nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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Traditions

It's funny. I don't think I truly realize sometimes what children take into themselves, the things they note with the great big IMPORTANT sign in their heads.
For instance, when I think of Christmas traditions, I think on a fairly grand scale. Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day activities, the food we make on those days, etc.
For my sons, it's so much simpler. Tonight, I'd left the television on in the living room while I was downstairs changing over laundry. I reach the top of the stairs and am making my way through the kitchen when I hear Ryan tell Trevor, in the most excited voice he's tried on all day, that "the OLD Grinch is on and we HAVE to WATCH it because we watch it EVERY YEAR!!!!"
He continued talking to Trev, telling him that it's one of our traditions, just like watching the You'll Shoot Your Eye Out movie (he can't ever remember it's very simple name--A Christmas Story). They both go loping off to their bedroom and settle, for the first time this evening, into a non-bickering companionable silence, punctuated by loud bursts of giddy laughter.
I put this pressure on myself each year, trying to make Christmas something they'll remember, trying to create traditions for them to carry on to their own families eventually and it's so much simpler than I knew. Sometimes I need reminders like this.
It's the little things that stick with my boys.
***
Brandon hit a pothole in his road to academia. He's a kiddo (gosh, almost NOT a kiddo now) who needs tules like his homework organizer and Post-it notes to keep everything in line and organized. This last week, in the midst of Turkey Day madness, he dropped the ball and didn't fill out his planner and in doing so, has acquired a big fat D for English because he has outstanding assignments. He spent this evening, plugged into his Ipod, hunched over his desk whilst catching everything up. Strangely for a kid who reads as much as he does, English is a subject he has issues with, mainly because of his habit of losing an assignment between Point A and Point B.
I was greatly surprised to see him excelling with absolutely no difficulty in Algebra, Science and Spanish this year. Each of those three are counted as high school credits and he's flying through them like nobody's business. It's amazing.
***
I was asked to sit in on a Parent Mentoring Board here in my little burg, because of my experiences with Trev's Asperger's primarily. I had a meeting last night and it went fairly well. It's still a fledgling group, created in order to put into motion some change in our community as dictated by a bill that passed in our state. The idea is to try to band together the different agencies in our community (juvenile justice system, mental health services, the welfare system, etc) and try to fill in some of the cracks that our kids are falling into. It's a nifty idea but one that's peppered with big hopes and little funding. It's also intended to get the word out INTO the community about services that are offered because there are so many families and kiddos that could utilize what we have but they don't know it exists. I was a prime example of that, with Trevor.
It's also working as a support mechanism of sorts. There's a gal who's son hasn't yet been diagnosed with autism but seems to be showing symptoms and she's fighting tooth and nail to try and get him evaluated. The docs in our area are booked up to a year in advance and that's a critical year, when you're talking about a four year old.
All in all, it was a good meeting that left me feeling...good. I feel like I'm doing something that makes a difference and honestly, it's nice too to have parents of kids like Trev to talk to, parents who's kids are now in high school or college. It helps to cull ideas and to ask advice sometimes.
One of the things I like, too, about this group is that it's a mixed bunch. The focus isn't autism or Asperger's. There are grandparents trying to raise their grandchildren while trying to keep them out of the foster care system, there are people who have taken in kids that fall within the MRDD range and are trying to keep their heads up...it's a mixed bag and I think it's going to be very useful for many people.
***
Gramps is going with my aunt and one of my uncles to Erie, Pa. this weekend, to gamble. I didn't know Erie had gambling! Goes to show you how much I pay attention to things, I guess. He's very excited and looking forward to it and I'm glad he's getting out and about, especially after being cooped up in his apt. because of the elevator situation.
I'll be interested to see how he makes out on the slots!
Happy Wednesday, all.
N.

9:25 p.m. - 2007-11-28

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