So… what’s next?
8
DC tends to get very excited about many things. I hear about whatever he is so excited about all day, every day until it happens. It is always funny and a little bit predictable that when we finally get there, he loves it, he’s having fun, but then 3/4 of the way through, he begins to obsess about “What is next”.October 31st was a triple whammy for him. After trick or treating we were sitting at the table at his friend’s house having juice and snacks ……… okay so maybe the adults were obsessing about the next Walking Dead episode for a while too (I spend far too much time thinking about that).. I saw that concerned look on his face. He had just realized that it was the last day of the month.
- He wore his costume
- He had a party with his friends
- He had fun
- He got his candy
- Halloween is over
Calendars are extremely important to DC. They must always reflect the proper month. Fortunately because my desk at work is such a mess, he can not see that the big desk calendar is still on June or he’d have me pulling everything apart to change it.
There was one time when Mrs. H took him to his favorite wing place. She said he was standing at the counter having a conversation with the counter girl. She thought this was odd because DC does not have conversations in the true sense of the word. You ask a question and he will answer it, you ask another question and he will answer that too and so on. She asked the counter girl what she and DC had been talking about. There was a calendar on the wall behind the counter and he felt the need to point out to her that it had not been changed to the current month – he wouldn’t stop until she promised to change it.
I was and still am to some extent, involved and/or on boards for a few organizations and served 3 terms on a town committee. DC, many times had to attend many of these meeting with me. He has been attending with me for years and is usually pretty good about it. He brings his books, sits ‘relatively’ quietly and he knows not to touch anything that does not belong to him in the meeting rooms. One day he got up, went to the bulletin board, took down the calendar and changed it to the proper month. It must have been bothering him throughout the entire meeting. He knew he was not supposed to touch anything but he just could not control himself.
Not only was he in his “What’s next” and “end of the month calendar changing” mindset but…..but we had to move the clocks back too – all on the same day.
Knowing what this would lead to, I had to explain to him that it would be getting dark very early now and there was nothing to get nervous about. This explanation was in anticipation of him noticing later in the day how early it was getting dark and to hopefully keep him from running to the door every 5 minutes to look outside thinking that a storm was approaching. This never works – but still I try. It happens every year and it goes on for days and days until he is finally used to it.
- Halloween is over
- The calendars have been changed
- The clocks have been changed and explained
“Mom, Thanksgiving is coming soon!”
That’s next so we’re moving on………….
