Keeping the kids busy this summer

It is always a challenge to keep the kids busy during the summer so they don’t spend all their time squabbling or watching hours of TV. I usually try to have something planned most days. If you are looking for some ideas, here is what we have going on.

Free Activities

The best things are always free but there aren’t too many things nowadays that are free. We will spend some time at our neighborhood pool, visiting my parents or stocking up on books at the library (which sometimes offers a craft). If it isn’t too hot, we also may hit one of the parks on our way to the library.

Paid Activities

With season passes or memberships to a few area attractions, we will also be going to the zoo, Sea World and the Doseum, San Antonio’s new children’s museum. As a family we also finally made it to Natural Bridge Caverns in June. We also have a Groupon for an afternoon at Pump It Up, a local inflatable/bounce slide place, and Lexie is signed up for mermaid camp in July.

Home Craft Activities

What better way to stop the TV/iPad watching then a few afternoon activities. I have a few plans I have pulled off the Internet, including – sponge ball fights and chalk rockets. I found lots of great hints on this list for June and this one for July. Many of the activities are aimed for the smaller kids, so I am going to have to find those that will interest a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old. If I need more ideas there is always Pinterest.

School Work

Yes, I am one of the moms out there that makes my kids do some school work during the summer to avoid that summer slide (where kids spend 2 1/2 months forgetting most of what they learned.) We will be doing reading, math and writing each week to keep their minds active.

Home Projects

We have some projects we want to get done this summer. In June, we have been cleaning and organizing the kids rooms. All the broken and and unused toys were out and the rest of their belongings organized. This is all in preparation for July’s project of painting each kids’ room.

Lexie has chosen two different pinks (with sparkles, of course). The dark pink will be on the bottom half of the room and the lighter pink on the top. We have also bought an awesome Elsa decal for the wall.

As for Jase, he is going with just blue walls. His current walls are blue, but the paint job is 12 years old so time to freshen it up with a newer shade. His big thing will be getting a huge Star Wars wall mural. It will be quite the focal point.

Free time 

And it wouldn’t be summer vacation without some down time where the kids can play in their rooms, read a book or even perhaps just veg in front of the TV for a little while.

Not every minute of the summer needs to be planned, but it helps to have options to keep those kids busy rather than bored.

Looking for #authors to feature on my blog

Well, today is the day that I typically feature authors but my guest flaked on me. It seems to be happening more often lately. So if you are an author and are serious about being featured on my Featured Author spot (Fridays), please let me know. I have dates open in August and beyond.

I host any genre author and both those that are traditionally and self-published.

The post can take one of three formats: author interview, book excerpt or a guest post on any aspect of writing, publishing, and book marketing.

I fill spots on a first-come-first-served basis, though I do have a few Tuesday openings to accommodate special requests for dates related to promotions such as book tours or book releases.

If you are interested, send me a message along with any date requests, and we’ll take it from there.

Technology’s effect on writing

Writing a book today is not like it was twenty or thirty years ago. Technology has brought us a long way. No longer are authors writing their novels out in longhand on notepads or typing them on a typewriter. Nowadays, most writers use a word-processing program on their Mac or PC.

Actually, you don’t even need a desktop computer. You can write your novel on a laptop or tablet which allow you to write not just at home but anywhere.

Having your novel in a digital format makes it easier to rewrite chapters or to edit. No longer do you have to type the whole thing over or use correction tape. You can just click your mouse and delete or add whatever you need.

In many ways, technology has helped authors.

If you have problems typing, there is voice-recognition software where you can simply dictate your novel. (Of course, there are companies that will transcribe your dictated work but to me this isn’t the same thing as being able to rewrite or change something right when you think of it versus waiting for your transcribed document to be returned.)

I even have used a voice recorder to take down ideas for my novel as I am working around the house or driving in the car.

But the biggest advancement (besides the word-processing programs would be using the Internet for research. Yes, you can still go to the library to do your research, but the Internet lets you do it quicker and from the comfort of your own home.

Simply type a few words into a search engine, and you can find huge amounts of information on pretty much any subject. So now instead of sifting through heavy books, you can spend hours reading different sites on the various topics.

