People with special needs are the same but different.....Get over it!

I am writing this blog  in a state of total and utter bad mood! Probably not a good time to put my feelings down given the Godzilla type bad temper I have going on at the moment but if I don't get it off my chest I may actually burst out of my superwoman knickers! Not sure the world is ready for that!!!

 I took my daughter and her friend out for a 'girls day out' on Monday. Imagine the scene - 2 teens both with special needs. We went to Pizza Hut which was a huge success (though not on my bank balance), and the girls had a lot of fun, laughing and giggling with each other.  A few times they had to be reminded to quieten things down a bit and distracted when they both became fixated on two young men in designer suits, sitting at the table next to ours. After our lunch the girls decided they wanted to go ten pin bowling. This was also great fun. The girls bowling techniques were downright awful but they just did not care. My daughter is the only person I know to almost knock herself out with a bowling ball and her friend throws the ball in such a way that the ball goes so slowly its almost as though time stands still! Saying that, she manages to get a strike almost every time! Weird or what! Naturally, the super competitive streak in me meant that there was no way in hell I was going to let the girls win! I crowned myself the bowling champ as I beat them by one point. Not an impressive victory but I was happy!!! (hangs head in shame).

During our time bowling, I had to, on a number of occasions, stop myself going over to the teenage girls in the next lane to ask them what they were looking at and giggling about as it was very obvious that my daughter and her friend were the subject of their conversation, with lots of nudging and looking in our direction. My daughter's spinal deformity is now becoming very obvious. Her learning disability isn't always obvious, nor is her autism. Her friend, who is 17 years old is extremely small for her age and also has physical problems as well as a learning disability. Did that mean they deserved to be someones topic of amusement. I wanted to go over to this group of young girls and find out if they had any questions about my daughter and her friend as they were obviously so interested in them. I have to say though that my daughter also noticed them staring at her and kept asking why they were doing this. I had to tell her that it was because she was so beautiful that sometimes people found it hard not to stare at her as she was so amazing looking. Not sure she believed me but it was obvious that she was affected by these young girls.

Whatever my daughter's disability, whatever her problems, at the end of the day she is still a teenager like every other teenager. Yes, she does things differently. Yes she thinks a little differently. OK, a lot differently. Yes she looks different. But, she still wants to try and do some of the same things as other girls her age. She does have feelings, despite the fact that some people seem to think she doesn't. Yes I have heard the expression, 'but she's autistic, she doesn't do feelings'!!! (bangs head on desk).  She does not want to be mocked or stared at. She worries about how she looks. She loves fashion and boys like other teenagers.   So, cut kids with disabilities some slack. Yes, she's the same, but different! Apart of course from the super girl vest she wears under her tee shirt! So, recognise, understand and respect that difference. Don't mock it.

*This post was written as a part of  SPECIAL SATURDAY which promotes awareness of special needs. We can also be found on Facebook - Spec-sat bloggers, and on Twitter @SpecSat using the hastag #specialsaturday.

Just because .......

As a mother of a child with special needs I do have an appreciation and understanding of all things in the disability world and like to think that I show nothing but respect for people who have to meet the challenges of living with a disability. Today however tested me to the limit!!!! I almost took my Superwoman knickers off and throttled someone with them !!!

My daughter, the wonderful FD, not only has autism, a learning disability and epilepsy, but she has a spinal condition which requires her to have very invasive spinal surgery soon. This condition leaves her feeling more tired than normal. She tires quickly and this can often affect her behaviour, often leading to a meltdown. Today was a particularly tiring day for her. I took her and her friend, who also has a learning disability, out for lunch and then bowling. Then the girls went back to our house to play with the dog. I was exhausted myself by the time I dropped her friend home. En route back to our house I had to stop off at the GP's to collect a prescription for my daughter's epilepsy. During the car journey, FD was becoming increasingly irate and very tired. She was on the verge of a very big meltdown and I knew I had to get the meds as quickly as possible and get her home before all hell broke loose. When the meltdowns start, it has a Tsunami effect! So, best to avoid them or diffuse them if we can as even Kofi Annan would have trouble breaking out peace during such times!

