Thursday, December 12, 2013

Sensory Friendly Christmas Party

Earlier this week we got to go to a Sensory Friendly Christmas Party for kids with Sensory issues and/or health issues.   It was a lot of fun.  It was held at a indoor playground that is local.  We had never been there before.  So it was nice to be able to check it out.  

First thing they did was get in the (short) line for pictures with Santa.   Daddy took them in and I sat with all our jackets and stuff.  They posted the pictures on a website - which were up just yesterday :)



Kaedyn is usually super scared of Santa so its nice seeing him in the picture smiling - even if he is sitting as far away as he can.  LOL...  they all came out with a stuffed animal, a candy cane and a little back with an ornament in it...
Although some switching happened on the way home.  Noah ended up with the snowman - named Frosty.  Nathan ended up with the elf - named Pizza... and Kaedyn kept his reindeer named... well, it was named Window that night... he has changed it since then.


They had a maze bouncy house, a huge slide, and a regular bouncy house.  They also had a ball court, and some other sections that the kids had no interest in what so ever since they really (especially Kaedyn) just liked the slide.   Nathan went through the maze a few times and in the bouncy house a few times but really him and Kaedyn just kept going up the slide and coming down.   Noah got overwhelmed at one point and just went and sat for awhile.  He has issues with his legs so it was to be expected with a bunch of jumping.

Noah

Nathan

Kaedyn

And when we came in we were given envelopes with a bunch of stuff in there.  Each kid got some Seahawks tattoos, and a $10 gift card to Target.   Which they decided to use on pizza and pop for dinner that night.  Silly kids.... they just wanted pizza.


Nathan ended up with the candy ornament, Noah with the baseball and Kaedyn with the green candy cane :)
It was a lot of fun and definitely something we want to do again next year.  We left about twenty minutes early because Noah was overwhelmed and Nathan was getting ready to melt down.  Then we went to Target and got their pizza and soda and went home and ate and had fun.  The kids put their ornaments on the trees right away :)  

Thanks for the great night!!!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Oh Happy Day .......

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So you saw in the last post the pictures of the boys (playing their leap pads) with the lights around their bed.  We did this for two reasons ..... 1:  Nathan loooooooooves lights.   It helps sooth him.   2:  Kaedyn is afraid of everything and we were hoping it would help him stay in his bed.  Here is the pic again ....


So we finally got our tree up yesterday.   It's just a tiny cheap tree...  that doesn't hold our ornaments well anymore (we need a bigger tree, we really do.) ..

The kittens managed to knock it over yesterday ...... thats what the kids say anyway ... .but do you see that flippy little autistic kid there....  yeah, part of me thinks Nathan did it....

Anyway ..... I just wanted to share the pictures of the boys infront of the tree and our tree here...



Dear Leap Frog ........... I'm NOT happy ... *Update*

.(If you read my regular blog, this is shared on there too) 

This morning I called Leap Frog Customer Service.  Kaedyn, who LOVES playing the Jewel Train application on his Leap Pad was complaining it was no longer there.  So I looked, and sure enough it wasn't on the device OR the software I could load up off my account on the computer.

So riddle me this......... why?

 Playing their Leap Pads

I told him I would call them this morning and get it fixed.  So I did.  I called ...... and the call was completely frustrating.......  left me completely unsatisfied....  and an unhappy customer!   So I posed a letter to them and promptly sent it to the customer service email they have listed.

Our devices ......


I warn you – I am one very UNHAPPY Momma right now.  But I'm not one of those crazy yelling emailers.  I just want to bring to your attention why I am unhappy in hopes that MAYBE you can still help me or at the very least, bring to your attention how wrong this is. 

First off, I want to say that we generally love your products.   We managed to scrap together two Christmases ago to buy TWO Leap Pads (ones) ….  We got the warranty on both – which we were very thankful we did, because we ended up having to return our Leap Pad Ones and used the refunded money to get Leap Pad Twos.  We have had ZERO problems with the Leap Pad Twos.  They lovingly call them their “iPads” … it’s cute.  

My boys love to play on the same game – at the same time.  So buying software off the site has been great for us, as an option – because we can share that between both devices.  However we do have increased issues with the game cartridges.  While I have your attention, I would love to suggest that there be a way to register the cartridges you BUY on the site, so that you can have them as downloaded software if wanted, or needed.  Like when my Autistic son sucks on the cartridge instead of putting it in the machine, or he spills his drink all over it, OR they lose it all together in the depths of the couch abyss.  But that’s just a suggestion. 
So onto why I am one UNHAPPY Momma.   I have four kids all together.  Two of which have complicated medical needs.  I have a husband who lost the ability to walk in 2011 and hasn’t been able to get a job since.  Now that he can walk again, they discovered he has some rather major issues with his spine.  My days are filled with driving everyone around, various medical appointments, a lot are one to two hours away.  The little bit of money we have has to stretch far and wide.  I have to make it work. 

