I showed up at the house today to decorate the old Christmas tree. (Matt and I are divorced, if you weren't aware. But I wanted to mention this because otherwise half of what I write might not make sense. It's really OK, though. We are putting the kids first, spending all our weekends together with them, and getting along like mature adults should. Which is amazing for us).
Anyway, I was excited to get the kids involved now that Charly's getting older and Case is starting to understand more about Santa and some of the traditions. Don't ask me to explain Baby Jesus or Mary and Joseph to him because it would get weird really fast. If I put a manger scene in the house Case would have Baby Jesus tied down on one of his train tracks and he would show no mercy. My feet would start burning as Hell rises up to engulf me in flames. We're just sticking with the tree and presents for the moment.
I was reticent to bring anything breakable along -- in meltdown mode, Case will throw the nearest object. If he's anywhere near that tree, we're f****d. It would be like that scene in the movie "Dodgeball" when the old dude is throwing wrenches. I did buy a metallic tree with colorful ball ornaments. It was cute. I presented it to the kids and placed it on a side table. Case had those ornaments off in two minutes. I thought they were attached very well. But Case proved me wrong. Case had that tree figured out before I even took it out of the bag. He's like that. He's mechanically kinda brilliant. And it's fascinating to watch him when he's focused and tinkering with objects. Case will end up kicking ass in trade school if the horrible, awful system supposedly providing help for ASD kids (autism spectrum disorder) gets its act together and delivers the support he and other kids desperately need. But that's a whole other blog entry.
Communication was tough today. He was fixated on a horse and penguin I know nothing about. This is what the conversation was like all afternoon:
Case: Want to get horse and penguin.
Me: What horse and penguin?
Case: Want to get horse and penguin.
Me: Where are horse and penguin?
Case: Want to go for a ride and get horse and penguin.
Me: We're not going in the car today.
Case: (shrieking) WANT TO GET HORSE AND PENGUIN!
Me: Help mommy decorate the tree.
Case: (stands at front door while boring holes into my head with his heated stare)
I felt terrible. I wish to GOD I knew what he meant/what he wanted. It absolutely sucks. I am so sorry he can't communicate the way I do, and I wish I could communicate the way he does. Sometimes, it's amazing having a conversation with him. It's hilarious. For instance, over Thanksgiving, we had these exchanges:
Case: Want to go see Ron.
Me: Who is Ron?
Case: Who is the bear?
or
Case: Want to go to school
Me: It's nighttime. School is tomorrow. The bus will come in the morning.
Case: Going to school now (puts on backpack and stands at door)
Me: Case, you can see Ms. H tomorrow.
Case: Ms. H is a polar bear.
or
(in the car, Case is in the backseat)
Me: Case, do not hit your sister!
Case: (silence)
Me: Case.
Case: HOT DOG! WHO WANTS A HOT DOG!
Some days he communicates really well. Some days he repeats the same phrase over and over again to the point all your hair is on the floor. And not every day is an adventure. I didn't take him anywhere today so the odds of something insane happening were reduced at least 80%.
But this is a snapshot of the everyday stuff. Please excuse any grammatical/spelling/tense errors. I'm writing the exact words running through my brain, and it's late and I have to get up early and there's an infant just steps away who could wake up at any time. I'll go back and edit these when I have time. So never, probably. Thank you, as always, for reading.
--Ashly
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