Jen Merrill's Blog, page 31

How to take super sensitive kids to a theme park and still be sane at the end of the day

This morning I posted the following over at the Laughing at Chaos Facebook page:

Taking the boys on a long-promised trip to Six Flags Great America today. I’m trying to be excited about it, but I’m not really looking forward to this. We’ve been burned far too many times with fun outings and sensory overwhelm.

I am proud and relieved to announce that not only did we survive the outing, but had a fantastic time and are all still on speaking terms. This is a big step for those of us here in Chez C...

Start with compassion

Us and them. That’s actually the title of a back to school article in Chicago Parent, about “talking to your kids about special needs.” There are so many things wrong with that title I don’t even know where to start. Given that the article was written by a special needs mom, I have to believe that the editors came up with that polarizing title. Really? Us and them? How aboutCompassion is everything? OrWe’re more similar than different. I don’t even have a special needs child (in the sense of...

Parenting without a net

I hate being patronized. Treated with a gentle smile and empty eyes and insincere words. It happens in only one area of my life, because as a flutist and teacher and writer and volunteer I am treated with more respect.

Parenting.

Or rather, a female parent.

As a female parent I am patted on the head when I issue concerns about my sons, one son in particular. I am seen as over involved, indulgent, and crafting elaborate mountains out of tiny little molehills. Ignorant of the “true facts,” I am a...

Book review: How to Work and Homeschool

In the last year or so, I’ve become an unofficial mentor of sorts to parents of gifted kids. I have a couple-three computer or phone conversation a month, talking to parents, passing along resources, commiserating, gently suggesting that maybe homeschooling should be considered. Inevitably I get one of two answers:

“Oh, I could never homeschool, we would kill each other.” I know this reply in a deep and intimate way. Very deep and intimate. We were in an extended relationship, and know more ab...

Just a little SENG-over

You know how when, if you go out of town, you come back further behind than you thought possible? Like you’re gone four days and suddenly you’re four weeks behind? It’s some kind of screwed up time-space continuum, as though you’re being punished for leaving in the first place. It also seems to happen when you’re sick, adding insult to a great deal of injury. Zombie Flu did that to me once already this summer and I wasalmost caught up. Then I went out of town for four days.

And it was worth ev...