So my five year old – who is a math wiz! – was asking me why his train game wasn’t on his Leap Pad anymore….and so I look, and sure enough, it’s not there.  He’s talking about Jewel Train 1.   And while I’m looking at our software, I realize that the Dinosaur e-book we had gotten for my autistic son (because he LOVES dinosaurs) is also not showing up. 

These were both the free applications we got when we initially got the Leap Pads.
So I spent some of the little bit of money we had to get them a couple more things – including Jewel Train 2 and some ebooks to tide them over until I could call you today.  (It being Monday – December 2nd, 2013 ….. after the long Thanksgiving weekend). 

So I’m on the phone and I’m explaining to the guy what is going on.  After being put on hold twice for long periods of time, he comes back and assures me they are on the account.  So I plug in one of the Leap Pads and I am looking at it, and I’m telling him, it’s not there.  So he puts me on hold a third time, and comes back and tells me the following………

I cannot access them anymore because they were free applications and can’t be shared. 
Excuse me?  

We loaded up BOTH applications on the Leap Pad Ones ….  And I am pretty sure they were on the Leap Pad Twos when we first got them because I know he was playing the Train Game on his a couple months ago.  But I recently updated everything the other day ….. we had gotten a couple of game application cards to receive software off the site on Black Friday and I was loading the stuff we bought with that on the Leap Pads ….. and so both Leap Pads had to update. 

It seems to have disappeared from that point.   That’s when he realized that the train game was no longer on there (Jewel Train 1). 

So imagine my surprise when I was told that because we got the two items as FREE applications when we first got the original devices, they were no longer available to us. 

This is wrong on so many levels.   I was told I have to purchase these applications in order to be able to use them again.  Well, I don’t have money to purchase them again. I should have used the money I did on other things, like gas or food as it was.  But I decided to splurge on them a little and get them a few new things for them to play. 

My kids love their Leap Pads, and it really really saddens me that this is the type of customer service we got.  The only thing I was told was “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”   He said sorry about ten times during the call.  For the waits while I was on hold, and when I became irritated at the line he was giving me about them not being available to us anymore. 

Basically he’s saying ….  the FREE applications are only free for a while, don’t expect to always have them.  He said they were like “trial” applications – which wasn’t true.  They were the full applications as far as I knew.  He didn’t use the word trial, I think it was starter.   Both these applications were on their devices until the update I made on them just a few days ago.  I called your company to solve a problem and was left hanging with “sorry for the inconvenience,” which – let’s face it – is just a slap in the face. 

So now I get to explain to my child that even though Mommy said she would have it fixed today, she can’t fix it because your company said no.   Then I get to deal with his disappointment. 

I am writing this email in hopes someone who knows what they are doing can help me – just because it was free initially doesn’t mean you can just take it away.  That’s rude, and wrong, in my opinion.  I want to bring to your attention that this isn’t a very good customer service policy.   AND I want to tell you that at 7:30 am this morning, I would have recommended your product to anyone.   Now I am going to publish my experience, and this letter on my blog.  By 8:30am this morning, I’m not sure I would recommend your products anymore.  Frankly, those who cannot make a costumer happy by figuring out a way to correct a situation where they have the applications that they already had, even if they were FREE …  isn’t the type of customer service I want to deal with.   And I’m sure other special needs families would feel the same way. 
In case you would like to look at our account, it’s under the email address (email addy here).  If you are going to reply to me, please direct it at (email addy here) since I no longer use my aol email. 

In kind regards,

(my name)

So I thought I would just add the update on this entry.   I did hear back from Leapfrog and it did NOT make me a satisfied customer in the least ....

The Jewel Train that you mentioned on your first e-mail is a starter game, not purchased and these are not transferrable to another handheld.

If the app you are looking for was purchased and is not yet installed on a maximum of 3 apps, this should show under the On This LeapPad tab but if it was a starter game or included, it will not show on the On This LeapPad Tab.

Jewel Train (virtual) Starter Available 10/30/11 18081E00010B060A88A4 

The status of the Jewel Train is starter which means that it was not purchased. If you can provide us the order # or any proof that you purchased this separately, we will be glad to double check this for you. 

Should you have further queries, please let us know.

So in other words....... the fact that we had to replace my son's leap frog -we no longer the the "starter addition" of the Jewel Train EVEN THOUGH it was on the same device I was trying to put it on, just a mont or two before.  It wasn't until the UPDATE that the Leapfrog went through that seemed to make it disappear.  Whatever.  It's a good thing my kids love the product ...  or they would lose a customer for bad customer support.

(Rolls Eyes)