by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Jul 10, 2023 | Education Materials
Staying Organized as a Foster Parent of a Child with Special Needs
There’s no denying that foster parenting is a rewarding experience, but it also comes with challenges, especially when you’re raising a child with special needs. Among other things, taking care of a child with extra needs requires impeccable organization and planning.
It’s important to identify efficient strategies for staying on top of everything to maintain a healthy, happy, and nurturing environment for your child. From decluttering to planning meals, Homeschooling Dietitian Mom has rounded up the most effective and cost-efficient ways to keep your lives organized and minimize stress along the way:
Declutter and Organize Your Space
A clutter-free house makes it easier to think and move. It’s no secret that caring for a child with special needs can be messy. Start by decluttering and organizing your living environment to reduce stress for your child and yourself.
Your child’s room is an excellent place to start. Then, you can move on to the kitchen, living room, bathrooms, and other spaces. Having everything in its rightful place will make it easier to access the essentials when you need them while also making the space feel less overwhelming in general.
Tidy Up Your Documents
Raising a child with special needs requires lots of paperwork, from medical records to therapy appointments, educational programs, and more. Staying organized means that you must keep track of documents, reports, legal papers, and other important information.
A simple way to accomplish this is to create a filing system for each of your children. Be sure to label each file according to the document's nature and put them in one place. You’ll notice less anxiety and stress if you can find what you need quickly and easily.
Further, you can streamline your life by scanning and digitizing your paper documents using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. This will allow you to convert files into fully editable PDFs and search, edit, and organize your documents with just a few clicks. In fact, if you want an OCR software option, here’s a great place to start!
Nail Down Your Kids’ Schedule
If you’re fostering more than one child, you know how challenging it can be to keep everyone’s schedules organized. One strategy is to use a family calendar or whiteboard and note each child's activities, appointments, and meetings. You could also prioritize important events and establish routines to bring some predictability to your day. Involve your children in the planning process, and hype them up for upcoming events or activities.
Plan Your Meals
Cooking for a large family can be time-consuming and stressful, but meal planning can save you time, money, and stress. Plan your meals one week in advance and make a grocery list around your plan.
Meal planning can help you shop efficiently, reduce food waste, and keep healthy meals ready for your family. Batch cooking and freezing portions can also ensure you always have something nutritious and easy to prepare on hand.
Succeed in Your Work
If you have a remote job or run a business from home, you must find a way to balance your work and family life. Set aside specific hours for work and stick to them as closely as possible. Communicate with your family about when you’re working and when you’re available.
Moreover, use your work breaks to check in with the children, play, or simply relax. It’s crucial to remind yourself that you don’t have to do everything. Learn to delegate tasks, and don’t hesitate to invest in caretaker services!
Wrapping Up
Raising a child with special needs as a foster parent is not without its challenges, but it’s also very rewarding when you approach it with a strategy. You’ll notice less stress and easier caregiving duties when you stay organized and plan ahead.
Remember to establish routines, keep a clean home, organize your documents, strike a work-life balance, and implement the other tips above. You’ll quickly create a nurturing and structured environment for your foster children and yourself!
Photo Credit Pexels
Alyssa Strickland created millennial-parents.com for all the new parents on the block. Alyssa believes the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, but she also thinks it takes a village to raise a parent! Millennial-Parents is that village. Today’s parents can be more connected than ever, and she hopes her site will enrich those connections. On Millennial-Parents, she shares tips and advice she learns through experience and from other young parents in three key areas — Education, Relationships, and Community.
Homeschooling Dietitian Mom has all the parenting, educational, and nutritional tips you need. Click here to browse our store!
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | May 13, 2023 | Cooking Tips, Food Allergies and Special Diets, Nutrition and Health
Looking to go vegan, vegetarian, or just increase your intake of plant-based foods? Great news… you have tons of options to get you started on making a veggie burger from scratch.
Start by exploring the shelves of your grocery store's freezer section.
You'll find burritos, frozen prepared vegetarian soups, veggie burgers, meatless nuggets, veggie stir-fries, Indian entrees and much more. You don't have to rack up a grocery bill stocking up on these prepared foods… but checking them out will inspire your at-home plant-based protein creations made from scratch.
You will also find some good quality alternate protein sources like this in your supermarket’s produce aisle.
Tofu in varying levels of firmness, tofu hot dogs, veggie nuggets, seitan, and other magical meatless food sources can help when you're trying to eat meatless but need sustenance in a hurry.
TIP: Base your own homemade veggie burger and veggie nuggets recipes on what you find pre-packaged in the store.
The best part of this is that your own homemade veggie burgers will not contain unwanted extra ingredients like MSG, dextrose, and various addictive powders that they add to packaged foods to make them look and taste better and cause us to want more of them.
So how do you make veggie burgers from scratch?
It takes some advance preparation, but you can do it! If you typically use a pressure cooker to spring dried beans to life and make into a nutritious meal, then this will be step one.
