Every Friday, I'm joining other bloggers for 5 Minute Friday (hosted by Gypsy Mama) to take just five uninterrupted minutes to write from the heart.
When the seasons change, or rather when this season changes, summer will be upon on us. Want to know a secret? I loathe summer. Seriously, I dread it every. single. year. I do enjoy the laid backness (I know, I made up a word) of summer but what I don't enjoy is what it does to my son.
A lot of special needs kiddos need, thrive, and crave routine and structure and my Noah is no exception. In fact, I think at times he probably is on the extreme end of needing structure and routine. He likes plans, knowing what is going to happen when, and he adores school and the routine, structure, interaction, an stimulation that school provides.
In the summer there is no school obviously. (He does go to a day camp for special needs kids for half days 4 days a week for a couple of weeks.) But the summer is just hard for him which in turn makes it hard for me. I try hard to provide him with routine and structure. We have "Momma school" where we work on things he was working at during school so he does stay in a routine with what he was learning and I try to make things fun for him but even giving it 110 percent, I simply can not provide the same structure, routine, and social interaction that school provides him with. And that leads to autistic meltdowns, more outbursts, and an unhappy Noah which makes me frazzled, frustrated, and unhappy as well.
The good news is I do have some things planned for "Momma school" (he's really into the computer lately and now has his own Facebook page so I might let him write some guest blog posts or something over the summer too!) that are different from the past so hopefully that will be fun and as much as I am dreading it, I am remembering that Christmas break and spring break weren't near as bad as they have been in the past so I'm hopeful that this summer won't be as bad either. And we have a PCA this year so that will help as well. Despite my feelings, I'm trying to have a positive attitude and remember that I can do this because I was made for this.
Oops, I just wrote for 6 1/2 minutes instead of 5. ;)
You can handle summer. I'm praying for you! You're a strong, wonderful, creative woman, and I know you can handle anything life throws at you. You pegged it when you said, "I was made for this." Because you were.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it! I have two boys and am starting to panic, I mean plan, for the summer. I'll be having to provide the structure and fun. Fun, not much of a problem, structure, that's another story!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog today!