His laughter, that’s what I hold on to. And him letting me sing with him. That doesn’t always happen. I’m trying to get Owen to understand that his words matter. He will say the opposite about something so he can see the reaction of the person he is talking to or because that is how he has to process it but he doesn’t understand how his words might matter to someone else. He will tell someone they are wearing purple when they are wearing orange. He also likes to call things by different names like “lamp” or “lamb” and screams it until you correct him or he moves on. Some of this is because he is working through different letters and how they sound and some of it is emotions and processing. His newest discussion is about the weather and it always seems to be at the same place when we are in the car. I prepare myself for his words before he has time to even react. He yells out, “it’s raining”. I brace myself for what’s coming next. I try to distract him before we even get to the intersection. If I can’t distract him he goes on, “it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a”. He wants me to tell him it’s not raining. I do not know what has triggered this new response to this particular intersection but here we are. I try not to cry thinking about it. The screams echo through my mind and I think how hard all of this can be on him. This same intersection has caused hours and hours of meltdowns over being stopped at the light. Those meltdowns aren’t as frequent and I pray we have been able to work through those emotions. When he got home from school today we went to the park with our friends. He couldn’t wait to go but he also had a hard time processing that we were going. “Two more five more minutes”, he said. He had fun once we got there and that’s what matters. I love seeing him actually climbing on the playground equipment. I also get very anxious when he does it because he has no fear or safety concerns but he has come so far and seems like he is climbing everything like a superstar. When we came home he ate a huge dinner and then he sat next to me under a blanket. He needed the comfort and input. He was calm the rest of the evening and I suppose I was too. I said, “you know what” and he said, “I love you”. We have to make every single day count, even if it is just being kind to ourselves. Make today matter. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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