Planning is the key

We have just got back from our annual holiday..................... and I'm knackered. Yes there was a lot of driving involved but that doesn't really bother me the thing that knackers me more than anything is what is involved with the holiday. If you don't have an autistic child you will have no idea what I'm talking about...................so let me teach you.

My preparation for a weeks holiday and i don't mean Saturday to Saturday i mean Monday to Friday begins approximately 2 months before the holiday.

First you have to get my two used to the idea of going on holiday. We don't ever go to the same place twice, we never have and we probably never will unless it was something completely special. So we get things like maps out to show them where we are going, do some research online about where the site is what there is to do around there.

Then about a month away from the holiday we talk about the things that we can do on holiday. And start printing off lots of leaflets and pictures of what there is to do.

Then we start putting it all together with the kids in mind of course. We have to timetable things for them and so that they know what they are doing on a daily basis we have a dry and wet weather plan. This is when my organisation skills really come into play.

At 2 weeks before the departure date i start to plan everything. From when and what we are going to eat at what time and where we are going to go. There is some flexibility in the plan, there has to be in case of emergency situations or if we miss something about where to go and what to do when we are there. However, both the boys know what days they will be going out, what time they will approximately eat and where they will eat. Which is easy when holidaying in a caravan park as it is usually the club house or the caravan with one day being out in town somewhere.

There is SO much meticulous planning involved that it really does become a headache at times. This year was no different to any other year. I start the planning and don't get the support on doing it. Get told to just let things go and see what happens. It can't be done with my two boys. They need the stability of knowing what they are doing every day of the week. They need the routine and the consistency.

Summer holidays are the worst. I have 6 weeks of daily scheduling to do for the boys so that there is peace in our household. Without it i end up going mad as the boys nearly kill each other and me. The frustration can be heard over 10 miles away as tempers flare. So i timetable the day with everything that they need just like a school day although no real learning although there is always an element of learning in everything that we do in life.

This holiday was a great success apart from one day which was a bit of a disaster but the least we mention that the better. So planning is always the key in whatever i do as far as the children are concerned. It helps, trust me, as a mum it is my responsibility to make sure that my children are happy and healthy and this is the way that i have to do it otherwise they would have a crazier mum than they already have.

Success only comes with persistance

For the past 3 weeks now a new routine at bedtime has been in play. Originally thought through by John but tweeked by me and it is this:-

1. Thomas' Poo Fun Time (10 minutes)
2. David tidies bedroom (10 minutes)
3. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday its fun in the bath time followed by teeth foam party and cloudy talc time.
4. On a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturfay it's face washing followed by teeth foam party.
5. Snuggly story time and zzzzzzz time.

The whole point of this was to get Thomas comfortable to do a poo. It has been horrible (as my last blog said) but (and as typing this i'm touching a lot of wood) the routine is working

In the last week it has been relatively easy to get Thomas to go to the toilet. No screaming matches no refusing to go. Bliss, I can tell you. I really thought we were heading back to the doctors again but, fingers crossed, we should be okay.

Now we have our next hurdle ahead of us. Going on holiday. Holidays I dread them, more about that another time. Lets just celebrate the fact that there is one less tantrum happening a day which was making life in the Crocker household miserable.

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