That Time of Year
It’s the time of year when all the mail order catalogues come pouring in.
May I offer some suggestions from the latest batch?

Signals has two containers of meticulously hand tooled replica Victorian tin tinsel in gold or silver. Each container has 50 pieces each. Do not laugh. My sister gave this to me two years ago - most likely as a punishment for the way I tormented my mother by throwing tinsel at the tree by the handful. This forces you to hang the tinsel one excruciating piece at a time. When the job is finally done, the effect is delicious. And the truly anal retentive do so enjoy counting up the tinsel when the tree is taken down. We were short two this year. One turned up in the gutter in front of our house. The other was lurking along the base board and was found when the Christmas stuff was almost all packed away.

Karen gave me this tinsel when I was visiting her up near St. Paul. I was a tad worried about getting on a plane with two metal tubes in my carry-on luggage. The last time I had flown out of Midway, my Altoids tin caused me to be pulled aside and manually searched. But I walked right on thru - no problem. Today I don’t think they would even allow the tinsel on a plane. Too pointy.

Another good Signals item is Sanctus: 1000 Years of Sacred Music. This was also a gift from my sister. Unspoken subtext: You want religious music? 15 CD’s should keep you happy for a while.....

integrations a catalog for kids with learning and sensory differences has some cool stuff. The boys would like an edible bubble kit. Like your regular bubble blowing equipment but with non-toxic fruit flavored bubble liquid. At. $35.95, I’ll think we’ll pass.

Did you know that there are individuals that use chewing to calm or refocus? (Does this include tobacco chewing ball players?) integrations has Chewy Tubes as a safe and effective tool for redirecting chewing. Wish I had known about those years ago, before Bridget and Fran ate the erasers off of 1000 pencils or more.

Then what I would really like is a set of Velvasoft Weighted Lap Pads. They can be adjusted to the correct weight (heavier than the apron a dentist puts on you before an X-ray) and put on a child’s lap to remind him not to hop out of his chair. They also have a heavy dog and turtle for the same purpose.

Monastery Greetings has some lovely food and graphics items. The boys liked this catalog and were actually up for joining the Trappists until I explained that the Trappists make the cheese and fudge, but don’t sit around all day eating it.