Mental health days: A chance to do some fine motor work

We have had such a busy schedule lately, there has not been a lot of downtime and time for creativity. I picked up two cheap terracotta pots yesterday at the hardware store and my plan was to have Aria paint her's this morning and Lachie to do his after school. He desperately wanted a day off so I decided that he was due a mental health day.

I looked up several ways to do the pots and it seems that soaking them for an hour is the most effective method of getting the paint to stick.

I gave Aria her turn first, she wanted to pot upside down as it was easier for her to paint it that way.

 Lachie wanted a more structured outcome so we taped his off with painters tape to create some stripes

 After they finished they got out the finger puppets and chased each other around the yard for a while.

Stay tuned for the finished product......

Do I have a choice?

I was reading an article by Australian Comedian, Josh Thomas today about gay pride: Read it here. It really resonated with me. I am quite often praised for parenting two children with special needs, having a job, and studying. Well sometimes I am called crazy as well but that is besides the point. I don't see parenting my special needs children as a choice I made. I mean, yes I decided to have children (sorry if that offends those who believe children are Gods will) but I didn't have much control in the children I got. I often see parents of children with ASD determined not to allow ASD to be used an excuse for their child and many of us spend a great deal of time redirecting our children from manipulating situations because of their ASD (kids will be kids ASD or not), so why would I allow ASD parenting to define, limit, or excuse me for anything. I take on what I know that I can handle and my kids can handle and if I am not meeting those obligations I consider my situation and try to make changes. I have not always done this and I do believe that every now and again it is okay to ask: "WHY ME!?" However, cathartic it might be, you won't get an answer and you certainly won't change your situation. I am determined not to lose myself to ASD parenting and I don't think I would be a wonderful role model for my children if I did that. So now I am about to re-embark on my crazy life, I'm going back to work and starting a PhD but I have allies, support, and the strength to do it. If any one of those three things changes then I will cross that path when I come to it.

Different Perspectives

Today I went to watch Lachie receive an award at school. Any one who has read this blog would understand how amazing this is. Unfortunately another parent put a little bit of a dampener on the occasion. I walked into the assembly hall just in time to see Lachie's aide scoot through a pile of seated children and land the ear muffs on his head as the first note of Advance Australia Fair sounded. In an instant the fight went from his body and he stopped rocking on his wiggle cushion. This made me happy, she knows my child well enough to act fast where needed. He wore the ear muffs until the song finished then sat relatively still, with the odd stim for the remainder of the assembly. 

On the other side of the hall there was another scene playing out. There was another boy, he wasn't sitting and he had no ear muffs. He was running up and down the aisle created by the rows of children. He was smiling, flapping, and running as if it were a training drill. There were two aides strategically placed, one blocking his entry to the front of stage and one blocking his exit from the hall. The other kids were watching the assembly, no eye lids were bat, this was his usual routine. Occasionally when his vocal stimming got loud he followed the aide outside where I could see him doing laps of the adventure playground. This was a well oiled machine and it was not hurting any one. 

A father sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Why don't they restrain him? where do crazy kids like that come from?"  I held back a swear word and the temptation to lie and tell him he was my child just to see his reaction. I instead said, "He has special needs."  He asked me to repeat myself and this time I said it more forcefully. He didn't really answer. I was so disappointed that my perspective was so different to his. I hope that one day people see that these teachers were managing the situation in a non-confrontational, non-aggressive, and highly skilled manner. I wish people would sit back and take another perspective before they speak. 

Relax....

How many times in my life as an ASD parent have I been told to relax, look after myself, and been told the old "oxygen mask" analogy? Well, lets just say that if I had a dollar for every time, then I probably could relax a little more. Although I appreciate the sentiment it just isn't always possible. One thing that has become quite apparent to me lately though is that looking after myself doesn't just mean go and do something fun and relaxing. Looking after myself means, not looking after others unless I really have to (i.e., my young children). I recently posed a question about not coping with the issues of others when we have so many of our own from day to day. I think it came out wrong....What I meant is, I think ASD parents have so much experience with the more extreme parenting situations that may only come up for others from time to time. So it is only natural that when they come up, we might be approached to help. Those things I help with readily, if they are bigger issues it is generally more a case of lending an ear with the person we are talking to needing to seek some more "official" help. What I think I get bogged down with are the little things. It is hard for me sometimes to sympathise with people, especially if the issue is something that is not permanent and is maybe not the worst issue they will go through in their lifetime with their children. It's really hard for me to sympathise with a parent upset over something that I might see as a developmental milestone for my kids. The thing is that lately I have realised that it is not others doing this to me, it is me doing it to myself. I jump in to help people, it is a part of who I am. Sometimes I need to take a step back and look after myself.

