#1811 Saturday 19 May

This afternoon I was resting.... I've got an eye problem.... and Kaylia walks past.....  "Get up Dad" she says!  She had decided that she wanted us to go for a drive.... so obviously "Dad" wasn't allowed to be resting!

The current NDIS kerfuffles are disturbing.  It is seems apparent that the scheme did not anticipate the number of people in the community who are living with disability.  In the time pre NDIS, people just kept quiet and endured..... now that there is help available, people are raising their hands to request the help!  The previous estimates seem to have been based on the numbers actually in "the system".... and suddenly there are many more. ..... and the method being used to cope with the extra people is to make it harder to claim!  People are being told "You're not considered to be disabled any more. Bye!"

#1810 Thursday 17 May

14 days to go!  Soon I'll be able to start burning the piles of rubbish round the yard.  I look forward to this each year.

This morning on the drive to school I was having some D&M thoughts .... I was thinking back to 30 years ago when I had the bulldozer bogged in a creek at the back of the farm.  It was very thoroughly bogged .... deep enough that I couldn't even start the engine!  The bulldozer was a 1953 Fowler 45hp single cylinder diesel that was started by hand.  It had a large external flywheel and this was stuck in the mud .... so starting the engine was not an option.


Over a period of a few months I arranged a winching set up with many pulleys to multiply the power of the 8ton winch on the Landrover.  I only had 3 pulleys of my own so I began asking round the neighborhood to find some more.  Soon I began to find pulleys just arriving on my doorstep!  No names .... just the pulleys.

This picture shows how adding pulleys in the right way multiplies the effective force. 



Soon there were enough pulleys donated that I could create a very powerful array .... I estimated it to be about 50 ton of force ...... and it pulled the dozer out of the bog!  I wish I had a photo of it.


The point of this story is that the community clearly knew much more about me than I realised .... we often underestimate the care that our friends have for us and that our community has for us.

#1809 Wednesday 16 May

Wow!  We have just arrived home from school ... on the way home, I stopped for shopping and had 4 bags of shopping in the back seat of the car.  I took two bags inside when I first went in ..... planning to get the next two bags on another trip.... but when I turned around, Kaylia had already carried the bags inside.  This is without me asking or mentioning.  It's another example of just how she is growing up and developing into a very pleasant person.

#1808 Tuesday 15 May

I'm upset and disturbed.... it's a very auty cause.... my IT world has been disrupted.  A few days ago, an update to Windows.... 1803.... was installed and the new version seems to have messed up Google drive Synching as well as having removed the networking facility!  All without any warning or any replacement.

My equilibrium is thoroughly disturbed.... there must be millions of people who are feeling the same way.

#1807 Monday 14 May

While driving to school this morning my thoughts drifted to the saying "Give me a child till they are seven and I will give you the adult." .... paraphrased!  ....... and for Kaylia there are many aspects of her personality where ... despite being 14 years old, she is still not the equivalent of a seven year old.  So my thoughts were saying that she is such a delightful personality that she is likely to develop into an equally delightful adult.  I hope so.

Her bedtime routine has several stages and it concludes with a final "tuck-in" at around 9pm .... with the admonition that she needs a "big sleep" so that she's ready for school in the morning.  I then have a little mantra ...."Mummy loves you and Daddy loves you - you're our favourite girl."  Last night I got through the Mummy and Daddy part and then she gave a great big smile and said "FAVOURITE GIRL!"    Such are the little snippets of joy in raising Kaylia.

Memories are the building blocks of happiness
and love is the mortar that binds them
into the wall of our life.

#1806 Saturday 12 May

Kaylia and I have been out shopping for Mothers Day.  Kaylia really seemed to understand that we were looking for a present for Mummy.  Her first choice for where to shop was Woolworths!  She prowled round the aisles .... and her first selection was a packet of potato chips .... then she went and looked over the table of special MD items ..... ignored most of them ..... then she chose a mug.

We also went to Big-W .... she went straight for the toy section and searched up and down the aisles ..... and picked out a packet of rubber ducks for the bath!

We're home now and she's in the bath with the ducks.

#1805 Thursday 10 May

As I dropped off Kaylia at school this morning I saw a behaviour that shows her autism .....

We arrived just as one of her classmates was walking through the gate.  Kaylia got out of the car and went in .... her friend had waited about 10 metres away and was watching Kaylia ..... clearly waiting for her.  Kaylia walked off in a different direction!  I suspect that Kaylia was in her own world and didn't notice.  ......

Afternoon
On the drive home from school she was doing her usual singing away ..... and every now and then, a few words would creep into the wordless singing ..... today I heard "happy" a couple of times.  This gives me a good feeling to know that she can recognise how she is feeling.


Kaylia has had a followup visit to the podiatrist this afternoon.  She has pronounced bunions on each foot and she now has a "serious stuff" orthotic in each shoe to correct her  stance and walking.  This visit was to see how it is going after 2 months use.  Her walking has improved and the weight distribution of her foot inside the shoe has also improved.  The weight is now evenly spread as she walks.    Apparently this will not correct the existing bunions but it will help slow down the development of the bunions.

I'm also going to try some little doodads from Ebay ..... these cost very little so it's just a trial and error exercise.  The podiatrist is OK with trying these as she says that these doodads cannot correct the bunion but they may provide some comfort. .... so they are worth a try.  I will let Kaylia choose what she uses.


Evening
As usual, she played a lot in her room after story time and after Dr Daddy time .... this is teeth cleaning .... The playing means many trips to the loo and lots of having the blankets put over her.  The loo trips are a stim I'm fairly sure.  There's no way she could have that much wee inside her!  She has been rewarded by praise when she goes to the toilet and now she keeps on going to the loo in order to produce further praise.... the loo trips have become a source of rewards for her.

By 9pm I "lay down the law" and insist that it is sleep time.  I explain that she wants to go to school ... so she must have a big sleep so that she is ready for school in the morning.  Tonight I laid the praise on very thickly ...... and she was so happy to hear it!  Her face was shining before she rolled over to sleep.