“Friday’s Fab ‘Autism’ Five”

I posted my first Friday’s Fab Five over a year ago. It was going to be a weekly roundup of favourite posts and bloggers that I had read and wanted to share. The weekly turned into bi-weekly then monthly and now appears to be ummm annual. Eeep. I am going to go with I was busy doing research…yea…lots and LOTS of research.

Just so you know I have not been slacking off I am going to give you a bonus to my first Friday’s Fab ‘Autism’ Four edition and give you five! Cue music.

“Bloggers…Come On Down!!!”

First up is Amy who blogs over at From the Mom Cave. I first read Amy’s blog over a year ago and just recently connected with her on Facebook. She has 2 boys on the spectrum and a warped great sense of humour.  :)  In the past year she has moved on to waaaay bigger things like being published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul “Raising Kids on the Spectrum” edition. Way to go Amy!!!

Blogger number 2 is Bec from Snagglebox. There is not a single post of Bec’s that I can honestly say is my favourite. Okay…maybe this one Real Parent Pinterest made me laugh a little more but everything and I mean EVERYTHING is full of useful and user-friendly information. If you haven’t friended, followed or whatever else there is to do…go do it now. Wait! Maybe wait until you finish reading this post.  ;)

Karen blogs about life with her two younger teenage sons over at Confessions of an Asperger’s Mom. While our worlds are quite different…they are much the same. What drew me to Karen was her sense of humour, no-nonsense parenting style and of course her love for cocktails and wine her sons. We are the same that way.

I first read one of Liane’s articles at Autism After 16 and keep going back for more. Having just been through the end of school life in Riley World her latest column “A Corsage for Caroline” made my heart melt and my eyes leak...just a little. Liane was also included in the Chicken Soup for the Soul “Raising Kids on the Spectrum”. Gee…I sure know a lot of big guns!

The final blogger is someone I just read this past week. Tanya’s post “Why My Son Moved to a Supported Living Home” read like an upcoming chapter in Riley World. I know I will be going back to visit Tanya’s blog to read all about where their new path leads.

I will close with the same words as the last Autism edition because I am late the same words ring true for these five bloggers.  Whether you know nothing about autism, know a little about autism or are just an autism wannabe *wink*, I highly recommend any of these 5 blogs for insight, experience and most of all…humour!

Check them out when you have a chance and have a great weekend!

“Help control the pet population – have your pets spayed or neutered.”

(Sign-off from the Price is Right show)

  

StttttRIKE!!!!!

Did you know that 5 Strikes in a Row is called a 5-Bagger?

Do you know anyone who has gotten 5 Strikes in a Row??

You do now!  Riley got 5 Strikes IN. A. ROW tonight at bowling.

He scored a whopping 243!

Woooo-hoooo!!!!!

"Fab Friday: Back to School Edition"

I can’t believe it is almost September and some kids are already back at school. We still have just over a week before Riley heads back for his final year of high school. Yup.

One.  (Deep inhale)

More.  (aaand…exhale)

Year.  (Excuse me while I go lock myself in my cave. *sigh*)

Okie-dokies. Now that I have collected myself…shall we continue? Since my blogging seems to have taken a bit of a backseat to summer fun and I seem to be struggling with putting more than a couple of coherent sentences together, I thought I would treat you to another spin-off of my “Friday’s Fab Five Review” with this week’s “Back to School Edition”.

In the spotlight, a trio of mommy bloggers who I enjoy for their practical and realistic outlook on life and who share their adventures with insight, experience and most of all…humour.

First up...Robbie. I have been following Robbie since blogging/tweeting began for me and even copied paid tribute to her series “Saturday Seven” via satellite. For the preschool bunch, Robbie over at “Fractured Family Tales” guest posted over at “take2mommy” about “How to Survive the First Day of Preschool”. Robbie works in the education field and came up with ten very practical tips (I can personally vouch for number 5 with J2) which I wish I had known when both our boys were starting preschool.

Next up is Bridget. I came across Bridget's blog “Twinisms” via Stasha’s Monday Listicles and keep going back for more. As soon as I read she had a “high tolerance for wine” in her bio, I knew we were destined to be virtual friends. Her husband is in the Army and their family is currently stationed in Alaska. She has not one but two sets of twins. Really.    

Bridget is nearing the end of school with her first set of twins and is at the beginning of school with her second set. You gasped didn’t you? If you are just starting out, you may or may not be able to relate to the first half of her post. Being almost at the end of “our” school career I most definitely could yet even more…I sympathized with Bridget over the next 13 years. *wink*  “School is in Session” is a quick read and you won’t be sorry.

An encore presentation from one of my newer bloggy buddies Christina who blogs at “Riding the Crazy Train: diary of a Delirious Mom”. She also has a set of twins. Only girls. She recently started back working out of the home as a Special Education Assistant after attaining what I would consider her Masters degree as Head Conductor of the Crazy Train. Her blast from the past post “Bullies: Inherently Mean or Morally Uneducated?” is a topic which I think every parent thinks about these days.

I am sure this year will supply me with much to blog about. I hope it is an exciting year for Riley and I am quite sure it will be an even scarier one for me and G. Wish us luck or even better…send alcohol…lots and lots of alcohol. I’m not kidding.

