Dear friends and relatives, I apologise for not writing. It's been a very difficult few weeks. As you might remember, last September I asked for a referral to a speech therapist for Little Munchkin as I was concerned that his speech is not progressing as it should. After numerous calls we finally got an appointment at the language development centre and went to see a therapist there. I was expecting some form of speech delay issue. She gave us a diagnosis of Social Communications Difficulties. It is an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I did not see it coming. Later I took Little Munchkin to see a private pediatrician who specialises in developmental issues. In his opinion Little Munchkin is somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

This development has been a major point of stress for me. Another major point of stress for me is that my DH is reluctant to admit that Little Munchkin might have a problem. I would have really liked some support. Overall, I am very tired, very stressed and very depressed. After careful consideration, we decided to wait for a full assessment with the National Health Service, instead of doing it privately. Little Munchkin is developing, he is growing. I don't want him to be classified as autistic at this age. The assessment has to be done before he starts school, but right now we are going ahead with private speech therapy without an official assessment.

In the meanwhile, we went to Hastings. We were actually planning to go to an amusement park, but my DH took a wrong turn on a highway and did not realise it till it was too late. Still, we went to the aquarium there, had lunch and played on the beach. Kids have never seen a pebble beach before, and they loved it. Last weekend we went to Centre Parcs. My DH called it a glorified camping. The cottage was lovely, the park itself was nice. But it really did not feel like value for money. The cost of a cottage was exorbitant, and then you had to pay for everything. Nothing was free. Even to dry your swimsuit after the pool was 20 pence. There were lots of playgrounds, but that is was I do everyday - go to playground, go swimming, go for a walk in a park, go to another playground. My DH had a good time. For me it was like my usual life, just not home. We saw lots of animals. In the night even the deer came to our windows. Still, I don't think we will be going there again any time soon. For that much money I'd rather fly to Barcelona for weekend.