So in the midst of everything else, we thought it would be a supergreat and totally not at all crazy idea to change Monkey's schooling YET AGAIN. Because what Aspies love more than anything else is CHANGE! Yes. Except no. And lord knows things have just been SO BORING 'round here. (The alternate version of this story is that Hippie School---lovingly dubbed thus two years ago when it was still mostly a joke---is undergoing some changes and growing pains, and after careful consideration, we feel the program which has so nurtured him for the past two years is just not going to meet his needs...
One of my least favorite things to hear about kids on the autism spectrum is that they tend to lack an understanding of humor, and nearly everything "official" says they don't understand sarcasm. And really, as much as I would love to believe that my own particular little snowflakes are just that much more special than the world, no, really, I know a LOT of Aspies who get sarcasm just fine. Monkey has been... well... a little off, lately. If you ask him something you're likely to get a snippy, snarky reply. With an extra helping of sarcasm. I don't know what's up. I suspect it may be...
Hippie School is working on some sort of family history/family tree/civil rights mashup project right now---at least, I think they are. Monkey tends to be a little obtuse when it comes to telling me about what's actually happening at school. Somewhere in his brain, the fact that I oversee his HOME homeschool days gives him carte blanche to tell me only select snippets about what happens when he's over at Hippie School. As a result, if I am to believe his version of events, on a regular day at Hippie School all that happens is: He plays D&D with a couple of his buddies, someone does something...
We've been arguing about it for months. MONTHS! Every time you said, "I'm going to be a TEENAGER soon," I replied with a swift verbal smackdown: "No. NO YOU'RE NOT. I won't allow it. You can't!" You laughed, every time. The joke never grows old. (Then again, when has a joke ever grown old with you? Exactly. Wait, let me guess: You're Batman? I thought so!) About a week ago, you told me you had the solution. "Mom. Mom! Since you don't want me to be a teenager, I've decided I'll just turn THIRT. No teen, see?" I agreed that this was an excellent solution. "Maybe when you stop freaking out then...
Despite my insistence that time SLOW DOWN ALREADY, life continues to zip right by at a maniacal pace. And now we can all stop and consider that statement and laugh at my fickleness, because wasn't I JUST wishing for 2013 to get here? And now I'm complaining that the year is nearly over and I'm not ready? I am nothing if not illogical. (No, YOU!) It's not clear to me what I feel the need to DO or FINISH this year---I mean, other than the usual sort of "everything!"---but here I am, feeling like time is spinning by and I'm on a deadline. What or when that deadline actually IS remains a...
Today's post over at Feel More Better is dedicated to Monkey, the child I never could've imagined, before he came into my life, but who has patiently taught me to be a better human being. Both of my kids have done this for me, of course, but Monkey brought Hippie School into our lives, and the lessons there ripple outward and touch our entire family. So today, it's for him, for me, for every non-round peg who ever tried to be something else. Square pegs are awesome. Other shapes, too. I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to figure it out. (I'm a slow learner... thank goodness my kid is...
I don't know that I've really stopped to give proper thanks and praise when it comes to pretty much the ONE thing in our lives that hasn't been worrisome or catastrophic this year. In the midst of the various Sturm und Drang, we have one shining beacon of progress: Monkey. You remember Monkey, right? Short goofy kid with the dimples that'll melt your heart? I don't know if you know this, but he's kind of awesome. We were warned that autistic kids often come in to a whole new set of hurdles as they enter adolescence, but I have to say that---so far, at least (knocking on...
I always find myself looking forward to the weekend with a fervor that borders on religious, particularly by Thursday or Friday. It's going to be SO NICE, I think, and I will SLEEP LATE and RELAX and RECHARGE. And then Monday rolls around and I am just as exhausted and cranky as usual. It seems unfair. [Side note: I did finally make an appointment to see my doctor, on account of recent life stressors do seem to be taking a slight toll on my health, possibly. Weird, right? I mean, who knew that constant months of high stress might make you less than perfectly healthy or something? So I called...
One of the things I love most about Hippie School is that it exists just about a step and a half to the left of flat-out Lord of the Flies when the kids are playing outside. (And of course they play outside for hours each day, unlike those good ol' fifteen-minute-long recesses at public school; and come to think of it, as a middle schooler, there's no recess at all, of course.) The kids have gardens and forts and sometimes they go fishing and for a while they were big into catching turtles and building habitats for them. (I confess I found this slightly confusing. "Weren't they ALREADY in a...
