Hugs make me smile

I love hugs. And kisses - am giving the girls as many as possible while they're still young and before they start telling me to 'stop it!'. Sasha is very tactile and cuddly, which is not something always associated with the stereotype of autism.

I just wanted to share a moment that made me really smile today. When we went to collect Tamsin from school Sasha was, as usual, full of beans and running around without her coat on (it'd be without any clothes on at all if I let her, despite the fact it's still winter!). She ran over to the nursery door, where one girl and 2 boys from her morning session were waiting with their mummies, and just held her arms out and gave the girl a really big hug. Fortunately the girl hugged her back, and then said to Sasha 'we're friends, aren't we?', which almost brought a lump to my throat. Of course Sasha didn't pay any attention to what was said to her and immediately ran off, leaving me to talk to her new 'friend', but it was so heartwarming to know that her peers are actually giving her attention and maybe even accepting her for how she is! Kids, truly amazing.

What's more amazing is that I'm daft enough to have left Sasha with the sand play d'oh AGAIN this afternoon, different room this time, and yes you guessed it, I came back 5 minutes later after doing the washing up to find the room decorated with it. Cue Sasha getting upset because I was not happy, and a bit of impromptu hoovering. Ho hum. I still think the pleasure she gets from playing with it in the first place outweighs the irritation of having to clean it up... but only just.
Another repeat 'misdemeanour' from no. 2 daughter is how she has taken to sucking/chewing the ipod and camera leads which are usually plugged in at the side of our computer screen. Fortunately she's not electrocuted herself doing it yet (and now won't, as they have been permanently put out of sight). There are teeth marks - in the plastic bit at the end, not the wire! Just another example of how telling her off about 'naughty' acts just doesn't sink in. She didn't repeat it to be naughty, but honestly because she doesn't remember/understand why I told her off about it the last time.

This post has just reminded me of that song 'smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it's breaking, when there's a cloud in the sky, you'll get by... etc'. I vaguely remember my nana singing this to me so it holds happy and sad memories. The words are perfect for 'down' times - not that I actually have many of those thankfully!

Ha. Just read over my last post and noticed a 'thansk'. That and 'relaly' (really) are the two words I just never seem to be able to type properly. So apologies in advance for the next time I do it :)