What a weekend

I love the weekends as I can slow my pace down, kick back a bit, enjoy James without the pressures of having to get him to and from nursery, have a bit of time to myself and basically try and live. My life is usually pretty challenging, but sometimes things get on top of me and are too much. This weekend has had it's share of ups and downs and I'll be glad when I get to sleep tonight and wake tomorrow to a new day and a new week.

Two weeks ago my husband took James to his weekly swimming lesson. It was only the second time he had taken him swimming and I made a nonchalant comment about James never pooing during a lesson. Of course, I jinxed them and poor David had to deal with a rather distressed little boy and a lot of poo. Everywhere. Luckily it didn't actually get in the pool or he'd have had to contend with the embarrassment of everyone being hauled out of the pool and the pool being drained for decontamination. So it wasn't really a surprise that when I offered to take James swimming this morning he breathed a sigh of relief and sent me on my merry way. I couldn't understand why James was refusing to try to jump in the pool and was about to prise him off me and sit him down to drop himself in from the side when his teacher realised it had happened again. Luckily I was a little better prepared than David had been and we coped pretty admirably. I had a chat with his teacher and she thinks it may be because he is scared of jumping in (he clings to me and really doesn't want to go in) so we will hold off getting him out from now on. I just hope it hasn't become a new "habit" - when autistic children develop a specific routine in certain situations it can be very difficult to break them, even when the behaviours result in something unpleasant for them.

After I'd cleaned and showered and dressed James I took him to the park behind the pool. I was really pleased at how willing James was to try some of the more difficult climbing apparatus. He is quite fearful of heights and has visual processing problems (part of his difficulties with sensory processing), so finds this sort of activity very challenging. He was happy to have a go at climbing up and down the rope assisted wall, and used the scramble net really well. It has taken us a long time, but he even went down the slide of his own accord!

We met up with Bea and my husband and went to ASK pizza for lunch. I was really impressed with the service and attention we received and the children really enjoyed their lunch and were very well behaved. The children's menu was impressive to say the least - James and Bea shared a menu between them and there was more than enough to fill them both up. I was highly impressed that the staff were thoughtful enough to bring them each a plate of pasta - usually we are presented with one dish between the two of them. James isn't a big fan of pizza but he loves pasta so we went for the polpette (mini meatballs) which were devoured. I was glad he ate happily as he refuses to eat pasta with a sauce at nursery. Bea was delighted with the banana split - she has a bit of a penchant for ice cream! Just like Jack Sprat and his wife, Bea ate the ice cream and James ate the banana, and the dish was licked clean.

Our afternoon has been less blissful - the children have been quite active and my husband has been searching for his credit cards which he has managed to misplace. Of course, this is somehow my fault and we've ended up having a rather heated row and have both said some pretty unpleasant things. In addition, Bea managed to hit her mouth on the corner of our futon and was covered in blood - I thought she was auditioning for a part in Dracula.... I'm sure my husband and I will kiss and make up later but right now I'm the one spitting blood......