Runbo's Secretary

Yesterday and today were not great with Ira. We went back to him not looking at any of the words for reading and having to make a deal for him to colour in. Apparently he did get diagnosed by the psychiatrist I suggested as being autistic but his parents feel it was too quick a diagnosis and don't believe it. His parents and my supervisor are also not interested in him seeing a speech therapist. This does make my job hard. I am particularly struggling with reading and sounds. At times he can speak but at other times he clams up.

Runbo came running up to my car today when I arrived to say his puppy had been sent to a home as Runbo needs to go to China. He is beginning to get excited about going to China and seeing his mum. We read the big brother book and the one on Chinese New Year again and then Runbo put me to work. He had a whole lot of people he wanted to make cards for. He cut out different sized and shaped pieces of paper and I was instructed what to write and draw. He wanted a card to his nursery school teacher Pippa saying Pippa he must go to China. Then one to his best friend at nursery school called Mindi asking him to still play with him. There were happy new year cards for his mum, dad and granny and then I got a card. I was to write to myself "Thank you for teach me" (I tried to correct it to teaching) and draw a secret picture to myself. I told Runbo I am going to miss him while he's away and sweet boy, he immediately replied he was going to miss me too.

I gave Runbo the choice of what we're going to do for his last lesson tomorrow before he goes. We agreed on a picnic in a den with his dinosaurs. I have some dinosaur snap cards to play with him. I'll take some biscuits - his favourites are Oreos and then Wedgewood nougat ones. Yesterday and today I had some new Chinese sweets. I think some might be for new year. One was called a sugar coated haw which is like a toffee coated hawthorn with sesame seeds. Then I've had fulingjiabing which is a sort of agar jelly coated in rice paper. Today Runbo had what was like a crystallised carrot and I think mine was either pear or apple. At first I thought mine was ginger but it didn't have much taste. It would help if I could read Chinese.

Toffee coated hawthorns.

fuling jibing rice paper jelly cakes - traditionally for Chinese New Year