When I pulled into the GP car park it was obvious that FD was totally exhausted and beside herself and was not going to get out of the car. So, I looked for a space right at the front of the building where I could run in, collect the prescription and run straight back out again. If there was a queue, I could still be in a position to keep my eye on the locked car at all times. My only other option would have been to leave her in the car in the lower car park, out of my sight line. This was so not going to happen!!!! So, the only car parking spaces available to me were one of the 3 disabled, blue badge holder spaces. Now, I don't have a blue badge for my car which allows me to park in one of these bays. The powers that be have not deemed my daughter's problems bad enough to merit this. Obviously they would know, what with living with us 24 / 7!!! (insert sarcastic snort here!) This is under review at present so watch this space. Anyway, as there were a number of spaces I saw no harm in parking in one of them. I knew that it would be for a maximum of 1 minute. So, parked I did. I jumped out of the car like Linford Christie with his lunchbox on fire and sprinted across the car park, heading for the door of the surgery like there was a naked George Clooney super glued to it!

I got about 10 feet when a car drove in front of me with and older couple, probably in their 60's in it. The male driver, upon seeing where I had parked my car, proceeded to wind down his window and wave his blue badge card at me and complain very loudly about me parking in a disabled spot. I pointed out to him there were a number of spaces left and that I would be less than a minute. He again began to wave his card at me very angrily. By this point, my daughter had spotted what was going on and was watching intently. I had two options here. Firstly I could take his disabled badge and shove it up his bum whilst explaining my reasons for parking in his precious parking bay. Or, secondly, I could remain calm and walk away. I knew creating a further scene would only upset FD and I did not want to do this. So, I chose the second option. My superwoman knickers were chaffing so badly by this point I thought I was going to have a meltdown of my own. I held my head high, mostly to keep the tears in my eyes from rolling down my cheeks, and continued my sprint into the surgery, ignoring the complaints of this idiot. I was gone in total 20 seconds. Thankfully there was no queue and I nearly knocked a poor granny flying as I sprinted back out the door. On my way back to the car I spotted Mr Blue Badge holder and his wife very briskly walking, unaided towards the door. It appeared that they were in better shape physically than my daughter! But if today taught me anything, its not to judge a book by its cover, as they had so obviously done! I bit my tongue until it bled and snorted the tears back!

So, please remember this -

Just because someone does not have an obvious disability, do not assume that they are fine physically or emotionally, or socially.

Just because I park my car in your space, please do not assume that I am doing it because I am lazy! I have a reason for wanting to park so close to a building.

Just because you did not see me cry, do not assume that I did not.

Just because someone wears a smile every day or appears to be unaffected by something, do not assume your harsh words or actions did not hurt or embarrass.

Just because you think you have more of a right to something, it doesn't mean you do and that others don't deserve a little help or understanding sometimes.

Just because you did not notice a child looking at your stupid, thoughtless actions, do not assume there was no child there.

And lastly, just because you cannot see my superwoman knickers under my clothes, do not assume I could not kick your arse if I wanted!!!

BULLY BE GONE! PART2

School holidays are upon us and most parents are thinking, ' oh crap I've gotta entertain my kids for weeks without throwing myself in front of a bus or having a nervous breakdown'. Sound familiar? Well for the Jontybabe household, the school holidays, although bringing some stress, actually totally eliminates another kind - SCHOOL! The whole issue of school has been enough to make this gown blogger cry!

As I have previously discussed in a past blog post, FD has systematically been bullied in her school by a particular individual. To be shocked that this sort of thing goes on in a moderate learning disability school, is an understatement. As is right, one would expect that the environment of such as school would mean higher levels of supervision. Unfortunately after a lot of negotiations and arguments with the school, during which I was asked to leave the building because the Vice Principal was offended when I questioned her professionalism, OH and I have made the decision to fight for a new school for our daughter.

