I Have a Plan…

This weekend was a whirlwind of activities for my family – Rose Canyon Lake (our weekly fishing trip), a birthday party, swimming at Grandma’s house, dinner with out-of-town family – and it was all wonderful.  But sometimes all the activities and ‘stuff’ get in the way.  Sometimes it really is best to just slow things down and not have your entire day planned.  Of course that is sometimes easier said than done, especially when you are the parent of a child with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or any Autism Spectrum Disorder – you have to have a plan, otherwise your day will most likely fall apart.   But, if you make your desired activities a part of your schedule, the transition should be fairly simple.  My son knows that on Wednesday mornings, we go to story time at the library.  Mondays are slated for the Zoo.  Our days are scheduled like crazy – I even have a spreadsheet that I printed out and posted on the refrigerator to track what we do about every 30 minutes for each day – but if you look, I’ve included things like “Boys play in their rooms -  mom has a break”, or “coloring”, “reading”, “puzzles”.  But, because we have gone through the effort to make things stable and predictable for our kids – things go a bit smoother when something else comes up.   It doesn’t have to be an extravagant plan to help you make it through the day – but trust me, it helps to have a plan!