;t here to fight with anyone. And Mitchell was playing in the girls room....without pants.......and poop next to him.
It could be much worse, so I'll take it. Not the way I planned on starting my 2nd morning today but it was doable.
So after throwing toys this morning and requesting squishies a million times this morning, Mitchell went to camp at noon, swam for a couple hours in 85 degrees and still shows no signs of slowing down. Hopefully he will be asleep when I return from the school board meeting tonight where I get to witness the YES votes for the ipads. Yay!!
Monday, June 11, 2012
ipads
Some time last year my friend Nicole and I started talking about ipads. How our boys (her son Nicholas is 8) use them, learn from them, are drawn to them. Both our boys visit By Your Side for therapy and use the ipads there as well as at home. Then we started talking about how the school does not use ipads with the CSI program they boys are in and that everywhere you turn there is an article or news spot about ipads and Autism. Why does the school not use them when they could draw so much out of the students with ipads? What can we do to make the district see what they need to do to keep up with technology and new strategies for teaching kids on the Autism spectrum.
We hatched a plan with 6 other moms from the class to raise enough money for 8 ipads and present it to the school. Nicole sent a letter of intention to the Special Ed Coordinator and Superintendent by letter and a meeting was set up to to discuss what we were expecting from the school district.
At first it appeared we were met with skepticism. The Superintendent liked our idea of keeping up with technology and was interested in what we had to say but he was unsure of the importance ipads held in the future education of our children and didn't share our enthusiasm. It seemed as this was going to be an uphill battle for us. We were told the ipads could not come from funds raised outside of the school and that all the kids, not just the special ones, would need to be taken into consideration. Frankly, Nicole & I were not concerned with the typical students who could pick up a book or ask for help when it came to learning but we were hopeful in the end it would be clear this was what was best for our kids especially. By the end of our meeting last October it had been decided a committee was going to be formed to test out the ipads and share ideas on how they can be used in the classroom.
After months of waiting and many phone calls we were contacted for another meeting to discuss where the district was at regarding the ipads. I just found out that same day that a boy from Mitchell's class was being sent out of district for school and I honestly thought "well there goes our funding!" We went into the meeting prepared for the worst but willing to sick to our guns. What a shock we got.
Turns out not only was the superintendent totally excited about the feedback he received but he had done a 180 himself on where he felt the ipads would lead us and the district as a whole. It has been decided there is enough money in the budget to buy 30 ipads per district building - that's 180 ipads, 6 of which are going to our class. The plan goes on to add 40-50 per building each year moving forward. He was thankful to us for opening his eyes on this subject and giving the district the push they needed.
On June 26 it will be presented to the board and expected to be approved. The ipads will be purchased and training will begin before to beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.
We hatched a plan with 6 other moms from the class to raise enough money for 8 ipads and present it to the school. Nicole sent a letter of intention to the Special Ed Coordinator and Superintendent by letter and a meeting was set up to to discuss what we were expecting from the school district.
At first it appeared we were met with skepticism. The Superintendent liked our idea of keeping up with technology and was interested in what we had to say but he was unsure of the importance ipads held in the future education of our children and didn't share our enthusiasm. It seemed as this was going to be an uphill battle for us. We were told the ipads could not come from funds raised outside of the school and that all the kids, not just the special ones, would need to be taken into consideration. Frankly, Nicole & I were not concerned with the typical students who could pick up a book or ask for help when it came to learning but we were hopeful in the end it would be clear this was what was best for our kids especially. By the end of our meeting last October it had been decided a committee was going to be formed to test out the ipads and share ideas on how they can be used in the classroom.
After months of waiting and many phone calls we were contacted for another meeting to discuss where the district was at regarding the ipads. I just found out that same day that a boy from Mitchell's class was being sent out of district for school and I honestly thought "well there goes our funding!" We went into the meeting prepared for the worst but willing to sick to our guns. What a shock we got.
Turns out not only was the superintendent totally excited about the feedback he received but he had done a 180 himself on where he felt the ipads would lead us and the district as a whole. It has been decided there is enough money in the budget to buy 30 ipads per district building - that's 180 ipads, 6 of which are going to our class. The plan goes on to add 40-50 per building each year moving forward. He was thankful to us for opening his eyes on this subject and giving the district the push they needed.
On June 26 it will be presented to the board and expected to be approved. The ipads will be purchased and training will begin before to beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.
It's Official
I feel comfortable enough with our situation to announce that we are finally diaper free in the Ivey house. 9 yrs, 6 months, 10 days and roughly $5000.00 later, we are no longer clogging up landfills with that particular waste.
Grace took on the challenge when she was ready (3 yrs, 1 month, 8 days) and didn't look back. Stickers were never an incentive for my other 3 kids but after Grace saw her friend Elle had a sticker potty chart she wanted one too. First try and she got a sticker. Next try no sticker and no sticker again. She did not give up though and started adding multiple stickers at a time to make her chart prettier (of course) then after a couple days got the hang of it and we didn't need the chart anymore. I was determined not to buy pull-ups and we didn't need them. She started waking up dry the night we let her sleep in underwear. She does occasionally not make it to the potty for #2 but that is a very rare occurrence and usually when someone else isn't noticing the signs like mom does.
I never really had a dislike for diapers like some people do. I liked knowing there wasn't going to be an accident on the way to Grandma's or at the store and when someone had a virus it was contained as well. Vacations were the only time I really dread children in diapers. Nevertheless this is a huge step for us. For the last 1 1/2 months I have been walking by the diapers and swim diapers and giggling, shaking my head that we don't need to buy those anymore.
I told Steve we are now supporting the Hanes brand as opposed to Pampers, Huggies and Luvs. I can't believe how much underwear we have in this house now. And I had to buy Grace a new swimsuit because the bottom to the one she wore in Disney doesn't stay up with just her little butt in it. hee hee.
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| Potty Chart at beginning |
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| Potty Chart now |
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