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Just keep climbing: Optimism and resilience

                         

Optimism is not a skill that I really posses. I'd hazard a guess that a lot of Autism parents have somewhat lost their sense of optimism. See, we are almost trained by our children to plan for problems long before they arise. I think that with time we see and expect problems with every situation. This week Lachie understood for the first time ever, through sad circumstances that he is different. The idea of being different broke his heart and when I left him at school, I was very pessimistic about how his day would go. He proved me wrong. He taught me something I'd never considered before, how resilient he is, how resilient we are. We have, like many ASD families, been through a lot but we get through it. I don't know that optimism is something I'll ever be good at but resilience is something I will remember from now on. 

You Feel Exposed

Today I got a little hot under the collar after reading a blog post by someone I admire. The author did nothing but support me and explain his post and why he posted it. The crazy thing is that it wasn't so much the intent or his thoughts that upset me, it was the feeling of being exposed and vulnerable. I think it is similar to the way you feel as a new parent, you don't really know if you are doing everything right and you tend to pick up on what other people are doing and feel like you are maybe failing at some aspects of parenting because your child doesn't: sleep like that, breast feed successfully, has not toilet trained or taken their first steps. The thing is, when you parent children on the spectrum you have information, advice, ideas, and research shoved at you 24-7. It makes you feel exposed. It takes a long time to not feel like you are doing it wrong because you have never put your child on a gluten-casein-blah-blah diet. No you haven't tried the new snake oils, sensory technique, therapy, or read the latest blog opinion piece. I liken it to having a baby with a sleep problem, but it is permanent. That is the kicker! I think it was a line that started with "parents need to...." sure there were other meaningful words there, I'm sure there was, he is a great writer, he is a kind man, but I couldn't really read on with any objectivity. Sometimes all we need is for someone to say, "How are you" and follow it up with "You are doing a great job". Everyone weighing in with their opinion stings at times, regardless of the intent. Spectrum or not, every parent that manages to love, nurture, and support their child is doing a great job.

Choosing Which Blogs to Follow: Support Found in all Kinds of Places

So everyone is different but there are a few blogs and their accompanying Facebook pages that you might like to consider following if you have an child with Autism (apart from my own of course). Before I list them and my reason for loving them I want to describe my experiences with internet support groups. Many years ago when GI Joe was diagnosed there wasn't as much internet social networking as there is today. I joined the local Asperger's network as it was the closest one to us and was made up of a lot of very experienced and lovely men and women who had children in their teens. I wanted to get advice from those who had been through the early years and gain insight into possible future challenges. The internet grew and a bulletin board was created. I struggled with the board but I stuck around because of the people that I truly knew. I have joined a few online groups since then but for risk of being a little controversial, I found that some (possibly un-diagnosed) individuals often initiated fierce and upsetting debate that defeated my purposes for being there. More recently I have enjoyed reading some more light hearted blogs. These writers are brilliant in that they manage to entertain but offer real support and make you feel like you are not alone. There is one maybe more serious (plus a shameless family plug) in the group of my favourite blogs but she is there because I can relate to her and I just feel a sense of fierceness in her writing, a fierceness that is all about love.

So here's my list:
Mostly True Stuff
Edited to update link as the blog is now at Lexisential
Lexi "sweatpants" Magnusson introduced me to the sweet relief of humorous and supportive blog reading. She is funny but sprinkles her blog with the odd serious, profound, and thought provoking post. She gives parents permission to feel the way they feel, and that is priceless.

Autism With a Side of Fries
Funny, she's so funny. She just seems to pluck witty thoughts out of thin air and turn them into posts and memes than any ASD parent can appreciate. Serious stuff that you ponder on and worry about, in a way that is not crass or disrespectful. She laughs at herself and  her situation and that is a skill many ASD parents need to get by. She also posts questions for parents.

Another Effin Autism Blog
What started out as a blog to vent on, has turned into a relatable and hilarious account of autism parenting.

