Wow It feels like I haven't posted in weeks but it's only been 11 days!! (That was kind of a joke) Lots has happened since Memorial day. Kids are finishing school. Many rides and runs. A race that Andrea and I participated in. Planning summer events for kids and printing the money to pay for them all..... What's not to love!
Andrea and I have come to the conclusion that idle kids make for stressed out parents and kids that are bored and constantly acting out to get attention. With that mind set we are "shipping them off to camp'! OK, well not really shipping them off....that costs too much. (Kidding again!! I couldn't live without my kids around..'course ask me in 2-4 years again if I feel this way! For now, I love hanging with these two) Instead we are doing reasonable camps that are day long and involve their interests. Alex really wants to get more involved in competitive swimming. Yeah! His Mom and grandfather are now discussing Suffield Academy so the more he gets involved with the better. With his flipper feet I can imagine him kicking my ass in a swim VERY shortly. He also wants to do two Lego camps at Westfield Stat College. This kid is the Lego king and buys, with his own hard earned money, all the big Lego kits. These camps teach engineering and design using legos. Now if we can only 'touch' the right person to get him into to the closed out classes we will be all set. In the true ideal of 'it's who you know, not what you know' we have an angle we are trying to exploit.
Audrey wants to do some YMCA day camps and get back to horse riding. She loves animals and is always involved. Andrea thinks that being a vet is in her future. Always fun to see if our bets come out.
Andrea and I are exercising nd staying in shape but racing is hard to get in. Ashland Olympic Tri is this weekend and we are skipping. It's just too much money and more importantly, Time, to devote to a thing for us. We WILL exercise and ride long or swim, but when you add in being gone at 5 AM, babysitting, and driving back it ends up being the day is shot and it costs way more then just 'race fees'. add into that that we want to hang with our kids too it just makes it hard. Soon they won't be this age and we will miss it. We don't need to spend all of our weekends racing and having babysitters raise our kids. So not this weekend. There will be other races and we are both pretty pumped up to do FIRM Man in September so we will keep our eyes focused on that prize. THAT is a great weeknd at the beach for the kids as Mom and Dad suffer on the course.
In other news my friend John Robison is quickly breaking the light speed barrier to becoming a certifiable famous person. He is blowing off workouts and eating cake whenever he gets an offer to read an excerpt from his book. Sorry John, but the buck stops HERE and NOW. You will show up for a Wednesday and Thursdays workout. Kim...no distracting him with cake unless I get some too. Interestingly enough my own family has been reading John's, Kim's and my blog and been thinking that potentially a child of theirs has/had signs of Autism/Aspbergers. I hope that some time they chime in on these blogs and share their experiences. The advice they got way back then (early to mid '80's) was interesting but all we had to go on it seems. This person now is a has n noticeable distinction of autism or Aspbergers now so I am wondering if some traits can be transient and not stick based on severity. I surely do not know the answers but am interested to here others ideas. Could autism be somewhat transient. Aspbergers be so mild that at a very young age you are diagnosable as Aspbergers but not as an adult?
I love my time in the Dr's office helping the obese or overweight population learn the fundamentals of change. It's all in the head. Bottom line. I know this sounds simple but it is the MOST true thing I could say. When the brain leads in a way that is focused and determined the result is a forgone conclusion. So it is with large amounts of weight loss. I often say to Andrea that if I had MY consciousness transferred into another body I could create amazing change in days. Why, simply from utilizing what I know and actually DOING every thing that will move the body in the correct direction. Everything counts. Everything. If I was bed ridden from being too overweight I would begin exercise with arm movements and a prudent caloric intake ('conducting' is what it's called) until I lost enough to get up. From there it would be full steam ahead. Constantly I here all the reasons why these people 'can't' get it done. Invariably it is a list of excuses, denial, irresponsibility..... When they do 'get it' it is amazing what happens. My job is to honor their present state of mind but not too much, and let them know in a kind way that "if it is to be it is up to me".....(meaning 'them') It's all decisions,behaviors, habits and choices that create the end result. My job is to give them some technical advice as well as hold them accountable to a level of commitment just above where they are at now. It's a blast! When even 1 person moves the right way it makes up for the ones that don't and keeps the hope running eternal that all can get it. (and we know that all of them can...if they want ;-) )
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8 comments:
I'm not that bad. I walked 11 miles Saturday, and 7 miles this afternoon.
And I went among the Panerians and are the lower fat sierra turkey sandwiches
Kim has not made me any cake recently. Neither has anyone else.
What an interesting post.
And it honestly makes perfect sense. It sounds as though you love what you do. Coaching people to change their habits and alter their lives in such a positive way must be so rewarding, huh?
