Just For Today

Just For Today
Just for today, little one, I'm going to forget that you're autisticAnd remember that you're a child. For this brief shining time, I will only see the beauty of you and your world.

I will marvel at the spun gold of your hair in the sunlight. How can anything be so impossibly brilliant? I will see the blue-green of your infinite eyesAnd not worry if they focus on me. I will admire your concentrationAnd not mind that it isn't directed in the usual way.

Your smile and laugh will bring me joy. It won't matter what caused them, they are marvels unto themselves. Through your eyes I will delve into the unseen, Looking at the world with that perspective unique to you.

I will see your lines of leaves and stonesAnd share your happiness at their precision. I will close my own eyesAnd let the textures you explore overwhelm my senses. Spinning in circles with you, I will let go until all is lost but the dizzy.

Just for today, I will close my books and ignore the research, the worry, the 'shoulds' and the shadowy future. You are my baby, my son, my love. Today, we play.

Written by Delia Thompson

My ferel child

Nate is RARELY unsupervised. He is 3 1/2 years old and I know that his peers have quite a bit more freedom than Nate does. BUT- we just aren't there yet. That being said, yesterday Neve took a longer than usual nap, leaving Nate downstairs with me. He was set up on the office computer watching Backyardigans videos on NOGGIN. I decided he was ok- and I went to the bathroom. I wasn't in there very long, and no, I didn't hear anything unusual. I come out and Nate is not in the office. I check the kitchen and what do I see?? My little monkey with his chin resting on the counter , NOT using his hand I might add, munching on a banana. YEP- peel and all. he had munched through almost all of the first one and was on his way to #2.

I had to laugh. Well, I actually wanted to barf at the thought of eating that, THEN I laughed. We just had a meeting with Nate's biomed doc talking about diet and how we need to avoid skins on fruit and such. lol. Wonder if PEELS count??!? I guess I understand - poor Nate- as I have never shown him how to peel a banana, it always arrives magically cut into bite size portions for him. Guess I will add that to my list. :)

This is Nate's Friendship Quilt from preschool as well. Thought I would share.

You gonna finish that?

Well the last few weeks have certainly had their ups and downs. Nate has been trying to control his ABA therapy sessions by having massive tantrums. Aaron and I willing to bet that Nate is going through his terrible twos- at age 3 1/2. Fun, fun. I really felt awful for the students working with him because I KNOW firsthand how hard (ok, more like impossible) it is to force a headstrong 45 pound kid to do what you want him to. BUT, I am happy to say I think we have finally turned a corner. After weeks of the living with the devil child formerly known as Nate, I think our boy is back.

It is interesting because when I picked Nate up at school last week his teacher's aide came out to tell me that Nate did great at snack time that day and helped set out the plates. She also said that he has seemed really hungry lately and that after he finishes his snack he cruises the table checking out what others have left on their plates! I laughed because this comment was about my son, the boy that is almost completely unaware that a child is sitting next to him, let alone that they have a snack too. I said, " AWESOME!". hehe. Just be aware of the allergens in other kiddo's snacks- but that I DO NOT Think he is hungry- he is just waking up! He is more aware!! yay! We had actually started noticing that at home too so I am glad they picked up on that at school . He is always trying to grab Neve's snack away form her now and he sits in the corner, squatting like Gollum, shoving his "precious" in his mouth before BIG BAD MOM sees him. lol. Gotta love the kid. He makes me laugh.

AND JUST BECAUSE I FIND THIS HILARIOUS, HERE IS THE RANDOM PICTURE OF THE DAY.

NEVE VS. GLENN

(no babies were harmed in the shooting of this picture )