The Guest Who Always Comes
May 27, 2009 by Jeff Stimpson
Filed under Health
Image: Yonahcampground.com
Memorial Day is past, again. This one was a little different in that I’d just been laid off, so I figured chasing Alex around grandpa’s lake house wouldn’t be so bad if I knew I my days of “rest” weren’t going to end on Tuesday morning.
I was prepared to a) chase Alex, and b) rely on good-hearted relatives to chase Alex at grandpa’s lake house, where Alex often likes to run through the house turning on all the lights. This activity isn’t nearly as bad as running into the neighbor’s lake house, which he’s also done in a few past years. They’ve been most forgiving, the neighbors, but how much could this really contribute to their own day of “rest?”
In previous years, we’d hired a local, young, energetic, non-middle-aged teen to chase Alex. This guy, who did a great job, wasn’t in our budget this Memorial Day. Aunt Julie therefore suggested we all work in 15-minute shifts, a pretty good plan except that it meant one person would likely have their shift run long.
Alex stuck to the basement as long as something good was on PBS Kids; he almost darted onto the neighbor’s lawn until blocked by a heavily chained new gate; he spent a few moments on the dock with Ned, who was fishing; I tumbled him on the grassy hill a little (Jill and Julie think things will be more interesting for Alex when the weather warms and grandpa breaks out the sprinkler nozzle on the garden hose; Jill is also looking into buying a lawn water slide).
I was about halfway through the can of pale ale in the swinging porch chair when he broke away from Jill and came out calling “Daddy? Daddy?” He didn’t get too close to the barbecue, and as close as he got proved enough for me to teach him to spell “fire.”
To Uncle Rob, goes the Gold Medal for the Alex Dash to the Neighbor’s. He pulled a laughing Alex back home. I don’t think he was any more pleased with Alex’s dash — Alex’s dash yet again — than we were, and he seemed upset that Alex was still doing this and couldn’t something or someone prevent it? Another early-summer holiday come and gone with autism as one of the guests.
The fifteen minute shifts are a good idea! We’ve got twins with autism, and lately I’ve thought of colored bracelets to indicate who is watching whom when we have big gatherings.
I think making only one run to the neighbors’ house is doing pretty well. I have to admit we are skipping our summer trip to visit all the relatives this year because the constant watchfulness (and constant chasing) was too much to contemplate! I’ve heard they’ll slow down in a few years, and I’m really hoping it’s true.