The Thomas Centre...

I sit here writing this with a sort of daft smile on my face feeling happy and content.

I know exactly the reason for that and that is because we have just had the most enjoyable, relaxed and much more than that but 100% SUCCESSFUL family holiday!

This is breaking news for us as the above has not happened since DS was a little baby and we went to Devon. He was 13 months old and the weather was glorious! One of my favourite memories was cradling him as he fell asleep snuggled in my arms as Daddy and I sat in the shade looking out at a beautiful view watching a little steam train chug across the landscape. I've never forgotten it or the warm fuzzy happy feeling I felt as I sat there.

We have tried allsorts of different types of holidays since with DS over the years but either there has been a safety issue with anywhere we have gone, it was too loud or too busy, it was too stressful, there wasn't suitable activities for DS.....yeah I can go on and on with loads of reasons why other places have not been quite right.

A good while ago, I discovered somewhere that claimed that they were an autism specific holiday centre! Straightaway, I needed to know more!

The Thomas Centre in Lincolnshire is owned and family run by parents of autism.
Reading their website, I loved their vision and aims for the holiday centre - it sounded perfect for us.

The only aspect that put me off was that it was expensive!

I pondered over this and pondered some more....

I thought of past holidays and how difficult they had been, some more than others. I thought that if a stay at the Thomas Centre was really as good as it sounded then I would happily pay extra for my son to be in a safe and enjoyable environment and also an accepting one. I would also be happy to pay for a holiday where I can relax with him instead of constantly scanning our surroundings for potential dangers and risks to him (I am sure that I am not the only one who does this! ;))

So it was deemed worth a try and we booked a long weekend to trial it and to see how DS got on.

Jan and Richard are truly marvellous hosts! They are very welcoming and very much 'get it' being parents themselves.
The Thomas Centre has been very much well thought out - Jan & Richard have covered absolutely everything! :) The place is immaculately clean and furnished to a very high standard.

We stayed in Victoria House which is a 3 bedroom two storey house. There are bungalows available too with full wheelchair access.

The Welcome Basket was the fullest I have ever received. It was as if Jan & Richard had done some detective work to what our favourite food and  drinks were as there was DS's favourite cereals and orange juice as well as my fave chocolate biscuits and a large bottle of wine :)

The Thomas Centre is very flat so I was able to see DS at all times. Also the grounds are very quiet as the nearest neighbour and road is some distance away.

DS enjoyed visiting Josie's Corner which is a sort of community room with squishy sofas, books, toys, games and tables for colouring, drawing and craft activities.

There is also a sunken trampoline, bikes, trikes and a huge barn which houses skittles, table football, table tennis, snooker and a soft play area. So even if the weather isn't great then there is always something to do.

The indoor pool was somewhere we visited everyday whilst we were there.
DS loves swimming and I loved how we used the pool privately.
Families book their preferred hour slot for the pool which means they have exclusive use of it for that hour :)

The Thomas Centre has good WiFi (a must for DS's iPad) and some great hints and tips from Jan & Richard themselves on ideas for great days out as well as autism friendly pub restaurants and the best take-aways that deliver to your door to name just a few.

A couple of major supermarkets deliver to the Thomas Centre which Jan & Richard suggest maybe doing an online shop scheduled to be delivered on your arrival day to take the strain off your car.

We did have a few days out but we found that DS preferred to stay on the centre's land so we kept trips out to a minimum for this reason.

Then again, who can blame him? There was a woodland area to explore and two fab play areas as well as everything else I have mentioned.

The weekend went so fast and I could see that DS wasn't ready to come home which really has never happened before!

To summarise, all members loved this break at the Thomas Centre. DS really enjoyed it and we kept commenting to each other how happy he was there!
Like a domino effect, because he was thoroughly loving it so were us adults!

I found myself a lot more relaxed and able to enjoy the break myself which as a parent carer is just fantastic!

I loved how families understood each other and our children, it was refreshing saying good morning to our 'neighbours' and them smiling away at DS when playing out in his pyjamas as he escaped out of the house onto the play area :)

So was the experience worth the price? Most definitely!!
So much so that we have already booked to go back!

My only regret is not discovering it sooner!

Here is the website, I highly recommend and just to be clear that I have received no payment or any incentive of any kind to write this, these are all my own words and views :)

http://www.thethomascentre.co.uk/

Love Amanda xx

September in a Flash...!

September was a ZOOM month for me!

September always marks new beginnings for me. I think that stems back to a child with starting a new school year.

