Sweating? Me Too, But Not About Falling Behind

I'm mellllllting...melllllting!

This heat wave is unbelievable, isn't it? My brain is so fried I've lost the ability to blog. Well, not exactly.

Four months after setting my lofty goal to write a blog post every two days, everything but the temperature has dropped off here at More Than Words (if you're just tuning in and don't know what I'm talking about, you can read about my ambitiousness here).

I can't really blame the heat wave. The blazing temperatures have been around for the past few days, but my inconsistent blogging has been going on for about a month now. What can I say? Summer is here and heat wave or no heat wave, my schedule is all over the place. It changes weekly depending (mostly) on what my kids are up to.

My child free days are on hold. The house is filled with the pitter patter of little feet again. She-ya right! The house is filled with the stomping of growing feet again; feet that want to run and jump and bike and swim; feet that are always on the go. As a result, my writing has been put on the back burner. 

I'm trying not to sweat it - being off schedule, that is. I wish I could say the same about the stomping feet and the unfathomably hungry, infinitely thirsty, provokingly squabbling mouths affiliated with those stomping feet. Those? Well, those are the very reason I wear antiperspirant (and have my fridge stocked with wine).


When the day camps and play dates, family visits, and holidays are done; when the need for ceiling fans and air conditioners, freezies and popsicles is gone; when the pool water cools, and the campfire and barbecue flames burn out,  (and when those growing feet stomp back to school) my writing schedule will fall back into place again.




Until then, I'll leave you with a recap of the 25 blog posts I've written so far for my Not Being Able to Speak series. Click the links to check out the ones you missed or to revisit the ones you want to read again:


1. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

2. Talking With Your Mouth Full *

3. Your Secret is Safe With Me

4. Memorable Mispronunciations

5. A New Way to Cheer

6. A Silent S.O.S. *

7. 'What You See is Not All You Get'

8. Night Walkin' not Sleep Talkin'

9. The Following Blog Post May Contain a Boy with No Foul Language

10. To Teach Without Speech

11. Working On Your Core Takes on a Whole New Meaning

12. Communication Breakdowns

13. Overlooking Oblivious Orators

14. Keen on Communication Courtesies

15. Dancing Like Nobody's Watching instead of Singing Like Nobody's Listening

16. A Mother Knows the Words her Child Cannot Say

17. Getting Your Message Across However You Can

18. Giving the Silent Treatment is a Bit Ambiguous

19. Communication Starts with Model Behaviour

20. Read Alouds Reshaped

21. When Communication is Cut Off So is Too Much Hair

22. Not Necessarily 'Speech' less

23. Finding Community, Finding Empowerment

24. It's No 'Right' to Remain Silent

25. There's No Need to Churn Over It *

* my favourites


Stay cool! And stay tuned for updates on our fun in the sun (maybe a video or two...definitely some pictures).









Photo: Pixabay

#25 There's No Need to Churn Over It

Dairy goes again!

Carter keeps spilling his milk. He's done it at least four times this week during meals. Initially, my hubby and I lact - ations, er, patience and got sour with him. But, recently, didn't the little monkey shake things up and turn the whole situation into a funny episode which brought our annoyance level down to about 2%.

Here's the condensed version of the situation: Carter likes to take a drink and then set his glass down beside his plate. You know, right where his arm will knock it over? We're forever telling him to moove his glass away from the edge of the table, so it's up higher toward the top of his plate. This hasn't always been the best solution as he's been known to spill it while mooving it - just as it past-our-ize!

Phew! Move milk.

The other day Carter sat down for dinner, wiped his brow and said 'few' on his talker (I'm not sure where he learned this expression, but he actually used it in the right context). He didn't mean few as in not very many. He meant few as in 'Phew! That was close'. This became obvious when next, he moved his milk to the middle of the table and said, 'move milk'.

He was pretty proud of himself for having such insight. And let me tell you, I thought it was pitcher perfect. This time, we were flooded with laughter instead of spilled milk!

I've let flow my fair share of tears when it comes to Carter not being able to talk, but these days I've bottled those emotions. I lac - tose things he's been doing lately. No, I love them. I have always known that Carter is overflowing with potential; that he has way more to say than he is able to express verbally. It seems we've found the right formula when it comes to developing his language and communication. He's making all kinds of connections. He's using new words. The two seem to homogenize nicely, and the result? New udderances from my boy.

Thanks, Carter, for the reminder that there's really no need to cry over spilled milk or to churn over your inability to speak. I have the utmost confidence that your potential will continue to spillover and you'll keep milking it for all it's worth.




















Disclaimer: Views in the Not Being Able to Speak series are derived from my personal experience with Carter. I do not speak on behalf of others with complex communication needs. It is not my intent to minimize or disregard the power of expression that can be found through the use of augmentative and alternative forms of communication.