Creaky floors and one bathroom add up to a very long day, longer than long day. Today was probably one of the hardest I’ve had in a long time with Owen. The screaming or repetitive behaviors were neck and neck as to which one got me the most. Maybe one really leads to the other one. If he said, “Grandma” one time today he said it a thousand. He screamed it, he said it, he mouthed, and he even learned how to say it in other languages in my last-ditch effort to get him to move forward. Or maybe my last ditch effort was telling him I now answered to grandma. It seemed to actually get him to stop saying it the quickest. Today was going to be a day we went and did things but the meltdowns, screams, and behaviors kept me rooted in my spot. I didn’t want to go out and have all of the emotions sitting there for him. Plus, he turned down everything that I suggested when I thought for sure we were going to do things today. I tried to explain to him why he needed to not repeat everything. He said, “Do you understand that’s a great idea.” With this alone, I pretty much knew he didn’t understand. I explained to him how brilliant he was and that he didn’t need to repeat his words. I wanted him to understand that he could talk about so many other things. I started quizzing him when he would start repeating. It helped some I suppose. Then I started asking Alexa to translate Grandma into other languages and that helped. Autism is as much about how I handle it as it is about Owen having it. He is learning to communicate and share his words but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other moments that dictate our days like lack of the routine he loves or change in plans. When I was trying to convince him to go somewhere he said, “Slide into the corn” and I knew immediately that he wanted to go to the farm where we had gone to a few months ago but as much as he enjoyed that one thing it was hard for him. Tomorrow will be back to routine for him and then only a couple more days and back to school. He fell asleep talking about tomorrow. I pray for a calm night and a strong bladder so I don’t wake my sweet baby O up. He gave me lots of hugs today and my favorite part of the day was when he put his Spider-Man mask on and told me he was Spider-Man. Your story is only written to chapter one. Write the rest of the story the way you want it told. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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