The difficulty has always been that we are restricted in our choice of school within our local area. There are 2 other Moderate Learning Disability (MLD)  schools in the area, both of which are wholly unsuitable. We have heard such bad reports about these schools that we feel we would be simply moving our daughter from one bad school to another. Like FD's current school, these schools did not deal exclusively with special needs kids, but with those struggling in education also. The only other school left open to us has been a Severe Learning Disability School. This is a truly wonderful school, with wonderful staff. I have had some experience of them through friends and also through my work. We have never pursued this option because we were concerned that the other professionals would not share our view and feel that FD did not meet the criteria.

However, the situation in June got desperate, when FD came home from school, after another incident of bullying, and threatened to throw herself out a window. To hear your child's desperate pleas not to be sent back to a school where bullying was tolerated because as far as the teachers were concerned, if they didn't see it then it didn't happen. Allegedly, bullying did not and had never happened in their school. Pigs willy!!!! Excuse the expletive! They were after all a school for children with learning difficulties. It seems, that in their warped mind, children with learning difficulties were not naughty? Now I'm no expert on children, apart from being a mother, previously working in learning disability and being a child protection social worker (insert sarcastic laugh here), but children with special needs are every bit as capable of naughty behaviour as any child, and its about recognising what is acting out and what is not. As we pointed out to the school many times that although the majority of their pupils were somewhere on the autistic spectrum or had some other form of difficulties, there was a large group of children who did not fall into any of these categories, but were there because of difficulties with their education and had deficits in their learning. Their self care skills were totally adequate and socially they did not lack the skills or understanding my daughter did, and they were very streetwise. The child who was continually making FD's life a misery was one such child. She knew I was a social worker and her family, having a long history of social services involvement, obviously did not like me and by extension did not like my daughter. This child's mother took no steps to educate her daughter around her behaviour, although to be fair this would have been difficult a lot of the time as the school refused to contact the child's parents, stating that they would handle it themselves! Apparently, all difficulties within school were handled by the school and they saw little benefit to getting parents involved! (cue my dead faint)!!! AGAIN!!!

So, the situation we have been left in is to write letters of complaint to our local Education Board (LEA) and do a lot of jumping up and down. OH has been the one handling all of this because I am in the unfortunate position of having to work with all the people involved in a professional capacity through my job. Also, I completely lose the plot and want to take my Superwoman knickers off and ram them down the throat of whoever is pissing me off!!!!

So, in order to kick start the whole request for a new school procedure, FD had to undergo another Educational Statement assessment. The psychologist arrived to the house to carry out this assessment yesterday. When she arrived I was unsure how I felt about her as she completely was unfazed by the cuteness of Floyd the puppy! I immediately thought, 'Oh harsh'!

 The assessment took place at our kitchen table and took almost 3 hours, with a break half way through. FD was asked to complete various pieces of work with the psychologist. I sat in the living room, hugging a cup of tea and having a panic attack the entire time!!! Some of the questions that the psychologist went through with FD sounded ridiculous to me but I suppose the woman knew what she was doing! I sat the entire time wishing that FD would get lots wrong so that we could get her into the school we so desperately wanted and she desperately needed. I felt like such a bad mum! However, the assessment came back showing a marked regression and deterioration from her last assessment. I had such mixed feelings about this that I struggled with my emotions.

Sitting down with the psychologist she told me that my daughter now was assessed as having a severe learning disability. I wasn't sure whether to be glad at this point as we were going to get what we needed for her, or be totally distraught. It also seems that FD may have had an epileptic absence during the assesment process also. Poor child must have felt so stressed. I felt sick! I started to babble to the poor woman about ridiculous things. I could feel myself close to tears. I hugged the dog! This assessment brought back so many memories and feelings from when FD was first diagnosed with a learning disability and autism.  However, it did make me question the original assessment carried out when FD was 6 years old or there abouts. At that time she was assessed as having moderate learning difficulties. Her ASD was also in the process of being diagnosed too. Yet, that assessment recommended at that time that she could cope in a MLD unit within a mainstream school. I had insisted that she attend a MLD school instead and after threats of court action we got our way. If however, FD was now being assessed as having a severe learning disability, was that original assessment too optimistic or are FD's problems now getting worse because of her age and her ability to cope in a more adult environment.  I just don't know and felt too sick to ask. I could feel the need to pull my superwoman knickers over my head and hide away. Big deep breathes were needed and I needed to stop drowning in my emotions and get to the task at hand. The psychologist, who I now had decided I quite liked and didn't want to poke her eyes with a fork, discussed that she would be making a recommendation that FD attend a school most suited to meet her needs and that school should be for children with a Severe Learning Disability. I could feel myself wanting to gasp for air like a goldfish!

