Well we are about to launch our website and there are just so many people that I just don't think we could have done it without that I want to say a little thank you to you all.
Firstly to the Lord Jesus, who has pulled me through all of those times when I asked myself what the heck I'd gotten myself in to and gave me the strength to keep on keeping on. Also to our parents who have supported us all the way through. (and no doubt will continue to do so!)
Thanks to my fantastic children who have put up with a grumbly, sleep deprived and stressed out Mummy, and to my awesome husband for coming along for the ride...even with a grumbly, sleep deprived and stressed out wife. :D
To our gorgeous WAHMs; Leah from Fluff E Stuff, who's comment in a buy and sell group has completely changed the direction of Rascal Rumps. To Alex from Bear Bottoms, Cath from Tumblemonkey Handmade and Jess from Onesie Bummsies.
Thanks to Sue and Wendy and the awesome team at itti bitti, Hollie from Bum Cheeks and Farharna from Booroi. To Melissa from Australian Wholesale Amber and Michelle from Sustainable Hemp Products. Also to Christina and Emily from Rockin Green Australia and Caroline from Soap in a Nutshell. To all of the suppliers that we still have in the works and hope to have on line soon.
You all have been awesome to work with and there is no way we could have done it without you.
Huge thanks to Peter from Great Southern Web Design...We love our website and we hope you all do to!
Vicki and the team from Great Southern Small Business Centre...we owe you big time! Also Trevor from the Tambellup Business Centre.
Extra special thanks go to Jodi from MCN Lovers R Us! You do us and everyone else in this industry a huge huge service and I, for one, greatly appreciate it. Also Jade from Australian WAHM shoutouts. Thanks also to my wonderful "cloth lovin' neighbor" Erryn who has been my sounding board all the way through :D
A huge thanks to Marita from Stuff With Thing, Lori from RRSAHM and Trae from Where's My Glow for the shout outs!
And of course where would we be without our fantastic customers, you have all been lovely to deal with and we look forward to hearing your feedback about our website and our service. We are always striving to bring you the best and appreciate your ideas!
And one last one...Thanks to all the grandmothers who come to the markets/shows and take all the info away to share with their daughter/daughters in law. Grandmothers are awesome :D
Big thanks to you all
xoxoxo
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Friday, 28 October 2011
Special Saturday - How does having a child with additional needs affect your family?
The short answer? In EVERY way!!!
Firstly the obvious ones...
Routine...EVERY day starts and finishes with routine! Once Bear is up, every thing is done the same way. No matter what stage the other kids are at in their getting ready they all fall in with his routine. His end of the table gets cleared so he can have his breakfast. Once he has eaten, whoever is in the shower gets out and whoever was hoping to hop in next waits until he has finished (or misses out completely) The Geek is NOT allowed into the kitchen...unless we want another hole in the wall!
There are routines throughout the day which mean that Bear often is allowed to have things that the other kids are not allowed to have...just to keep up the routine! It means they often don't get to choose where they are going to sit or what they are going to watch on TV. It means they can't always go across the road and ride their scooters on the shiny new bitumised path because Bear will follow them out and stand in the street.
The other kids are usually in bed before we go through the evening routine so it doesn't affect them quite so much.
For us it means we have to do things for our 11 year old that we no longer have to do for our 4 year old. We have to wipe his bottom, (and believe me I'm grateful that that is all we have to do these days) and make all his meals...even if it's just toast or a sandwich, we have to supervise him almost constantly and ALWAYS be aware of where he is and what he is doing.
Holidays...Having a child with Autism affects Where we holiday, When we holiday, How we holiday and How long we holiday for.
It affects EVERY major decision we make, in fact the decision to start our own business was largely due to the fact that we need the flexibility to manage Bear.
Even decisions like whether or not to take out private health insurance are affected by Bear. If we don't have private health insurance then when one of us needs surgery we have NO options, and we quickly discovered when Tiger needed his tonsils out that we NEED options, we NEED to be able to be involved in the decision making process with everything that might affect Bear.
I could go on and on...but I think you get the idea...having a child with additional needs affects our lives in EVERY conceivable way.
But it's not all bad!
Bear has TAUGHT us a good many things too.
He has taught all of us patience and compassion, patience, tolerance, patience, acceptance and did I mention patience?
Because not everything is fair all of the time, the kids have learned resilience...I could go right into why we believe that this is important, and perhaps one day I will but you can read a little bit about it here!
He has taught us that life doesn't always go the way we plan and we have all learned to roll with the punches! And to function with a LOT of background noise!
