Easter Sunday

My first post! Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links are included in this post. Summary: Below I have described my Easter experience yesterday with my family, also included some information on using a quiet voice and body regulation for autism. To skip to the quiet voice section, scroll down to "Bouncing off the walls". To skip to the body regulation section, scroll down to "Regulating the sugar-infused children". Here comes Peter Cottontail! Oh, the joys of Easter! And the massive amounts of candy... What would an Easter basket be without a chocolate Easter bunny? Yesterday I did not even try to fight the battle of nutrition vs the Easter basket. 😪 Once the kiddos had munched through half their bunny and a few fun-sized candy bars, it looked like they had a battle with poop, and the poop won. Of course, this was chocolate, not poop - but it did remind me of a few stinky situations from the past! Needless to say, they both had a very extensive bath, which included scrubbing off all that chocolate! I still am letting them have a few pieces of candy here and there, however, Easter is now over and I need to be consistent with our meal routines. I do make exceptions for holidays, such as yesterday. Buying the baskets and candy Wow, I must say, Walmart was PACKED Saturday night, Easter eve. Apparently I am not the only parent who scrambles during holidays to get all the presents wrapped, thrown in a basket, bundled up nicely in a gift bag, or cards signed with a lovely little note from Mom. Glad to know I am not the only one! Even being a SAHM, with my cleaning and workout schedules, I get busy during the day when the kiddos are in school; I couldn't bring them with to buy the baskets, so I asked my mother for some help. Bless you mom for babysitting while I bought the goodies! The whole candy isle (separate from the seasonal stuff - the Easter isle on Saturday) was completely EMPTY. That was a weird sight to see! I bought the boys a small plush Easter bunny, some sticky mini darts (yay to boys throwing toys across the room, right?), a mashum's toy, some fun-sized candy bars, and the chocolate Easter bunny. I did also get my SO an Easter basket too, which included a large Reese's Easter egg (a little bigger than the size of my closed fist), an apple store gift Card, white chocolate Reese's eggs, and some Twizzlers chewy cherry pieces. He was very happy to get a basket along with the kiddos! Myself, I am not a big fan of candy, unless the monthly cycle hits. Then I may sneak a brownie or enjoy some peanut butter cup fat-free ice cream. (Yes, that is a thing - the brand I buy is Arctic Zero. **Click here for their website. I love this stuff and it's not cheating on my diet because it's fat-free and low carb! Dieting win for the Momma!). Please see bottom of page for disclosure on this product. Easter Dinner As the kiddos already indulged in their baskets and were pretty full, I did not cook yesterday. We do not host an Easter dinner nor attend one, our families aren't really big into that. I would love to eventually host one, however, I may need to wait a few years for the kiddos to get over the food aversions of scalloped potatoes, pea soup, cheesy hash browns, and green bean casserole. All foods I love! They do enjoy ham, one of the few proteins I can get them to eat! All the hams were bought out at Walmart. That doesn't leave much for an Easter dinner. Eh, I am not a perfect Autism Mom, and as I said, I was not going to fight the battle of the Bunny vs Easter dinner. Bouncing off the walls OH YEAH. Crazy sugar rushes from the kiddos, I'm all charged up on coffee, both boys are running around, throwing their sticky darts, delighted to have a free day to play and enjoy being boys. Normally, I would not tolerate this behavior, however, this was a more lax parenting day as my SO had to work that night, so we couldn't do the tag-team parenting as usual, since he needed the sleep. Also, I now had a large amount to clean up; between the candy wrappers, chocolate on the floor, and toys strewn about from all the playing - I was busy. On the regular day, for any loud yelling / screaming / other ridiculously unacceptable noise, I simply tell my kiddos (in a quiet voice), "Boys, match my voice. Inside voices or the (insert toy or desired activity here) ___ will be taken away.". I do not so much now here the grunting and complaining, however, Carter does stomp on the floor a few times, then quietly accepts my request. The reason I quiet my voice is so the kiddos have to be quiet to hear me. If I am yelling and they are yelling, no one is listening. Also, why would I argue with my children? My rules for the kiddos are non-negotiable. I have learned the more quiet you are, calm and collected, the more weight each demand holds. I refer to this technique as "Safe, Calm Resting Face". Not giving a reaction or acting on something your kiddo does to get your attention can be a powerful