I recently made a renewed commitment to reconnect with my treadmill and elliptical machine. I broke my left leg skiing two years ago (in two spots) and then broke my right foot last winter, so coming back from that has been tough. And yet, my foot hasn't been swelling as much and I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm back to power walking 3-4 miles/day.
As an author, sitting at my desk for 10-12 hours at a time can be a deadly bad habit!!
John tagged me.
So I'm tagging you.
While you're at Panera, come up with your Drama Mama List!
Yeah, by the way... I'm back on my yoga boat. 3x a week, and walking back and forth to the train station.
Johne, I would make you cake!
Oh Pullease...Al Gore is not The Man!
Matt, you know we have had issues with a certain member of our family, who, in the 80's, his pediatrician said "well, put a football helmut on him when he bangs his head against the wall, he won't do it when's he's 10!" We know now, that wasn't the best advice and wonder what "may have been" but, he is brilliant and will cure cancer someday as that his is dream, God Bless him! I have certainly enoyed your rants and have learned much, passing on your blog and Kim's and John's info to a friend who has an autistic child (totally non verbal) and appreciate any and all info we come across! I often wonder what may have been had we been better parents and understood what having a child with Asperger's means, but, in the 80's, who knew? We are fortunate and proud to see what he has become, only wonder, occasionally, what may have been, had we had a better understanding then!
Diane you are a wus! Posting anonymously! I've been thinking of this stuff concerning your youngest and I'm still not completely sure you can liken his scenario in younger days to Aspbergers or Autism of any level. I would want Kim S and others to chime in here. I know that these CAN be symptoms, but I have never heard of this type of loss of all symptoms save for him being the ultimate 'metrosexual'. ;-) I'm wondering if wicked smart kids can act out in ways that are similar to aspbergers or autistic children. Certainly your son was...interesting? growing up but I can assure you that Alex has banged his head against the wall, hard enough to leave lumps and make Andrea and I hold and hug him until he either cried himself to sleep or calmed down. Symptoms of frustration, inability to cohesively get out his ideas, thwarting of his plan, too much brain power and not enough body energy left...these I could see but not necessarily autistic symptoms. Autistic-like behavior, maybe yes.
Again, I'm not trying to compare who's kid was crazier growing up. (yours wins!! ;-) ) but I have never heard of autism disappearing completely. Anyone else heard of that?
I never answered anyone on a blog,so wasn't sure about or comfortable with, putting my name down, I will, but for this one I'll be anonymous again because I neglected to register or sign up for an account before I started this response! You know it's ME, your sister-in-law! I just felt you were trying to get family to speak up to your point and I knew it was my son you were referring to! I, too, would love to know if one can merely display symptoms but not be diagnosed with this or have a mild form that they deal better with as they mature? We have gone back over (and over) things he did as a child and are really stumped as to whether or not he had more than OCD, which we were most aware of! Unfortunately, as his sister says (who is the one to bring all this up since she has worked with autistic children the last few years) that back then doctors (at least his) weren't tuned in to this and there wasn't much talk, if any, of autism/aspergers. I do have a friend now with a 5 year old who has been diagnosed with autism, though mild, who displays much of the same behavior that our son did. I observe my son now and of course, he doesn't freak out about things he did as a child but I still see his OCD behavior come through! (I think his Mom may be an influence here!) I don't want to bore you with all the symptoms he displayed for about 15 years but I am interested in reading more about it. Thank God, he is a brilliant, functioning adult that may, indeed, cure cancer, as that is his life's dream, but I can't help wondering what may have been had we had any education about this 23 years ago and treated him differently. We were the parents that scolded, spanked and sent him to his room for such outbursts. I think I was one of the best parents I know of for our first two children, but often feel horrible that we were totally lost with the last one's behavior and how to deal with him.
Yeah, I see the OCD stuff too. OK others out there, is it possible to be autistc to some level and 'grow' up through it? Or is it more like similar behaviors that can be misdiagnosed? We are wondering.
Certainly your son is league's smarter then most....I'm wondering if with great intelligence comes issues in other areas. Tom Edison, Albert Einstein, Paul Erdos....they were either awful in school or complete social misfits. Alexander, my son, is also a pretty smart kid but he has real social issues when it comes to engaging with people in a store environment. Getting him to buy his own donut in Mrs. Murphys is like beating him with a stick. Just recently has he begun to break through this and be able not to start crying. He's 10 years old...his 7 year old sister gets all exasperated, takes his money, storms up to the counter, and tells the clerk, "I'm buying X for my brother over there, he's freaking out." What's up with that other then an OCD issue?
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