It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

...or is it?!

I'm trying, I really am -- and this will not be one of those whining, complaining blog posts about how hard the Holidays are on Mom; how there's never enough time or money or magic; how everybody's either looking for donations, cash, checks, party contributions or time on your oh-so-limited calendar...

No, let's not go there.



The Holidays can be, and usually are, stressful, but there's also an awful lot of good stuff. I can come up with 10 Things to Be Excited About, I know I can:

1. The Magic kids still believe in: My older kids, now almost-15 and 12, want to force a confession about Santa, in no small part to "educate" their younger 9-year-old brother. I keep the discussion limited: "If you don't believe in the Magic, the Magic won't believe in you...and THE MAGIC can't leave you a really great gift under the tree or a stocking full of goodies!" (It works!)
2. Christmas Lists! If my children do no other creative writing all year, I can count on them for something truly entertaining and wonderful on the "Come-on Santa, Bring It All and Make My Miserable Life Complete Request List." Want to see an example? 9yo Boy's Wish List
3. The Giving: Not so much the shopping, but the thinking, the planning, the scheming to surprise and delight, the giving is wonderful, especially when you find Just The Right Thing, big or small, for someone special.
4. Gingerbread Cookies! An annual tradition in the Rebel Household, we make armies and armies of decorated Gingerbread Men for holiday parties, school friends, teacher gifts and neighbors...
5. Cold Weather & Snuggling
6. Winter Break - sleeping in and NO HOMEWORK!
7. Christmas Cards - love to receive, even the letters.
8. Decorations & Light Displays - another annual tradition, the Christmas Drive-Around to see all the lights and displays. We drive far and wide, to professional displays (around Atlanta: Stone Mountain, Lake Lanier Islands, Calloway Gardens) and to see everything at homes & businesses in-between. With a Thermos of hot chocolate, a to go box of gingerbread men and holiday music on the car stereo (now XM Radio Channel #23 - Holly) and we are set for several evenings of family entertainment.
9. Christmas Music - all of it, from classical to elevator renditions to The Chipmunks!
10. Christmas Classics - TV Shows & Books

That's it. It's nice to keep it simple. Of course, there is Christmas Morning and the children's delight (hopefully) over their holiday haul; visiting friends & family and oh, yes, the holiday eating...

It is beginning to look -- and feel -- a lot like Christmas...
I'm on it!

9-Year-Old's Wish List (BOY)

[Note: This is a boy who LOVES technology and has an older brother and sister to expose him to the finer and more expensive things in life - note the absence of Legos or Star Wars or games & toys targeted and marketed to this age group...Still, it's a fine example of a Christmas Wish List, verbatim!]

9yo BOY's Wish List

1. $$$!
2. Premium Membership on Webs.com (Enhanced Premium)
3. $50 iTunes Money
4. My Own Macbook Air
5. My Own Phone
6. RC Helicopter
7. RC Car
8. Nerf Gun
9. PIZZA!!!!!
10. ROOT BEER!!!!!
11. The Schools Getting Rid of Homework 4 Good.
12. More Money!!!
13. A Perfect Christmas Tree
14. More Subscribers on My Website
15. The Mind Flex
16. Outrageous Builders Club on ROBLOX
17. A bigger allowance
18. A pet Golden Retriever
19. A successful ROBLOX game
20. My own DSi
21. An awesome Christmas
22. An iPod Touch 3G
23. More Webs.com Credits
24. Advertisements for My Website
25. A Go-Kart
26. Ideas for my next year's Wish List
27. XBOX 360
28. My sister's and my meter ideas for my own [iPhone] App.
    [See Mom & Dad's Luv Meter FREE iPhone App at: www.LuvShaker.com]

Really?! An app for this, too?

Testing the Squarespace iPhone App...wow...

I might never have to open my laptop computer again. Well, except to print stuff out -- and I think even that capability is coming, too.

And maybe big screen shopping. By that I mean being able to see more shopping options on the screen at one time, whether I am browsing clothing, shoes, books, gifts, whatever -- I was not talking about big screen TVs (sorry, guys!).

This is amazing.
I am a total iPhone convert.
Blogatcha soon...

Asperger's Syndrome: I'll be in my cabinet...