I have learned to smile and nod when other people give their opinions...for the most part.
I've also learned to pick my battles.
If given a choice, if someone said to me, "You can have another baby but he/she is going to be autistic" I think I would probably run for the hills but I am 100% sure that EVERYONE living in The Zoo Train is a better person because we have shared our lives with Bear...perhaps with the exception of Grub...give him time :D
It's a process for all of us though.
I, for one, am still a work in progress!!!
Firstly the obvious ones...
Routine...EVERY day starts and finishes with routine! Once Bear is up, every thing is done the same way. No matter what stage the other kids are at in their getting ready they all fall in with his routine. His end of the table gets cleared so he can have his breakfast. Once he has eaten, whoever is in the shower gets out and whoever was hoping to hop in next waits until he has finished (or misses out completely) The Geek is NOT allowed into the kitchen...unless we want another hole in the wall!
There are routines throughout the day which mean that Bear often is allowed to have things that the other kids are not allowed to have...just to keep up the routine! It means they often don't get to choose where they are going to sit or what they are going to watch on TV. It means they can't always go across the road and ride their scooters on the shiny new bitumised path because Bear will follow them out and stand in the street.
The other kids are usually in bed before we go through the evening routine so it doesn't affect them quite so much.
For us it means we have to do things for our 11 year old that we no longer have to do for our 4 year old. We have to wipe his bottom, (and believe me I'm grateful that that is all we have to do these days) and make all his meals...even if it's just toast or a sandwich, we have to supervise him almost constantly and ALWAYS be aware of where he is and what he is doing.
Holidays...Having a child with Autism affects Where we holiday, When we holiday, How we holiday and How long we holiday for.
It affects EVERY major decision we make, in fact the decision to start our own business was largely due to the fact that we need the flexibility to manage Bear.
Even decisions like whether or not to take out private health insurance are affected by Bear. If we don't have private health insurance then when one of us needs surgery we have NO options, and we quickly discovered when Tiger needed his tonsils out that we NEED options, we NEED to be able to be involved in the decision making process with everything that might affect Bear.
I could go on and on...but I think you get the idea...having a child with additional needs affects our lives in EVERY conceivable way.
But it's not all bad!
Bear has TAUGHT us a good many things too.
He has taught all of us patience and compassion, patience, tolerance, patience, acceptance and did I mention patience?
Because not everything is fair all of the time, the kids have learned resilience...I could go right into why we believe that this is important, and perhaps one day I will but you can read a little bit about it here!
He has taught us that life doesn't always go the way we plan and we have all learned to roll with the punches! And to function with a LOT of background noise!
I have learned to smile and nod when other people give their opinions...for the most part.
I've also learned to pick my battles.
If given a choice, if someone said to me, "You can have another baby but he/she is going to be autistic" I think I would probably run for the hills but I am 100% sure that EVERYONE living in The Zoo Train is a better person because we have shared our lives with Bear...perhaps with the exception of Grub...give him time :D
It's a process for all of us though.
I, for one, am still a work in progress!!!
It's Not Her Baby!
It's been a BUSY week and yesterday Grub was CRANKY! It got to about 9.30 last night and I thought "I've just gotta get some sleep" and then I thought of all of the things I DIDN'T get done during the day.
I didn't have any paper or a pen on me so I asked the Geek to email me with a list of the things I had to do today.
When I complained that there was too much to get done the Geek commented that Chicken would be home as it is a public holiday and she could look after the baby.
I originally dubbed her Chicken, not because she is a scaredy cat (though she is a little bit), but because she is a real mother hen. She loves her baby brother...and in fact all babies, and often plays with him and entertains him because she chooses too.
So should we take advantage of that? Should we take it for granted that she will want to spend her public holiday looking after Grub?
I don't think so. She is 8 years old and it's not her baby! We were the ones who chose to have another baby and we were the ones who chose to start a business. These were our choices...not hers.
That's not to say she should NEVER have to help out. I believe that being part of a family is a wonderful thing but it does come with responsibility. Being part of a LARGE family means that there is always someone to play with and it means that your life is just CHOCK FULL of amazing people who love you, there is always someone to go to if you have a problem. But it means EVERYBODY has to pitch in!
And that's a good thing. Kids need to learn that everything is not going to be given to them on a plate, and that living with other people requires sacrifice.
But I don't think we should take our kids for granted just because they have learned a sense of responsibility.
As it turns out, the 10 year old girl next door (also a mother hen) came over and absconded with Grub for a while so that we could get some cleaning done...and Geek helped out too so we are half way through the days task (at a little after 10am) but my point still stands. I think we need to be aware of the line between teaching our kids responsibility and using them...and it's a very fine line!
