About This Blog
Welcome to my blog. I'm Anne-Marie Nichols, a 40-something WAHM to Nathan, 6, and Lucie, 3. I've been married 12 years to their dad Paul, a scientist. When I'm not doing the mommy thing, I'm a freelance writer, and vice president of the board of directors for a Colorado public charter school. In my spare time I like to sleep, eat, read, and decorate cakes.
I created this online journal to share some entertaining and insightful stories from my own experiences as a writer, domestic engineer, and mom. I encourage you to share this blog with your friends, and hopefully it will spark some lively discussions on issues we can all relate to. Enjoy!
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Oct 2 2008
Feline visitor
As I do most summer mornings, I open the back sliding glass door to let in the only cool air of the day while I sit at the dining room table, working on my laptop.
This morning, we have a neighborhood cat visiting us. I've warned the kids NOT to let the cat inside. I have no idea whose cat it is, and it's not wearing a collar. Last thing I need to do this morning is coax a feral cat out from underneath the sofa.
Nathan and Lucie are sitting on the floor in their PJs on one side of the screen door with the cat on the other, sitting on our deck. Nathan and Lucie are making meowing noises and talking to him. The cat's lying there looking bored at all the racket. He soon gets up and leaves, much to Nathan and Lucie's dismay. They start to call him back, but with no luck.
Nathan and Lucie love and relate to animals so well, that I wonder if we should get a dog or cat. Realizing that's why we have a yearly membership to the zoo, I quickly put that thought aside.
Oct 1 2008
Hanging with Miss Mary
Twice a week, Nathan, Lucie and I drive to his speech therapist's office, about 20 minutes away. I usually read in the waiting room while Nathan and Miss Mary practice "easy talk." In a nutshell, he stretches out his words and exaggerates his speech to eliminate his stuttering. To make it fun, they read books or play board games while they practice.
Miss Mary is taking things slowly. After many years of working with children who stutter, she knows that this is the most effective. First, they just practiced. Now they're playing the "catch me" game. Nathan has two "escape" words he relies on when he stutters -- "now" and "um." Miss Mary occasionally uses "now" and Nathan has to catch her, and vice versa. This way he's learning to avoid his escape words.
Occasionally, Lucie will join them in using easy talk and playing games. (She's as good at it as Nathan, and has formed a close bond with Miss Mary, too.) Or she'll stay in the waiting room with me. However, I rarely participate in therapy sessions, unless it's a demonstration of a board game that Nathan is allowed to borrow and take home. Mary believes that parents should be supportive, but should not act as therapists.
I see her logic behind this. I'm allowed to gently remind Nathan to use his easy talk only a couple of times a day. I can say, "Nathan, you're having a tough time talking today. Don't you think it would be better to use your easy talk?" I rarely do even that, because of how defensive he gets. He'll stick out his tongue and get mad. Instead, I try to catch him using easy talk, compliment him when he does that, and fill in circles on his "Ice Cream with Miss Mary" chart. I can also say, "Hey Nathan, I'll play LIFE with you if we can practice our easy talk together." But I can't correct him at all.
Miss Mary says that Nathan is doing extremely well. He catches on quickly with the concepts she's trying to teach him. My frustration is that he's reluctant to use easy talk when he's not at Mary's. Any excitement or stress still triggers his stuttering. It's especially bad this week, because Paul is out of town on a business trip. Still, he enjoys spending time with Miss Mary, and is slowly progressing.
My hope was to magically cure his stuttering over the summer and have him go for the occasional follow up appointments once school starts. Now I'm realizing this is unrealistic and we'll be hanging out at Miss Mary's for many months to come.
Sep 30 2008
Hanging with the big girls
I took Lucie with me to a fellow charter school parent's home the other night. After checking out the guinea pig, cat, and two dogs, she immediately headed upstairs. Before I could stop her, our hostess yelled up to her daughter (a fourth grader) to watch for the little girl coming up.
While the adults met, the girls played. It was so nice to have a serious discussion with the other parents without her climbing all over me, or doing something extremely embarrassing like sticking her hand down my shirt and yelling, "Boobies!" She finally came downstairs 30 minutes later to get something to eat.
I marveled at her ease with another child, one whom she had never met. Then I remembered how much fun she always has with the other older girls in her life, whether it's our 13-year-old babysitter, friends Jenny and Sadie (7 and 9 years) or her high school age ballet teacher.
After all, hanging with the big girls is always fun -- for both Lucie and mom.
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