@RebelUpdate Tweet of the Day:
RT @JoanCelebi: New Post: 17 Tips for Calming Your Child with Special Needs http://twurl.nl/fu7y02 (via @aspergers2mom)
26 minutes ago from Twitterrific

It has been a rough week with 9yo ADHD/Aspergers Phenom, 4th grader. The poor kid has not been able to catch a break with homework: remembering to write assignments down in his agenda and bring home everything he needs, i.e. books, worksheets, etc. This, in essence, is the one thing he must do to earn his afternoon "Computer Pass" at home, which is his most-favorite activity and incentive.

He came home Tuesday with *nothing* in his backpack...Oh, Lord...

My #1 task is to STAY CALM, because it is only when I am calm that I can help him get through any meltdown. If I get uptight and upset, if I start yelling back at him, it only feeds the fire. This is one of those home base concepts I have had to learn -- probably the exact reason this special child was given to me. So I go into CALM mode, breathe, breathe...

He goes APESHIT (the only way I can adequately describe it):
Full-out on the floor, kicking, screaming, crying, wailing, cursing life and the universe.
He had after-school plans on the computer (a full agenda, in fact -- he scribes endless To Do Lists for himself for computer time, just not schoolwork), important stuff to do on his new website and on ROBLOX.com, which is where he currently spends most of his computer time and which is an amazing game and programming environment. But he didn't have the required "Computer Pass."

Dramatic screaming and rolling on the kitchen floor (him, not me - staying calm). I *calmly* told him he would start losing time from his bedtime if he continued screaming at me, five minutes at a time. I thought I was going to lose my mind and my cool. He lost five minutes: "Bedtime at 8:25 tonight." And he stopped. Laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, he just shut it off, which was...disconcerting (eye of the storm?).

He took a deep breath, sat up and, oddly enough, crawled into one of the lower (mostly empty) kitchen cabinets. He then announced, calmly: "Fine. I'm just going to stay in this cabinet the rest of the day, then." Ummmmm...okay?

I took a deep breath, gave him a few minutes, and then I quietly gathered a few items and set them outside his cabinet door: a bagel, a flashlight and several books. I knocked on the door. He opened it. I removed a basket of plastic storage containers, really the only thing in that cabinet, and pointed to the things I had left for him. He took them inside, closed the cabinet door and said, "Thanks, Mom."

He stayed in the cabinet, what he now calls his "pantry" (he put up a sign) for a good part of the afternoon and evening, coming out for fresh supplies and a couple of cushions -- those kitchen cabinets aren't really made for butt-comfort, you know.

I'm not really sure what the moral of this story is, except to say: Sometimes, a kid just needs his space -- a small, dark, enclosed, peaceful, safe space of which he is in control. For thinking and reading. For calming down.

Asperger's Resources - The Best - on Amazon.com

New Rebel Review Posted

Happy Birthday to ME, Happy Birthday to ME...

Yes, it is THAT time again. I suddenly find myself FORTY-TWO (42) YEARS OLD. Wow.
And the really surprising thing is...it has been a great day, after a wonderful long weekend birthday getaway with my hubby to Florida. By all indications so far, 42 is going to be a fabulous year. It's also the number of my current-favorite NASCAR driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, AND the Secret of the Universe, right? (According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.)

With all the excitement of the long weekend, I didn't expect much today -- I was looking forward to two hours in the Media Center at 9yo ADHD Phenom's elementary school! -- but everybody surprised me, in small ways throughout the day: with a candle taped to my coffee cup; birthday cards, greetings, emails and tweets; several very well-chosen, very cool gifts (Thank You!!!) and a wonderful Japanese Hibachi meal performed at the table in front of us at Nakato Japanese Steakhouse in Atlanta. The kids were really good at the restaurant and didn't fight or torment each other (or us!), too much.

Somewhere in all of that -- actually, before all of that, for the most part -- I decided to indulge myself a little bit today with a few goodies from my new-favorite online boutique: PeaceLoveMom. Check out the Rebel Review and see what could be all the rage (and perfect!) in gifts for Mom this year.

Because, you know, with my birthday today...'tis officially the Season and Christmas will be here before you know it!

PeaceLoveMom.com - Great Gifts For Mom