But if you don't have the time or energy to cook dried beans you can easily find canned beans on your grocery store shelves. Canned beans have already been cooked and are waiting to be added to your recipes. Most grocery stores have a canned veggie aisle that is packed with selections, and that includes beans and legumes! For example, black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and butter/lima beans!
TIP: Rinse the beans before using them to lower sodium content AND to reduce the amount of gas causing carbohydrates.
So, step one of your homemade veggie burger or veggie patty recipe would be to get a source of legumes or beans.
Let's say that you simmered up a pot of lentils on the stove. Maybe you even added all of the flavorings like garlic and onion, some oil and some herbs, salt and pepper. Even leftovers from a lentil dinner that you already made as a porridge style meal can become veggie burger patties which will lend some excitement to the week's dinner and lunch rotation.
Also precook a whole grain such as brown rice. There are other grains to try, but brown rice works well because of its gelatinous consistency. Also, the small grains stick together very well when formed into a patty along with the beans.
So, mix together about 2 cups of beans or legumes to 1 cup of rice or adjust to your own preference. Then add ingredients to give it flavor and texture such as minced garlic, minced onion or chopped onion, and a variety of spices plus salt and pepper.
What kinds of spices should you add to your homemade veggie burger?
Well, if you would like an Indian flavored veggie patty, then add your favorite garam masala or yellow or green curry powder. If you're going for southwestern or Mexican flavor, then add some chili powder, paprika, oregano and onion powder.
If you enjoy Mediterranean flavors, you can add basil, thyme, garlic, parsley, and rosemary.
So many options! You get to choose with what to season your veggie burgers. That's one of the best things about scratch cooking!
Next, you'll want a fat component which will typically be a nut or seed oil. It can be anything from olive oil to sesame oil to sunflower oil. You only need maybe two tablespoons along with the rest of the ingredients mixed in.
Of course, you will need something to help the burgers stick together. If you are vegetarian but not vegan, then you can simply crack a couple of eggs in and then sprinkle breadcrumbs which will form your vegetarian protein patties.
To make these homemade veggie burgers, fry them in hot oil; a couple of tablespoons is enough. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side in a frying pan on the stove top.
Click here for our delicious recipe for garden burgers, which is based on the Morningstar Farms Garden burgers.
You can also bake your veggie burgers. To minimize the amount of oil you use, you can put your oil in a spray bottle and coat the bottom with avocado, olive, or other oil. You can also spray the veggie burgers with oil to help aid browning and crispiness. Place in a 375-degree oven and let it cook for about 6 minutes, then flip to the other side and cook for six more minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Veggie burgers made from scratch can be frozen and used for a quick lunch or dinner.
In the same way that it is very convenient to simply reach into your grocery store's frozen foods case and grab veggie burgers in a box, you can pre-cook and then freeze your homemade veggie burgers the same way. We do this every time we make garden burgers. Since making from scratch can be time consuming and messy, and you only have to clean up once!
It's helpful to separate your pre-cooked veggie burgers with wax paper before packaging and freezing. This is so they don't stick to each other when you attempt to thaw them out and cook them. You will want your veggie burgers to retain their shape and avoid developing freezer burn if possible. An affordable vacuum sealer can help with that. My husband LOVES his vacuum sealer.
Stay tuned for information on how to use tofu in recipes to add protein and more!
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Mar 30, 2023 | Homeschooling
You may have already thought about the fact that your children aren't the only ones who are learning during your homeschool journey. However, I still thought it might be helpful and encouraging to discuss some of the ways that I'm being homeschooled. As a result, I've come up with 4 ways I'm being homeschooled.
1. I'M LEARNING HISTORY IN A WHOLE NEW WAY
The first of the 4 ways I'm being homeschooled is related to the fact that I absolutely hated history when I was growing up. I especially disliked history when I was in high school. I thought it was seriously boring and I avoided it as much as I could. As a result, I don't remember much of anything except sitting in class talking to my friends, or writing notes to my friends, or even figuring out how to skip class.
It's true that I took the bare minimum classes in high school and college. However, I don't remember learning ancient history AT ALL.
Of course the Bible is history as well. However, I did not grow up with the Bible, nor did I start reading the Bible until I was an adult.
It is true that I have learned SO MUCH through the Bible. However, every time I read a book to Nathan, especially when it is historical fiction, I learn too. This is known as living history. And I think everyone could truly benefit from learning history this way!
For example, we are currently studying Martin Luther and are reading the book, “When Lightening Struck.”
Not only are we learning about Martin Luther, we are learning about what the culture was like during this time period. A well-written book will provide descriptions that bring the time period to life. And this book is doing it all right! We are looking out through Martin Luther's eyes, experiencing his life, becoming entrenched in his observations, including the smells.
During Martin Luther's lifetime, the Black Plague broke out several times.
Well, have you ever thought about what they did with the people who died? Apparently, they put them into “the stockyards.” If you lived anywhere near the stockyards, you could smell the rotting bodies!
Also, people were ignorant and superstitious during this period because the Roman church was controlling everything and people didn't have access to the Bible. As a result, people, including Martin's mother, would blame things such as their babies dying, on witches and witchcraft.
The people didn’t know the Bible, and were ignorant of the idea of germs.