And so, we have requested the school we have wanted for quite a while now. We are waiting for the big decision makers to get back to us so that we can start FD in her new school for the September term. Whether or not they will agree to that particular school remains to be seen. I'm tempted to start drinking gin to calm my nerves. But if I started I wouldn't stop!!! Some days it just feels that my superwoman knickers need an upgrade to a superwoman girdle!

Squeaky toys and slobbery kisses!

As previously blogged, my family have bought a puppy. After a lot of research about the benefits of pets, particularly dogs, with special needs kids we took the plunge! And I'm really glad we did.

As the research suggests, having a dog seems to bring out a whole new side to an ASD child's personality, relieving stress and actually positively changing some behaviours. Therapy dogs are now being trained, in the same way as Dogs for the Blind. This is surely a positive move in the recognition of ASD and a more heightened public awareness of the needs of families coping with the condition, though more is desperately needed. However, our puppy, Floyd, is just a bog standard pup bought from a breeder. Although, some of his behaviours are a little quirky and FD asked us if he was autistic like her! A special needs dog? Would fate do that to us? Probably! But I think he is just a mad, playful and hyper dog!

When our puppy first arrived at the house FD was thrilled. Well I think she was. FD doesn't really do hyper excited like 'normal children'. If she's happy about something we might get a little smirk from her. Although the best tell tale sign that she is happy with something new and unexpected is that she hasn't gone thermonuclear and had a complete meltdown. So, the absence of screaming, shouting and tears was a good sign when we introduced her to Floyd.

Within a few hours of his arrival she was lying beside him on the rug and was completely comfortable in his presence. We have a lovely photo of the two of them having a cuddle together and this did bring a lump to my throat. FD is aware that the dog is still a baby and she treats him as such. She knows that he does not like loud noises or shouting so she has kept the shouting to a minimum. On one occasion she could feel herself going into a meltdown and one look at the dog and she went to her room to calm down. So already, the dog was influencing her management and self control of certain behaviours. Now, I'm not saying that the introduction of the dog has been right up there with 'miracle' but as a family, we are noticing the calming effect he has had on FD. And, I have to say, the calming effect he is having on other members of the family. There is something very therapeutic about having a pet on your knee, stroking their head and talking softly to it. Other people call that insane but hey ho! And as for my son Afro Boy, he is coming out of his bedroom aka The Dungeon more and more to play with the puppy. He has even taken him for walks. As both Afro Boy and OH have discovered, a puppy is a babe magnet! Yes its true! Young women squeal with delight when they see Floyd and bounce over, all boobs and lippy to talk to you about him! Naturally my lovely husband and son are thrilled by this extra bonus! 

Our main reason for getting a dog was to boost our daughters confidence. As is typical with a lot of children on the Spectrum, she does not communicate well with people she does not know. Often when we go out and someone asks her a question she looks to me to answer for her or needs prompting to answer for herself. With her family however, she is a talking machine. In fact she talks so much I often want to rip of my ears and hide them in a cupboard, just to give myself a rest! If there was an event in the 2012 Olympics for non stop questions, she would win a gold medal! Having a new puppy, particularly one as cute as ours, means that you can't walk further than 100 yards without someone stopping to say hello to him or make a fuss of him. From the outset, FD has confidently answered all questions about him. She proudly tells people his name and that his age changes every Friday because he was born on a Friday! 'yes he is 14 weeks this week and will be 15 weeks old on Friday!' 'He eats my toes'. 'He eats my mums flowers in the garden', etc etc. It is funny to hear her chat about the puppy. She doesn't look to us to help her out with the answers. Yes, I suppose to a certain extent she probably has a supply of answers memorised to give out, but the point I suppose I am trying to make is that its the fact that she is answering so confidently and independently.

