Happy Towel Day ... And What It Takes

Getting kids to dress when they'd rather be doing something else is rarely straight forward. Eight year-old boys are famous for finding just about anything more interesting than getting dressed. Add autism, and figure at least another 10 minutes of shepherding to get him changed and out the door.

Step 1: Heads-up announcement that current activity will be ending (this morning, it was playing an Incredibles video game) in X number of minutes (usually 2 to 10), and getting dressed would be the next activity of the day.

Step 2: Announcement that it is now time to stop activity. This involves prompting as needed to wrap up and stop/put away items.

Step 3: Accompany James to room to change. This cuts down on whining, detours, and attempts at negotiations to go back and keep on doing prior activity.

Step 4: Make sure he starts and is not likely to hide under the covers or get distracted by toys or math flash cards.

Step 5: Hang around for inevitable trips to the bathroom and cries for "new underwear!" Make sure he takes care of business properly in the bathroom (includes proper hand washing). This step can take a while, because James has started to be extremely fussy as to which underwear is worthy of wearing.

Step 6: Socks. The dreaded socks. Lately, I put out 2 pairs and let him choose.

Step 7: Shoes. James can be pretty good about this, but he does tend to choose his mock Crocks over tennis shoes (not allowed on school days or for baseball) and likes to put his shoes on the wrong feet on purpose. Gah!

Meanwhile, it's Towel Day! The kids have heard some of the BBC radio shows and have enjoyed the BBC series on You Tube. And on days that frustrate me with struggles with bureaucracy and feelings of isolation from mainstream life, it's rather soothing to read about the adventures of Arthur Dent, Dirk Gently, and Susan Way. And smile.

“Don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.”
― Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Yes, we know where our towels are!

NYE Countdown: 7PM

Dinner time is over! You are still eating the same thing for dinner: about 7 chicken nuggets (not too hot), pretzels or bread or tortilla chips, and apple slices (red apples only). After dinner, you are staying up longer. You used to go to bed by 7:30. Now it's between 8 and 8:30 (well, 8:30 on weekends).

You are still getting me up way too early in the mornings, but at we at least have our system. Before 6am -- lie quietly in bed, with Mommy hoping and praying you fall back to sleep. 6:00-7:ishAM - you can turn on the light in your room and play QUIETLY (with your door shut)  until 7(ish).Breakfast for you is normally 2 toasted blueberry waffles, with nothing on them. You get milk with a bit of Miralax, to keep things moving on through.

Here are some new things about you this year:

You started to write .. and even tried a bit of drawing.

You liked writing your name. This is how you started. Now you can write it on a lone on your homework sheet.

You started to dress up and play. You have a fantastically zany sense of style!

You also got so much better at dressing yourself. You're even better than your big sister at this.

You started wanting to take pictures, and became much more thoughtful about the ones you took.

You started understanding that you can type letters and words in computers to make things happen.

Preferences

James has a mind of his own. Many times, he's an easy-going guy. But occasionally he wants a certain thing. A very certain thing and not what Mommy/Daddy wants. Look out! We are loving it, too.

Sometimes, James will go to his closet and point to a shirt and say "Dis one." Sometimes, Mommy gives him choices. If we have lots of time, choices of 3 for shirt, pants, and shoes (well, only 2 kinds of shoes, but still, I offer him a choice). If time is scarce, a choice of two on shirts and shoes. It's a great way for him to work on his colours and appreciate the power of spoken words.

Also? He has a much better dress sense at this age than his sister did. She goes for bizzarro. James has his favourites: orange shirt, orange striped shirt, and the green gecko short-sleeved shirts. He prefers the red, white, & blue striped long-sleeved shirts. He adores his striped blue polo shirt, but it's so nice I hesitate to send him to school in it -- they do a lot of finger paints - Yiiii!

His favourite things to watch are also clearly stated (hooray!!!): "I. want. George/Red/Bear/Green/'Side-down." Translation: Curious George, Shapes: Talking with Dog (in a red library VHS case), Baby Einstein: Baby Mozart (Bear on case cover), Baby Einstein: Baby Shakespeare (Green lizard on case cover), The Upside-down Show.

His favourite books: "I. want. din'saur/caps sayuh/shapes/fwog/li' kak/E'mo." Translation: Does a Donosaur Get Sick?, Caps for Sale, Book of Shapes, The Rainbow Frogs, Little Quack, Elmo's Book of Babies.

He is doing imaginative play with cars and airplanes right now. He still loves things that spin and spinning them. He is starting to ride a tricycle! He engages with us (and occasionally his schoolmates) for playing.

And his newest friend is WALL*E.

Go, James!!!