My Ausome Son
A little bit more serious but her school battles and homeschooling adventures remind me of my own experiences and she is incredibly kind and sharing. She is the fierce one!

Autism Daddy
Gives an often funny and relatable dad's POV. He says it as it is and I like that.

Miss Molly and Asperger's
This is my lovely cousin. She gives insight into her experiences as a girl with Asperger's which is always valuable for parents.

The ASD Market

There are so many great products and therapy tools on the market that can help children with Autism. I came to a sad realisation today that many people have caught on to the benefits of certain things, slapped a therapy tag on it and upped the price to beyond reasonable. Not only do we need these things for our kids, we often need a lot of them. A Labrador like our gorgeous Luna could easily take $35000 to train, a simple, tiny little chewable pendant could cost $20 and need replacing multiple times. I was even shocked at the cost of some simple weighted products. I have no worries when parents make and sell these necessary items to raise money for their own child's therapy but there are some tips I would like to pass on. 

1. Although a therapy pet, properly trained is highly valuable, a well trained pet of any kind has benefits. We have three beloved dogs and I think at times they give us all an ear and a cuddle. I don't buy in to the lack of empathy debate with ASD but they can teach loyalty and give much needed companionship and love. Our dogs love and are fiercely protective of all our kids. 

2. $2 shops and National Geographic, sensory tools can be found in many places. I've bought the most expensive tools and have found that they last no longer than the cheap stuff. Stress balls in particular need to be replaced often here and chewy stuff. I have purchased some food grade silicone and will start making my own soon. 

3. Weighted products can be achieved with cheap materials, rice and fishing weights. If you don't sew, a pillow with a quick unpick in the corner, a bit of stuffing pulled out and some rice and weights is said to be just as effective.

4. A laminator, free clipart from Microsoft Word, some cheap cardboard, and a printer can make routine cards. Rolls of magnetic tape or Velcro can make them stick to things. A cheap manilla folder, with contact on it and magnets or Velcro can make it portable. 

I'm sure there are plenty more do it yourself products out there. I find a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and if anyone has more ideas, feel free to share belowin the comments. I'm sure there are some clever parents who have come up with ways to tackle the never ending cost of obsessions too. 

                                          

Everything he doesn't want to be

I came across the above quote on Pinterest. I think it is a great quote and one I would usually scramble to add to my Autism Awareness board on the site. However, what if all your child wants in the world is to snap their fingers and be nonautistic? What do you do then? Gi Joe hates his ASD, as much as he now has a better understanding of it, he is desperate to be rid of it. The only thing I can do is encourage him and try to get him to see the good in his diagnosis. As much as autism overwhelms us in not so positive ways, it gives us unique benefits too.

Gi Joe is an amazing artist, this has come about from his amazing visual memory and his ability to recreate the finest detail without having to look back at his inspiration piece, not once (see above for an example). He used to do this with puzzles too. Honestly, if Gi Joe did not have ASD, we would not be coping as well with Lachie. He provides incredible insight into his world and helps us to understand quickly when something may overwhelm him or cause a meltdown. I really hope that one day he (and lets be honest the rest of the adolescent population) can understand and embrace the positives of autism.

Keeping up with our kids

I have come to realise recently that parenting is becoming more difficult. Sure it was hard when my oldest was young, I was new to ASD, and Autism parenting is hard. However, this is a whole new and different hard! Last night I heard Lachie talking in his room and snuck up the stairs. I was shocked to hear someone, a voice I didn't recognise, a man's voice talking back to him. At first I started to panic, thinking there was someone in his room, then it clicked, to my horror he was conversing with a stranger through the game centre chat facility on his Ipad. I got nothing but meltdown and fire as I ended the conversation. I took the iPad and discovered my sweet, innocent 7 year old had 474 "friends". I thought I was tech savvy. I thought I was safety conscious. I had seen the restrictions and assumed he was restricted and safe. I had not set the restrictions with a password. After extensive questioning, I only got that he said nice stuff and this strange man said nice stuff back. I just hope it is a true 7 year old interpretation of nice.  Despite the restrictions I also had to sign out of Game Centre as it continues to allow them to interact with "friends" they have already added. So this post is a pouring out of mummy guilt and a warning to double check all your children's devices, google if you need to, but stay informed about the dangers.

