Wheelchair Parenting 101

Occupied by Imagination

Back to reality.  Today was the  the first day back to school after the two week Christmas break.  The house is quiet again, and I have to get back on track with the blog.

I have had a few people ask me how I kept my kids busy since I can't take them anywhere.  Once in awhile a friend or family member would come and get them and take them out.  But I guess they each have been creative in their own way.

When Jared was little, he used to 'copy' movies.  He would put on a movie and act out the scenes right along with it.  His favorite to copy was The Wizard of Oz.  

Ryan makes a game out of all he does.   He has his own sound effect for everything.   Lately He and Sabreena  have been turning the house into a hotel.  They put numbers on the doors.  My shower is the elevator, so they put up and down arrows beside it.

Bree has really gotten into a sign making kick.  She makes exit signs with arrows, employees only signs, no smoking signs.  My favorite sign of hers is this one...

BTW, were not missing a dog.

 

Cute Chaos

Last spring, I went through a battle.  This battle was fought against my own children and their ringleader, one Christopher Klann, my loving husband.  Deep down, I knew I would eventually cave under their pressure.  I did.

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Gideon is our newest (and last!) pet.  He is a miniature Dachshund, and a great addition to our family.  We picked him up right when school let out for the summer.  It is hilarious when Gideon plays with our Lab.  They are best friends.

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We have had our puppy chewed casualties, a sock here, a shoe there.  But the most damaging thing he did was to bring a crayon to his favorite spot to lay, which is up on the back of the couch, in front of the window.  He didn't chew the crayon, just let it lie there, in the sun.  Purple crayon.  The kids noticed from outside, the huge purple spot running down the back of the couch.

And Jared had the nerve to ask, "Can we get a bird?".

My reply was, "Get outta here!  And don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!".

Just a Little Plug

Did anyone watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition last Sunday, Nov. 8th?   (You can watch it online, if interested.)  The story was about a father in a wheelchair and they gave him an accessible crib.  That is the same crib on my resource page.  It is not sold in stores, but you can order it through my site.

Gadgets Galore

Butterfingers, yum, my favorite candy bar.  It is also a pretty accurate descriptive word for me.  Let me say right now, I never dropped a baby, that is not what I'm talking about!  Everything else yes, but babies no! 

The baby sling was like a safety harness so I could carry them on my lap, and wheel myself around at the same time.  Whenever I would transfer the baby from my lap to the crib, feeding table, or changing area, I never left an open area for them to fall as I lifted them.

I made a habit of grabbing two spoons at feeding time.  That way I didn't have to interrupt their meal to go get a new spoon when I dropped the one I was using.

I have found some neat little tools that you might find handy.

These straps are a must.  Of course they are great to have so bottles, pacifiers, and toys don't touch the ground when they fall, but also these things will not get lost.  It's amazing how fast theses items can disappear, only to be found days later under a cushion!

These bowls are great once you begin cereal feeding.  The bowls suction right onto the feeding table so you don't have to hold it, it won't slide around, or drop.  Long spoons are helpful too.

This is a good thing to have when you move up to jar feeding.  It suctions to the table, like the bowls, the jar fits right in and stays put.

I am sharing what worked for me, in my situation. 

In no way, do I mean to generalize every Mom in a wheelchair.

Mother's Distractions = Mischievous Actions!

For the most part, my kids stayed in my sight as they became mobile.  However, children seem to know when Mommy is distracted, and that's when mischief happens! 

I was on the phone with the bank, dealing with a lost debit card, and Ryan, about 18 months, decided he wanted ice cream.  We didn't have any ice cream, we had finished the carton the night before.  So Ryan retrieved the carton out of the garbage.  It was empty, but still had the coating.  He proceeded to lick the sides and bottom (yes, bottom, he put his whole head in it).  When I saw what he was doing, he dropped it and ran, and then fell on the cream colored rug.  And did I mention it was chocolate ice cream.  So I got the most perfect set of two little hand-prints of chocolate ice cream on my rug.  My child looked like he had been painted with camouflage.  His hair was covered, he even had it in his ears.

Note to self: make sure trash is taken out promptly if it contains an empty ice cream carton.

