The very long update
I have GOT to start updating this thing more often. Lots of stuff going on with the boy child lately!
First of all, last Thursday he and every other student in his grade went on a field trip to San Antonio. My dad and I went along to assist the boy, and also for the group rate admission. No no, it was just to help the boy. Honest!
The kids rode the bus and parents had to arrange for their own transportation, so Dad and I rode down in the van. Our first stop was the Institute of Texan Cultures, which I didn't even know existed up to that point. We got there about 20 minutes before the busses did, and wouldn't you know it, the boy child emerged while I was in the bathroom. We quickly caught up with him, though, and then our group headed out to the "Back 40" where there are several historical buildings (or replicas thereof).
The boy child did very well at the one-room schoolhouse and the adobe house, but when we got to the "Army outpost" there was an overly enthusiastic docent who kind of yelled a lot and scared him. He held it together for the two-room dog-trot cabin, but by the time we got to the barn the boy had had quite enough, and I spent the entire presentation with my hands pressed firmly over his ears (at his insistence).
Luckily that was our last stop in the outdoor portion of the tour, and he did just fine indoors. We ate lunch outside and he was a little bit anxious about the bugs, but he felt confident enough to leave Dad and me and sit with some friends of his for a bit. So that was good.
After lunch the kids got back on the busses and the parents got back in their cars to drive to Rivercenter mall, which was only about a mile away. The problem was that we had to pay to get out of the ITC parking lot. Since we were all leaving at the same time, and apparently some people were trying to pay with pennies or stock certificates or something, it took FOREVER to get out of there. And then the directions the parents were given from the ITC to the mall were incorrect, so we had to kind of wing it (fortunately Dad and I were familiar enough with the area to make our way pretty quickly, but we managed to hit every red light in the one-mile stretch of road we were on).
All of this meant that the busses got to the mall long before the parents did, which was not a problem except for the part where the bussed dropped the kids off one level below where they needed to be to get to the IMAX theater, which meant that they had to ride an escalator. Which the boy child DOES NOT do, at all. Any attempt to get him on an escalator results in a full-blown panic attack. Fortunately his teacher already knew this and was able to get another parent to take the boy up on the elevator. So that was okay, but by the time Dad and I got there the boy was kind of upset that we were late. He was holding his teacher's hand and had that stressed-out look about him. Oy.
So he sat between Dad and me for the movie, which was about the Alamo, and that was good because I think it gave him a little bit of time to pull himself together. After the movie we all walked across the street to the actual Alamo, and he did fine there even though we were outside for much of the time.
From there we walked back over to the busses. I had arranged for the boy to ride home with Dad and me rather than on the bus, which I think turned out for the best. I put on some music, the boy chilled out in his familiar car seat, and he didn't have to be "on" anymore. All in all I think he did VERY well on this trip, considering how long it was (we left the school at 7 a.m. and got back home at 6:30 p.m.) and how much sensory stimulation he had to deal with. He really didn't have any meltdowns at all. My boy is growing up!
Okay, so then Saturday was the school carnival, which was also outdoors, and the boy did great! He and the girl child had a taekwondo demonstration indoors during the carnival, and they both did great with that too.
One component of the carnival was a raffle for "teacher treasures". These are special events that the kids can do with the teachers and staff of the school during non-school hours. The boy ended up winning one, and I was so thrilled for him! He never gets to do anything special like that -- he's never invited to birthday parties or anything, and not a lot of opportunities to do fun things like that with people other than his immediate family seem to come his way. The one he won was a kickball game with the teachers from his grade. There are 8 classes, and only one kid from each class won. Those 8 kids got to play kickball with the 8 teachers on the playground after school this past Tuesday.
On the day of the game, the boy child was a little nervous because of the bug issue. I was a little nervous because the boy is not the most coordinated kid at school and isn't really into team sports. I was hoping the other kids would be kind if he messed up. Well, I needn't have worried because the boy did great! He actually got a home run! Of course, he got it because he either didn't realize he had to stop at the bases or just didn't want to, and kept on going after he kicked the ball. He was up to "bat" three times; the first time was the home run, the second time he popped out, and the third time he went for the homer but was tagged out at home plate. He did okay fielding, too. He was doing his "bug dance" quite a bit, where he flicks at his ears and fidgets quite a bit to make sure there aren't any bugs landing on him, but he was able to pay attention to what was going on in the game. I didn't hear a single mean comment hurled his way, and in fact the next day before school, one of the other boys who had played in the game told him, "Great job yesterday!"
