Days 122 through 126

Well, when things are just so stressful, unfortunately something has to give - and writing here gave. Wednesday, Day 122, was just as crummy as Tuesday had been except after getting in the house after school, things were fine.

Thursday, Day 123, interesting thing happened. Josh got on the bus and I said something about Frank, the aide at school. Josh said, "Frank's gone." I was kind of taken aback and I asked if he was sick or something. Josh said, "Frank's gone." So I asked the bus driver and she said she hadn't seen Frank for several days. Hhhmm.. So I wrote Emily, Josh's teacher, an email and asked. She wrote back that Frank had been transferred to another classroom (don't know when) and that Josh was actually doing better since the transfer. Hhhmm.. didn't seem like much better at home! His class went to the greenhouse, and then to the Jewel to practice grocery shopping afterward. They are using the wheelchair a lot with Josh, it seems, and they used it at the Jewel - he was still totally overwhelmed by everything and, when he settled down somewhat, he was apparently swinging at staff members (Emily has such faith that she is sure he will eventually get used to school outings like that). When Josh came home from school, he walked in the house and said, "I miss Frank." I said something about how it is sad when people go away, or something like that, and I asked if he wanted to talk about it - "No." Josh just went on playing. Had a quiet evening. I decided, also, that he had been sleeping without the fan on (change in weather) - maybe that white noise was helping him get a better sleep, so I turned the fan on when I came up to bed.

Friday, Day 124, Josh got up and out of bed without any problem, had a good breakfast, except for one laying down thing, it seems that everything else during the day was excellent. So, the interesting thing is perhaps the fish oils are evening out in Josh's system, perhaps an acknowledgement of something that's bothering him was needed, perhaps he had a better night's sleep with the fan on - who knows - but Friday was excellent, Saturday (Day 125) was good but quiet with Gramma Bev and Boompah here (I can't wait to stop going to work on Saturdays!), and Josh did really well when Joan came for dinner and Scrabble - Josh went right up to Joan, pointed to her shirt (kind of surprised her!), and said, "UPS, cool!" (she was wearing one of her UPS shirts). He didn't want to go to bed with company here, but he eventually did snooze off on the couch and then went up without any problem. (Scrabble - first game I won by 3 points, second game, well, let's just say Joan kicked butt!)

Today, Day 126, I decided to try a major shift in how I handle the a.m.'s on the weekends. Josh always wants to go train hunting - well, OK. But, what has happened several times is that we get up early, he noshes on a quick breakfast while I make a picnic lunch, and then he lays down or we both plop on the couch, and we don't get moving until noon or later. So, this a.m., Josh was up at 6:00 - he came in and said good morning. Since I hadn't gotten to bed until after 2 (long Scrabble games, and Joan had her iPhone playing music on Pandora.com - fantastic playlist - Peter/Paul/Mary, Dan Fogelberg, Billy Joel, The Kingston Trio, Serendipity Singers, etc. - we were singing for hours!), I was totally wiped so I told Josh to go pee and got him back into bed. He came back in at around 7:00 and layed down on my bed (his feet by my face-YUCK!), but we both dozed for another hour. I got up to go into the bathroom and he just went back to bed - I came downstairs and had breakfast, lounged, watched a little HGTV, and he had fallen back to sleep. I figured, heck, why rush to go train hunting, let him sleep and I get some quiet time to myself. He got up on his own around 12:15, went to pee (like a racehorse!), got dressed and we headed out - I had packed up the bare essentials for eating and we stopped and Panera to pick up PBJ for him and a Cuban Panini for me (YUM!!). Had a great afternoon, got home around 5:00, made a vegetarian dinner, and it turned out to be just a lovely day all the way around!

So, in talking to other parents, while it can be a pain, it can also be a pleasant way to start a day by letting your tween just sleep! Think back, dummy, isn't that what you did when you were that age!?! Thinking about it, I remember Gramma Rose getting frustrated with me sleeping late when Scott and I went down to Florida for those couple of summers - just about Josh's age now. So, lighten up - sleep is a good thing for him, and those couple of hours of "me" time is good for me!

Tomorrow, another week and into Day 127.