So every year when DS goes back to school, I start working on the house getting it ready for hibernation for the Winter :)

I start de-cluttering, all outgrown clothes either get listed on eBay or get bagged for the charity shop.
That includes abandoned toys too.

Then I start a mega deep clean which involves, scrubbing skirting boards, picture frames, washing curtains, cushions, pillows - everything!

In addition to all that and not quite content on how much I already had to do, I decided that the house needed a bit of a spruce up so I re-painted all walls, doors, skirting boards and door frames throughout the house.

DS's bedroom, I say bedroom though it was never his bedroom really.

When we first moved into this house two years ago, I decorated DS's bedroom in a car theme.

DS decided that he was going to sleep in the master bedroom (my room) and has done so ever since. He happily chose that bedroom as his and has slept well in it ever since.

As a result, I decided to de-child the second bedroom so I scraped the car wallpaper off, painted and wallpapered with a Autumn theme - it looks so different!

As I was at it, I ripped up all the carpets as I am exhausted cleaning the mud from them everyday and opted for hard wooden floors instead. Sooooo much easier to clean plus they look fab!

The decorating and the enormous cleaning pretty much took the whole of September up but I am glad to say that it's all finished and I am delighted at the finished result :)

September also saw my Mum and I host our first ever MacMillan Coffee Morning and it was a huge success! :)

I think most families, I've been touched my cancer and Mum and I have been talking about doing something like this for a while now.

We really enjoyed doing this, sitting, chatting with lovely friends and eating yummy cakes is one of the perfect ways to spend a morning in my book! :)

Plus we raised £102 which was way beyond both Mum and I expectations.....we were so taken back and obviously very very thrilled! :)

Another WOW was DS going to his first ever charity disco and LOVING it!
He wore his ear defenders and lasted a good hour and half before requesting to leave - I was soooo impressed! :)

I am now just catching my breath from it all and have vowed to make October a more easy going month of  catching up with friends, resting, reading, going on chilly walks, cooking and baking and doing more of what I love <3

I have got some ace ideas of some cool autumn crafts so last weekend, DS and I went on a nature walks in the woods to collect some natural materials.

I loved seeing all the pretty autumn colours :)

I will update what we make but right now, I'm off to make some mod podge ;)

Have a lovely and happy Saturday!

Love Amanda xx

Summer Holiday Snippets...

Aaarrrgghhh! How on earth are we in September already?!

The school Summer holidays have flown by, which by my reckoning is a good thing as if they had gone slow then that means that we haven't really been enjoying them and having fun.

Don't get me wrong, we have encountered a few sticky spots over the hols but that's always to be expected with DS ;) We just deal with it as and when :)


Though, I'm glad to say that overall, its been a successful holiday break.

I find that in some ways, DS is changing all the time though in other ways he doesn't change at all?
Does that make sense? lol

For example, around 4/5 years old, DS had to be constantly stimulated with lots of adult interaction.
I would cram a day full of play barns, waterparks, parks and games at home....if I took my eye off the back for even a teeny amount of time then he would meltdown unable to cope with the void in his day.

Nowadays, DS actually prefers a chilled out, unplanned day at home doing stuff at is leisure.
He wants very little interaction from me compared to past years though he will request me to play as and when he feels like it.

He will happily come out with me for a day but I've noticed he seems to be the most calm and happiest when he is in his own environment playing with no agenda.

This has been great as with the gorgeous weather we have been having, we have sat in the garden playing in his sandpit, swing, slide, treehouse whilst drinking ice cold drinks watching birds fly.

Next week, he starts back at school and after his 'Back to School' hair cut today, we are all ready.

In a  few days, I will start preparing him for school by talking about what to expect and showing him pictures of his classroom, new teacher and staff.
I find that this helps him in a massive way and eases that anxiety of what is happening and what to expect. He will still struggle with the new term but this definitely does help with that.

After having him home and us enjoying lots of family time together, I will be a bit bummed out to take him to school.
I know that I will be constantly thinking about him wondering of he's okay, is he coping? Is he happy? Is he enjoying what he's doing?
So I don't drive myself absolutely bonkers with my constant fretting, one of my special Mums has suggested that we all meet for breakfast after getting our kids to school on their first day back.

I think it will be a good distraction for us all (especially me!) no doubt that at some point, I would of called school to check he's okay before my mums would of finished their skinny latte!

Here are some our highlights over the Summer......

On holiday....

Admiring beautiful scenery on a steam train...

Exploring in the sea...

Swimming with Daddy pretending to be a shark! (he loves that!) :)

Running with Nanny...

Sunny days on holiday...

Sandcastles at the beach...