Now, don't get me wrong, having a puppy is not all positive. There are times, particularly when he has peed on my very expensive fireside rug, that I have threatened to have him made into a pair of fluffy slippers. Once or twice I did threaten to phone Cruella DeVille! Then I realised I was talking to a dog and stopped threatening him! I am now 'forced' to get my fat ass off the sofa every evening after dinner and take Floyd for walks. The damn dog is making me healthy! How dare he! I don't feel very healthy when I'm squelchy through mud in the wind and rain! However, the biggest surprise in the whole puppy-gate saga is how much OH adores the puppy. Going from a dog hater type of person to a man who has been on the West Ham FC website to see if he can get the dog a West Ham coat!!! Both he and I have turned into the type of people we used to laugh at. Now all I do is post pics of Floyd on Facebook or Twitter and OH has suggested getting Floyd his own Facebook page! OH actually gets quite offended when people don't stop to talk to the dog! How could anyone with a heart walk past such cuteness!!! We are freaks!

However, perhaps the one thing that sums up the success of our new addition to the family is the conversation I over heard FD have with Floyd. They were sitting on the rug and FD had her arm round Floyd. He licked her hand and she looked straight at him and said, 'You are my best friend in the whole world'. Nuff said! I had to rush to the laundry to find a clean pair of superwoman knickers to cry into and blow my nose on! I love my family. All of them!

Meet the family - part2 My husband!

As part of my 'Meet the Family' posts can I introduce you to OH. The love of my life!! Ok, ok I realise that some of you are now puking into your wastepaper bins or your partners shoes, but its true! Just what is it that makes that one person 'the one'? Someone's Prince Charming might well be someone else's frog! Well let me tell you a little about OH and you can all make up your own minds. But be warned, some of it's not pretty and there may be intermittent SOPPY ALERTS!

He is the man who I love in spite of the fact that he drinks cans of coke on the toilet! - Yes I know (no one said he was perfect). Its totally gross!

He is very handy around the house and is actually very domesticated. Unfortunately he tumble dries EVERYTHING! And I mean everything - I have lots of lovely clothes -that now fit Barbie! But at least he does laundry!

He still laughs at his own farts. I think this is purely a man thing and maybe he'll have grown out of it by the time he's 50!

His side of the bedroom is always untidy - he has shoes everywhere, and little piles of clothes! Drives me nuts! But he does make the bed. Badly but he does it.

He cooks everything at too high a temperature, too fast and the smoke alarm always goes off!!! But hey! At least he cooks! Right? I'm just waiting for the entire household to be poisoned or the house to burn down!

He leaves his shoes lying in the middle of the living room floor where inevitably I will trip on them almost breaking my neck or diving head first through the front window! Either that or the puppy will eat them and I will laugh my backside off! But, he does have to move them when he does the hoovering! Yup thats his job! I'm far too delicate to hoover a three storey house. Have you seen how many stairs that involves! Lots! I've slid down them on an inflatable air-bed! Drunk!

He refuses to recycle and does not believe there is a hole in the ozone layer! He purposely puts the wrong things in bins! Drives me nuts and has been known to send FD into a mini meltdown!

He snores!!! He snores like a water buffalo giving birth. His lips vibrate and he sounds like he's about to snort up a tonsil!! There are times when I twist his nose when he is asleep but shhhhhhh!

Now don't think that this blog is about purely having a go at him for all his little foibles. Because you can rest assured that despite those annoying habits that make me want to rip his head off or beat him with his golf clubs there are so many wonderful things about OH.

