Some days my brain feels like it has been put in a blender at a very high speed. I hear my voice, I think I’m explaining what I’m trying to get across, but all I hear is screaming and The Little Einsteins talking about Mozart. Owen woke early but thankfully it was more like the Goldilocks and the Three Bears version -the “just right” early version. It was after five and I had been awake most of the night. These are the nights I keep myself up for one reason or another so I’m always thankful when he sleeps. He had his Saturday mission in full swing by the time he got to me and that was his tablet and for me to set a four-hour timer so he could go see grandma. The timer thing is starting to work but I want to make sure he understands that it isn’t always four hours. We’ll get there. Everything old is new again. The lights are now part of his daily dance of moving from one room to another. The only lights that can be left on are in his bedroom and the bathroom. I need some kind of scientific experiment to explain what makes them fine. I am not sure which combination it would be. Location, product, room, natural light, and the list can go on and on. When I turn the lights back on it lasts for a few minutes until I walk out of the room again. He ate his breakfast quickly and was back to asking about Grandma. He said “grandma” more times than I could even begin to count. I try to explain that once he knows we are going he doesn’t have to say her name every few seconds. I work with him on sentences to say about going to see her and use his emotions to highlight and emphasize what we are doing. I know one day it will stick with him. After a while, it was finally time to go to Grandma’s house. He quickly did all the steps that I asked him to do which felt like a huge victory. As soon as we got in the car, he started giving me all the directions to Grandma’s house. He wants to go in a very specific ways, but I try to get him to understand that we can’t always go in exactly the same direction each time. He did great with grandma and then when I was coming to get him, he told grandma to order a pizza. That always seems to be his Saturday thing, but he wants chicken nuggets. We ate the pizza he wanted us to have and then we went to the park. He rode with Grandma so they could go get chicken nuggets and I rode to the park with the leftover pizza. They met me there and I went over once again with him if he could not pick up anything he found on the ground. This is a hard rule for him to follow but he said it back to me several times and we’ve been working on it at home. Within a few minutes, he picked up a leaf and put it on the side of the basketball court. I called him over to me and I told him that I had warned him if he picked up anything we would go home. He said, “no more pick up” and he went off to ride his bike. He didn’t pick up anything else but I really want him to understand how important this is for his safety. He had a great time and he listened when I told him we had to go home. He said goodbye to his grandma multiple times. I love their connection and I’m very thankful. When we got home, he ate the rest of his chicken nuggets and we had a pretty quiet evening. He was excited about going to church tomorrow and he knows that school starts Monday. A sense of relief washes over me knowing that he will be happy to have his routine back and with his beloved teacher. Each day there are challenges, but each day victories are fulfilled. Find your happiness, share it with the world, and know that you are important. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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