Special Needs

Epilepsy and Essential oils….does it really work?

| resumeofamother

I have dealt with my husband’s seizures and Epilepsy for over 30 years now.  His seizures have changed over the years from the type of seizure that he has, to the length of it and also what triggers it.  It has been a learning process for the both of us.

If you have seizures or live with someone with them….you know the drill.  You probably have struggled at some point yourself with the changes and where it takes you in life!  Let me say before I share any more….YES YES YES we live daily with everyone’s advice as to what meds, what foods, what life style, what we should and should not do etc.….. We are thankful for good friends and people who care, but when they have not lived with this….their advice can be like nails on a chalkboard!  Advice is great when you ask for it but not every time you see someone. Also, choosing a natural remedy… seems to ignite conversation in people who normally wouldn’t even talk to you. “Natural” seems to unnerve people and make them feel uneasy. In our family we tend to choose natural over Medical whenever possible. So this might be an option for you and then again possibly not if you’re not into any type of natural alternatives.

Ok enough with that…the purpose of this blog post is to share something with you about Essential oils that works for us.  This is not a medical diagnosis or a proven clinical fact…this is only what has worked for our family.

At this point in our lives….we have tried all the conventional ways and yes my husband is still on his meds.  But overall….he needs something else.  If you know Epilepsy….seizures cannot always be completely controlled and that is the case with him.

We have tried Essential Oils and we have found success!!!  Frankincense was recommended to us along with a few other oils.  What has worked and is working for us is “Oil of Oregano”.  Yes you might smell a little like a salad but who cares.  It works so well for us that we never leave home without it anymore.

When it is an “off day” for him, a long day, a rainy day, right before and even during a seizure….he/we apply it. You can use it straight on the skin (be careful since this is a hot oil), or as we have been using it ….we make up roller bottles with the oregano and a carrier oil.

Here are a few pics of what we use….I hope this helps you with either a new concept or at least to gives you an alternative to either try or just investigate for your own health.

You will see in these pictures… that you will only need four items. You would need the oil of your choice, a roller bottle, a funnel to help pour the oil into the bottle, and you would need a carrier oil. Once made… we use the roller bottle with the essential oil’s in it on his wrist, on the back of his neck and also down his spine every 2 to 4 hours or as needed.

Feel free to ask questions….if we can help we would love to share with you! We would love to get your feedback as well if you have tried essential oil’s have they been a success or a failure? Which oils have used and how do use them? Do you have a certain brand that you prefer over another and why?

Lynn A. Wilson (and hubby Graeme) – Resume of a Mother

Autism and Routine….

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Routine is something hard to create and stick with in our lives….but it is a necessary thing.  I watch a You-Tube channel with “Andrea Mills”.  She talks about doing things routinely if they are important enough to you. Check out her website and channel for this topic and more.

https://www.andreamills.tv

With any type of special needs and we have two types in our family, I find as a homemaker that I need to create a way of organization for them; and not necessarily for me.  With epilepsy and Autism in our home, I find that this affects everything that we do!  For example, just leaving the house to go out for the day…we need to make a list on the back door of what we need to bring with us.  This way my husband who has Epilepsy, whether it be a good day or not, does not have to think about what to bring. Especially when it is an “off” day for him, he just looks at his list on the door.

(example list for the door)

  • travel bag
  • pills
  • water bottle
  • phone
  • phone charger

For our son has Autism.…so for his needs we have created labels in the refrigerator and also a routine of where to put things.  This way there is no frustration of where things go.  We also labeled where all of our coats go.  Again, this way it keeps things simple and organized!

We have created a “white board” system to help with all those daily questions that you find Autistic kids always asking.  They want to know what the next days meals will be 24 hours ahead of time. Our board includes 3 meals, 3 chores, 3 school events (we homeschool), and whatever the special event of the day is also.

This has proven to relieve many meltdowns, and crazy evenings in our home.  When he asks the questions that he always does by 5pm sharp, we can just refer him to the white board.

