"Hair-Dish-On" (Air Conditioner) Battle 2019

In honor of the last 'hair-dish-on' coming out just this week; here is a re-post of the 'hair-dish-on' battle from two years ago. It pretty much goes the same way every year....

I tell him "not yet" because "Mom is sweating to death" and he  then finds a number of ways to ask and ask and ask again to find out just when they will be coming out, or to remind me, just in case I forget that they need to come out.

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Sunday, November 12, 2017

'Hair-dish-on" is GONE!

For those who might be new here... DC hates the air conditioner ('Hair-dish-on' in DC-speak). He has never been a fan but this summer it seemed to be bothering him a little bit more. Let me also say that I, living in "Hot Flash Hell" was not ready to let it go.

Just.  Could. Not. Do. It.

(You can read the previous post on the subject here: Is it Hot in Here or Is It Just Me?) 

The Battle Told via Facebook Statuses

Moving out of August and into September:
So the battle of the "Hair-dish-on" (air conditioner) rages on....
DC figured out how to turn it off (it isn't hard, I just never realized that he was paying attention). As soon as he decides he is going to bed he shuts the air conditioner off in the living room... He's not going to be in the living room; he's not going to be on the same floor - but apparently it needs to be off. END.OF.DAY... for him.
It makes no difference that I am still going to be downstairs ..... I think he thinks he's making headway... a little bit at a time. 
So far, he has not attempted to turn off the one in my room...
#IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe

Facebook Status 9/27/17

***
And.... into October

DC: Mom, this is the kitchen.
This is the living room. 
(Pointing at the ceiling) DC's room (pointing again) Mom's room. 
Me: (wondering what this is all about) Yes. 
DC: October - almost Halloween. 
Me: Yes.
DC: take 'Hair-dish-on' out.
(Air conditioner )
Me: Not yet but we're getting there - maybe November.
(Apparently he was trying to distract me from his asking about the air conditioner again - just threw it in amongst all of the other info he was spouting.)
#IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe
Now he's off to change the calendars....
Happy #calendarflipday

Facebook Status 10/1/17

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He's searching for any little gleam of hope

(This morning) Me: DC please get a jacket. It’s a little chilly this morning. It will probably get warmer later so don’t forget to bring it home.
DC: Mom will put the ‘Hair-dish-on’ away. (Air Conditioner)
(It is not even on. Now it’s just the fact that it is there)
#NotYet #SeeingTheLightAtTheEndOfTheTunnel #IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe

Facebook Status 10/2/17

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For the last 3 or 4 mornings I had to force DC to wear a jacket. It's been a little chilly in the mornings (I did not need a jacket, myself - in case anyone was wondering #IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe ).
Summer seems to have returned so I did not tell him to wear his jacket this morning. The van pulled out of the driveway and I watched it turn back around to come back (Oh boy! What is wrong? It's not even Monday) - The driver opened his window and says, "He wants his hoodie". In the hopes of keeping the morning moving along I told him to tell DC that it is warm out and he didn't need it.
I could see him talking into the back seat, but he turned back to the window and yelled: "Nope, he's getting out"
DC came charging up the sidewalk to get the hoodie that I had to force him to wear all week. I told him that he didn't need it. He wasn't hearing any of it.
He was determined to wear this jacket, no matter what. There is no flip-flopping between seasons or changing of the weather.
#SummerIsOver 'Hair-dish-on' OUT! (a little bit of wishful thinking on his part)

Facebook Status 10/5/17

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Mom! Halloween is coming! 'Fanksgiving' is coming! Next Christmas is coming! 
'Hair-dish-on' AWAY in November!

I think I might understand his complete preoccupation with the air conditioner this year. 
He never liked it but he put up with it. Getting rid of it was never this urgent.

Two things come to mind.

1. I have left them in much longer the last few years (for reasons discussed at the beginning)
2. Last year, we went away for Columbus Day Weekend. Before we left, we took the A/C's out because we were getting new windows. He thought he was home free. Within a week, I had to put them back in again. I think that just ruined it forever for him.

October 6, 2017

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It's November - DC just announced that the 'hair-dish-on' should be out. I had previously told him that it would be sometime in November, so I guess to him that means RIGHT NOW! 
#IsItHotInHereOrIsItJustMe

Facebook Status 11/2/17

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The Light at the end of the tunnel

At least he gave me a day before he began harping about November and the Air Conditioner.
It was getting cooler out and I did (gasp) have to turn on the heat a little bit, once. 
Unfortunately for DC, it got warm again. I told him just one more week, to be safe.

