This April has brought a massive change to our household, a change that financially is quite scary but a change that will improve Ethan’s quality of life for the better.
Over the past months it has become increasingly evident that for Ethan to thrive and learn new things he needs more routine and more of my time.
For the past two years on my work days Ethan has gone to stay with his Nanny and Grandad this has therefore meant that Ethan splits his week between both homes. This also meant that not only are we sleep deprived but also so are my parents and although we know that Ethan’s sleep issues are an autistic trait we also believe that the fact that he wasn’t in his own bed every night played a big part.
So we have decided that the best thing for our family is for me to become a full time stay at home mum!
It still hasn’t quite sank in at at the moment and I feel like I’m on holiday for a week but I’m sure the reality will hit me soon enough.
I have decided to set goals to work with Ethan on in my new role as full time mum and they are as follows
- Sleeping in his own bed. The days of co-sleeping are sadly over. I say sadly because I secretly enjoy my cuddles with Ethan but the thought of us co-sleeping with a ten year old is enough to know we have to break this habit!
- Brushing his teeth. Ethan has a real sensory issue with having his teeth brushed so needless to say this is a huge problem considering Ethan now has a very sweet tooth.
- Using a cup. Ethan can only drink from a baker, we are yet to start this challenge but one I want to conquer.
- Learning Makaton. This will always be an ongoing lesson for us all, this blog post details the signs we are learning at the moment Makaton Signs.
- Start to introduce the PECS system. This stands for Picture Exchange Communication System and is another way of hopefully teaching Ethan to communicate with us non-verbally and as with Makaton will also be an ongoing lesson.
- Healthy eating and eating more variety. As previously blogged about in Not In The Mood For Food.
- Getting our house more organised.
- Sorting out all the photos and videos on my computer and doing something with them and also backing some up to make some space for our new adventures.
- Budget, budget, budget!
- Reducing Ethan’s TV time and iPad time and filling this time with creative fun, learning activities and outdoor adventures.
Hello. I’ve been following your blog for a couple of weeks as we are also on the toddlebike trial! I have just become a full time stay at home mum too!! This is my first week too!! It’s quite scary isn’t it? I agree I still feel like I am on holiday too I’m sure in time it will feel more real – probably next month when I don’t get my wages!! I’m sure though that we will both love being a stay at home mum and our children will certainly benefit! Good luck xxxx
Hi Sarah, it’s lovely to know you are following our journey and I’m not just rambling to myself lol. I agree the lack of wages will take away the holiday feel ;0). I have hopefully just followed your blog so I can see how you get on in the role as full time mum. Good luck to you too. x