Special needs can be a struggle to the caregiver as well as the person who struggles with it.  Why not make life as routine as you can to avoid any chaos and confusion.  There will always be other issues to deal with, but when things are routine it helps out a great deal.

Lynn A. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

Being of Like Mind…Autism!

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It was interesting to sit and watch the other night at a group of kids all of whom had Autism.  I learned a very valuable lesson that night!

Let me back track a little for you to get the whole picture.  Our youngest son has Autism and we belong to two different support groups.  One group especially offers a wide variety of support for parents and lots of activities for the kiddos.  This night happened to be a night for the kids, it was filled with fun, running around and freedom for them.

Freedom for them!….what I mean is that they could be who they were created to be. It was a time for them not to be judged, made fun of, no one was looking at them as if they were weird. They could speak their own language, wave their hands if they needed to, swing their legs and jump as high as they wanted. They are a unique group of people!  They have uniqueness that are their own…..and yet they don’t judge each other and they seem to relate to each other on a higher level.  They are like minded and understand each other.  Most of them have never even met before, and yet they can get along as if they were best friends forever.

What a lesson for me to learn!  Here I live in the ‘average” world without Autism.  My friends and acquaintances are “average” people.  And yet we seem to judge, talk about each other, and we are not like minded.  If we enter a room with people we haven’t met before ….we tend to look at our phones or just down right ignore each other.  Oh if we could only have the mind of someone who is Autistic….and let loose and be free!  Be free to say hello to a stranger, be free to play with someone we met for the first time, be free to jump as high as we wanted to and swing around in circles if we felt like it.

I am so glad that we have a place that allows our son to be free!  A place for us to be with other parents who we can relate to!  A place for him to be able to feel like and where he can say…..“I can just be me”.  God has given him a uniqueness called Autism…he is not strange or weird just different.

Lynn A. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

Minimalism…Simple….Simplify-where does life have you?

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What does this mean to you?  Minimalism comes to my mind. So many of the younger generation are going this way.  Many of them have watched their grandparents and parents collect things over the years so they now have taken up with the new trend of “less” is better.

I do find that the old saying…“less is more”, can be true!  But what is less?  I have watched some “extreme” shows, where they will have a beautiful “large” house and only have a mattress on the floor, 1 dish, 1 cup, 1 fork…you get the picture and they seem truly seem happy. This is not the life that I want.

I have a friend who LOVES to collect things…did I say loves it.  She collects any and everything that you could imagine.  She has now gone through her collection and resized it.  To most people…you would still say that she has a lot of “stuff” but to her …she has simplified her life in her own way with her collections and she is a happy girl.

wilson gang

In my life…which is full of special needs and most days cioas….I need “my” type of simple.  Let me explain. My husband has Epilepsy and my youngest son as Autism…..for me this changes my life on a daily basis.  I have always enjoyed a full schedule of events, lots of involvement in family, work, church and life in general.  I like lots of hobbies, things, stuff, and decor in my home etc…I like to enjoy life as I see it….but then life doesn’t alway fit what I like!!!

Recently in my home….I have had to simplify things. Less stuff, less things and to be more practical and less nostalgic. This has been very hard for me but as I get into it …it does becoming easier. I need to create a very practical world for my two men. I need to label where things go in the refrigerator and label whose jacket goes where etc… And yet find a way to make my home still seem special and pretty to me and our guests we invite over.

Recently with my schedule….I have had to simplify that too. How do you take a girl who LOVES a full schedule and adapt it to “SIMPLE” one…so that I meet the needs of my family as well as myself.  I have and am still learning how to balance life ….I really don’t know how to explain that in words with exactly I am doing. I probably need to do a VLOG on a day in the life of me.

