TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF - RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES!

I bet you are thinking....yeah right!

This is the beginning of a busy week for everyone! While it is supposed to be filled with family, friends, food, shopping and fun - it is often a difficult time for those dealing with special needs. It can be extra stressful.

It can be a time of hightened awareness that things are different in your family. It can be a time when caregivers are on a break and you are feeling the weight of that. Feel free to vent here about what you are going through right now!

We want to suggest that if at all possible you take a moment for yourself. Even a short amount of time to refill your cup will be worth it.

Here are some suggestions:

Have 5 minutes: Pop in your favorite CD, listen to your favorite song!

Have 15 minutes: Take a walk around the block - the fresh air will do you good!

Have 30 minuets: Pour yourself a cup of tea/coffee/etc. sit down, read an article in a magazine or chapter in that book you haven't picked up in ages.

Have 1 hour: Lucky You! How about do all of the above? Or, nothing at all! Take a breather.

Get your week off to a great start and let us know how you are doing!

HOUSEKEEPING

No...not that kind of housekeeping - that is for another time!

This time we are talking about our own housekeeping here at the Knowledge Safari Blog. We have some posts scheduled for you throughout the week as we take time to work on our new site and to spend time with our families.

Please feel free to comment and rest assured that they will be published as soon as we can - but it may take a bit! We know you understand.

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE CORNER

Hi everyone! We hope that you enjoyed your weekend. Our weekend was filled with movies, exercise, birthday parties, laundry and then it hit us...the holidays are right around the corner. The fun, food, cooking, shopping and the STRESS!

We were speaking with one of our friends who has a child with special needs and she mentioned how large family/friends events can really be an added stress to her daughter who is intellectually disabled. The break from routine, the extra stimulation and the pressure of wanting things to go "right" start mounting up about now.

We spoke about some ways to handle this the top three are:

1.) Expect that not everything will go correctly - then the more things that go right are a bonus!

2.) Start discussing the plans now. Discuss who might be coming for a visit or where you might be going. Give your child a chance to get used to the idea.

3.) Set up a reward system. Several benchmarks that you set up througout the day that are at the expected behavior level for your child.

4.) Bonus number 4! Try to plan now to give yourself moments of time for you to recharge. We know that is hard to do but so important!

What are your strategies? We would enjoy hearing about them in the comments section.