I’d Rather Be…..
August 8, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
So we come home from an hour swimming at the pool and Charlie says, “Carrots, lunchbox.” And after I give the “yeah, sure,” he opens a cabinet and takes out a Ziploc. As we have no carrots, I suggest grapes, and go to empty the laundry from the dryer.
When I come back to the kitchen, Charlie is zipping up his lunchbox and talking about the schoolbus and the names of his OT and some teachers, and then puts the lunchbox in his backpack after taking out the stuff he likes to have in the backpack but that he doesn’t take to school: The photo bucket, some photo albums, picture books, the Leapster, and one of my shirts. In goes the lunchbox and he finds his red homework folder and, grinning, puts it in.
“Good night!” Off to bed.
As you know, it’s the beginning still of August and Charlie has about a month of school-less days to go. He also has his annual beach vacation starting on Saturday: Will Charlie scream and cry for the first hour, two hours, three hours, plus of being at the beach? (He did this last year as we pulled up into the rented house’s driveway.) I know he’s trying to tell me about the confusion of too much fun and awful dread to leave the beach and so how can he possibly enjoy it? Whereas, you know what to expect at school.
Charlie’s been expressing his feelings about this by saying “no beach house” and “no ocean” and “no.”
But a big ol’ “yes” to school.
Kid’s got his heart in the right place.
That reminds me of what my son did just yesterday. He has taken to drawing a lot this summer, and yesterday he re-created, quite accurately, the form that his teachers and bus drivers fill out every day to show how he did at school and on the bus. He had put all of the words and blanks in the correct places, and written in “excellent” and “good” and “awesome” in the comment sections!
He’s definitely enthusiastic about going back to school!
That is really,totally awesome!
From the time I told my son (in March) that we were renting a house at the beach (in July) he asked me several time a day–every day–if I could “please cancel the trip.”
He was the only member of the family who was excited to leave the beach and get back home to the regular routine–but he did great while we were there with only a few stressful incidents. I am very proud of him and also happy that he is so content to be home and ready to start school (on August 20th this year! So soon!).
love of academia: perhaps another genetic trait.
PJ would get very upset during the first few weeks of school because he did not understand why he was not going to school on Saturday and Sunday. Now he understands weekends, but he doesn’t like the break between the end of the second semester and the start of summer school.
This summer he got a two week extension, so he is getting six weeks of summer school instead of four. He really likes that.
Charlie definitely understands that there’s five days to the week and then the weekend—-he doesn’t exactly look forward to the weekend, though, or feel “TGIF.” He does start calling for school on Sunday…. Glad PJ has two more weeks of summer school this year!
It’s so sad to read about kids who don’t love vacation, who don’t jump for joy at being at the beach. Sameness may be secure and comforting but it’s BORING. Thank God my kids like variety and surprises. They dislike going to the same vacation spots twice and they’re happiest planning a visit to a place where they’ve never been before. My children are neurotypical. I used to teach autistic kids and I felt sorry that they seemed so uncomfortable and apprehensive much of the time.
Charlie is always happy in the water—-it’s the change in routine away from home and school that have been hard. When he was younger, he didn’t seem to mind as much and I’m suspecting rising awareness, and his need to tell us, which is good! Yes, sameness can be boring……..we try to strike a bit of a balance with this I guess by going to the same beach on the Jersey shore, but the ocean and the beach are always different. Hope you’re having a good summer—–