In between the carnival and the game, we had a bit of an incident. The kids have taekwondo on Mondays and that's when they practice working with weapons. The weapon they're using now is a long wooden stick, and it's not safe to have a bunch of kids swinging them around in the little room where they practice, so they usually go outside. Well, this week the boy child was in no mood for outdoor practice and I guess he had a bit of a freakout over the bug issue and had to be taken indoors. Sigh. His instructor has asked me what she should do when something like that happens, but I haven't answered her yet because I honestly don't know! We're seeing Dr. H this afternoon, so I'm going to ask him for suggestions. He has advised us to encourage the boy to stay outside for a specified length of time, even if he's upset (there's more to it than that, but I'm simplifying) so that's what we do at home, but his instructor has 20 kids to deal with and can't really hold his hand through an episode, so I don't know what to tell her.
But wait, there's more!
Okay, so yesterday after school we were waiting around for the boy's occupational therapist to show up (he sees her once a week now) when the doorbell rang, much too early for it to be the OT. Usually this means that one of the girl child's friends is at the door asking for a playdate. So I opened the door expecting to find one of the little neighbor girls, and instead it was one of the girls in the boy child's grade. And with her was the kid who has been bothering the boy child all year -- the one he hit last month. And they wanted to know if the boy could play!
Well, I was kind of flabbergasted! I said, "Um. I don't know. I'll ask him." And then I hollered for the boy and DH, who was working from home yesterday. I told the boy who was at the door and asked if he was okay playing with them, and he said "sure!" He told me that he and this other boy were getting along okay now, which was news to me. Anyway, since his therapist was due in about 30 minutes, we told him they had to play at our house. They hung around in the front yard for a bit (with DH keeping watch from the window), then came inside to play in his room. DH and I hovered around and from what we could tell, everyone was getting along fine.
So the boy had a playdate! The first real playdate he's had since I can't even remember when! Seriously, I can't ever remember anyone coming to the house to ask the boy child to play. It just doesn't happen. And this time, it was with the last kid I ever expected the boy child to play with.
Oh look! Out the window! Was that a flying pig? I think it was!
So yeah, it's been a weird and eventful week around here. Today we see Dr. H, and Saturday the boy has his first swimming lesson. So that should be fun.
I really need to post about the girl child, too, but I'm just too tired to do it now. Stay tuned!
First of all, last Thursday he and every other student in his grade went on a field trip to San Antonio. My dad and I went along to assist the boy, and also for the group rate admission. No no, it was just to help the boy. Honest!
The kids rode the bus and parents had to arrange for their own transportation, so Dad and I rode down in the van. Our first stop was the Institute of Texan Cultures, which I didn't even know existed up to that point. We got there about 20 minutes before the busses did, and wouldn't you know it, the boy child emerged while I was in the bathroom. We quickly caught up with him, though, and then our group headed out to the "Back 40" where there are several historical buildings (or replicas thereof).
The boy child did very well at the one-room schoolhouse and the adobe house, but when we got to the "Army outpost" there was an overly enthusiastic docent who kind of yelled a lot and scared him. He held it together for the two-room dog-trot cabin, but by the time we got to the barn the boy had had quite enough, and I spent the entire presentation with my hands pressed firmly over his ears (at his insistence).
Luckily that was our last stop in the outdoor portion of the tour, and he did just fine indoors. We ate lunch outside and he was a little bit anxious about the bugs, but he felt confident enough to leave Dad and me and sit with some friends of his for a bit. So that was good.
After lunch the kids got back on the busses and the parents got back in their cars to drive to Rivercenter mall, which was only about a mile away. The problem was that we had to pay to get out of the ITC parking lot. Since we were all leaving at the same time, and apparently some people were trying to pay with pennies or stock certificates or something, it took FOREVER to get out of there. And then the directions the parents were given from the ITC to the mall were incorrect, so we had to kind of wing it (fortunately Dad and I were familiar enough with the area to make our way pretty quickly, but we managed to hit every red light in the one-mile stretch of road we were on).
All of this meant that the busses got to the mall long before the parents did, which was not a problem except for the part where the bussed dropped the kids off one level below where they needed to be to get to the IMAX theater, which meant that they had to ride an escalator. Which the boy child DOES NOT do, at all. Any attempt to get him on an escalator results in a full-blown panic attack. Fortunately his teacher already knew this and was able to get another parent to take the boy up on the elevator. So that was okay, but by the time Dad and I got there the boy was kind of upset that we were late. He was holding his teacher's hand and had that stressed-out look about him. Oy.
