Dear Addie, It’s that time of year again - back to school! But before the next, rather odd (to say the least) school year can begin, the annual great purge and organization of our house shall commence! Yep, you heard that right Ad, with a new fall schedule on its way it seems only logical that we'd want to start off on the right foot being super clean and organized. Let's do this! On your mark, get set, (I’m gonna need more coffee. Oye) GO!!!! I’m sure there are at least some parents out there that know exactly what I’m talking about, and would agree that this type of reorg is straight up in the same category with pre-baby nesting. No joke Addie! For whatever reason, it seems that all of you heading back to school can only happen in my mind if all the Christmas decorations have been gone through 1 bulb at a time (keep in mind we don’t even put them on our tree since you realized artificial trees could spin! Insert Christmas snowflake ornaments flying off the tree at lightning speed - Pew! Pew! Pew! Total Star Wars scene in our living room), and if that wasn’t absurd enough, how about we add in the entire hallway closet needing to be torn apart and all sheets, towels & blankets being refolded neatly and put back in a department store orderly manner. I know what you’re thinking...seriously mom? What do fitted sheets have to do with my school work? Well, I’m not entirely sure Ad, but in my delusional fall back to school nesting mind, this needs to be done before you can enter the 4th grade! Your education depends on it! In addition to that chaotic cleaning list, there’s usually a giant wall calendar needing to be filled out (I’m a visual person) laying out my fall Unpaid Mama Uber driving schedule of who needs to be where usually at the same time. Luckily for me, that calendar has recently changed to a class schedule calendar this year (where we only know Clara’s schedule so far). As for the driving calendar, well, that has ultimately taken a welcomed shift (yes I just admitted that! Welcomed!) resulting in less driving for mama and a seat in the hard-knock school of independence with Zoom for Clara and Gabe! They are gonna have to navigate virtual school on their own (obviously I’ll help if needed but they usually end up schooling me in technology) while you and I Zoom our way through 4th grade ECS in Google Classroom! God give me strength! Side Note: I’m pretty sure I heard God say if my hallway closet was organized it was going to be OK, so I think we totally got this! While my craziness commences around the house, the reminder of just how much stuff you have is ever apparent and busting multiple rooms at their seams! It’s everywhere! You, my dear, are also a visual person with some OCD, and dare I say a dash of a hoarder to put the icing on the cake?
Oddly enough the giant pile of misfit toys that leaves me twitching a bit makes you feel comfortable when you can see everything all together out in the open. That means every toy, broken or not, gets dumped out from its respective toy box or storage container into a scene that could leave anyone who likes cleanliness and order staring in disbelief and perhaps even nauseous at the sight of it all. Side note: if you are that individual or Marie Kondo steer clear of our casa! Lately Clara and Gabe (only half-jokingly) have told me to just bag it all up and throw it away! My response is always the same A.) you wouldn’t like it if I did that to your stuff and B.) did you want to suffer the wrath of your sister after that? (that’s you, Addie, your wrath is fierce!). The answer is always “no” but closely followed up with “does she even play with them?” That got me thinking - is there more to what we are seeing here? Any special needs parent will tell you there's is always a reason for the behavior - time to super sleuth.
That night after stumbling across a Mr. Potato Head in a pile of chaos I truly believed that you do play with all of these toys and there’s a whole lot more going on than your ambitions of becoming Wreck-It Ralph.
Let’s start with the obvious initial dumping out of the toys that begins every play session. Just like your love for climbing up to high places which helps you create an organized, more comfortable view of your surrounding, the dumping of toys gives you everything in one picture - all cards on the table. No surprises! Next, sort it out, line it up! If I was a betting gal I’d think it’s safe to say most (but not all) autistic individuals do a good amount of lining things up. Cars, books, dinosaurs, Fisher-Price Little People - single file line y’all! Single file line. But hey, this is a good thing! Doctors and psychologists have said that sorting like objects is a great way to gain coordination and thinking skills! Whoop! Whoop! That’s pretty awesome right?!?! Then there’s the – “Wait, what’s going on here” toy surprise. This is where (and I’m clearly no expert) we are starting to see emerging storytelling skills through the way you are setting up different scenes with your toys. I really believe there is a comprehension of information happening.
For example, a baby doll laying in front of the Fisher-Price manger - Although the baby is clearly disproportioned to the manger you knew a baby went in there from the stories you’ve heard. Well done Ad. And that was just one of many scenes.
The other day I sat quietly while you put 3 different Mr. Potato Heads together (this is a killer fine motor activity by the way!). Like clockwork, each time you went to give them an arm it was only after you first waved it in front of your face saying “hello there!”, or “bye bye!” While there were some ears and tongues kinda mixed up, I’d say you passed with flying colors on potato head skills. I mean they even all had shoes and hats. Drop the mic yo!
Addie, there’s a lot of unknowns headed back to school this year, but there are some things I am for certain of...
Marie Kondo should never visit our home. Like ever.
You continue to teach me to look at things differently.
And no matter what, your teachers and I are dedicated to making 4th grade an amazing year of progress. I mean the hallway closet is clean so it’s got to be great right?!
I love you messes and all.
Love,
Mom
Comentários