Archie starts school

Well it seemed like yesterday that our little scrap of a baby was born and this weekend marked the end of his first week of primary school. Next week the real test begins as he steps up from going half days to all day, I'm not sure what that will do to him on the tiredness front...

The transition has been amazingly smooth, I guess we have to credit Archie [and maybe ourselves a bit] that he is confident enough and articulate enough just to step into a new environment and get on with it. What was crucial was that it was the right environment for welcoming and dealing with a disabled child.

The school has risen to the challenge with thought and enthusiasm which has been great. They asked my advice on how to explain Archie's disability to the other children and they have also consulted with Mike and myself about how to get round various access issues eg using the toilet.

They are going to get in an OT but we have been quite clear that we don't want him to have any 'special' [spazzy looking - as it always is] equipment. So far so good really.

What's clear is that Archie is set to become his school's internal celebrity - Mike says whenever he picks him up all the children [even the older ones] are saying goodbye to him, using his name. I do hope that in a way the fact that they have Archie in their school means that all of the pupils there will at least have a bit of understanding about disability that they might not have done otherwise.

Two Little Boys article in Sept 09 'Junior' magazine

Check out my latest article in Sept 09's Junior magazine. The article talks about my experience of having one disabled and one non-disabled child and is accompanied by some nice photos of all of us.

http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=209

We're just about to move again, Archie is due to start school and Ben will start a new preschool once the dust has settled I'm hoping to get back into writing a bit more... watch this space.

A cover girl at last!

It's not quite Vogue or even Cosmo but Archie and I are on the front cover of the Summer 09 edition of Transport for London's magazine 'getting there'.

The photo of me on my mobility scooter with Archie beside me relates to the article I wrote in the magazine about mobility scooters, profiling 4 scooter enthusiasts. So if you get the magazine have a read - otherwise I'll try and sort out a link!

In spite of having to turn my attention to house renovations at the moment I'm still managing to keep some brain cells working by writing some articles and I must admit I do get a kick out of it which is great; I really want to be one of those people who loves what they do for a living rather than someone who just moans about their job.

Once I've got the new house sorted, [deadline Christmas?] Archie installed in school and Ben in preschool [both deadlines Sept] I should be able to find a bit more time to develop my writing even further. Watch this space.

Society Guardian online article about young carers

Been so busy trying to sort out house renovation plans that I forgot to post my latest Guardian offering:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/jun/26/young-carers-support

Have a read and make a comment....

3 Articles in the Guardian this week

Check out my 3 articles which were in the Guardian this week:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/beyondboundarieslive

My articles are headlined - "The ratings game", "Independent thinking", "Willing and able" about education, independent living and employment respectively.