Take Another Step - Life with DC: November 2016

Thursday, November 24, 2016

'Fanksgiving"

A Few Facebook Statuses and the excitement around Thanksgiving.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We were away for the weekend which was all I heard about during the weeks beforehand.

In the car on the way home, Thanksgiving kicked in:

Sunday, November 20, 2016

"DC: Mom I am so exciting for Fanksgiving - 'We are planning the greatest celebration ever' ~ Lumiere
#ItsWhatsNext #DisneyLinesThatFit

From: Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

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And so it began......

(understand that you are getting the condensed version - in reality 'Fanksgiving' talk and reminders came all day, every day)

All Week at random intervals

"Fanksgiving is coming soon"

"Fanksgiving on Firsday"

"Fansgiving coming on Firsday, PLEASE!"

and so on...
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Tuesday November 22, 2016

Knowing that I am tired of hearing that he is 'exciting' for 'Fanksgiving' and 'Fanksgiving' is coming soon, every five minutes - he decided to switch it up:
Mom! 'DC' (he rarely uses I or Me) is 'filled with excitement' for Firsday with my fam-ill- leeee.
(Filled with excitement - Cinderella - which version, I do not know.)
#thanksgiving #AllRoadsLeadToDisney

From: Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Dc just walked in the door. He's no longer talking about 'Fanksgiving' - he has resorted to just pointing at the date on the calendar until I confirm...
One......More......Night of this and it's over until he finishes eating tomorrow when he will move on to "going home on Friday" and then on to Christmas is coming soon 24/7

From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

Wednesday November 23, 2016: Evening

"To the people" Happy Thanksgiving from DC and me.
He'll be having Turkey (a leg, because..... bones - there must be bones) a 'roll' of bread (or a loaf of bread) and pumpkin pie!

(Pumpkin pie being something he thinks he is supposed to say; he opted for the chocolate cake)

From Facebook Statuses at Take Another

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Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 24, 2016

From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

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Thanksgiving Afternoon - Thursday, November 24, 2016

As predicted... dinner over ....
"Mom, we are going back home on Friday" - repeat, every half hour.

From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

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We arrived home less than a half hour ago...
"Mom! I am so exciting for Christmas is coming soon!"
#ItsWhatsNext

From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

Hope you all had a very happy holiday!

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In case you are new here: “I tell stories, most of the time; single individual stories about this or that. Some may be written with humor and some may come across as “Oh, look at the cute thing DC did or said” (he does crack me up at times) but my object is always to make people understand how his mind works, never to "make fun of him"

It is difficult to explain “his” autism to anyone without resorting to 1000 examples and 1000 stories. So I tell 1000 stories to make clear that there are other sides to autism than the characters seen in TV or movies."

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

The Election and a Parenting Fail

Like most of you, I was up most of the night. I stayed up until the bitter end.

This morning DC asked me if I was happy, which is something that he does often - he wants to make sure everyone is happy.

But he kept asking... so I tried to explain the election to him.

Because I know there is a lot more going on in his head than he can communicate, I always do try to explain everything he seems to have a question about. I do try to explain elections, the president etc every time they come around. Usually he is with me when we go to vote. I don't know how much he understands but I always try to explain.

I started by telling him I was disappointed (I did not want to say that I was not happy as that just upsets him) about the election. I was not going to go into great detail, I was just going to say that I was disappointed because our new President is not always a very nice man. Instead I proceeded to burst into tears just trying to explain it to that beautiful innocent face looking at me.

I should have waited to talk about it. I did not realize I would get that emotional. It was not my intention to present it that way to him.

We will have a lot more talking to do .......

I did get a big hug and a "Don't be sad, Mom" i thanked him for making me feel better so here's hoping that he won't be worried or nervous.

That's my job.

From Facebook Page Statuses at Take Another Step
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Monday, November 7, 2016

Bananas......

Yesterday I was informed many times that we were "out of 'abanas'". If you follow this page at all you know this always seems to be thing. Yes we are out of bananas quite often because bananas are not something I can buy in large quantities ahead of time and save. They go bad too quickly.
So.... we are out of 'abanas' a lot. It can't be helped.

Yesterday, we also had to attend his Best Buddies walk and I made the mistake of telling him that we would stop at the grocery store on the way home from the walk.