This might not be “minimalism” to some, but for me I need to carry a planner, snacks, change of cloths, meds, water, essential oils, band aids etc… in many different bags.  I have a travel bag, pocketbook, workbag, church bag etc…each one is filled with what I would need for that event and the extras for that “just in case I need it” moment.  This works for me….my car is full of bags stuffed with stuff.  But all this stuff to me equals an organized, simplified and simple way of living.  To me my life is now not full of stressful moments and I don’t have to think as much when life takes over and craziness begins. If you have anyone in your family with special needs you would understand. We never quite know what’s going to happen at a given moment and having these extras with us at all times and organized in designated bags for that particular event definitely helps.

Simple is defined by YOU and only you.  We should not jump on a trend just because!!! Yes, we should evaluate our lives and simplify them… but this does not mean throw everything out that you own, and live in a sleeping bag.

God has given and blessed our family many times over with things and not necessarily money…I need to use what I have, simplify what I buy and sometimes bless others with my overflow.

Remember to enjoy life and where life has you. I know that this is a unique way of looking a “simple life” but it is the way I do it.  How do you do it..leave a comment below.

Lynn A. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

I can’t find my cookbook…..

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I know that I have been missing from the Blog scene for a while.  My plan was to have several blog posts per week, to be a huge encouragement to many of you and to get everyone excited about new things.  Well stop the train and let me off!!!!….

What happened to me is just crazy and somewhat simple to fix.  I needed to just get off the train….even jump if I needed to ….even when it doesn’t stop for me!!

If you have read any of my other posts than you will know how crazy my life is.  Seizures, Epilepsy, ADHD, Autism, full-time working mom, special needs wife and mom, blogger, speaker and the list goes on. But in addition to my normal crazy life I have been adding too many “sure I can help” etc… things to my schedule.

Life took over so much so that the “life train” ran so fast that I could not see what was happening to me.  I was simply enjoying life with my family, my work, my ministry…..but I kept on going, going and going.  My days would start at 5:30 am with getting up….then at work most days by 7 am.  Then home at 3 pm to pick up my son and husband and head out to an event that was carefully planned and something that we wanted/needed to do.  Next… run out for dinner….run to the next event, food shop, or help out someone else in need.  Then home anywhere from 9-11 pm…..change into PJ’s…..layout work clothes for the next day….hit the hay. Then start all over again. We have a phrase that we use all the time in our home….it is “drop and go”….we come in and “drop off” bags, misc things etc…. and then pick up the next several items that are needed and “go” to next event.

You can only do this so long….as I have been finding out. I found out how bad it had gotten for me when I went to make a recipe and I could not find my cookbooks.  On this day I stood in the room where they had been…then I remembered oh yes  …we moved them. So I looked and looked everywhere and I could not find them.  I felt like I totally lost the connection with my home, as a wife and as a mother….. how did I not know where something so simple was not where it was supposed to be. I walked away feeling down, discouraged and useless as the woman of my home.  You ask …was this simply all because of cookbooks?….Yes, this was a picture of who I had become and where my crazy life had brought me.

STOP the train and let me off.  I needed to spend the next few days reviewing why I had no idea even in my own small home, why I could not find my cookbooks.  What in the world was going on with me?  I thought maybe I am was just getting old, maybe I just needed a day off, maybe….maybe….NO, I had to take a good hard look at my schedule and make some major changes.

If you look at my planner….it is color coded, lines, circles, arrows pointing to numerous things.  Sticky notes on top of sticky notes with notes of “must do’s”, place to go, things to get done and some events noted that we have 3 or more things schedule at the same day and or time.

Well….the verse kept coming to me that I heard on a mini devotion from Andrea Mills on her You-Tube channel.  She explained the verse….”A wise woman builds her home….and a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands”.  Me talking to me….”Lynn grab hold”, stop the train, stop and write down priorities and what is really important to you! Right now for me it is important to stop being so involved in everything and regroup and gain control over the little things like cookbooks in my home.  This makes me happy, it makes me a better wife and mother, and it makes me a better Lynn.