He hasn't written it on the calendar yet, so technically next week is not engraved in stone, but I believe "technically" will not matter in this case. I really hope we don't have some kind of freak heatwave or something because they really have to come out now that I gave a specific time frame.

I have my fingers crossed...

Gone!!! Gone!! Gone!!!

November 8, 2017

He opted for helping to take the air conditioner out over a trip to the library!

As it turned out.... there was time for both...........

It's a Wrap - Halloween 2019

You all know that DC loves Halloween, so I won't go through that whole bit.

A Costume for every party and another for Halloween itself.

As someone who has ALWAYS loved Halloween, I am all for it.

The costume parade is not as long as it used to be with less and less parties and events to attend, but we still managed four wardrobe changes this season, so we are still happy.

You may have seen his first pick in my last post "Another Week (or so) In The Life".

He decided out of the clear "blue" sky (see what I did there?) that he wanted to be Sully from Monsters Inc. for his camp party.

Other than the fact that I haven't seen him watch, read or even mention Monster's Inc, I thought it was a good choice for that particular party. It is normally a bit cold at camp so this would be perfect.

Not only did he choose a costume that was from a 19 year old movie that I hadn't heard him mention recently, but another camper had the same idea. What are the chances of him meeting another Sully at the party?

(19 year old film is not all that odd for DC - he was "Jim Dear" from Lady and the Tramp last year)

It was not as chilly as is usually is at camp so we definitely should have saved this costume for his next wardrobe change...

Moving on....

Camp Fundraiser:

FB Status 10/26/19

Heading to the camp fundraising table. This is the extra, just in case costume we get... just in case.
It’s a King but with Mr. Disney around a plain and simple king costume can be many different characters.
DC says that he is King Stefan (from Sleeping Beauty), so that is exactly who he is!
#AllDisneyAllOfTheTime

Let me tell you... It was FREEZING! 

We don't wear coats over costumes. It's a rule. Look it up.
We stuff as much as possible under the costume.  He was wearing thermal underwear, pants and more than one shirt over the thermals but the "boy" can't ever leave his sleeves down.

If he could push the sleeves up on a winter coat, he will and does.

FB Status 10/27/2019

After many years of searching for an adult Chip costume, I found one last year. Then, whatever event he was going to wear it (with Mrs. Potts, of course) got cancelled or something. He finally got to wear it this year with his Buddy at the Best Buddies Walk.

(She saved me from having to wear it on Halloween)

It rained the day of the walk, but there just happens to be a parking garage right on the grounds where they usually hold the walk it so the walk went on.

It was a 'little' (a LOT) louder than usual, being basically indoors with music playing, all of the people and games crowded into that small of an area. We had to walk around to the other side of the garage to find some quiet a few times but in the end, he had a great time.

And Finally - it was Halloween.

FB Status 10/31/19

To you, he’s a Wizard. To DC, he’s Merlin from “Disney’s Sword and The Stone”. He’s dressed way too early. The rain seems to be taking a little break but the wind is picking up.
Happy Halloween! #AllDisneyAllOfTheTime 

(19 year old movie? That was nothing... We're hitting 46 years with this one)

He had fun with this friends Trick-Or-Treating. He was very proud of his costume....
even though no one called him Merlin.

Only 364 Day Until Halloween!

(The photo at the head of this post is the driveway to camp. I look forward to seeing it with all of the leaves changing every year. There used to be trees lining both sides of the driveway which made it even more spectacular looking in the fall.
Still pretty even now that they are gone)

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Face book statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time 

Do We NEED Blue Pumpkins? Can't We Just Be Kind?

(Updated for 2019 - Originally Written and Posted in 2018)
DC always enjoyed the costume and candy part of Halloween, but it took years before he really understood the waking around to get said candy and years after that before he understood that he could not walk into people’s houses.

He could not understand why we were ringing the doorbell and not going in.

Halloween, now is his absolute favorite.

He has a costume for every party and another for the big day.

I don’t feel that I should have to take that all away from him because some people see him as “too old” to trick-or-treat.

Like many children and adults with autism, his interests are limited and when he really shows an interest or enjoys something out of what would normally be thought of his “comfort zone” - you better believe that we are going for it; all the way. 

Please be kind if an adult in costume comes to your door, or a child without a costume due to sensory issues.

Their parents will handle it if they try to walk into your home or don’t understand “take one piece” - Not having the ability to say “Trick-Or-Treat” is okay too......really. Don’t try to force it. 

