Where do I begin? We have had so many changes in this household lately, and still more to come! Lots more. I suppose the most important change for Charlie is the changes of bedroom. Right now his sister is going into my room, he is going into his sister's room and I am going into his room! It will cause quite a disturbance as Charlie like familiarity and loves routine so changing rooms will ultimately upset him and this could become problematic, especially for him settling him at night.

Changing rooms will be a long gradual transition to ensure Charlie has the time and space to move into his new room and settle there. We're under no pressure to rush this process so we can take as long as Charlie needs. Charlie also has picked out his own paint and wallpaper. He will also choose his own bedding and curtains/blind too. Having Charlie choose his own designs and themes in his room is a step forward to giving him control which reduces his anxieties. This can only be a good thing! I look forward to the day when he is settled in his new room.

The next big change is of my job. This week saw me starting a new work from home role with a national charity as a family support coordinator. I am very excited about this role. I believe I've gained enough skills from liaising with professionals as a parent carer and in my previous roles to be able to effectively manage this role. It’s a dream for me, working with families who have challenges due to medical issues and supporting young people to get the best out of life. Making sure that they have access to everything they should need. Working from home is definitely the best role for me as it allows me to be present for Charlie and his siblings and I can therefore put their needs first. Although, yesterday was full of challenges. We really struggled with the new way of working and working from home with 3 children to take care of definitely had its teething problems.

This week saw the return of drumming lessons. This is an activity that Charlie used to really enjoy and I specifically asked for it in his EOTAS plan. However, when he got there, we were in a different room. And it was smaller and made him feel claustrophobic. Unfortunately because of this, we left after less than 5 minutes. I have not yet organised this as life has taken over, but I need to request our old room back. That change is just too much for Charlie and the drumming didn't go down too well either. Unfortunately we haven’t attended drum school since pre covid and i’m not sure drumming is still the activity that supports Charlie the best that can be with musically. So we will have to see what else we can do there.

There has also been changes in my personal life and i’m not quite ready to discuss that in this little space of mine. But the change will absolutely affect Charlie. And that's unfortunate as I did my very best to protect him and unfortunately, I am likely to hurt his feelings with my decisions.

I think that's enough changes for now, September will bring even more changes when EOTAS finally kicks in and Charlie will have to coordinate speech and language therapy (starting 8th) swimming lessons (starting 6th) and an occupational therapy assessment on the 7th. We also have tutoring that will take place 3 mornings a week. I am still happy that eotas is going ahead and we should be able to settle into a managable timetable. I will update in September!

We're halfway there.

Georgina x