Playing football with the team his Dad manages :)

Fun days :)......

Blackberry picking....

Baked Blackberry & Apple Pie using our picked blackberries :)

Just a snippet of what we got up to :) though we will be squeezing the last of Summer fun filled days before the season changes to Autumn.

Speak soon,

Love Amanda xx

School Holiday Update...

Well in our part of the world, we are now exactly two weeks into the Summer holidays.

We managed to get in a few family fun days before a very inconvenient viral infection came along and ruined our Summer fun filled days :(

We visited a Monkey Forest which was great watching them play and as there were a couple of newborns.
It was so lovely to watch Monkey Mums carrying, rocking and caring for their little ones just like we do :)

We have discovered and played on some really awesome play areas too which DS just loves! :)

We have had a walk around beautiful gardens and lakes. DS is a sucker for a cool water fountain. He loves watching them and dipping his fingers into the fountain  - though on this day he managed to run off and jump in a little shallow fountain, fully clothed! :) :)

We also visited a Special Needs playbarn that isn't too far from us.
It was a drizzly day so we mentally prepared ourselves that it would probably be really busy and noisy. But suprisingly, there was only one other child in there :)
We had a great day both Daddy and I chasing DS through tunnels, over wobbly bridges and down slides that at one point he was laughing so hard, he was struggling to catch his breath! :) :)

That was the last fun day we had as during that very night, DS start to run a very high temperature.
I monitored him throughout the night, kept taking his temperature and trying to cool him down.

Just like any other parent out there, I hate seeing DS poorly but with him being a strong little trooper, within a few days he had fought the bug off and sent it packing! Yaay! :)

He still isn't 100% yet but he is running around and playing again so he's nearly there :)

I very recently posted a thread on Netmums about ideas for sensory play. I thought it would be great for likewise parents and carers to swap ideas for cool sensory play activities.
I'm huge believer in always learning new things  - I really DO NOT believe that you can ever know it all.

Anyway, some great ideas have come from that thread so far such as a bucket of cheap cold baked beans and a bucket of jelly (which DS absolutely loves the feel of)

I chipped in my 'No salt/No sugar play dough' recipe which some parents are going to try with their children and young adults so I look forward to seeing how they get on with that.

As I type, my large bowls of jellies are setting in the fridge.......I get the feeling that today is going to be a messy day! ;)

I hope your Summer holidays are going well :)

Love Amanda xx

Preparing & Organising for the Summer...

DS only has a few days left in school before the Summer break.

I can't believe that a whole school year has come and gone in a flash!

So being a naturally organised person, I hopped onto the school's website and ordered his new school uniform (which he has gone up a size in by the way!)

This boy is forever growing - the top of his head now comes up to my chin!! - very scary stuff!!

His uniform arrived yesterday :) I order both Winter & Summer uniform in one hit so polo tee-shirts and warm sweaters for the more breezy months and lightweight round neck tee-shirts for the warmer months.

I tend to hold off on school trousers and shoes for another few weeks just in case he has another growth spurt as these spurts are coming thick and fast now .....but when I was in Aldi yesterday, I noticed a crowd of shoppers around one of the Special buys sections.

Being a little curious (more like very nosey!) I wandered over to see what was attracting all the attention.

It was the Specialbuy schoolwear  - school trousers for just £1.50! They were DS's size, in the right colour, the right style so I grabbed 5 pairs - BARGAIN! :) :)

Feeling pleased as punched with myself, I trotted off thinking it's just shoes and school socks I need to get now :)

Speaking of growing boys ;) I had a really good sort out this week and listed all of  DS's outgrown clothes on eBay. They all sold straightaway! so I went off to the Post Office loaded down with two large shopping bags full of parcels to post :) The person in the queue behind must have done a silent groan when they saw my two enormous shopping bags full to the brim with parcels!

Also this week, I finished making up the gift bags for DS's teacher and class staff.

We always like to show our appreciation and say a little thank you for all the hard work they put in with him - I always include a minature bottle of wine in each gift bag as I'm sure they need it some days - I certainly do! :) haha

Next week, on my to do list is to mow, strim, trim, tidy and weed the gardens (which is pretty much an all day job!) and clean the windows and then I am done and all ready to completely focus on playing with DS and giving him my undivided attention without niggly housework jobs occupying my mind :)

I also met up with my Special Mums for lunch - just in case any of us do not survive the holidays! lol we will meet up again during the holidays but it's always good to find an excuse to get together with them and we certainly do not need much of an excuse!

