The Latta Family

Instead of being a drug dog, Alexa could be a candy girl.   She can sniff candy out of ANYWHERE.   It’s really kind of impressive.   On Sunday Doug went to the grocery store and came home with Girl Scout cookies, among other healthier groceries.   Alexa LOVES to unload grocery bags.   So what does she find first?   Of course, the Girl Scout cookies.   And somehow she knew that she needed to open them right that second.   How did she know that?   I don’t know.   She’s clearly a genius- when it comes to identifying anything with sugar.   So last night Andrew was working on his homework and Alexa decided she needed to go through Andrew’s bookbag.   Up until last night she has never been particularly interested in his bookbag, but somehow she knew that Andrew had . . . DumDum suckers in there!!!!!   As soon as she found them she had the same look that people digging for gold in California had when they first discovered it. ...

Did you know I have an aunt that teaches etiquette lessons to children and adults?   She thankfully lives way out in Seattle and has not had the opportunity to eat with us.   I say thankfully- not because I wouldn’t want her to eat with us because we would enjoy her company, but because I don’t want her to see how horrific the manners of my children are!   Oh the horrors that meal would be.   If she comes to visit anytime in the next 10 years, I’ll just put a bag over her head so she can’t see how we eat.   I mean- it’s not like we’re barbarians.   More like cavemen.   Andrew, despite our CONSTANT reminders, constantly slouches so far down in his chair that he rests his knees on the table while he eats.   There have been minor punishments, but nothing consistent nor effective . . . yet.   So last night we were sitting there eating, what I thought was a good dinner: pork chops, lima beans, and mashed sweet potatoes.   Alexa, Doug, and I s...

I rarely take Alexa to the store with me.  And after every time I take her, I vow, "This is the LAST time EVER!!!!!"  If you were Harris Teeter in Indian Trail yesterday around 4:30 you probably saw a blur of black pants and heard a high pitched shrieking, that would have been myself and Alexa.  All I needed were: hot dog buns, lunch meat, cheese, and cole slaw.  I hoped that since I was only getting 4 items and Alexa was in such a good mood, it would an easy trip through the store.  HAH!  The Fates laughed at me again.  Here's how it went.  The walk through the parking lot was delightful.  The entrance into the store- lovely.  Putting her into the cart . . . is where all the troubles began.  She no longer likes to sit in seat of the cart, so I put her in the basket part of the cart.  We raced through the produce section, and almost past the floral section when . . . it all went downhill.  She saw a balloon.  Since...

Today's posts are really going to illustrate what a top notch parent I am.  Not that my other posts don't do that already, but these will really lock your opinion of me in place.  Andrew approaches me a bit ago with a small cut on his finger.  While he tends towards the dramatic, this particular time he wasn't.  Since he wasn't being dramatic- I thought I'd be a more sensitive parent (see- already demonstrating my Top Notch Skills) and offer him a bandaid.  Here's the rest of the situation: Scene: Andrew standing at bathroom counter with injured finger sticking out (which just so happens to be his middle finger), I am gathering up the bandaid and ointment.  Me: Hey- are you sticking up your bad finger at me? Andrew: (looking confused) What? Me: (internal eye roll at my stupidity.  I promise you I honestly thought to myself, "Way to go, Kate.  We all know what happens when you assume!" Like- when you assume your kid knows about the middle ...

Do you remember that scene in The Christmas Story , when Ralphie's brother was hiding under the kitchen sink after Ralphie got in a fight and said a stream of bad words that is still hanging over Lake Michigan?  I always thought that was such a weird place for a kid to hang out.  It's tight quarters.  It's sort of icky.  Even though the drain does not actually dump out down there (unless something is really wrong), something about it feels . . . like icky, old food is down there.  There might be pests.  My children have recently started hanging under the kitchen sink.  Andrew likes it mostly because he can get under there and make Alexa scream at him.  Any activity that makes Alexa scream, is his kind of activity.  Alexa likes it . . . for the same reason she likes to sit in boxes, her closet, and other tight spots.  She'll open the cabinet, back into it, sit down, say, "Bye bye" and then pull her feet in, while she shuts the door...

Around Christmas I was starting to really wonder when Alexa was finally going to start talking.  She had a few words, but really felt no need to use them.  I knew better than to actually wonder out loud when she would finally start talking, because once Andrew started talking . . . he never stopped!  I knew the whole talking "thing" was a doubled edged sword.  I wanted her to talk because I was pretty sure that would help ease up some of the tempter tantrums, but then . . .  did I really want to know all that she actually thought?  The other thing that occurred around Christmas is that I watched a video of Andrew when he was 18 months old and realized- she was . . . not quite as communicative as he was.  I wasn't particularly worried because she understood everything I asked her to do perfectly, but I started to wonder if I had perhaps ignored some of her developmental needs.  In the last month have the words come fast and furious...

Usually when we get home from school, we're all starving, so we eat a pretty big snack- which in Alexa's case is actually her dinner.  As we're sitting at the table and eating, Andrew says: I know how to say "Hello" in France!" Me: Really?!  (Huh- last week he learned about neoplasticism (which I just had to ask him how to spell) and now he's learning French?  Public school's not so bad!) Andrew: Yea, I saw it on Transformers! Me: (feeling deflated) Oh. I fixed a delicious, healthy snack.  I got the idea from Pinterest (go figure).  I sliced an apple into thin slices and then drizzled some melted peanut butter over the apples.  It was like apple nachos.  Mmmm it was soo good.  There we were sitting, everyone in good moods, behaving, sharing, it appears it's going to be a delightful snack.  And then it happens.  Alexa picks up one of the apples, licks the peanut butter off, and puts the apple back on the plate with all the other ap...

I am sure you know, but in case you’ve forgotten, I am a Special Needs teacher.   For 11 years I taught special needs students in the “regular” classroom, and for the last 3 years I have taught in a self contained classroom.   My students have varieties of disabilities, but the most prevalent disability is Autism.   I am proud to say- I now speak the language of an autistic child.   It’s a recent acquisition, but it’s so handy! Before I write anymore, I want to preface this by saying I am NOT mocking or making fun of my students in anyway (I’m actually admitting some pretty uncool personality flaws of my own).   Do I tease them?   Heck yeah!   One of our favorite things to tease about is, slamming our hands down on a desk to make anyone or everyone in the room jump. We have a noise maker that makes burping and farting sounds- we LOVE it.   We love to hide fake spiders in notebooks, desks, and chairs. We like to call each other knicknames like: knu...