Goals 3 : KNOWLEDGE

I didn't realize how much I had to learn.  The vast scope of knowledge involved in parenting is overwhelming.  I have read so many books and tried so many different actions and added some real winners to my parenting tool box.  I have also gained a true appreciation for the uniqueness of each child.  I realize how well I've perfected the skills of dealing with my high energy, high intelligence, low sensitivity kid.  I'll never forget vacillating about showing him the video of a live elephant birth and deciding to pose the question to him.  Describing the basics, I asked if that sounded scary or interesting.  The top volume, top energy response was, "INTERESTING!"  (This is not the child to need gentle descriptions or pause more than a minute after crashing himself into a wall.)  I do have a great deal of knowledge about autism as well, but I see that as very much a side issue to my son's development.  His mind his bright and willing to learn and I love being his buddy in the process.

OK, so I'm going to delve into learning about how to do stuff like pictures and underlining and links and all those blog-based skills.  Here's to a new adventure in learning :)

Goals 2 : SHARE

Cameron's budding understanding is so endearing and I like to share that pleasure with my son's "Cute Antics".  Of course, there is also an aspect of capture because I don't want to forget.  These are excerpts from the last few episodes from my updates:

• 7AM.  No kid in the bed.  No kid downstairs.  I found him rummaging in the trunk of my car and was informed, "I'm just hanging out."

• continuing the creative idioms with, "It's raining antlers means it's really sunny out."

• after hearing that it would take two lifetimes to travel to the sun, he concluded, "I'd get bored."

• noting three raccoons running across this road and yelling, "They're scampering!"  (Um, not a usual kindergarden word.)

• when I tried to get him to guess about a some surprise egg nog, we had the following exchange:

Rachel: I've got a surprise for you in the refrigerator that starts with E-G

Cameron: Egypt!

(Naturally, I deliver African countries with most meals, but after E-G-G-N, he got my original intent.)

• smugly saying, "I know you're talking to Daddy about my behavior."  (I was making no qualms about being noisy as I shared with Andrew how Cameron had both used his thinking to figure out the discomfort at the dentist was OK so he didn't hurt more later and had kept his body still.)

• defining a new word - "atackelness" = an attribute of a mommy that is hugging in a position where the child can't extricate himself

• "Lets call it a bang day." (He kept banging his head into things on accident.)

• Calling downstairs, "Make the electricity work!"  After diagnosing the problem, Cameron assured Andrew, "You can do it without a lightbulb."

• responding to one of Andrew's intentionally silly suggestions with a supremely knowing toned and elongated, "Ha, ha." (We were in stitches.  Maybe you had to be there, but just try imagining a six year old saying this with all the haughtiness of a dowager! :)  )

• Drawing Daddy his most elaborate picture yet with the primary focus being two giant eyes with three rings each which he made clear were for the pupil, iris, and sclera.  (Can you tell he asks Mom about anatomy a lot?  Hmmm, it looks a bit like a zombie, but I'd still put is as a cool compliment :) )

• "People are heavy.  So, if too many stood in one place, the ground would break."  (I never thought I'd be reassuring my child about the strength of the Earth in that way!)

• coining the word "rectangle-y".  (It so reminded me of "lightening-y" in Ratatouille.)

• spontaneously developing a passion for making games with rather distintive rules.  The pieces usually consist of vast amounts of different colored construction paper with various markings on them.

Here are the rules for the first of half a dozen games he made this week:

1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 players can play

2. The two blue tents are the good guys and the white paper that looks like a car is the bad guy

3. First, you flip up one of the rectangle shaped cards.

4. Second, you flip out one of the the square shaped ones with pictures on them.  Try not to flip up a green one becasue the green cards make you start over.

5. You look at the other players' colors.  If you notice they have a green, red, or orange one, the game starts over.  If  you see that they have a bad guy one and you have a good guy one, then try to fight off the bad guy.

6. If the other person doesn't do anything, then do that.  Follow what the other person does with their board.

7. Try to leap on the other players' bad guy with the target you have.

8. You keep on fighting until one of the players gets their person on top of their own pile.

9. Whoever gets the first one on top of the bad guy's pile wins and gets their player back before the other other players get their player home.

10. Whoever wins gets a cookie.

The end.  That's how you play the game.  Have fun playing.

Bonus rule: Babies can't play because there are little pieces that they could eat.

Goals 1 : CAPTURE

I want to capture fun incidents.  Both personal ones like this one from six years ago when we were new parents:

Adjustment Tales...  a new section for us to laugh as we learn.

The star of this week’s installment of “Adjustment Tales” is Andrew.  It seems his mind is trying to make him really aware of baby at night by convincing him that Cameron is in bed when he’s actually in the crib.  But we need a prop for this to work and his brain found the perfect prop to fool the sleepy Andrew... a pillow!  He has held the pillow and lovingly talked to the pillow.  However, I’m afraid I had to stop him when he got out of bed Friday night cradling the pillow and tried to tuck it into the crib with Cameron!  I couldn’t help laughing just a little bit, I know... my turn with come.

... and more general living incidents like this one from three years ago:

"Well, I beg to differ!"  

The window man had directed me to get dry silicone spray to help the sliding glass door slide.  There's this great, old codger at Home Depot who runs the key maker and considers himself top-fix-it-expert.  It just so happened, the silicone spray was under his work bench.  When he heard my intention, he got a huge grin and, with the air of ruling monarch, stopped me with the above statement.  Turning slowly around and settling himself comfortably on his stool, he demanded, "Do you grease your tires?!?!  No!  You don't want the door to slide, you want it to roll!  If you put a lubricant on it, it will slide and wear the wheels unevenly, causing an even bumpier ride.  What you want is steel wool!"  He was warming to his topic, clearly relishing his role as educational expert and ready to expound at length, but Cameron didn't appreciate his brilliance as much as I did.  The key line was growing with disgruntled customers.  His kingly pronouncements made perfect sense to me.  So, I promptly paid for his services in kind.  I expressed my deep gratitude, and while he beamed approval, side stepped round the stool, returned the silicone to the the shelf, and departed under his satisfied gaze.    What an endearing king-of-his-domain :)  

Capturing these incidents helps me remember how much fun I've been having living, both in the immediate sense of that week and when I look back over the years.

Getting Started

I like to play.  I have a very spirited son and I don't think I'm too shy on spunk myself.  As I have gained so much from reading the blogs of others, my goal in trying a blog is to capture insights and share both experience and knowledge.  I have sent out weekly email updates for over a decade, so I think regular posts won't be too challenging and I imagine this blog will serve the purpose of continuing to record and nurture my breadth of joy for living.

Key players-

Me: I have a passion for parenting.  As my career choice, I find improving this skill and relishing the process with a twinkle in my eye is supremely rewarding.  I also adore baking which mostly departs our home to bring cheer to school classrooms and my husband's work (especially due to my new focus on paleo nutrition).  I'm also a nurse, but in the process of wrapping up the last of my clinical practice.

Andrew is my husband of nearly a decade and a computer engineer (http://oncodingstyle.blogspot.com/).  I can't imagine loving him more.

Cameron is my six year old son.  High functioning autism puts no dent in his vim and vigor.  He is solid, exuberant thinking-in-motion.  I adore parenting him, even when his "spirit" is making the air sizzle.