Understanding Alice

A National Picture of Harm: Families speak out on SEND

I have blogged a long time, in and off here on wordpress, but I have decided to move over to Substack. If you would like to keep following me (and I hope you will) you can find me here: Understanding Alice

As protestant Christians, I noticed we are pretty good at weekday service, and we managed prayer too, but worship went seem a bit pants at. The catholic end of Christianity seems to manage it better with saints days and all that. I just feel as a Christian family we need a few more celebrations in Jesus name. And then a friend blogged this: Epiphany, in the UK at least, has become rather a…

Whenever I listen to Christians I respect, I hear them talk about not being able to have a truly deep relationship with God without the practices of solitude, silence and stillness. Which I think is true. But I’m all kinds of nerodiverse, and try as I might, all this has eluded me. Recently though I have had a revelation. Truly, a divine intervention. I’m going to talk about being nerodiverse…

If like me, you are white, English and love your neighbour, NOW is the time to say so.

I have a new hobby. (Sort of, the art bit isn’t new). It’s a threefold blessing: I get to do art in a manageable time frame, I get to collect art from all over the world and I get post ♥️ ATC’s are small bits of art that artists trade with each other. I’m in a swapping Facebook group set up by the fabulous Wendy Solganik creator of fodder school, and one of my favourite artists. I already have…

It’s been a funny year for the garden. I’ve been preoccupied and haven’t really got to it for the growing season. I’m spite of that we are growing rainbow chard, onions, peas, runner beans, tomatoes and squash. It’s about half what I had planned, but it will do. And as ever it’s been a joy involving Brandon from seed to fork. I can see how the growing season of 2025 will be part of his home…

I’m in the final run of sorting out my art stuff so it fits into our house as we now need it with eBay and home school. It’s been so hard to do, with my feelings tangled up in every box. Dismantling the table was especially hard, each paint stroke on it a memory of making things with love and prayer. This week I have waivered in the face of all the newness, questioned my ability and resources…

We are having a home education practice week next week. This is so both Brandon and I have had a little dry run before we start in September. I have been finishing my planning for it today and I got to thinking about his handwriting, which he completely hates practicing. Not helped by being left handed. I have decided to teach myself to write with my left hand. I want Brandon to know that when…

With huge changes in our lives – Rob going full time with our eBay business, and Brandon and I entering home schooling – I have realised it’s time to take stock of my customary (the thing I use to figure out how I want to live my life with intention rather than just winging it). It got me thinking about suffixes. You know, that bit you can put on the end of your name  if you have received an…

We went the long way today, the dogs and I, all through the woods. It was so deeply peaceful. I can’t begin to describe how much good long summer dog walks do. I’m using a new app which tells me what the birds are I can hear. I could name a few by myself, skylark before we went in the woods,.then blackbird, wren, dove (although I couldn’t have told you it was a stock dove) wood pigeon. But I…

So I’m stretching myself out. I would dearly love to sell commissioned art and prints of art I have already done. I would also like to run art journaling courses. No point just dreaming is there? I’ve been doing that for too long. It might come to absolutely nothing, but I’m going to try. All the pieces you see here below are available as prints at £5 plus P&P. Message me if you are…

So all of Bubs ASD assessment is done and now we wait for the results. In the meantime it’s a struggle getting him to school. Yesterday daddy had to put him in the car shouting. He shouted all the way to school, didn’t want to get out the car, but then finally went to school ok. I stayed home and sobbed.  His school day was fine, but I find it deeply distressing to have to make him go. It…

So this happened today: Saturday and the first day of half term meant we could relax, dinosaur onesie could be worn all day and the pressure was off. And for the first time bub of his own volition sat and read by himself… For an hour and a half. He has always loved his dad and i reading to him, and he is advanced in his own reading, but has taken it as a chore. Not today. Today he thoroughly…

Do you know what my kind hearted, thoughtful, brilliant six year old boy said to me today? He said “I don’t deserve my half term mummy”. It utterly broke my heart to hear him say it. Because he’s found school difficult three days in a row (and been sent out of class because of it) he thought he didn’t deserve his holiday. I took the opportunity to talk to him about his upcoming ASD…

It’s been the best part of a year since I blogged. I’ve thought about shutting down the blog altogether, but never got round to it. Now I think I might restart here again. I know I have before, but this feels like a moment. Bub (not his real name of course) is six now. And school is hard. We have suspected for a long time that he is on the spectrum, but we have come to a pinch point now. It…