For the last two weeks, our family has been away from home in Indiana spending time with my husband’s family. Kyle had a youth camp, M-Fuge, to attend just a few hours away, so we went up to his family’s house a week before camp, and while he was at camp, I stayed with the kids and Fred, our dog. It was a great trip and we did lots of fun stuff. I took the kids to a playdate with another mom and her girls, we saw Ice Age 4 Continental Drift in 3D (at the request of Sam!), went to our aunt’s house who lives on a lake and did some swimming, went to Chuck E. Cheese with another group of moms and kids, built Legos and played Ninjas,\u00a0and just hung out at home playing Wii and coloring LOTS of Cars pictures.<\/p>\n
I’m a bit nervous right now because the last two weeks that we’ve been gone, Sam has been doing GREAT! He’s certainly had his moments, and he still scripts quite a bit, still very restricted in his (and his brother’s) play, but I was so very proud of how he did with everything while we were gone. I say that I’m nervous because what we have found to be true with Sam is that in the midst of change, he handles it quite well. It’s after the change is over – like after we come home from 2 weeks at someone else’s house – that the behavior really escalates. <\/p>\n
Yesterday morning as I was getting the van packed up, he was coloring his Cars pages that were taken out of a large coloring book he and his brothers all used. He had collected 16 pages, and was so proud of his work. (He really is a very good colorer – always has been!) He was walking around proudly telling us all that these were his 16 pages. Then the 16 pages were gone. He had put them down somewhere and could NOT find them anywhere! Neither could anyone else. He was very anxious, crying as he squeaked at me, “We’re not going to leave Indiana without my PAGES, are we?!?!!” I said no, praying I wasn’t lying. Thankfully, we found the pages. Pillows and blankets had been put on the counter on top of the pages, so as I picked them up to pack, I found his beloved pages. With that, he was calm again. But the day had only begun.<\/p>\n
He did okay in the van. Traveling with kids is just not easy, and I don’t know of any family – autism or not – that doesn’t deal with bickering siblings as they shout threats from the driver’s seat. My drive was no different. Other than typical aggravations, the drive went pretty smooth. Thank goodness for a built-in DVD player!!<\/p>\n