Sweating It Saturday

When a light switch is switched, and nothing happens you’ve got a problem. And one could say a big problem. The day went as according to plan as our day could go, until we got home, and our power was off. Owen had slept all night in his bed, woke asking for his teacher. I told him we would leave in a few minutes for the bus, until I realized it was Saturday. I told him we would go bowling later, that it was our day, and I’ve been preparing him that it’s spring break; a whole week of being off schedule. We had a great morning. We went to our beloved coffee shop, and then we went bowling. He did amazing bowling. He had this new signature knee move, pushing the ball off the ramp, and he still did a few of his spin moves. When we got home from the rest of our adventures, as soon as we walked in, Owen tried to turn the lights on. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. There is nothing that prepares you for this moment. Immediately Owen went into meltdown. “Turn de light onT”, he screamed. How does one remain calm when you are panicking; this and a million other questions ran through my mind. Okay, so we had to get back out of the house. We went for a walk. I put him in his stroller, and off we went. I had to keep him distracted, and I had to figure out what was wrong. I looked at the electric company’s website, and a car had hit a pole, right behind my house. There was no estimated time right away. We kept walking. So a new plan had to form; to the mall we were going to go. We had to come back in the house to get things, but then we could go. Owen screamed, and screamed, and screamed some more, as soon as we walked in. We got to the mall, walked around for awhile, and I kept checking my phone to see what time the power would be restored. Nine, nine o’clock at night. Don’t they know that’s impossible, we can’t go that long without power. How can we stay gone that long from our house. After we left the mall we drove back by the house, in case the website was wrong. Nope, still no power. Off to see the fish at Cabela’s, we went. And I had to get Owen food. We got home, still no power. Owen was handling it a little better, but he wanted to go bowling again. So we did exactly that. We are home now. Owen’s asleep under the bright light of the living room. The lights came on around nine thirty, and within a few minutes he was asleep. Any time I hear about a natural disaster, or a family displaced for some reason, I immediately think about the autism community. My heart goes out to the families, because I know there is no way to be prepared for it all. Today was hard. There is no other way to say it. I had to remain calm, even though I wanted to cry. It was a lot for Owen to take in. We made it. I am thankful it wasn’t out for days. When the lights turned on, Owen yelled, “we did it”, and turned on all the right lights. Owen had been repeating, “turn de light onT” every few minutes throughout our day. I look at Owen is his sleep, and I’m thankful he has found peace at the end of our day to sleep. Find your motivation, be inspired, and set your dreams into motion. Today is your day. Smiles to all and donut daze!