thing. OK, so on to the messes daily. We have a routine before bed to pick up the toys in their room. I do not help. I do not supervise. When I implemented this scheduled task for them, I did model with them my expectation, including showing them where the toys go (we have cubbies), picking up all trash, putting dirty clothes away, big toys to be put away in the closet. So why does the cleaning schedule work? I have a timer on their tablets, which shuts them down a half hour after I tuck them in. Due to this, they clean their room in a timely manner to budget out the remaining screen time they have. I have heard many rants about "screen time before bed". Everyone is entitled to their opinion on controversial topics, and I do apologize if I upset anyone, however, I do not see this as doing any harm to my kiddos. I will get more into the tablets and how we keep that under control in a future post. There are so many apps and settings to safeguard and benefit kiddos, I have become a wiz at mastering this! Regulating the sugar-infused children Yes, Maddex, my youngest does not have autism. However, he models from Carter's behavior, as the autism is normal in our household, those are the mannerisms he has learned from watching his older brother. We do not get a lot of play dates due to currently working on Carter's social skills, especially with peers. Aside from Preschool, Maddex does not have other kiddos aside from his cousin to model behaviors from. This is why both children need the body regulation. Below are my tactics for **self-regulation: Mini trampoline: located in our living room, which helps with the deep pressure some autistic kiddos need to calm their body. Carter uses this for about 30 seconds at a time, usually in 10 second intervals for 5 minutes. He likes to use this before bed and before school. Crab walks: Oh what fun! Get in the action too, if you have also had too much coffee! A good way to strengthen your core also. I use our hallway, as it is about 10 feet long, perfect for a decent crab walk. Yes, that is pretty long, considering they must go down the hallway and come all the way back without their bottom touching the ground. Try it once, it does slow the body down! Burpees: Yes I am serious. I will do them with the kiddos too. I do not enjoy these at all, however, a few small exercises at home helps me feel more energized and motivated. Can't believe I just described burpees as a form of motivation! But it works! Wall stands: I would not recommend this if you care about keeping your walls mint, with no dents or foot prints. After I describe this exercise, I will add in my thoughts. Have the kiddo face away from the wall, hands on the ground shoulder-width apart, and place his feet on the wall, as high as possible. Usually 10 seconds is long enough. If this does not work, you can always add in another exercise and switch back and forth. My thoughts on the wall: I have learned as one of the daily effects of Carter's autism, things get broken, walls get damaged, and that is fixable. Unless he is intentionally in non-meltdown mode destroying the house, I am not going to sweat it. "Safe, Calm, Resting Face". Why stress yourself out over something you can fix? That is considered a little deal, not a big deal. I will get into that more later in a future post. Applied deep pressure: Foot taps (tapping your hand firmly on the kiddo's foot 5 - 10 times each), assisted foam roller (using a foam roller on the extremities to relax the muscles. Do NOT ever roll over a joint. For more information on using a **foam roller, click here), and squeezies (lightly squeezing with both hands the forearm, bicep, shoulder, and back down - 5 seconds per each is enough) Swings and hammocks: Currently we do not have a swing, so we use a comforter blanket. Instruct the kiddo to lay in the middle of the blanket on the floor. Hold onto all four corners of the blanket with a tight grasp. Use your knees to lift the kiddo and keep your back straight as you stand. Gently rock the bundled kiddo back and forth. I use this with Carter 1-2 days a week and it greatly helps him. He requests this, which we refer to as a "cereal bowl". With a swing, these can be free standing with a base, or attached to the ceiling. Most times kiddos are able to use these on their own for self-regulation. My closing thoughts Easter was a pretty relaxed day for me. Less demands, no cooking, and I sure do love me some coffee! Today we are cleaning up and the Easter candy is limited. I am good with not having an Easter dinner until the boys are older. Andy doesn't mind, he gets it. As it was a school night, the day ended pretty quick. I enjoyed watching some tv and catching up on laundry. I hope my tactics listed above help to overcome the craziness of an unregulated child. If you have questions, please feel free to send me an email. I have included my contact information in my "Disclosure" page. **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.