Antics: My son pantsed another boy! I don't know if he realized he would be pulling down the child's pants and underwear, but that's what happened. The boy, who we don't know well, came into the house and asked my husband if it could be deleted from the video recording, My son was talked to and duly disciplined and then went back into the fray.
Interesting Things: The neighbor came to get our older trampoline today. He came with his son who he had told my husband was, "special needs." I met them at the door and we went around back. His son had something going on that was hard to pinpoint aside from difficulty in his gate and tightness in his arms. I did something I would not have done five years ago because I didn't know how—I stepped right in, put my arm out if he needed to grab on, which he did and then later took his hand and we walked down after his father to the very active trampolines in the back yard.
It wasn't until then that I understood children and it was even more recently that I knew how to help a special needs child. I wouldn't have stepped in and assisted so effortlessly years before because I didn't understand children, but more to the point, I didn't know how to interact with a special needs child.
We had a good time for the next hour. Thomas was excited about trying new things, but he realized he had limitations and wanted to be careful. My daughter was very excited to show him things and have him do things with her and Madison. When she went in to go to the bathroom I pulled her to the said and said "I wanted to tell you that Thomas may not be able to do things..." but before I could finish, she interrupted me and said, "I know, he has Autism."
I was taken aback and said, "how do you know?" She said, "Mom, I just know. I know about these things." I had forgotten she is in a school that also has the Autism special department. She has autistic students come into her class every day/. She probably knows a lot more than most people
Lessons Learned: Today my husband made popcorn, the real kind, not the trampoline game of the same name. He put the popcorn in plastic cups and then handed them out to everyone in the back yard. Popcorn got all over the grass, It was a huge mess and I feared the dog wouldn't be able to go out for a few weeks. I came down a little later and said I had jelly beans or cinnamon bears for people who picked up the popcorn. It was a bribe, but it worked. My husband blew the rest of the popcorn down the hill with the leaf blower. Next time we'll have them sit at the table when they eat the popcorn.
The Big Boy Update: My son found in the bottom of the pantry a Pringles container. We don't typically have them so he brought out the canister and hopefully looked at me. I told him that yes, they could all share them (they had been jumping and exercising for hours). Two other children got bowls along with my son and went outside to share them. I found out later my son was not sharing. He was metering out one or two chips at a time. I told him we had plenty of Pringles, I had more than one container and he now needed to hand over the container to others. A few minutes later he was still not sharing and seemed to be begrudging the chips others had taken as he went back over to one bowl and crushed the chips with the bottom of the can. He was sent inside for a while to think about his behavior. To put things in perspective, this is something that stands out in my mind today as an interesting part of his learning and maturing. My son did a lot of kind things today and was a very good host to the visiting children. He's a good guy...most of the time
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I saw my daughter and a boy on our front porch this evening around dinner time. They were quietly sitting and talking, facing away from the door. Was this Sullivan that my daughter had said was her boyfriend and then yesterday was definitely not anymore after how he acted? My husband went to check on them and discovered they were coloring the bottom step. When she came in later I asked her about it and she said, "Nope, he is my ex-boyfriend. He's my friend." Then she added, "And for your F.Y.I., Sullivan is a very good colorer. And he is veeerry distinctive."
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