I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas. I am so organised this year, it’s unbelievable!
Normally I don’t like to put the tree up until the 1st December but this year we went even earlier. Saturday I took Bridie Christmas shopping with me and she desperately wanted to put the tree up when we got home. As I have mentioned there has been a lot of emotional things going on in our lives lately and I didn’t think it would hurt to put the tree up a few days early. I’ve done most of my Christmas shopping and wrapped nearly all of it so I am ridiculously early.
Last year was the first year that I’ve put presents under the tree. Beth always had a habit of unwrapping everything, even if it wasn’t for her. I even tried wrapping it in front of her so she’d know how boring somebody elses present would be. I guess there’s that temptation or the magic wish that it may turn into something else after it’s wrapped. I get it, I love the magic of Christmas myself. She promised me religiously last year that she wouldn’t touch any presents so for the first time the tree looked gorgeous with most of the presents set around it. This year we’ve done the same thing. Bridie is the main one who’s instigated it this year, she was my helper, putting decorations on the tree and putting the presents around it, she’s so excited.
I’ve found this year pretty easy for the kids. Beth still likes to play with some toys so I got her some of those Zhu Zhu guinea pig toys that whiz around the room and make noises. You can get various things such as loops for them to run around in. I got her one with a little pram that they push while moving. If she likes it / them then I can get her the rest for her birthday in March. I’ve also got her a book on the Pixar movies. This was quite hard to find and very expensive in some shops. I went to a bookshop who kindly looked it up under Pixar Encyclopaedia as we didn’t know if the book existed. I wanted one that isn’t just about the characters but about who plays them as that’s Beth’s passion, knowing all the information about the actual movie. Both myself and the girl in the shop got excited when we saw one called Pixarpedia. She said it was overseas but could order it through their database and it would only be $20. Bargain. Bev and John picked it up for me but the price was in fact $80! I think the girl had read it as $19.95 instead of $79.95. I ended up looking it up on Fishpond and luckily they had it for half price. I’ve ordered it and will take the other one back. I know sometimes you have to pay a lot for books but not for an 11 year old. I think that’ll be Beth’s Santa present though I don’t usually like the expensive presents to be from Santa. Why should he get the credit!
Once again Beth has decided not to talk to me about anything in the future, including what she wants from Santa. I don’t know what it is but she wont talk about anything that is going to happen, even good things. I’ve decided that next year we’ll get her an Ipad as I’ve heard that they are fantastic for kids with autism for schedules for high school. A friend whose son is going to high school next year has one and says it’s fabulous. They took photos of all the classrooms / lockers / recreational areas and have put them onto his schedule. At each time of the day he can refer to his Ipad and see exactly where he has to be. I can go to the high school next year and do this with areas and even pictures of staff members to alleviate the stress of the new situation. Then when her transition days begin I can whip the brand new exciting Ipad out and hopefully it’ll be the cherry I need to get her to check out the new school.
I’ve got my Bill home today with a dreadful cough. We’ve all been lucky this year with sickness (touch wood), I’ve been thinking how we’ve missed it. Please don’t let the last couple of weeks of term be filled with sick children. I’ve got way too much socialising to do!