Knowing what you do today, what do you think was causing so many baby deaths? In “Lightning Strikes,”, Martin mentions losing a baby sister, and he was remembering holding her little hand with his dirty thumb.
Now, I could have easily taught Nathan about the Black Plague, Martin Luther, the superstitions of this time period, and lack of knowledge regarding germs through a facts-based textbook. However, if we had just read these facts in a textbook, I don't believe they would have held nearly as much meaning as reading a “living history” book.
Reading, “When Lightening Struck,” is opening up a whole new world for me (and I'm sure for Nathan as well).
And every time we read a book like this, my world expands even more!
This is just one lone example of how I'm being educated in history as the result of reading books to Nathan.
To see the book, click here.
2. ONLINE LEARNING – I'M BECOMING MUCH MORE TECH SAVVY
Number 2 of the 4 ways I'm being homeschooled is that I am much more tech savvy. 🙂
Whenever I enroll Nathan in an online class, I go through the class as well. Take for example, Techie Homeschool Mom's Graphic Design Online course. I learned SO MUCH in that class!
And believe it or not, I had never heard of or used the awesome online program Canva (also Canva App) before 2018. I also learned how to use Emaze, right along with Nathan. And those are just two of the main apps and programs I learned through this class alone!
Speaking of tech savvy. I wanted to start a blog over 10 years ago but didn't have the skills or the resources. If it wasn't for the fact that I homeschool, I seriously doubt I would have found out about “Build Your Bundle.” And one thing keeps leading to another. Here I am one year later, finally fulfilling the vision God has given me–one step at a time.
Who would have thought homeschooling would lead to this?
For example, in May 2018 I came across an awesome Blogging Basics class, and next thing I knew I had a blog!
And how could I forget the awesome Etsy Masterclass I went through with Nathan. (Well, actually Nathan didn't go through it yet–but I sure did)! =) In fact, to read more about my experience with it, Click here
Again, these are just a few examples of what I've learned and grown through this homeschool journey.
3. I'VE LEARNED SO MANY COOL THINGS ABOUT UNIQUE LEARNERS
The 3rd of the 4 ways I'm being homeschooled is related to the fact that Nathan has special needs and is a unique learner. He struggles with developmental coordination disorder, also known as Dyspraxia.
From the beginning, I really wanted to enable Nathan to be successful. As a result, I was motivated to go out and find unique learning tools and boy did I succeed! I've written about this previously a bit here.
But if I'm going to be totally honest here, I have to admit that my “How I'm Being Homeschooled” journey started before I even imagined I'd ever be homeschooling.
So those of you who aren't actually homeschooling, don't get discouraged, because you are learning too–whether you realize it or not!
My learning began the day Nathan was born, when I realized breastfeeding wasn't going to be a breeze.
Then, by six months, I first realized that Nathan was going to have some feeding issues.
Fast forward to kindergarten. Friday of the first week of school, I got “the call.” You know the call from the principal? They were worried because he was running off when he was supposed to be lining up, just to name one specific thing I remember discussing.
Long story short, Nathan was a challenge when he was in the regular public school and he was in public school until the end of 3rd grade.
In the public school Nathan was assigned homework pretty much every day. And you can be sure he didn't want any part of it!!!
And when Nathan doesn't want to do something, it is extremely difficult to get him to do it.
Back then I didn't totally get it about his autism. Nor did I completely understand why he was fighting me so hard on the homework. After all, I absolutely LOVED elementary school!
All that really matters in the overall scheme of things is whether your child is learning.
How they learn is not nearly as significant. As a result, I started thinking outside of the box more. For example, I learned how to teach Nathan in alternative ways because Dyspraxia affects his writing more than anything else. Out with the sticks and the magnetic letters.
An as he got older, I discovered speech-to-text and text-to-speech as well as visual processing programs to help with organizing thoughts. click here to read more about these programs.
When Nathan was at the end of 1st grade, I took a job as a substitute special education assistant for a little extra money. Let me tell you that I got so many good ideas from that! And I also obtained tons of valuable experience working with all sorts of unique and talented kids.
Which I am absolutely drawing from in my homeschooling with Nathan. I don't think I would have even considered a job such as this if it wasn't for my desire to understand my own son better.
4. I'M MUCH MORE WELL-ROUNDED AS A DIETITIAN
And last but not least, number 4 out of the 4 ways I'm being homeschooled:
Like I mentioned a minute ago, I started learning the day Nathan was born. He had breastfeeding issues so I pumped for eight months. When I tried to follow all of the “rules” I was taught in school, they fell flat.
For example, brown pureed rice. He spit it up–I realize now this was an early sign that Nathan had a sensory issues with food.
I DID NOT realize it at the time.
Also, he threw up peanut butter. That was an obvious one (food allergy). However, the sensory issues with food still affects his eating today, though I would say he is way less picky than he used to be
and I am much more educated!
Read more about why kids are picky eaters here.
These are just 4 ways I'm being homeschooled.
How about you? What are you learning in your homeschooling/unschooling/lifeschooling journey?
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