Day Three

Nancy Thomas:  Mini-Camp

I woke today feeling really low.  My husband was in a foul mood - not helped by the dishwasher having flooded the floor.  This comes at the end of a week when firstly the sink got blocked and we discovered that it had been incorrectly installed in the first place, then the washing machine broke and now the dishwasher.  Surely that has to be it for the appliance in the kitchen now!

Anyway my daughter was in a dreadful mood too and by the time I reached camp this morning I was in tears.  I didn't really know why - but I think it was to do with the fact that this was our last 'Nancy Thomas day' and the thought of going it back alone is a little scary.

I bought her book - When love is not enough - if anyone wants a copy there is a cheaper supplier than Amazon - shout and I'll dig out the link!  I got it for just under £12.  The book is pretty much everything we've been taught over the last 3 days - but its there in black and white and if I need to check back I can.  Always a bonus when you are learning something new!  The children seem happier, I know I'm certainly more positive about the future and I'm not so frustrated by the things they do.  I understand the problem and we've a strategy to fix it.

I'm still anxious over what will happen in time, however I've loads of new friends from the camp to contact if I feel I just need to rant at a parent who WILL understand!

For all you readers (and why are most of you still lurkers - it gets a litte lonely in blog land without comments!! :D  ) who have normal children - rejoice in them, and please don't automatically assume that the harrassed looking woman in the corner of the playground is just a bad mum, she might just be me!!

Day Two

Nancy Thomas:  Mini Camp

Its official.  Both children have Reactive Attachment Disorder.  Strangely instead of feeling sad, I feel positive.  There is a LOGICAL reason as to why my children behave as they do.  All the times I've seen other parents pull faces at my seemingly inability to parent - they were wrong.  You can't parent a child with RAD as you would a 'normal' child.  Their brains are functioning incorrectly - and I need to re-write the damage that they suffered from being neglected and abused, and that sadly does not happen over night.

Nancy is giving us the tools and support to do this ourselves and we are seeing results.  For the first time I feel we're getting somewhere, and its a great feeling.  Its wonderful to meet other parents facing the same issues too and who knew - but one of the couples there have a child in my children's school!  I did know of other adopted children in the village, but it goes to show - you don't know them all.  We've made good friends with another couple too who live not too far from us and I'm looking forward to meeting up for coffee next week with them.  Except that coffee is now off the menu as 'our' children can't take the caffeine, not that they actually drank coffee, but they LOVE tea.  De-caff tea it is then!

Day One

Nancy Thomas:  Mini Camp - Day One

Nancy Thomas is AWESOME and I make no apology for using clearly an American word on an otherwise reserved English blog ! :D

Upon arrival, we duly registered and took our children in to the hall.  In the registration pack was a checked napkin amongst other things.  Nancy soon had the adults trooping out of the hall and up some stairs leaving our children behind.  Once upstairs Nancy confessed we were now in the Pit Stop room - and that napkin wasn't actually a napkin - but a FLAG!!  Now when our children did something that we'd previously 'asked' them not to do, we weren't to SAY a word - just raise our flag and the staff would come and collect the children and bring them to the pit stop room where they'd get the child to sit (?) and then say what they did wrong, before coming up with a plan on how they were going to make it better.  Yeah right!  (that was my thought).

A little later when my chair was being repeatedly kicked, I tentatively raised my flag... two staff swooped over, took my son away and up to the room - gave me some chocolate (for the serotonin) and asked me to write what he'd done.  I imagined he'd be there hours - he NEVER knows what he's done wrong and what on earth was sitting going to do!!!  Imagine my surprise when no more than 10 minutes later he's there in front of me telling me he'd been kicking my chair on purpose and to make it up to me he'd rub hand cream on my hands....  Well - I won't give you all of Nancy's secrets, besides I'm too shattered to write much more today.  All I can say is that I really got it wrong before - and I can't believe what damage I've caused to my children (unintentionally), but that it stops.  Now.

Apron love

I'm slacking - I really am.  Another long pause between postings.  Still no photos of the apron for the swap.  It's almost finished now - I just need to top stitch it and attach the ties, preferably NOT in that order!!!  This will be the second apron I've made.  I made my first one for the Spring apron swap, and really enjoyed it and resolved to make another for me (or the shop :D ) however never got round to it before the next Swap was scheduled.  Once this Summer apron has been mailed out (by June 1st) I WILL make some aprons for me and then the shop!  I'll leave you with a shot of the last apron I made.  Or I would if I could...

We got a new Mac and I seemingly can't upload photos with it.  I must be missing something... Unless anyone can alert me to where I'm going wrong?