It IS everyone’s Halloween. #Autism #Halloween

Facebook Status 10/31/18 




Updated for 2019:
About the blue pumpkins....
My opinion is that they are yet another attempt to make our children conform to the way society believes Halloween should be done.

Do I believe they will help to raise awareness?
No.
I imagine that the folks who need to be educated will not even be aware of the existence of the blue pumpkin.

How about we just do not force kids to say Trick or Treat in order to participate in Halloween?

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Face book statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time 

Another Week (Or So) In the Life

Some weeks are just "busier" than others here in DC-land.

This week was certainly memorable.

When you look past the humor of some of it, you really can see some progress and independence.

FB Status - October 17, 2019

So.... DC decided that it was a good idea to shave off (most of) his eyebrows last night.
Happy Thursday!

(No worries, though - he seemed pretty proud of the "accomplishment")

***

FB Status - October 19, 2019

First Party of the Season:
It’s funny... last year or maybe the year before, knowing DC's love of Disney characters and of course, Halloween - someone messaged me to see if we had a Sully costume in our collection. I told her that oddly enough, DC had never asked to be Sully for Halloween.
Well out of the clear blue sky, he asked this year...
So ‘K’ - this one will be available after the party today if you never ended up doing the Sully thing that year

***

FB Status - October 22, 2019

This is DC sitting calmly waiting for blood work to get done.
Sitting calmly...
Not only was he sitting calmly, we got out of there a whole hour earlier than I anticipated. I don't know if it was a fluke or what, but I'll take it...
Such a difference from that first time 4 years ago (here)

***

FB Status - October 23, 2019

DC works works in Group Supported Employment. During the summer, he works in their greenhouse and sometime in the fall he moves inside to "Make The Dog Bones" (the dog biscuit room). We are in the "Dog Bones" portion of the year.
The other day I got a note that, just to switch things up and I assume because they needed help in another area, he and one of the IA's went to work packaging hole punch labels (? no idea what that means)
He wasn't happy and after a while announced "I quit". Which I thought was pretty funny (but I'm the Mom and I can't laugh). But I was also surprised because I had never heard him say that or use that phrase.
Today when he called me on his way home, I asked as usual what he did that day:
DC: Dog Bones Room
Me: Oh, you didn't have to do label packaging today?
DC: I quit!
Okay, so he does know what that means AND the quitting stuck.

***

FB Status - October 24, 2019

You have heard me say it before..
DC has a habit of calling me upstairs to say absolutely nothing. He does it on a regular basis.
Yesterday I was in the kitchen putting dishes away when I hear “Vickie, please come here”
I yell from the kitchen “What’s wrong?”
DC: Come here please.
I stop what I am doing to run upstairs and first he says:
“Nothing wrong” and then...
“Play with band-aids when I am done” - nothing that couldn’t have waited until he came downstairs.
So I tried once again to explain that he shouldn’t keep making me run upstairs to tell me something like this. It can wait until he comes back down.
Realizing that he could possibly take that to mean “don’t call me to come upstairs at all - even if there is something really wrong”, I back tracked and said that he should call me if it’s an emergency (DC’s concept of an emergency is anything he might need help with so I felt confident using that word).
Today, from upstairs I hear. “Mom, it’s an emergency”
Up the stairs I go only to hear..
“Mom, your hair looks horrible”

#ThisHasBeenATestOfTheEmergencyBroadcastSystemThisIsOnlyATest
 #IGuessHeShowedMe


So there you have it. A little bit of independence and standing up for himself, a little bit of problem solving (or testing me) and the blood work, let's not forget the blood work!

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Face book statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time 

More #TalesFromTheDayProgram

I read a note in DC's "Talk Book" on Thursday...

"DC was a little bit upset this morning" ... that went on to explain how upset he was, what he did and that they did not know what it was all about.

Now, if this had been the morning before after two random meltdowns, I would have understood, but that morning he was just fine when he left for work.

I read the note as soon as I got home from work. DC was still out with his staff so I texted his driver to see if anything had set him off on the way.
He told me that DC was perfectly happy when he got out of the car.

If you have been here for any length of time, you already know that communication is difficult.
I can't ask too many questions or he will shut down.
I have to be careful not to ask leading questions because he will just give me a random answer.
I have to be careful about how many times I ask the same question because he will think he's gotten the answer wrong and change it.

I asked him if he could tell me why he was so upset at work that morning.

After all of the "Not upset", "Happy", "Nothing wrong" replies that I usually get when I try to figure out what is going on, I did finally get a few clues.