This of course brings up a problem. There is a lot of misinformation out there. There is no filter for what is published here. You will have to decipher what is the truth about what is posted on the Internet.

But if you want to know how something works or view pictures of videos of a foreign location, it is quite easy to find these things on the Internet.

E-mail also is a big help with being able to converse with experts in the field quicker than sending a letter and without being as intrusive as a phone call.

The Internet through websites and social media outlets also allows readers to better connect with their readers. This allows for greater communication and feedback than ever before.

But being connected, also had its disadvantages. There are so many things that can distract you from writing – Facebook, web surfing, shopping, Twitter, Instagram, e-mail and YouTube. Each of these can be a huge drain on time.

Overall, I think technology makes an author’s life easier as long as you can stay away from those time-sucking other activities.

 

 

Quote of the Week – June 24

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. ~ Muhammad Ali

Starting ADD medication

Lexie at her Fiesta parade in April.

I wrote back in March that Lexie’s teacher was concerned that she might have an attention or focus problem. I brought it up to Lexie’s pediatrician at her 7-year-old checkup in April. After a few basic questions, she gave us the paperwork to have her assessed for ADD or ADHD.

Basically this included a questionnaire for both parents and her teacher. They like to have four assessments so we had Lexie’s reading teacher also fill out a form. The pediatrician then scored the questionnaires. We met with her at the end of April to go over the results.

Both my questionnaire and Lexie’s primary teacher indicated that Lexie might have a focus problem. But the one from my husband and her reading teacher didn’t. Since all four questionnaire were not in sync with each other, there was no definite diagnosis of ADD or ADHD.

As we discussed this, Lexie is rolling across the exam table and even though she had my husband’s phone to play with, she can’t sit still.

The doctor talked briefly about our options – trying therapy to redirect Lexie or trying some medication to see if that helped her focus. If the medicine worked, we would then have our ADD diagnosis. If it didn’t then we would need to look at other methods for redirecting her.

I think because we are already frustrated with her, medication seemed the easier solution to at least get a definitive diagnosis. The doctor went over the side effects – decreased appetite, sleep problems or even possibly heart palpitations.

One thing I didn’t realize is that most ADD medications are stimulants. As such, since Lexie was born with a congenitive heart defect (which resolved itself before 9 months old), the doctor ordered an EKG that would be evaluated by her pediatric cardiologist (who we hadn’t seen in almost 6 years).

Well, her cardiologist had since changed offices and he didn’t have access to her old records. If he had, we probably would have been saved from having to make an appointment to see him. As it was, we got a call that he had noted something unusual on her EKG and we needed to follow up with him.

After a second EKG, an echocardiogram and refreshing his memory about Lexie’s medical history, he pronounced her heart strong and saw no problem with her taking ADD medicine. (He did note that he could see why she might need the medication as she again could hardly sit still during the exam.)

So after one last appointment to again go over the side effects, we were given a prescription for Focalin. We were to start her with the lowest dosage of 5 mg and then if after two weeks that didn’t seem to help, we were to move her to a 10 mg dosage.

After a few days delay of getting the insurance company to understand the dosage instructions so they would cover her medication, we tried to start Lexie on the medication on June 12th. I say try because the medicine came in a pill format and Lexie has never taken a pill.

My husband thought it would be no trouble as he has never had problems swallowing pills. I on the other hand remember struggling with it as a child. Lexie takes after me and had trouble swallowing the capsule.

The instructions indicated that we could open the capsule and add it to a spoonful of applesauce which we didn’t have since neither kid eats it. So we decided to open a capsule and add the contents to some water and administer it by a syringe as we do all of Lexie’s other medications. Lexie however panicked and the most of the meds dribbled down her front side.

Admitting defeat for the day, we tried again the next day. This time we sprinkled it on a spoonful of yogurt and she had no problem taking it. She has now been taking it for a little over a week and there has been very little change in her behavior. We will probably try the higher dosage in the coming week and then meet with her doctor next month to check her weight and discuss if the medication is helping her.