Lemonade Fractions

Cooking provides for so many learning activities. I've been wanting to introduce Lachie to fractions for a while. Although a lot of fraction work is done in grade two, he becomes confused over terms such as half which can result in upset over someone having two halves of something and him only having one whole. He has been asking to make home made lemonade for a while so I used this as an opportunity to teach halves and wholes.

• First we got the recipe from this site Design Mom through Pinterest.  I pre-made the sugar syrup as I was not keen for Lachie to be around boiling sugar. 
• Then we spent time cutting the lemons in half and I demonstrated half and whole.
•  I only have an electric citrus juicer. I am always looking for fine motor development opportunities and I once saw Jamie Oliver roll a lemon to help release the juices. I got Lachie to squeeze and roll each lemon (we used 5 lemons). This is great for hand strength
• I cut the lemons but Lachie wanted a go, I gave him a go at one while I held the lemon in place.
• I held the lemon on the juicer and he turned the dial (he got a bit impatient at times...ouch).
• We mixed the syrup, juice, and water and strained it as my kids are fussy with pulp.
• He ladled his own and it tasted really nice.

Ideas for extension:

• Manual juicing would be great for hand strength and safer for toddlers to join in
• Different flavours could be incorporated
• You could set up a lemonade stand and have the kids sell to their other parent and siblings.

Blow

Today we worked on phonics and oral motor development. Lachie is really good at reading but gets confused over some sounds. We chose to concentrate on the "OW" sound in blow. It can be tricky as it changes according to the different letter blends it is paired with. For example the "OW" in Owl or Bowl sounds different to the "OW" in Blow. At least in our Aussie accents. 

• First we took photos of Aria and Lachie blowing into a bubble blower. 
• Second we intended on doing bubble painting but the paint was too heavy and did not produce coloured bubbles. The paper got all soggy. So after a few "experiments" with the bubble water we decided we needed something circular to print the bubbles.
• Lachie used a small piece of pvc pipe and the moon stamps we made out of bottle caps earlier in the year.
• Aria who is more happy than Lachie to get messy used just the bottle caps, but not the stamps.
• Aria wanted pink paper, I only had orange card so she stamped hers onto pink paper then helped me glue the bubbles on the card once we cut them out.
• I cut out and glued on their pictures.
• Lachie chose the letters to spell out "blow".
• Aria chose her coloured letters.

Letting Go of Ideals

Once I received some constructive criticism from a college lecturer that I was incredibly proud of. I was so proud of this feedback I went and thanked her. She looked at me and shook her head and smiled. At the time I was confused about her response. The feedback was that I was too idealistic. The lecturer was my college lecturer for my child care course. My ideals were that children should be free to learn in an open ended environment. I wholeheartedly believed they should never be given restrictive activities such as colouring in and materials such as google eyes and technology was a big no-no (it was the 90s though).  This kind of idealism came crashing down when I had my own special needs children. The lesson that idealism can actually restrict children only occurred to me when I began homeschooling Lachie. It has taken me 17 years to figure out that my lecturer was not  in fact complimenting my idealism.





I recently decided to push aside my ideas about natural learning (gasp, shock, horror!) and do what just works. The result  can be seen in the photo adjacent. It doesn't look like much but it is HUGE, a massive effort from a boy who would not, could not, in his own mind possibly produce a whole page of writing. Even in this style I made some huge sacrifices in the name of letting go. There is no Queensland correct script, we are learning capitals only at this stage, and there is no pressure and no erasing during the lesson.



I see the parents of special needs children grasping at their remaining idealism all the time on the Internet. I see indignation over so many of the little things. I see arguments fiercely erupt (truth be told I have been involved) over whether children are Autistic or have Autism, whether it is a condition, disorder, disease, curable, preventable......etc. Maybe we should let go of these ideals and just do what works, it takes effort and trial and error to do what works but we sure as heck are not going to find out what that is if we sit around debating all day long.  I never forget an experienced mother telling a group of new mothers that no matter what they believed, read, or wanted, ultimately the child and not the parent guides the choices you make for your child. She then went on to advise them to throw away the baby books. I think we need to go a step further and engage in the world with an open mind.

What's in the sensory bin?

We are fortunate enough to have been given some resource funding for Lachie. In particular, I really wanted to get started a sensory and fine motor bin. After a few test runs of sensory items, this is what we ended up with in the bin.