I need to limit my “yes I can”…”sure I can add that to my schedule” etc.…. My husband and I sat down this week and reviewed what I need to tweak and reorganize in my life to satisfy both myself and our family. I must say that my life is not my own. My husband due to health issues cannot drive, and my son is too young and has autism and is not able to drive. So this puts me as the only driver. So the times where I would like to stay at home and get things done but they need to get to an event, puts me back in the drivers seat so my schedule becomes overloaded at times and not by choice. So updating my schedule, will not necessarily be an easy task with all that I need to include. And I go back to the verse in Proverbs… A wise woman builds her home and the Lord says if you lack wisdom ASK.  So I can pray, I can wait for the Lord to direct my steps, I can receive counsel from my husband and review my family’s needs and be the wise woman in my home that I have been called out to be! 

Hopefully….some of these changes in my life and schedule will allow me to blog and share some goodies along my life’s journey with you.  I still go back to my claim to fame….”I found my norm and it is a moving target”.  This seems to be a never ending reality in my life. Read my blog post about this if you haven’t already.

I would love to hear your comments where your life has brought you, and the changes that you have been able to make. What steps did you take along the way? Leave a comment below, and thank you for visiting with me today! 

 

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

 

 

 

 

 

Planner = sanity = a better me…..

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file_000I am a creative person in most everything that I do!!  I love to create new recipes, decorate my home and then redecorate it again and again. And who can forget….scrap-booking, tole painting, card making, any type of paper crafting, quilling, quilting and so many other wonderful outlets.

With being a wife of an Epileptic husband and a mom of an Autistic son…. my days do not always allow me the time or frame of mind to create in the above areas that I mentioned.  I also work full-time and home-school our youngest…while doing that, I am also involved in support groups, and many ministries in and outside of my home. So a planner is a practical tool for me…. but also a much-needed outlet for me.  But I have now learned to enjoy on a smaller scale the joy of be part of the planner community and to decorate my planner.  This is an outlet that can allow me to create on days when I need to do  mindless work, and a simple creative opportunity.

To some of my family and friends…they find this just plan nuts!!!  I have always used a planner since my first job and the start of my career.  Even back then 30 years+ ago…I would add a sticker, or doodle in it with a flower or two.  I loved the look when I would open my calendar and see the art work next to the event or schedule I needed to attend.

Move forward 30+ years….and the planner community has allowed me a whole new way to create.  Are you part of it?  Have you been bitten by the planner bug?  file_004Does the smell of stickers and does pen ink excite you?  Is going to the Dollar Tree and finding a new sickly note a highlight of your day…..well it is for me and many others. Just watching my Facebook groups with new hauls and new items from Etsy and the “DT”….is so much fun.

I will share in another blog post the breakdown of my planners and how I currently use them….but this was just a quick preview of what I like to use for my daily planner. My work schedule, my daily activities, my to-do list and other misc. dates to remember are in my Mini Happy Planner.  This is a new style of planner for me this year and I am loving it!!!!!!

Here are a few pics of some of my favorite items and a picture of a before and after for both a monthly and weekly spread before the pen.file_000

Reply below and tell me how you use your planner…..what items do you like to use in it?  What is your favorite pen to use? Oh yes send pics too!!!!!

 

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

A life filled with Routine or a Life of Adventure…..

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img_0775I am a Modern Day Working Mama with a homespun twist and a dash of special needs and disabilities – a life of adventure with a constant new norm. 

 I just love to watch people and how they live their lives, I try to figure out why they do what they do and I learn about what I like and don’t like and how I want to live my life. It got to thinking today when I watched three people who are in my life…and how they are living their lives, and if I want to this that way. 

Do you ever people watch?  I have a friend who fullsizerender-2was
sharing witProcessed with MOLDIVh me that he and his wife where having a “discussion” about what to buy at the food store.  Now you might ask “what is the big deal”…but we have all been there. Discussing, fighting, arguing about which Ice Cream to buy, what brand of bread to get etc…. It sounds silly and it really is and yet we let this get to us.