Nancy Thomas

For those not in the know Nancy Thomas is a wonderful American 'mom' who loves children who seemingly appear to be un-loveable.  We adopted our children back in 2003 after discovering that my endometriosis that I suffered with (note past tense - but thats another post!) had led me to become infertile.  I remembered reading Nancy's book - When love is not enough (NB - if you want to buy it, drop me a line, I know a cheaper supplier than Amazon!), and thinking that our love WOULD be enough.  We'd be the exception.  We'd be able to get these children to feel at home - and seemingly we did.  

We absolutely had problems and issues - who wouldn't when two children join a new home at the age of 5 & 3 - having had 7 & 8 homes previously.  However I guess last September I began to get a sense of dread, a feeling of failure - and one that I've pretty much been able to keep under wraps from everyone.  I mean who wants to admit to being a failure as a mum?  Our wonderful, gorgeous 10 year old daughter is a habitual liar and prolific thief, our loveable cheeky monkey 8 year old son is getting stuck - frozen in time and we can't seem to reach them.  A crisis call to Post Adoption support, a great meeting with the social worker who saw us through our approval and we'd managed to secure therapy for our daughter which started last October.

That same wonderful social worker has also managed to arrange a mini-camp with Nancy Thomas who is travelling over from Colorado, and we are booked on it!!  The camp starts this Wednesday - I haven't a clue what to expect so roll on Wednesday

Busy...

Life has been really busy lately, and as much as I seem to do my 'To Do' list never appears to get any shorter!

However - progress HAS been made! I've listed some new iPod cases in the shop today, and I have a BIG STORE UPDATE next Monday with new products to reveal to you all!

I'm still making additional stock for the fair in London next month and my website is just ticking along. It could do with some love and attention - but I think making has to come first. I'll leave you with a shot of some new crayon rolls ...

Stock

I can't believe how long it has been since I last wrote a blog post.  My ability to manage time seems to have just disappeared out of the window - either that or there really isn't enough hours in the day to achieve everything I want to achieve.

I'm still busy making lots of new stock for fair in London next month.  I can't believe how quickly June is rolling round.  I'm also halfway through making my apron for the Summer Apron Swap.  I don't think my partner knows who I am (in that I mean the person I am making it for does not know its from me) so I should be able to post some photos of it soon.

In other news - um, thats just it - there is no other news!  Oops...

May Day

As is rapidly becoming a tradition - May Day holiday for us seemingly involves a pub lunch followed by a walk in some wood. This year, after detailed negotiations with my mum we opted to visit the Royal Oak in Eydon. If ever a building was the ideal model for a pub - this would be it. Its a really cobbled together sort of building - all the interior walls are left intact and the flooring is a mixture of flags, tiles and floorboards. The bar area is thin - but adequate, there is a snug, and a games room, plus two other rooms to hide away in and the food is just devine. My mum and the children had gammon, egg (free range) and chips, Chris plumped for the steak and I went for the salmon and prawn fishcakes. Neither mum or I could finish our platefuls - and I sadly left the camera at home and so couldn't capture the salivating inducing platefuls! Chris and the children felt they needed pudding, so after scoopfuls of vanilla and strawberry icecream for the children and a bread and butter pudding for Chris we were finally able to set off for our walk.




Needless to say the walk was through some beautiful woods covered in a carpet of bluebells. My words can not do justice - so here are some photos:

1. Joe climbing trees 2. Blue Carpet 3. More tree climbing

4. Rodent skull 5. More bluebells 6. Tree stump crown

7. Bluebells and children 8. Finding a rope swing 9. Bluebell buds

Local Elections

Yesterday was local elections and it makes me so very cross. When all across the world millions are fighting for the right to vote, our country is seemingly very apathetic. Our village - which is not small, having 3 polling stations managed a turn out of just over 35%. Am I really to believe that under 1 in 4 people care about what happens locally? Yes we might all be a little jaded and wonder if our views are taken into consideration - but if you don't vote I feel you have no right to complain about government and councils and political decisions. If you can't be bothered to get to your polling station and either spoil your ballot paper or put a cross in one of the boxes I don't want to hear about your views on politics. If everyone who had an opinion took the time to vote I guess our political situation would be a lot different. I think the overall turnout country wide is about 40ish % How can public opinion truely be gathered when less than half the country care enough to vote.

Grrr - rant over.... :D

Yes I did vote, and my candidate came third, but I took part.

The Van

Okay - so we won the van on ebay and its not very glam, but its ours and already I love it! Here are some photos to *ahem* tempt you to its loveliness!!