Surreal life – Raising the Modern Fae

Active Imagination

Whoever said that those with ASD have trouble with imagination never met my daughter. Actually, I suppose that depends on how you define “trouble.” She absolutely has an active imagination. Too active. In fact, dragging her out of her reality and back into the real world is met with resistance that the Home Guard wouldContinue reading “Active Imagination”

Achievement unlocked

I don’t want to jinx it or come across as bragging, but for two consecutive nights our fae daughter slept through to 5 a.m.! This may not seem like a full night’s sleep to those who have non-spicy children, but to us this is a miracle (and a lie-in). It has been a gruelling fewContinue reading “Achievement unlocked”

Spoon theory refined

I have in the past talked about spoon theory, I’m going to elaborate further here and expand on it with new bits I have recently been told about. So the basis of spoon theory is complicated so I asked chat GPT for an explanation and it did a pretty good job: Spoon theory is aContinue reading “Spoon theory refined”

Annual pointlessness

Yesterday I spent an hour and a half in a meeting room at my daughter’s school. One with a giant window, where anyone walking past could see the private and confidential information projected onto a screen because a staff member thoughtfully decided it would be easier to read than huddling around a laptop. Nothing saysContinue reading “Annual pointlessness”

Anyone got a paddle?

For the last month our daughter hasn’t slept through more than one night a week. Most nights, if I’m lucky, I get a three hour block before I hear the tiny voice at the bedroom door informing me she “had a nightmare.” The nightmares, according to her, involve snakes, witches, monsters, spiders and, somewhat lessContinue reading “Anyone got a paddle?”

Earning his keep

We are a long way from having trained our puppy in any serious way. I mean that in both the sense of he’s not a service dog yet and in the sense that i spent the last week teaching him to play ‘the floor is lava’ and to drop to floor if I make aContinue reading “Earning his keep”

Puppy bench enthusiast

Watching the World Go By (Or: How I Accidentally Trained My Dog to Become a Bench Enthusiast) We are still working on the puppy being less reactive. By “less reactive” I mean ideally he would like to stop attempting to greet every individual leaf, blade of grass, and passing breeze like a long-lost friend. ToContinue reading “Puppy bench enthusiast”

Pouring from the non-existent empty bucket

Ever heard the phrase you can’t pour from an empty bucket? I have. Mostly from therapists. I hate it, it’s such a stupid thing to say. We’re not containers with a finite amount of ‘stuff’ also what is it that we’re pouring? Love? Energy? Sarcasm? That last one I promise I have an endless wellContinue reading “Pouring from the non-existent empty bucket”

Things I wish could go unsaid

But Apparently Need Saying: Don’t Poison the Puppy In her defence, she didn’t actually mean to poison the dog. She was simply having a minor meltdown over the outrageous injustice of not being allowed her iPad at the table. To put this into context: she has never been allowed her iPad at the table. ThisContinue reading “Things I wish could go unsaid”

Neurodivergent puppy

The Puppy Is Possibly Neurodivergent I am beginning to think that we have ended up with an autistic puppy. I mentioned this to another dog owner and was informed that all dogs are autistic. Learn something new every day. He definitely has ADHD and access to the same endless energy supply that the child soContinue reading “Neurodivergent puppy”