I didn't have any paper or a pen on me so I asked the Geek to email me with a list of the things I had to do today.
When I complained that there was too much to get done the Geek commented that Chicken would be home as it is a public holiday and she could look after the baby.
I originally dubbed her Chicken, not because she is a scaredy cat (though she is a little bit), but because she is a real mother hen. She loves her baby brother...and in fact all babies, and often plays with him and entertains him because she chooses too.
So should we take advantage of that? Should we take it for granted that she will want to spend her public holiday looking after Grub?
I don't think so. She is 8 years old and it's not her baby! We were the ones who chose to have another baby and we were the ones who chose to start a business. These were our choices...not hers.
That's not to say she should NEVER have to help out. I believe that being part of a family is a wonderful thing but it does come with responsibility. Being part of a LARGE family means that there is always someone to play with and it means that your life is just CHOCK FULL of amazing people who love you, there is always someone to go to if you have a problem. But it means EVERYBODY has to pitch in!
And that's a good thing. Kids need to learn that everything is not going to be given to them on a plate, and that living with other people requires sacrifice.
But I don't think we should take our kids for granted just because they have learned a sense of responsibility.
As it turns out, the 10 year old girl next door (also a mother hen) came over and absconded with Grub for a while so that we could get some cleaning done...and Geek helped out too so we are half way through the days task (at a little after 10am) but my point still stands. I think we need to be aware of the line between teaching our kids responsibility and using them...and it's a very fine line!
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Yay for NEIS!!!
It didn't quite fit in with the birthday post cause it's a whole different kind of birth but I wanted to mention it anyway...
WE ARE ON NEIS!!!
We can officially open our business and (hopefully) start growing it a little bit!
I have to say I am extremely grateful for this fantastic opportunity and the great head start it is going to give us :D
God is good!
WE ARE ON NEIS!!!
I have to say I am extremely grateful for this fantastic opportunity and the great head start it is going to give us :D
God is good!
Mostly Good
Some months ago the Geek helped an elderly lady with her computer. She couldn't really afford to pay him...which was okay...but she felt guilty so she gave us STUFF instead.
Now most of this STUFF was just junk, most of it has ended up or will end up in the bin. We have too much STUFF already.
But amongst this STUFF there was a brand new, in the box Lord Of The Rings Uruk-Hai Bow 'n' Arrow. Basically a plastic crossbow which fires projectiles!
At the time I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a plastic crossbow which fires projectiles but it was too good to throw out so it got put away in the spare room...hopefully never to be seen again :D
No such luck!!!
Starting up a business is an expensive exercise...a LOT more expensive than we first thought, and with birthdays in October, November, January and February...and of course Christmas in December, we got to October 27 (Tigers birthday) and presents were a little too scarce for my liking.
What to do?
Well of course we decided to give Tiger the bow and arrow.
Naturally he loved it and spent as much of the day as possible shooting whatever he could!
And we haven't had any injuries...YET!
I managed to make and ice a bunch of cupcakes in time for him to take them to school for his class.
He chose a bought mudcake for his birthday cake...too easy :D
And being a public holiday tomorrow he is having a friend sleep over and they are all having a movie night!
So all in all I think he has had a pretty good day! Or in his words...Mostly good!
Now most of this STUFF was just junk, most of it has ended up or will end up in the bin. We have too much STUFF already.
But amongst this STUFF there was a brand new, in the box Lord Of The Rings Uruk-Hai Bow 'n' Arrow. Basically a plastic crossbow which fires projectiles!
At the time I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a plastic crossbow which fires projectiles but it was too good to throw out so it got put away in the spare room...hopefully never to be seen again :D
No such luck!!!
Starting up a business is an expensive exercise...a LOT more expensive than we first thought, and with birthdays in October, November, January and February...and of course Christmas in December, we got to October 27 (Tigers birthday) and presents were a little too scarce for my liking.
What to do?
Well of course we decided to give Tiger the bow and arrow.
Naturally he loved it and spent as much of the day as possible shooting whatever he could!
And we haven't had any injuries...YET!
I managed to make and ice a bunch of cupcakes in time for him to take them to school for his class.
He chose a bought mudcake for his birthday cake...too easy :D
And being a public holiday tomorrow he is having a friend sleep over and they are all having a movie night!
So all in all I think he has had a pretty good day! Or in his words...Mostly good!
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
The Spinning Top
Global nuclear meltdown today!!!
We think we have it figured though.