Before we were in a relationship we were good friends, helping each other through the break ups of our first marriages. Very difficult times for us both and he understood how I felt much more than any of my other friends. For him, the heart ache and loneliness were still fresh and very raw. We offered each other invaluable and at times emotional support. Then, we became friends with benefits! Yes I know its very 'Sex and the City' but what can I say........the man was good! Who better to sleep with in the 'omg I'm a single mum with no social life, stretch marks and no confidence whatsoever' days, than a trusted friend. Plus, there were extra's such as the McFlurry ice-cream he always arrived with! What can I say! I'm easily bought!!! Now for all you unromantic out there I should warn you SOPPY ALERT! SOPPY ALERT - the passion and laughter that we shared together ended up with us falling in love! awwwww I can hear all you Mills and Boon freaks sigh! Bleurgh I hear all you pukers and cynics!

Of course, those of us who have been in the real world know that no fledgling romance is ever without problems - especially when there are children concerned! Particulary when one of them has special needs. At around this time FD's difficulties were becoming more and more apparent to the extent that she was becoming violently aggressive and I was tearing my hair out during the times that she wasn't pulling it out in clumps! OH was my rock during this time despite the grief that FD gave him. She kicked him, she punched him and refused to talk to him! He put up with me kicking him out of the house at 6am every morning before the kids woke up so they would not know he had stayed overnight. He put up with me constantly getting up during the night to settle FD and he put up with my insomnia and night terrors I have suffered from for a long time. OH was the driving force behind me pushing for a diagnosis for FD and without his support I am not sure I could have survived those few years of uncertainty without losing my mind or jumping off the roof of the house! (He also stopped me carrying through my fantasy of putting a hatchet in my ex's head! Never a good idea. A great fantasy with a reality of prison apparently!)

And so the romance continued for 5 years! It was bumpy at times but in the main it was fun, it was loving and it was bringing happiness into our lives. Then one Christmas Eve OH was down on one knee with an engagement ring! Whats a girl to do but say............'are you serious?' I know its not the most romantic of responses but I was in shock! Then I burst into tears, then I said yes!!! Then I thought, 'crap, how am I gonna tell the kids'? 'how are we gonna tell his kids'! As it turned out his kids already knew as they had seen the ring! His daughter had actually tried it on and got it stuck and apparently there was a bit of panic! When we got back to my house I sat my kids down and asked them how they felt if we got married. Afro boy took it very well and was genuinely happy. FD never said a thing and just walked out of the room into the kitchen. We sat and waited for the meltdown but it didn't come. She came back into the room a few minutes later and said she was very happy. Phew! Catastrophe averted!

And so, as they say, the rest is history! I married a man who tells me he loves me every day, despite the fact that I can be a total moody cow! He holds me tightly when I have a nightmare and kisses my shoulder if I even make a whimper in my sleep. How the man has not put a pillow over my face I dunno because I wake him up all the time! He brings me my breakfast in bed every weekend. Yes yes I am a totally spoilt cow I know! But hey I'm so worth it!!

Occasionally OH buys me flowers for no reason. When he first did this my first question of course was 'what the hell have you done'? He was obviously guilty of something!!! But,  over time I have come to realise that there are actually men who haven't committed some heinous marital crime that makes them buy flowers out of guilt!

OH still tells me I am beautiful despite the fact that I am much fatter than I used to be, look like something escaped from a lunatic asylum a lot of the time, and have bags under my eyes the size of George Clooney's ego! I know you all think I am a sex goddess but sorry to tell you, I lied!

OH is a fantastic father aka pushover to both his children and mine. He would do absolutely anything for the children and this in particular is what makes me love him all the more! He's always trying to find ways to make life easier for FD and this takes so much pressure off me! He Fights my corner when needed and always has an alternative to solving problems rather than burying bodies under the patio!

OH pushes me to do things I would never have the guts to do normally. Without him I'm pretty sure those superwoman knickers would never make it out of my wardrobe as often as they do. I can and have coped on my own as a single parent. So for all you feminists out there banging your heads against a wall, my man does not make me who I am but he just brings out the best in what is already there in me!

OH buys me silly little gifts and gets so excited about them he tells me before he gets the chance to give them to me! Yes I am one of those people at work who has personalised post it notes and pens that say SUPER SOCIAL WORKER, compliments of my gift buying husband.