A kaleidoscope

A bendy man

A pop eyed dinosaur

Micro Charger Cars

Scooby Doo Whodunnit figures with trap and changeable heads

A light ball and some squidgy squeezy things one looks like the cartoon character Blue and the others are like koosh balls, and a handball.

It is all stored in a Blue Itty Bitty Bin

Although we got the funding, on the exception of the Scooby Doo toy, these can all be picked up fairly inexpensively. It is worth the peace and quiet we have had today and he is developing his motor skills without even realising it.

Washing Little Hands

After noticing Aria's fascination with the bathroom and becoming frustrated myself with Lachie's refusal to use a nail brush, I came up with this Montessori inspired practical living activity. The children each have a tray complete with a tub of warm water, a face washer, a nail brush, mirror, and a towel. Lachie has a container of foaming hand soap but I squirt Aria's into the tub as she tends to paint the house with it. This is the first day I had the mirrors, I picked them up for $1.50 at a new discount store. Not only is the warm water calming but it encourages self care and I don't have to hold Lachie down to scrub his nails. It turns something that is difficult due to sensory issues into a fun game. The children are responsible for drying any drips off the tray. This activity meets with the basic Montessori principle of controlling for error.

Both children loved the mirrors

 Lachie sat back for a while and contemplated the activity while looking in the mirror

 Aria used materials to clean the mirror too

To Fight or not to Fight

Lately I have been having some conversations with a not for profit agency that are helping survivors of bullying. Through listening to other people's stories, I have  felt the feelings of injustice over the bullying my ASD children have endured well up again. Although, Gi Joe is okay for me to share his story, he does not want identification or a "big deal" made out of it. Out of respect for the space he's in, I won't go into detail. I will say though that the sheer fact he feels a need to hide what happened makes me realise how ashamed he is of what happened to him and how he is still scared it will happen again! So herein lies my conundrum, kicking up a stink might make me feel better and raise awareness but it may very well re-victimise him. As a mother, of course I want justice but it comes with a price. This is the place that bullies put the family of their survivors in. Schools, workplaces and sporting teams need to understand this. Unfortunately, the issues tend to end with the survivor leaving the school, workplace or sporting team. It should be the other way around. Early intervention with those most at risk of being bullied and being bullies is key.

It was The Best Post in the World

Well, I follow in the footsteps of Tenacious D (without the devil and music and stuff...oh and fame). I was all poised to write an epic post and my blogger wouldn't let me sign in! I have no idea what I was going to write but I'm sure it was the best post in the world. Instead of the best post in the world, I'm just going to settle with some reflection of our term.

Some days the self doubt creeps in and I think I'm not teaching Lachie anything. I have been thinking about that and I think that's a little unfair to both of us! He has achieved so much this term and I just need to look back on these posts and see that. I read (or saw) something, somewhere on Facebook (gets a bit like that) about self dialogue. I decided to pay attention to Lachie's self dialogue (which he often verbalises) this week. I was hoping to hear that he felt he had done well this term, I was sad to hear, "I'm not a good boy" "I can't."  Who's responsible for this? Us as his parents mostly I think. I need to change it and model positive self talk to him. So no more doubts!

This term Lachie has loved The Gruffalo, The Rascal Series, The Very Cranky Bear, The Lorax, to name but a few. Through texts he liked I was able to engage him beyond what I could with a stock standard activity that he found meaningless. My approach next term will definitely be deep exploration of texts he chooses himself. He's only engaged in what he's truly interested in and I need to embrace that. After all, adults tend not to continue with something that they find boring for too long. We do have to do some things we don't like but he is a child and I need to help him to treasure his childhood for as long as possible. All in all I feel we achieved a lot this term. He's well and truly de-schooled. I'm still looking for a good school for him, I don't think he shares the same view so we need to tread carefully when we talk about school. I don't want it to be a punishment if we do send him back. We are taking it day by day at this point.

Being THAT Exhausted

If you follow many blogs about Autism, especially ones that originate from the USA, it's difficult not to have been touched by the story of a mum of an ASD teen who attempted murder suicide. After a final blow, a withdrawal of support, she did the unthinkable. I'm not going to write a lot about the specifics of the case, others have done that.  I'm not going to harp on about the need for support, I've done that. I do want to describe being THAT exhausted. I have felt it before, especially in the younger years with Gi Joe. I have seen it before and very recently. It's inevitable.