So he sat between Dad and me for the movie, which was about the Alamo, and that was good because I think it gave him a little bit of time to pull himself together. After the movie we all walked across the street to the actual Alamo, and he did fine there even though we were outside for much of the time.
From there we walked back over to the busses. I had arranged for the boy to ride home with Dad and me rather than on the bus, which I think turned out for the best. I put on some music, the boy chilled out in his familiar car seat, and he didn't have to be "on" anymore. All in all I think he did VERY well on this trip, considering how long it was (we left the school at 7 a.m. and got back home at 6:30 p.m.) and how much sensory stimulation he had to deal with. He really didn't have any meltdowns at all. My boy is growing up!
Okay, so then Saturday was the school carnival, which was also outdoors, and the boy did great! He and the girl child had a taekwondo demonstration indoors during the carnival, and they both did great with that too.
One component of the carnival was a raffle for "teacher treasures". These are special events that the kids can do with the teachers and staff of the school during non-school hours. The boy ended up winning one, and I was so thrilled for him! He never gets to do anything special like that -- he's never invited to birthday parties or anything, and not a lot of opportunities to do fun things like that with people other than his immediate family seem to come his way. The one he won was a kickball game with the teachers from his grade. There are 8 classes, and only one kid from each class won. Those 8 kids got to play kickball with the 8 teachers on the playground after school this past Tuesday.
On the day of the game, the boy child was a little nervous because of the bug issue. I was a little nervous because the boy is not the most coordinated kid at school and isn't really into team sports. I was hoping the other kids would be kind if he messed up. Well, I needn't have worried because the boy did great! He actually got a home run! Of course, he got it because he either didn't realize he had to stop at the bases or just didn't want to, and kept on going after he kicked the ball. He was up to "bat" three times; the first time was the home run, the second time he popped out, and the third time he went for the homer but was tagged out at home plate. He did okay fielding, too. He was doing his "bug dance" quite a bit, where he flicks at his ears and fidgets quite a bit to make sure there aren't any bugs landing on him, but he was able to pay attention to what was going on in the game. I didn't hear a single mean comment hurled his way, and in fact the next day before school, one of the other boys who had played in the game told him, "Great job yesterday!"
In between the carnival and the game, we had a bit of an incident. The kids have taekwondo on Mondays and that's when they practice working with weapons. The weapon they're using now is a long wooden stick, and it's not safe to have a bunch of kids swinging them around in the little room where they practice, so they usually go outside. Well, this week the boy child was in no mood for outdoor practice and I guess he had a bit of a freakout over the bug issue and had to be taken indoors. Sigh. His instructor has asked me what she should do when something like that happens, but I haven't answered her yet because I honestly don't know! We're seeing Dr. H this afternoon, so I'm going to ask him for suggestions. He has advised us to encourage the boy to stay outside for a specified length of time, even if he's upset (there's more to it than that, but I'm simplifying) so that's what we do at home, but his instructor has 20 kids to deal with and can't really hold his hand through an episode, so I don't know what to tell her.
But wait, there's more!
Okay, so yesterday after school we were waiting around for the boy's occupational therapist to show up (he sees her once a week now) when the doorbell rang, much too early for it to be the OT. Usually this means that one of the girl child's friends is at the door asking for a playdate. So I opened the door expecting to find one of the little neighbor girls, and instead it was one of the girls in the boy child's grade. And with her was the kid who has been bothering the boy child all year -- the one he hit last month. And they wanted to know if the boy could play!
Well, I was kind of flabbergasted! I said, "Um. I don't know. I'll ask him." And then I hollered for the boy and DH, who was working from home yesterday. I told the boy who was at the door and asked if he was okay playing with them, and he said "sure!" He told me that he and this other boy were getting along okay now, which was news to me. Anyway, since his therapist was due in about 30 minutes, we told him they had to play at our house. They hung around in the front yard for a bit (with DH keeping watch from the window), then came inside to play in his room. DH and I hovered around and from what we could tell, everyone was getting along fine.
So the boy had a playdate! The first real playdate he's had since I can't even remember when! Seriously, I can't ever remember anyone coming to the house to ask the boy child to play. It just doesn't happen. And this time, it was with the last kid I ever expected the boy child to play with.
Oh look! Out the window! Was that a flying pig? I think it was!
So yeah, it's been a weird and eventful week around here. Today we see Dr. H, and Saturday the boy has his first swimming lesson. So that should be fun.
I really need to post about the girl child, too, but I'm just too tired to do it now. Stay tuned!
posted by Miss Anthrope at 6:16 AM
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