I also won a chocolate hamper this week which will come in very handy for the Summer break! :)

It contains quite a few bars of DS's favourite chocolate so he will be very pleased :)

So that's been a snippet of this week with the key theme being to get organised for the Summer holidays.

I wonder if it's just me that started prepping for the holidays or do other Mums do something similar or even something entirely different!

If you do, please let me know :) I would love to hear what you do.

Love Amanda

xx

New Wheels...

I've always enjoyed a good walk and ramble.

I've had the same good quality walking boots for years that are still going strong.

I remember being in Inverness in a freezing cold January, 6 months pregnant, walking boots on and rambling over the Scottish countryside breathing in the frosty air and soooo loving it! :)

Even when DS came along, Daddy or I would wear a carrier with a baby DS tucked safely inside and we would go walking.

Nowadays, walking with DS is a little trickier and needs a bit more thought....

At 9 years and a tall strapping lad at that may I add, he obviously can't be carried anymore but isn't strong enough to do a long walk.

We tend to use his special buggy for when he becomes tired but as that's really only suppose to be for around town etc then it doesn't really perform well on rough terrain :(

We find its really really hard work to push - I've lost count of the times that its been dragged across fields and stuff! lol

So thinking of a alternative, I came across a special all terrain pushchair.
The description was that it would glide through forests, beaches and any uneven ground!

I applied to a charity for one and it arrived shortly after!

Oh my word! Its a dream to push!

Light as a feather is all I can describe it as with its 16" wheels that glide over uneven ground :)

DS is very comfy sat in the lambskin liner in it, he has lots more room and is very happy chilling away as we walk.

Yesterday was its debut, its first real off-road test drive!

We pushed it through woodland, uphills, downhills and along a muddy riverbank - all without any problem! :)

We couldn't believe how after a couple of hours into the walk, we weren't red in the face, muscles aching and us muttering 'never again' and 'who's idea was it come this way anyway'!?

Instead, we were chatting away about the river and the rowers that we kept seeing row past us :)

A lovely and successful Sunday walk :)

Love Amanda xx

It takes a village...

2016 is proving to be a bit of a year that I will always remember.

It's certainly giving me some welly! Chucking challenges at me from all angles and in relation to a multitude of stuff!

I am holding my own though! :) Wine, chocolate and a 'kick ass' attitude seems to be the key to staying afloat with it all......but not forgetting to mention my lovely, lovely friends who really along with my amazing DS are the main ingredient to how I am even still smiling! :)

On Saturday, a bunch of these lovelies took me out to support me and to give me a giggle.
Forget the giggle, it was a belly laughter and roaring day! - I thought I was going to bust a gut!

I've always known that laughter is the best tonic, It releases all them feel good hormones - my body was flooded with endorphins!

This provoked me thinking about other areas of life that women (and of course men) may struggle with and how we can support each other.

It got me thinking about raising our children.

Typically, we raise our children either as a single parent family or whilst one parent works full time - this leaves the children with just the one caregiver to meet ALL the needs of the child as well as everyone else!

Bit of a tall order eh....?

When raising a child on the autistic spectrum, then that child's needs can be extremely demanding.

The saying....

"It takes a Village to raise a child"

suggests that there isn't meant to be just the one caregiver, there's meant to be a community of us, a team each giving something to the children.

When you think about it, actually think about it, then it's impossible for us to meet every single one of our children's needs - though, if you are like me, you still have a pretty good try at doing it, but you are never going to and all you achieve is a burnt out, frazzled and knackered Mum! (I am specifically referring to me again...)

What we do know, what generations have taught us, is that families thrive when part of a family, a community.
We are not meant to live in isolation or parent in isolation.

My childhood memories are flinging open my back door and running the 200 yards over to my Aunty Vicky's (my Dad's Aunty) to bake with her and ask her to make me her gravy! (I absolutely loved her delicious gravy!)

My Nan lived on the same street as us and my older cousin lived two streets behind us so again I was always running over there to play too!

I certainly feel that I grew up part of a wider family and have fantastic memories of this!

DS and I, as the parent now, are still part of a wider family.
Since he was born, my parents have been very hands on and he was happy and comfortable with them just as he was with me.

My Mum moved to be closer to me and DS and continues to take an active role in his care.

She is one of my main supports of the whole structure.

We are certainly not meant to do it all, ALL THE TIME.

I think it's so beneficial to surround your children with a family/community of role models to take collective responsibility to raise a child.

And a little bit of a relief that parenting isn't meant to be as hard as we sometimes make it or as lonely as we can make it and that we know is the truth!

I hope I have triggered some positive thought provoking here.....:)

Have a great week!

Love Amanda xx