I have another friend who has a very, very structured life.  She maps out her life in increments of time and activities.  She will work her 8 hours and 8 hours only.  We will plan for evening after work, to take on one task which can include baking. When she goes home….she will prep, bake, clean up and call it a night. Mind you I would be washing dishes, doing a load of wash, listening to a You-Tube channel and stirring the pot for dinner …all while baking.  Her life is so planned out and she never deviates from this.

I have another friend who as I would like to say…gets upset over a pen falling on the floor.  She is wound up so timg_1913ightly that everything in life seems to bother her.  She can bully anyone in her path for the smallest thing they have done wrong and yet if you try to talk to her about anything she will burst into tears with fits of anger.  Yikes!!!

I have two other women in my life who I admire for the way they adapt to life.  Both of them deal with a “special needs” situation in their life.  One seems to run with ease …I know she will tell you that is not the case, but to me she does.  The other friend seems to just live life and take on new adventures anytime they pop in her life.

Now getting back to a life of structure or a life full of adventure…..well, you probably guessed it, I will take the life of adventure.  Yes it can be filled with chaos at times, it can be filled with half done jobs, dishes in the sink, laundry not done and drive-through for dinner. But life is too short to worry about a pen dropping on the floor, it is too short to worry about which ice cream or bread to buy and it is too short not to taste life at its finest.

If you have read my story and the journey that I am on….my life is never normal and it is always a moving target to finding a new normal.  I am a “Modern Day Working Mama with a homespun twist and a dash of special needs and disabilities – a life of variety a constant new norm”!!!img_9065

I work full-time, I am involved in three distant ministries, I homeschool, I am a mom of a special needs son, I am a wife of an epileptic,  I am a mom of adult children, I am a women who strives to live out her dreams, I am a women who loves to blog, craft, scrapbook, be a planner nerd, try new things, travel, make homemade soups, decorate her home and much, much more.

Some people ask with delight how do I do it all….they watch me on Facebook and see how full my life is.  Some watch with judgement and question all that I do and wonder if my life should be more structured.  Some watch with wonder and they would love to live this way but are afraid to step out and try it.

Now my dishes do get washed, and my laundry gets done…..we don’t run around in dirty cloths. I do stay at home and with a task list in hand at times and “try and get more organized”. fullsizerenderYet on the other hand….life keeps calling, new places to see, new things to taste, new adventures to try with my family.  I have people to meet, lives to encourage, people to share great experiences with, people to mentor, people to learn from and a whole lot of life to LIVE.

What Journey are you on? What path have you chosen to live? This is your life and your choice to make…..what do you like “structure”, “wound up tight”, or “a little chaos”?  Tell me your story in the comment below…I would love to hear from you today.img_0921

Follow me on my blog for some fun, new and interesting topics.  Like my blog post  and share with a friend who might need to rethink how they are living their life.

 

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

Modern Day Working Mama with a homespun twist and a dash of special needs and disabilities – a life of adventure a constant new norm!

Epilepsy Awareness and the Do’s and Don’ts…

| resumeofamother

November is “Epilepsy Awareness” month….but I often wonder is anyone really aware or how much do people really know?  We are a family who has been affected by Epilepsy.  We know what it is like to live with this daily; we know what it is like to live a different life copy-of-file_0005than most.  We know what it is like to consistently tweak our schedule, routine, meds, family events and almost everything else.  We know what it is like to just think that “we got it”, to find out we don’t…and what we thought caused the seizures changed again.

I wanted to write something about some of our challenges when trying to live a “normal” life and also in spite of this thing called Epilepsy.

copy-of-file_0008

How has Epilepsy affected our family….let me list a few things that either you will relate to or hopefully will give you some insight to what “normal” is for us…

  1. Seizures daily
  2. Mood swings daily
  3. Anger issues
  4. Depression
  5. Loss of full time work
  6. Loss of friends
  7. Way to much advice from everyone as to what we are doing wrong
  8. Loss of a drivers license
  9. Large medical bills
  10. Health insurance issues
  11. Always trying new meds
  12. Trying to balance being a parent with your kids when Epilepsy gets in the way
  13. Trying to balance being a spouse with your wife when Epilepsy gets in the way

copy-of-file_00071 in 26 Americans will develop epilepsy in their lifetime. An estimated 3 million Americans and 65 million people worldwide currently live with epilepsy. Each year at least 200,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy. In two-thirds of patients diagnosed with epilepsy, the cause is unknown.

http://www.cureepilepsy.org/ or http://www.epilepsy.com/

Epilepsy is real and does affect many, many families.  Each story is different and each person is unique!