What does it look like? Different in every person I suspect. It's often the people who you give advice to, they will come back with a frustrating, "tried that, tried that, tried that..." If that is frustrating for you, imagine how frustrating it is for them.  The ones who are numb, the ones who stop caring about themselves, the ones who over analyse their situation, the ones who cry a lot, the ones who have given up, the ones who avoid.  I have been this person and I have been THAT exhausted. Once I was THAT exhausted I thought about driving my car off the freeway, my son was in the back. I didn't because I saw an out, my partner, my other kids, the special school.  The thought went through my head though. This one thought makes me no different from those who followed through. I felt I had an out, but I had the thought. They maybe did not feel like they had an out, had exhausted all their outs. It is hard to know and something we may never know.

What do you do to get through it? In order to help parents feeling this, asking if they are okay might be a good start, but then what?  Yes people need to help themselves first before they are any good to their children.  How? If you are it? How do you take a break? I am lucky, I'm not it, I can take a break, not always straight away but it happens. I don't really know the answers. It is going to take a lot of vocal hard work to change systems, mind sets, and to promote a greater understanding of the needs of Autism families. I hope that this post might help one person to recognise THAT exhaustion in a friend.

Marble Maths

Today we trialed 10 minute "table work." Lachie has become a little bit reluctant to engage and lovely home school gurus and my aunty suggested that I do 10 minutes at a time on a learning activity, interspersed with 10 minutes of a favourite activity. This past two weeks, watching Minecraft on You Tube has been all consuming. We had 30 minutes of table work and he did great. There was complaining about the computer but he ultimately completed the activity without complaining.

This activity is effective for Lachie as he loves to describe how the marbles feel in his hands. The concept is designed to support him to get used to operators and to understand addition rules such as doubling. He loves that he can see the numeral and feel and view the corresponding amount of marbles for that numeral. He also has the extra challenge of not having the marbles roll away and there is fine motor development in the need to place each marble in the section individually.

Smelly, Slimy, Clean

Today's sensory activity was designed to get Lachie to interact with different smells and to record his reaction to them. It seems that Lachie cannot smell his own body odour but has no issues detecting other odours which he finds unpleasant.

First I made smelly playdough, here is the recipe:

One cup (250ml) of plain flour
1/4 cup of salt
1 cup of boiled water
2 tbsp of cream of tartar
2 tbsp of oil

For smells, cocoa, rosewater, peppermint, jelly crystals. For colour, non-toxic paints, natural food colours, glitter or whatever takes your fancy!

Place the flour, cream of tartar and oil in a saucepan along with your chosen colour. If using paint I wait until the mixture is cool. Although I use non-toxic paints,  I thought it was better not to experiment with heating them.

In a jug place your boiled water and salt. Wait until salt dissolves.

Mix your salt water in with your saucepan ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon. It will look runny and lumpy.

Keep stirring until it is starting to look smoother and thicker and it comes away a bit from the sides. Remove it from the heat. Different added ingredients mean different quantities of flour, judge it by how it comes together, not necessarily how sticky it is. When it is a good consistency to pick up and knead, it will still be a bit sticky at this stage and depending on the added ingredients may not come cleanly away from the pan (cocoa is a really sticky one).

Place the playdough on a floured board or in a slice pan (this is a neater way of doing it) and knead and add flour as necessary to get a smooth consistency. Place in zip lock bags in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Lachie was quite unimpressed by the smell. He tolerated it because he was interested in the rocks. He made different rivers and islands using grass, river rocks we bought from the reject shop for $4 and sticks. I wanted Lachie to be able to explore this activity without interruption so Aria stayed inside with Daddy.

The minion (AKA: The Me) and the Macca's man made an appearance in the play of course. We had the sensory tub set up but he wanted to use the messy mat instead.

After the activity it was time to clean the play dough off the rocks. The warm water and soap is calming and the slippery soap makes handling the rocks a challenge. This activity was also for Aria as she love to clean things.

Spot the Macca's man. As the bubbles grew so did their ideas about what they wanted to put in it. Of course, Aria engaged in the activity for longer than Lachie. She enjoyed the slimy rocks a lot more than he did.

Lachie was keen to dry the rocks and Aria got in on the action. There was a bit of push and shove here because they shared the same bucket and container but they worked it out in the end.