That was all he could think about....

He had a good time walking but as soon as the actual walking part of the day was done, he wanted to leave. He wanted to go shopping. His Buddies and I talked him into staying a little while longer and he did allow himself to have some fun.

They decorated a pumpkin. They went on a hay ride. They danced to the music. Even though he was having fun, he must have mentioned "shopping" to his buddies, more than once. I am sure he made it sound like we would be shopping for something very important - like a car or furniture.

One of his Buddies asked me what we would be shopping for since DC was so excited about it.

Imagine my embarrassment when I had to tell her that this big exciting shopping trip was just to get groceries and yes, he gets this excited about grocery shopping all of the time.

I swear this child is not starving......

#ISwearHeIsNotStarving

From Facebook Page Statuses at Take Another Step

For more on the 'Abana' battles:

Last night, DC came home from his after-camp program and gave me a hug. A few minutes later when I was standing at the kitchen counter, he decided he needed another hug. Not all that weird, he loves hugs but he just had one just a few minutes earlier. While he was giving me this second hug he says
Mom, we are out of 'a-banas'.
Apparently I was blocking the corner where the bananas are kept and he needed to give me a hug so he could see behind me.
#OutOfBananasAgain#IReallyHaveToLoseSomeWeightIfPeopleCantSeeAroundMe

Facebook Page Status at Take Another Step

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DC is at a party with his Dad today (and might I point out it is Sunday and yes, there is cake) - While I was in the grocery store, his Aunt (His Dad's sister) texted me a few photos of DC at the party. Since I was in the store to get his bananas, I decided to text her a pic so she could tell him that I have them, so he didn't have to worry about his 'a-bannas' any more....
DC has radar. He knows when I have been shopping even if there is no evidence left out to indicate that I have been to the store - he just knows and instinctively starts going through cabinets, the 'refig-a-lator', and freezer to see just what is there for him.
He is so good that one day I hid something in a cabinet; one that I never hide things in and one that he never goes in because it has the glasses that he doesn't like in it. But he came home with his staff, Elizabeth and went directly to that cabinet and found what I had hidden. Elizabeth just stood there with her mouth open in disbelief. He's THAT good.
I am sure he will still do some inventory when he gets home but knowing that the bananas are here might make it go a bit faster...

From Facebook Page Status at Take Another Step

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A few times that I have dropped the ball...

Facebook Page Status at Take Another Step

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From Facebook Page Statuses at Take Another Step

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All questions are usually answered with a "Yes"

(unless you ask him if he is ready to go to bed or if he wants something like spinach - you may get a "No" on the first try)

Verbal vs. Communication -

I have said many times before that although DC is verbal, communication is difficult for him.

There are times when he just does not understand the question. The concept of who, what, where, when and how is difficult for him.

There are times when he is just too distracted and gives a random answer to a question.

There are times when he is just tired of the questions and will say anything to make them stop.

The one constant with DC is that just about every question is answered with a "Yes" and once in awhile a "Great!" the first time the question is asked.

Questions almost always have to be asked more than once to get his attention, but asking too many times leads him to believe that he has gotten the answer wrong and will change it. It's a thin line.

Therefore it is always really hard to determine which if any of the answers he gives are correct.

We attended a Best Buddies Walk yesterday - DC's regular Buddy was going to be late but his new Buddy and a friend were coming to walk with him. It was getting late and DC was nervous that they were not coming so I told him not to worry - I would walk with him until they arrived. Well they arrived just in time but because I said I would walk with him, I was required to walk with them. So as not to cramp his style, I walked a little bit behind.

Listening to the conversation DC was having with his Best Buddies during the walk today (one is brand new so she was asking him lots of questions)

Buddy: Do you have any pets, DC?

DC: yes

Buddy: what kind of pets?

DC: Puppies

(He doesn't)

Buddy: DC do you like sports?

DC: yes

(Debatable)

Buddy: Do you play football?

DC: yes

(No - NEVER!)

Buddy: are you a quarter back?

DC: yes

(No)

Buddy: what other sports do you like?

DC: basketball

So pretty much, she learned no new information at all about DC and what she did learn was pretty much entirely made up.

From: Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step

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Take Another Step - Life with DC