Another memorable moment of being mischievous as I'm distracted, came from Jared at age two.  I had a friend over and as we were chatting, Jared slipped out of the room.  A quick glance into my bedroom, and there he was, going through my make-up bag.  He was making a fine attempt at applying mascara.

I recently saw a toddler wearing a pair of those baby squeaky shoes.  Have you seen these?  It is so cute to hear a toddler walking around in them.  Boy, these would have been helpful to alert me that a little mischief was goin' down!

Sticky Tabs vs. Velcro

I choose Velcro.  Huggies and Luvs diapers have a Velcro closures.  These work better than sticky tabs because the Velcro allows for readjustments, and readjustments are common with less than perfect aim!

Pop-up baby wipes were a must for me.  When your fine motor skills are not 100%,  wipes that pop-up make grabbing a wipe or two much easier. 

Also, a piece of Velcro on the bottom of the wipes box keeps them in place.  Then, of course, you would just buy refills.

Not "Super-Size-Me", Rather "San-i-tize-Me"

Not that I'm a germaphobe, but with it being flu season, and all the talk about H1N1, it is a good time to have a habit of hand washing and sanitizing.

When the kids walk in from school, they immediately go to the sink and wash their hands.

We keep a bottle of sanitizer in the truck, for on the go sanitizing. 

Whenever I use liquid soap or hand sanitizer, I fumble with the bottle, and it ends up on the floor more times than not.  For those of you that share in that frustration, here is a resolution to that problem; invest in an automatic soap dispenser.

They are battery operated and release the soap or sanitizer when you move your hand in front of it.  You could stick a piece of Velcro  on the bottom  of the dispenser so it stays put.

I think shopping carts are a massive breeding ground for germs.  Think of how many hands have been touching that bar.  I don't push it, but Chris or the kids do.  For this occasion, I make them wipe it first with an antibacterial wipe. 

And public restrooms?  Don't even think about it.  I am the queen of "hold it till we get home".

OK, germaphobe, maybe a little!

Radio Personality? Not So Much

I was recently interviewed on a local christian radio show, called His-Ability aired on WMUZ in Detroit.  The show is geared toward the handicapped community, and its host, Lynne Suszek, is a remarkable woman and entreprenuer (Ayuda Le! Home Care Plus) that has been wheelchair bound for over twenty years.

I arranged for Chris to be in the interview as well because I was so nervous.  I wanted him with me just in case I needed him to do some of the speaking.  Yeah, good thing he was there because I barely could get yes and no answers out. 

Do you remember the episode of The Brady Bunch where Cindy is on a TV quiz show and she freezes when the 'on air' light comes on?  That is what I was like! 

We listened to the show when it aired.  I was shocked at what my speech has come to.  Almost unintelligible.  Of course, because of my nervousness, the speaking impairment was greatly magnified.  I know, nobody likes the way they sound on tape, but I'm talking about my speech.  I think I'll stick to writing, for now. :)

Shannon

MomsOnWheels.net

You Know it's Time to Slow Down When...

I was just thinking of how last year at this time we were running every which way, five days a week.  I signed the kids up for activities that weren't well-thought out.  Practice, practice, game.  Practice practice, game.  Practice, practice, game (get it? three times).   Then, some games would over-lap.  It was too much, and that became evident in this story...

I was sound asleep. I awoke to Chris jumping out of bed and running down the hall, with the dog barking behind him.  I thought someone was breaking in.  I grabbed the phone off the nightstand, ready to call 911.  My chair was across the room, so I was stuck on the bed.  Boy, is it torture to just sit there while you don't know what's happening.

After a few minutes, here comes Chris carrying a crying Sabreenna.

Apparently, she sleepwalked out of her room, through the dark house, and went out the garage to the van, in the driveway.  Outside!  All of this at lovely 2 AM.

"Bree, where do you think you were going?"

Still crying, she answered, "Practice!"

I can't believe he heard the garage-door opening.  I am the light sleeper usually.    I am the one who wakes up the minute they take one step out of their rooms.  I believe we had some divine guidance on this occasion.  Thank you Lord!

So this year, we signed up a little differently and I'm happy to say that we are activity-free, three nights a week!