One if the things I love the most is the fact that OH holds my hand when we go out. The kids think it's soppy but we don't care. We have also discovered that if we threaten to snog each other we can clear the room of kids in seconds and gain control of the tv again!!!

But, the best thing about OH is that our marriage is so much fun! We laugh all the time! Everything is such a giggle. Even the difficult days are tackled with a joke and a giggle. It's how we get through the tough times. But mostly we laugh a lot because we enjoy each other so much. Soppy I know! I'd rather be crying with laughter than crying because of a broken heart!

So, there you have it! He's not perfect. But he's perfect for me! So, what makes the man in your life perfect for you?

Howling at the moon!

So, the Jontybabe household has yet another new family member. Floyd the dog! Now, this is as much a shock to me as it is to you! The OH has always hated dogs. They made him feel uncomfortable. They induced cold sweats, and generally he wasn't a fan of dogs! Over the years, the Fashion Diva has requested a dog and we have always said no because of the way OH feels. At one point my daughter was telling people that she was going to get one when OH died! Not sure who promised her that! Anyway, moving swiftly on.........

Last week OH came home from work and suggested we get a dog. Well, I almost choked on my toasted pancake and cuppa tea. I then felt his forehead to make sure he wasn't feverish. OH felt that a dog would be beneficial to FD, by improving her social skills and confidence. We were both aware of the benefits of dogs to children with ASD and had read many articles about this subject.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3553932.ece

So, my lovely husband was again putting his own needs to one side in order to benefit our daughter. I'd lend him my Superwoman knickers but I think they may be a bit uncomfortable. Anyway, I agreed to do a bit of research on breeds of dogs that would be suitable and we both agreed that a small breed would be best in terms of allowing OH to feel comfortable around it. So, 2 days of research and we found Floyd who is a Wee-chon which is a White West Highland / Bichon Frise cross! He is adorable looking!

Poor Floyd had to endure a 2 hour journey home to our house. FD, who was being looked after by her brother, had no idea we were getting a dog, so when we walked into the house with him she was stunned! She immediately took to him and he to her! She's not too keen on his name though! We told her a fib and said that this was the name he was given by his last owner. She had wanted to call any dog she got Dean!!! (she's madly in love with her brothers friend) So, you understand our dilemma! Even OH has been quite taken with him the dog. He takes him into the garden, plays with him and talks to him! In the past OH has simply grunted at any dog and tolerated them as best he could. But to be honest it was much the same as us tolerating someone waxing our bikini line!

Floyd settled extremely quickly his first day and night. There were no little accidents on the floor and he only cried for 20 minutes the first night. However, things soon changed! It appeared by day 2, Floyd had suddenly found his confidence and his attitude! This was apparent as he dragged my lovely Monsoon handbag across the floor, only stopping to bite my big toe! We've had him out for walks and he's decided to stop for a nap halfway through!

We have only encountered our biggest problem with him at night. He will not shut up! He sleeps in a doggy crate / cage in the kitchen, which is recommended by many dog experts, and he bloody hates it! I've been putting him into it for short periods during the day to get him used to it & he eventually settles. But good grief the last two nights have been a different story! I sit here typing this blog with my eyeballs literally hanging out of my head! From the minute Floyd sees that crate door closing he turns into a wailing banshee! The ear piercing howls are enough to make you want to stick knitting needles in your ears! Combine that with FD crying because the puppy is crying and that's how Crazy my world is right at this moment! Having a puppy is like having a toddler on LSD rampaging round the house! It's pandemonium! In order to try and establish a good training routine we have more or less been housebound, only leaving the hell hound for very short periods of time.

Despite the difficult nights, my daughter is loving having Floyd about the house. She is very attentive to him, always fussing, making sure he has his toys or enough food. She is even feeling confident enough to take a hold of the lead when we go for walks! This is a big step for her. Floyd seems to have brought a type of calmness to her (apart from the times he is nipping her toes) and she loves to chat about him to whoever will listen. She's not however that keen on his name. She thinks we shoulda called him Dean!!! Now there's a surprise!