Stumbling on Gold

Finding products that are designed for typical children that would work for Noah has always been a challenge.  I look at every little item digesting it's potential for success.  Features that may work, and usually ultimately deciding what would give an item a failure ranking.  It was really hard for me in the early years trying to shop at places like Babies R Us, knowing that many items would never work for Noah, yet sometimes out of wishful thinking I'd by them up anyway convincing myself I could make it work, or that Noah's skills would improve.  Sometimes I think I just wanted to feel like any other parent that got to go to the store an pick out a something precious without having to think about a child who couldn't physically use it. 

It is often really rare to find a product that was designed for typical children and have it also work out super well for a child that has special needs.  Which often times leaves me sense that I'm living in two worlds.  However, I recently stumbled upon such a product.   One of those products that every special needs parent is just going to swoon over.   I hit Gold.  Accidental Gold. 

The ezpz mat.   Yes, it's pretty awesome. 

I have bought countless clip on trays, bowls, dishes, anything I could think of that would secure to Noah's wheelchair trays and the kitchen table.  Without success.  The problem being Noah has so much strength and power in his arms - especially with his athetoid movements that he'd swipe anything off the table or his tray no matter how many suction cupped items I attempted.  I bought several tray products including the Bambinos Tiny Tray that clips to the table, and while that worked for some things it wasn't the tray of my dreams and Noah would constantly catch himself on the table clips.  It made sensory play hard and challenging, it made trying to teach him to play in his own food and be able to have any fighting chance of independence in eating skills impossible.

Because of this challenge I think for a long time we've reverted to something easy but necessarily the best for Noah's interests.  We have a bowl a distance away from him and we just spoon feed him each meal.  This unfortunately offers Noah very little opportunity to explore his own food and sensory wise expand to touch what is even going in his mouth.  But having Noah swipe a full bowl of food off the table was discouraging, we'd have to blend his foods all over, and therefore just accepted the fact this was how it had to be to make things work.  

When doing my routine daily searches for how to improve Noah's life, in hopes there was something I had not yet learned of or seen, I stumbled upon the ezpz kickstarter page.   Maybe it wasn't just chance, maybe it was destined to be - never underestimate the power of positive intention. 

I found the video about ezpz, which was so luring.  A mat that doesn't slide, three cute compartments and bonus an expansion of a future line with a bowl mat and potentially a high chair.  I was reeled in with thirsty curiosity still carefully guarded that this could simply be the best infomerical out there and I'd be tremendously let down by the promises of this product. 

But I couldn't resist.  I kept going back to it for a week.   And finally I decided I just have to try it to know.

The ezpz arrived in the mail 2 days ago.  And I wish I had more than 1.  This mat is essential.   It's huge.  It's amazing.  It's everything I wanted and then some.  And bonus a product that both of my children can use and love equally.  It's dishwasher friendly, storage friendly, wheelchair tray friendly and does everything it promises.  Sticks like glue to the surface no sliding around.  And gives Noah every chance he needs to play in his own food.   We now have another way to do things - a mat that won't slide with a built in units to hold the food.   Noah can touch his food all he wants and I know the entire meal won't be tossed to the floor with his often awkward and jerky movements.  And aesthetically they come in bright colors which I love.  Noah's blue ezpz mat matches his Leckey Mygo and Leeway line bib perfectly.  You'd think they were a complete set.

I can't wait for the line to expand, and will certainly be purchasing other products from this new company.   The inventor, Lindsey Laurain, has made a product that is going to appeal to both typical and special needs families alike.  Something so rare to find. 

They retail for $24.99 and are worth the price.  Ezpz mats are 100 percent silicone, BPA, PVC and phthalate free.  They are dishwasher and microwave safe.  I find they wash up really easy however, by hand.   I can't wait to see the expansion of her line and hope to be able to obtain more of them in the future for both Noah and his little brother.

Here is the link to pre-order yours for when they go into production in early 2015:
http://www.ezpzfun.com/

And the informational video can be found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/632139179/less-mess-happy-mat


Love,



Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.