I hope you enjoyed some summer fun with family and friends.  I know I did.  =)

“Friday’s Fab 'Autism' Four”

One thing I have noticed is how addicting and time-consuming social media can be. Of course that has nothing to do with my personality.  ;P  Maybe it's my age??  Nah. Whatever the reason I have enjoyed connecting with virtual strangers...some who I would even like to meet someday. 

It has been a while since my last “Friday’s Fab Five” post. Like most people I tend to gravitate towards those that I consider to be like-minded. Hopefully that last sentence won’t offend any of my targets for this week’s instalment of “Friday’s Fab Four”. This week I am going back to the roots of my blog… autism and am “showcasing” 4 blogs written by parents of autistic kids/young adults. Kinda sounds like an episode of the Price is Right doesn’t it?  So without further ado... 
“Bloggers…Come On Down!!!”  *Could you not hear Johnny Olson (the announcer’s) voice in your mind just then?  

My first blogger is Cari from "Bubble Gum On My Shoe". She was one of the first bloggers/tweeters that I followed. I immediately liked her sense of humour, "write-it-like-it-is" style all wrapped up with a certain amount of sass.  :)

Last month Cari wrote a post “I Support Jenny McCarthy: Enter Blog Suicide”. I admired her honesty, her strength to stand up for her beliefs and even more her open mind. 

Here is a line from her post that jumped out at me and why I keep reading her blog:
“I have more respect for those who are bold and follow their own educated path; even if our viewpoints differ.”   

My next blogger is Christina from "Riding the Crazy Train: Diary of a Delirious Mom”. Christina just started blogging in February 2012 and has already been published over at “Scary Mommy” by Jill Smokler author of the book “Confessions of a Scary Mom”. Woooo-hoooo!!! Go Christina!!!  When I “discovered” *wink* her blog about a month ago it felt like we had so much in common. Ummmm…OK so she has twin 7-year old girls and R’s an 18 year old male teenager. Work with me here. Christina uses, in my mind, similar “techniques” with her girls as we did with Riley.

Read her posts “Unexpected” and “Understood Rules” for a glimpse into her life with her girls.

Next up is Jill from “Yeah. Good Times.” The only way I can describe Jill is “what you read is what you get”.  FYI Jill…that is meant as a compliment. :D  Not only does she do her own graphics, she is brutally honest and does not mince words. Her tweets keep me glued to twitter (uhhhh that is NOT a good thing BTW). She is also very, very clever in her writing as you can read here in her post “Field journal”.

My final blogger is “Elise” from “Raising Asperger’s Kids”. This is not the first time I have mentioned Elise. I have found trying to connect with parents of young adults with autism with whom you share similar goals and parenting styles has not been easy. Elise is the mother of 2 young men on the spectrum. Our stories are different yet I have found when I read her blog I am constantly nodding in agreement. If you are just starting out, I would recommend reading these two posts by Elise, “Raising Your Child – Only Your Opinion Counts” and “The Politics of Autism – This is a Safe Blog”.

Whether you know nothing about autism, know a little about autism, know a lot about autism or are just an autism wannabe *wink*, I highly recommend any of the above blogs for insight, experience and most of all…humour!  Check them out when you have a chance. 

"Help control the pet population—have your pets spayed or neutered."  
(Sign-off from the Price is Right show - sorry just couldn't help myself.)

"Friday's Fab Five"

Since I missed posting last Friday, this week will be a combo from the last two weeks. I hope you found my first installment of Friday's Fab Five "enlightening" and introduced you to some new blogs.

A new category this week will be "Recipes". After all I am always looking for a tried and true favourite recipe aren't you? You know...the ones that have been handed down through generations. This week's recipe can be found at a new blog I was turned onto over at The Glamorous Life of the Modern Day Soccer Mom. Her post on "How to Make Ice Cubes - An Old Family Recipe" is a must read! Very informative and I learnt some great tips!

I discovered the Momalog via Stasha’s "Monday Listicles" over at The good life. Ado’s post "Cindy Crawford is Perfect and I’m Not” had me reminiscing about my youth (although I was never anything close to a Cindy Crawford type…ha!), daydreaming, giggling and gasping in horror. Check it out to see why.

As you know Riley has autism so many of the blogs I follow are about autism. After 15 years of navigating Riley World one would think I would be fairly well-versed in all things autistic. Ummm…think again. *sigh*  Apparently there is something called the Sally-Anne test which was used in Simon Baron-Cohen’s (no not the Borat guy) study of Theory of Mind in Autism. I found this post “How I failed the Sally-Anne test and my autistic son didn’t” over at Outrunning the Storm. Try taking the test and see how you do. By the way…I failed too.

These next two blog posts deal with the wonderful world of “teenhood”! Even if you are not there yet these two posts will give you a taste of what’s in store for you. One is autism-related, the other is not however when you are dealing with teens…it really doesn’t seem to matter. Oish. Brace yourselves it could get ugly.

         1)   “When Obnoxiousness Reigns Supreme” at Raising Asperger’s Kids

         2)   “WTF Wednesday” at Twinisms

Have you discovered any new blogs? Please feel free to add them in the comments. I’d love to hear about them. 

Have a great weekend!

*All images taken from Google Images.