Usually when he gives me these random clues, I can, at times figure out what happened. It takes a lot of thought about things that may not have been noticeable or seemed relevant at the time, but for some reason stuck with DC.

But I wasn't there, so the information meant nothing to me. I could only come up with a few guesses at what might have happened.

"Lights were out"
"Door was stuck"
"It was an emergency"
"Bathroom door"
"Raining"
"Running"

I wrote all of this in his talk book with a few guesses as to what may have happened.

Maybe the bathroom light went out or he couldn't get into the bathroom.
Maybe the door to the building was stuck or locked and it was raining.

As I said, I wasn't there but I wrote that maybe they could make some sense of all of this.
I know that usually "Emergency" has something to do with the bathroom.

The reply in his book when he came home on Friday?

"Thank you for the info" and the basic note about what he did at work that day.

Nothing to explain what happened.
Nothing to say that they were able to figure out what happened or even that they were not able to figure out what happened from what he was able to tell me. Nothing, almost as if to tell me "This is what happened. We don't care why it happened. We don't want to know if there is a problem that needs to be addressed. We really don't care as long as he stopped."


Just nothing.

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You may also want to visit: The page: Tales From The Day Program

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Face book statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time 

A Week (or so) In the Life...

Mind Your Own Business (alternate title: Bite Me):
My kid eats healthier than most people! When were are out, I really don't need to hear how he should be eating his carrots! He eats carrots and snap peas for breakfast at times. He ASKS for carrots at home. But..... in the "DC's rules for life" rules that he has made up in his head, vegetables are for home and not for out to eat! #IDontSeeCarrotsOnYourKidsPlate
FB Status 8/17/19

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Old Age:
As I’m walking around the house complaining about my knee, DC comes over with that concerned look on his face...
“Mom, are you alright?”
I tell him I’m fine; my knee just hurts a little.
He gets 6 inches from my face and again with the concerned but also very serious face...
“Mom, are you old?”
Way to put the pieces together DC.
FB Status 8/22/19

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Heart Melting:

FB Status 8/28/19

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Asked and Answered:
Me: DC, How many times are you going to ask me that?
DC: 50 times.
#HeToldMe #NotForNothingButHeHasReachedAndPassedHisGoal #AskedAndAnswered

FB Status 8/30/19


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Change in Plans:

(People do not always understand that when things get cancelled, even if what gets cancelled has nothing to do with DC other than the fact that he had to get up early - It takes a good long while for him to stop persevering about it.  It made for a 'fun' morning..)

Nothing helps DC’s anxiety from having to get up two hours earlier for no reason as it turned out, on a Saturday than a trip to the cupcake store. He is now, finally a happy camper #FunnyBoneCupcakes

FB Status September 7, 2019

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Pronunciation:

Because his pronunciation is off at times, I always try to verify that he’s actually saying what I think he is saying.
DC: Mom, spell ‘straight’
Me: Like ‘straight up and down’?
DC: No! ‘Straight’!
Me: Like ‘a straight line’?
DC: No! ‘Straight’!
Me: Tell me what you are writing.
DC: “March straight outside and wash”
(Ohhh. He meant THAT ‘Straight’)
#SnowWhite

FB Status - September 8, 2019

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Holidays:
So, you know how DC is forever studying the calendar hunting for holidays just so he can go out to eat? (You might remember Arbor Day when I told him it was a day to walk in the woods, and he hasn't mentioned it since)
He has been talking to me about Grandparents Day all week. I told him it was a Hallmark Holiday and no, we are not going out to eat. That did not work and he is still talking about it...

FB Status - September 8, 2019

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Introductions:

DC does a lot of “introductions” to no one.
Out of the clear blue sky (as he did just a minute ago in the kitchen).... “
“and this is MY mother, Vickie ‘Lastname’”
or sometimes
“this is my son, DC”
- as he will also introduce himself.
Earlier today, he walked into the living room and said
“This is my husband, ‘His Father’s name’”.
After I finished laughing I had to explain that he is not my husband anymore. He was a very long time ago, but not any more.
DC was 3 or so when we were divorced and his life (other than location) really did not change that much so I guess it never occurred to him. He has never asked and other than drawing me a wedding cake that one time, he has never mentioned anything about a husband.
I don’t know if he just connected it all in his head or what but he never fails to surprise me.
#autism

FB Status September 8, 2019

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This blog is used for shorter posts, off topic posts and also for longer Face book statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time