I write to you today not to complain but to explain.  We are a typical normal family with an added member call Epilepsy.  We believe that this is part of what has been ordained to becopy-of-file_0001 the package that makes up our family.  We call ourselves the #teamgwilson
….and we strive to live each day to the fullest, we try to beat the odds, aim for a
fun filled live, not hold onto what we do not have etc…

Our greatest strength comes from the Lord!  We also find strength in our church family, family and friends and some support systems that we have put in place.

With most disabilities we as humans are normally frightened by it.  It is different…we don’t know what to say, what to think, where to look etc… Just remember that these people are human, and have feelings.  DO NOT treat them different or like they have a rare disease.  DO NOT offer advice when you have no clue what is going on. DO NOT pamper them. DO NOT ignore them when they walk in a room, walk the other way and DO NOT feel sorry.

My husband is one of the strongest men if not the strongest man that I have ever met.  He is a true example of what a life with Epilepsy can be when someone purposes in their heart to live a filled and purposeful life.

We will be writing a 3 part articles this month to share and encourage you all on this subject.  To help paint a full picture the articles will include….what is like to be the wife of an epileptic, what is like to be the son and grow up with an epileptic dad and then what is like to be the EPILEPTIC person.

Feel free to let us know part of your story in the comment below.

Thanks for sharing our lives with us!

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a mother

It feels like Autism is contagious in our family…..

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Autism is part of img_7357our daily life…..and we are still learning every day what this means to be a family of special needs!  We adopted our youngest son 13 years ago and we had no idea the ride we were in for!

Gavin has Autism along with other disabilities which can make it hard to know which issue he is having and which disability it belongs to.  They are can actually run together to make for a fun day at times.  It would also take us on many adventures and journeys that as a family we never knew we would go on.

In the  beginning he had “quirks” as img_8847we would say since we didn’t know that they were linked to being Autistic.  Things like loud noise, certain movements, lining things up, repeated show watching, talking to trees in back yard, repeating lines from shows he has watched consistently, eating certain foods and putting them on his plate in a certain order…. and many more things. I am sure if you have someone in your life who is Autistic you can relate to the above and probably add so much more to this.

A funny thing happened along the way…we have found that we too can no longer handle a certain noise level, crowds make us uncomfortable, we use the large handicap bathrooms instead of the regular stalls for more space to move around in, I find I myself lining things up on my desk and doing little crazy things like lining up my pen cap to the writing on a pen and other unusual things. YIKES….he rubbed off on us, and we love it!!!img_0315

At first we didn’t even realize what we were doing and how we were changing….but then after looking back we can see it more and more how we have changed.  You know what the best part about this is for us….is that we can relate to our son.  Even through others see these things as usual, we find them to be a gift and a blessing to better understand him.

Our son lives in a world that he cannot always relate to…he lives in a world that is backwards img_0324and inside out for him.  I heard the other day on a TV Christmas program…that if you don’t fit into the box….then get another box! Yes, yes, yes……that is just what we all needed to hear.  Gavin’s box or life is his own special package and that is how he was created to be.  Could the Lord have stopped him from being this way, absolutely….but he chose Gavin to have this gift of Autism and we feel that he is rubbing off on us so that we can relate  & understand him better and others with disabilities. To be able to share some of his struggles and in turn try to can help him learn to adapt to this world we live in, by finding the right size box for him!

Do you have a loved one that has Autism or someone who does not fit in a box?  Share you story with all of us in the comments below….I would love to hear from you!!

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother