On Wednesdays we usually have our homeschool park day which has become rather quiet. Right now Alex’s social needs are not high and so having a few kids to play with occasionally is enough. This week we gathered at Organ Pipes National parks with a couple of extra families from gymnastics. Alex insisted upon taking Darci. I expressed my doubts and concerns that she would be left behind as I would be unable to carry her. Alex seemed to enjoy this time with the other kids, which ranged from 1 to 11 years old and he carried darci the whole way. We walked and saw some amazing geological features, but the kids were most taken by the stream and played in it for some time. We also saw some wallabies, and an eagles circling in the sky. The features of this park include the Organ pipes, Rosette wall, and the tessellated pavement. We made our way along the path, crossing the tessellated pavement and being faced with a steep uphill walk. Alex went ahead with the more physically able kids. Daniel insisted upon making the journey himself and he just about managed it too. At the top, Darci got very dirty and Alex used the water fountain to clean her! She also got a much needed wash back home!
Alex had been talking about a particular park for a while and so we finally got to it. It was a terribly cold day! Even Alex complained of the cold and quickly put on more layers after eventually getting ready to go. I heard him in the bathroom giving himself instructions on how to brush his teeth! The much anticipated climbing was a bit of a failure, and given the extreme cold we decided to go on with our day and ended up at the MAC swimming. The kids love swimming, and so we had lots of fun. Daniel has started mimicking by kicking his legs and Alex is increasing his stamina, particularly underwater! His new lessons have been successful, though they are much more about technique he seems to still enjoy them. After swimming we grabbed a hot chocolate at Max brenner (yum) along with some sushi. Which brings me to our currently most challenging issue at the moment. Alex was always such a happy and easy eater. He would eat practically anything. In recent times, say the past 6 months or more as we have lifted our previous limitations, he has become very selective and prefers to eat foods that our bought. Now occasionally I don’t mind this but I have allowed myself to do it too many times and the spending has become an issue. So I’ve recently spoken to Alex about limiting this. I make similar foods to those he loves at home such as sushi and sausage rolls but he prefers to buy. We made a list together this week whereby i asked Alex to tell me all the foods he’d be happy for me to pack for him to eat on days out. You see I usually pack whilst he’s sleeping and so he has little input over his lunch fr that day, unlike when we are at home and he can generally choose. Hopefully this strategy will help.
The next day the kids visited their grandfather for a few hours and got to spend time with the pigeons which they both love. It’s great that they share this with Gigi.
On Saturday morning we had a trip to the city planned to watch the MSO! Alex told me how he hated music and that he didn’t want to go. Alex usually asks for music to be turned off. I had to really consider my approach here as I didn’t want to force him (not very unschooler like!) but this opportunity was limited. I asked him to just give it a try and if he didn’t like it after a few minutes we could leave and do as he wished. He was also happy to get on the train for a ride. Anyway, so we got to Melbourne town Hall and Alex could see all the instruments and was quite curious. When the conductor came in and gave a short demonstration, Alex was really impressed! Afterwards he spoke about the conductor’s baton and how it moved fast and slow for the music to change. He watched the entire story and got involved in some of the singing too. It was a really wonderful experience that Daniel seemed to enjoy too. I’m looking forward to the next one.
