Earlier this week I received an email from Sarah at Wikio letting me know that Mutterings of a Mindless Mommy had jumped up to #131 among their science blogs. This may not sound like a fantastic feat but considering the fact that Wikio has over 55,000 blogs listed in 11 different categories, I was proud! This lil mommy blog is my pride and joy (of the Internet, of course the kids are my true pride and joy hehe) so I love to see it get recognition.
I have been quiet lately as my freelance writing “career” has taken off - I’m expecting about six times myApril revenue once all of the accounts receivables for May are calculated. That is a lot for a part-time, work-from-home gig. I’m happy though so I’ll take it!
The orphanage Clara & Emerson live in houses more than 300 other children and the food prices have made it difficult to provide the children with the food they need to survive. Our friends and several other adoptive parents across the United States have arranged for a 40 foot container to be shipped to the orphanage. If we fill it, 18 tons of food will go directly to these children.
I use Google Alerts to keep up-to-date on a variety of search terms - one of the phrases in my Google Alerts is mindlessmommy.com. Through this Google Alert I often learn of different sites that link back to my blog. Today’s Google Alert brought me to co-sleepingsurvey.com. There I am in the blog roll along with Hathor the Cow Goddess (among others) - Hathor is my idol. *swoon*
Here is an excerpt from the co-sleeping survey site:
That very special parenting choice that you had the instinct to make is now being considered “NEGLECT” by public health officials and may someday be illegal. There is something that YOU can do about it.
For all that come across this site that do, or have, co-slept with their children, please take a minute to fill out this very important survey.
My aunt forwards me several emails a week. Admittedly, I don’t read them all. This one caught my attention and I sat awestruck for over five minutes as I watched Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic savant from the United Kingdom, recreate Rome after taking a 45-minute flight over the city. Absolutely amazing.
Okay so the video is a year old and I’m sure the majority of the Mindless Mommy blog readers have seen it, but just in case you haven’t - check it out!
Wiltshire also has several other videos up on youtube
Just a quick note to wish all of the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day!
For years my sister and I have planned to take my mom out for a fantastic brunch but we’ve always remembered too late (reservations fill up quickly). This year we were on the ball and the day reservations opened, I was on the phone.
So the three of us got gussied up and went to one of the best brunches I’ve ever had. My mom had already planned to drive so my sister and I indulged in one glass of champagne each. It was an endless glass though. Service was fantastic and the food was absolutely amazing. I tried caviar for the first time too - wasn’t bad!
Once I got home I curled up in bed and watched a show on weather with my son (surprise, a weather show!) and then spent some time cuddling with my daughter. A nice and relaxing day, just what I wanted!
When an individual has Asperger’s Syndrome and is also gifted, s/he falls into the category of twice exceptional(2E). The same would be of a child with ADHD and Giftedness or a whole bevy of other conditions. A child could even have a reading learning disability but be gifted in math and thus, twice exceptional. Twice exceptional students present an interesting challenge to teachers - whether the child is homeschooled or in a traditional classroom. One benefit of homeschooling a 2E child is that the parent can tailor the education specifically for the child.
My son is twice exceptional having officially been declared gifted in the verbal arena and nearly gifted in mathematics (95th percentile). However, his anxiety crept up when the school did a giftedness assessment on him at the end of Kindergarten (per the teacher’s recommendation). He actually scored in the at-risk range verbally (20th percentile). When he had one-on-one testing with the neuropsychologist he scored in the 98th percentile.
So now it is the end of 1st grade, a few weeks ago Alexander’s teacher informed me that she would like to recommend Alexander for the ALP (Advanced Learning Program - also called GATE) testing. She said he has strengths that are commonly seen among the gifted and knows of his scoring with the neuropsych. I talked to Alex about it and he said sure, that one of his closest friends was going to do them this year and he wanted to as well. So I signed off on it and testing started yesterday and will continue through tomorrow.
The school uses the CogAT (Cognivite Abilities Test) which is administered to a group of children. Alexander told me yesterday that there were 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 1 students in the room, all first graders. He said his ears were working well, his nerves stayed behind and it was fun. I don’t care what the results are, I’m just glad that it isn’t an anxiety-riddled event for him. Group-given tests like this aren’t really a strongpoint of a child with attention and auditory issues but hey, ya never know, right?
