This one made me think...

I ran across this article today about a journalist (Lenore Skenazy) who left her 9 year old in Bloomingdale's in New York City to find his way home via subway alone. [Evidently the kid had been begging to make his way home from anywhere for months]. At first, my response is, whoa! not sure that I'd try that! But upon reflection, I'm thinking, here is a kid who has grown up riding the subway, and will probably know how to get home on his own. [You can read the story here: http://www.nysun.com/opinion/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone/73976/ ]. He did, get home safe and sound, by the way.

Of course, as I usually do, I framed this as a parent of a child with autism. It's thought provoking really.

• What can my child do independently?
• How will I know if I don't let him try?
• What am I willing to risk?
• Do I know what he can hande?

Obviously, I wouldn't leave him to his own devices in New York City, but I am striving to find the balance. The right amount of independence for him with the appropriate amount of control and support. Am I too controlling? Probably. Do I give him a variety of options? I try. Still, I'm left thinking about this...wondering just how dangerous life can be in Churubusco, Indiana!

"My mom is cool!"

Tonight, in the van on the way home from running errands, Jackson busts out in this rap:

"I love my mom, my mom is really cool. But now it's time for having fun in school."

Of course, I was thinking how sweet it was and feeling a bit smug. Dan prompted him to change the verse to include "dad". Then Cal informs us that Jax learned this from Sid the Science Kid on PBS. Well, it's still very sweet, right? ;)

Aha!

In the past couple of months, Jax has been making 'random' comments about 'bonen'...we have had no idea what exactly he was talking about. The 'conversations would go something like this:

J: "you go to Bonen"
M: "where do you want to go?"
J: "to Bonen"
M: "where is Bonen"
J: "Wubbzy wants to go to Bonen"
M: "What will Wubbzy do?"
J: "Go to Bonen"

It was more than a bit frustrating! Yesterday, Jackson is on the computer; his favorite sites are pbskids and YouTube. While on the pbskids site, he linked to the Boeing website. Yep, Boeing as in, the big airplanes. In fact, today when I went to log on, he had 12 windows open, all of them for Boeing jets. Now I know, when he talks about Bonen, he's referring to Boeing and really just wants to fly on a plane...

As the Super Slueths would say, "Another mystery is history!"

Holiday Hustle

Well, we have 5 down and 2 to go!
Jackson is actually doing remarkably well.
This morning he was thrilled to finally get Horton Hears a Who from Santa. Of course, he was less into the DVD and more about the plush Horton beanie baby that came with it.
All in all the day was a big success and he handled the to and fro quite well...probably better than I did (lol).
This evening he's enjoying the drum set we got for him and his brother and coloring the Super Why pages he got in one of his gifts. All is right with the world, for now...

hmmm.....

Well, I know that Jackson is thrilled to be out of school, but I'm not so sure myself...
The weather has been yucky and we've all been couped up or hustling about. Jackson's anxiety is growing and we aren't even four days into break....I'm certain the holiday has something to do with it, but I'm growing weary of encouraging him...and reminding him what comes next. He's such a creature of habit.

We went for haircuts today. That's a bright spot to celebrate, as I remember a time when we literally had to hold him down for a haircut. Now, he willingly sits in the chair and patiently lets the barber (who is wonderfully patient himself), clipper cut his hair. I need to remind myself of the accomplishments when I'm bogged down by the monotony of it all.

More to come I'm sure....I'm thinking I ought to go back and re-read posts from this time last year...

Kermit's Christmas Show

Last night, the whole family snuggled in to watch the Muppets Christmas show. Jackson absolutely loved it! The beginning of the show had Scooter, Rizzo, Gonzo and Kermit at a post office, and Jackson was really excited saying, "Post Office Box 166" which, of course, is his PO box #. How wonderful to have him associate the post office emblem with his mail. I'm so glad we spent the money for that box and I'm especially grateful to those relatives who keep him excited about his mail (Aunty Trish, Great-Aunt Judy and Grandma, among others). The show was cute and included some musical numbers that Jackson enjoyed...

We had a fun night watching the program, but then had trouble getting the boys to bed...

Just one more week 'til Christmas, and if the weather comes in like it's predicted, I'm guessing our Winter Break will start a day early. [Of course, since I published that, I've jinxed it for sure!]

Komet Hockey!!!

Dan got tickets to last night's Komet game at work. I figured we'd go and see part of the game and get home at a decent hour. Well, Jackson decided we weren't leaving until the absolute end of the game. Never mind that the Komets were down 2 goals with less than 2 minutes to go. Never mind that we had church in the morning and it was past 10pm. Never mind that we'd have to fight the crowd to get out of the parking lot....

Actually, I was happy to stay with him. It warms my heart to have him enjoy something as simple as a hockey game. It's a gift--we can enjoy the game just like most families with a few quirky exceptions. [One being his connection with the older gentlemen sitting behind us, whom he high-fived like he knew him?] We all had a great time, though Cal was ready to come home before the game was over. Even though the Komets lost, it was a win for us!

Christopher Columbus

Jackson just completed his 3 projects about an explorer. We chose Columbus because Jackson was born on Columbus Day (and I knew I could modify the assignment and make it work for Columbus). I'm' really proud of how it turn out...I should have taken a picture of the Santa Maria diagram he did. He also created a short timeline of Columbus's first sailing. His third project was a very brief biography in book form (with picture to help him "read" the book). I'm really excited that he's learning some grade level content this year...though it is really modified, I'm excited that his teacher is willing to work with us and help expose him to some new concepts!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I really enjoy putting the tree up each year...especially since Jackson has come to love it so much. When he was a baby we started buying a Hallmark series of ornaments: NHL hockey players...I thought it was a great way for him to have his "own" ornaments, unfortunately, Hallmark stopped the series after 5 players (guess they couldn't come up with more than 5?) This year was especially fun, both boys were VERY excited about the ornaments and the tree. (Cal was worried about who had more ornaments...) It was all fun and good until the cat knocked the tree down!

Here are a couple of photos:



Cal puts the Star on top; Jack makes sure Elmo is just right...

Bedtime

Jackson hates going to bed lately. He greatly prefers, "movie night" which means he gets to sleep on the floor and watch a movie under his bed. [Cal likes to have movie night too]. We've been putting them to bed around 8:30...is that too early for an 11 year old? I guess I don't know... He generally comes out and hangs out for a few minutes on the couch, then goes to bed--though not with out protest.