School started up for the term last week but because Gymnastics is in the same venue as the Katanning show (on Saturday) it's not on until they've decided not to have it until after they've had the show and had a chance to clean up. Week 4 of term!
Now Bear doesn't understand about days of the week and only has a limited understanding of the concept of time but he can usually tell if it's been too long.
Pretty sure he's just come to the realization that he's been back at school for more than a week but there's been no Gymnastics...it's been too long!
We are pretty used to global nuclear meltdowns but that doesn't mean that we enjoy them, and I can tell you, we are usually pretty keen to get them to stop.
Most of the time our attempts are pretty futile!
But today the Geek came up with something that worked (at least for now).
He made a spinning top!
BRILLIANT!!!
We think we have it figured though.
School started up for the term last week but because Gymnastics is in the same venue as the Katanning show (on Saturday) it's not on until they've decided not to have it until after they've had the show and had a chance to clean up. Week 4 of term!
Now Bear doesn't understand about days of the week and only has a limited understanding of the concept of time but he can usually tell if it's been too long.
Pretty sure he's just come to the realization that he's been back at school for more than a week but there's been no Gymnastics...it's been too long!
We are pretty used to global nuclear meltdowns but that doesn't mean that we enjoy them, and I can tell you, we are usually pretty keen to get them to stop.
Most of the time our attempts are pretty futile!
But today the Geek came up with something that worked (at least for now).
He made a spinning top!
BRILLIANT!!!
The Chicken And The Toothbrush!
On Monday when I went shopping I found some toothbrushes going out for 89c each. They were not top of the range toothbrushes but they were Oral B and we've used them before so I know they're not cheap nasty ones either. Plus they were bright shiny colours (I'm a bit of a sucker for bright shiny colours)
My first thought (it being late October) was "Stocking Fillers!!!" so I proceeded to throw one of each colour into my trolley.
Now Monday was a busy day, in fact this whole week has been flat out, so with one thing and another the toothbrushes ended up being left on the bench in the kitchen instead of being hidden away.
So of course when the kids (who are also suckers for bright shiny colours) came home from school they wanted their new toothbrushes.
Oh well, I can't use them as stocking fillers now, none of the kids are young enough that they will forget about them within 2 months, so I gave them their new tooth brushes. After all we are not so broke yet that I can't afford to spend 89c on each of my children.
And that was that!
Or was it?
Now you have to understand that coming up to bed time Grub is really cranky so I usually send the kids in to brush their teeth and go to the toilet by themselves. They usually do a pretty good job and none of them has ever needed a filling but when I go into the bathroom afterwards I ALWAYS find it painted in toothpaste. Top to bottom! And since we had the wisdom to put in a black vanity top when we renovated...and toothpaste dries white...it looks filthy ALL THE TIME!!!
Until Monday!
Since Monday I go into the bathroom after bed time and the toothpaste is all wiped up, and the toothbrushes all washed properly and lined up neatly!
Chicken is so excited about her bright shiny new toothbrush that she wants it to live in a nice clean bathroom!
Best 89c I ever spent!
(PS I do actually buy my kids things...they are not really so deprived that a new toothbrush is the event of the year...I promise!!!)
My first thought (it being late October) was "Stocking Fillers!!!" so I proceeded to throw one of each colour into my trolley.
Now Monday was a busy day, in fact this whole week has been flat out, so with one thing and another the toothbrushes ended up being left on the bench in the kitchen instead of being hidden away.
So of course when the kids (who are also suckers for bright shiny colours) came home from school they wanted their new toothbrushes.
Oh well, I can't use them as stocking fillers now, none of the kids are young enough that they will forget about them within 2 months, so I gave them their new tooth brushes. After all we are not so broke yet that I can't afford to spend 89c on each of my children.
And that was that!
Or was it?
Now you have to understand that coming up to bed time Grub is really cranky so I usually send the kids in to brush their teeth and go to the toilet by themselves. They usually do a pretty good job and none of them has ever needed a filling but when I go into the bathroom afterwards I ALWAYS find it painted in toothpaste. Top to bottom! And since we had the wisdom to put in a black vanity top when we renovated...and toothpaste dries white...it looks filthy ALL THE TIME!!!
Until Monday!
Since Monday I go into the bathroom after bed time and the toothpaste is all wiped up, and the toothbrushes all washed properly and lined up neatly!
Chicken is so excited about her bright shiny new toothbrush that she wants it to live in a nice clean bathroom!
Best 89c I ever spent!
(PS I do actually buy my kids things...they are not really so deprived that a new toothbrush is the event of the year...I promise!!!)
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