The truth is that on Day 3, I hit the snooze bar twice this morning. I'm exhausted! Why, I'm not sure. It could have been my late night of catching up on Fashion Police, but Grant got into bed with me this morning to let me know he was ready to go. By the time I got downstairs, even Hunter was dressed. A quick change and a cup of coffee later, we were only a few minutes late
No Frapp at Starbucks for me this morning. Instead, I did a relaxing stroll through Target. I also made a trip to AT&T to fix my cell phone that would not text or dial (major emergency)! The time flew by quickly! I was ready to get the kiddos and head home.
I picked Grant up a little later than normal, and by late, I mean 2 or 3 minutes. His first words to me were, "You were a minute late today, why?" He didn't say it in a demanding way, just inquisitively. Next, we walked over to pick Hunter up. The first words out of his mouth were, "You were late today." Bible School had just ended, the parking lot was full of cars, but you would have thought that I was an hour late to pick them up. Is it a good or bad thing that they rely on me that much?
Grant had a great day! He has really enjoyed the entire week. He really enjoys the social interactions and the theme is all about Medieval Knights, so he thinks it is really fun!
Hunter's middle school group was doing what he called "manual labor" today. They were helping some elderly people around town, planting flowers, and helping out at daycares. I thought it was a great idea, but was a little nervous as to how Hunter would react to the activities! He isn't much for work of any kind, so I thought this could go dreadfully wrong. He loved it!! He got to go to a daycare and work with kids several years younger than him. He talked about it the entire way home!
While telling me about his day, he mentioned a little boy with special needs that he worked with today. He was a third grader, and had problems putting a book on the bookshelf in the library. Hunter was telling me how he helped the little boy. He said he wanted to laugh, because the little boy should have been able to do it, but he didn't even smile because he didn't want to hurt the little boy's feelings. He also told me how he, and the other middle schoolers in his group, had played during recess with some of the daycare kids and let them win so they wouldn't feel bad.
As parents, it is always nice to know that your child made good choices when you weren't around. For parents of many Aspergers children, half the battle is just getting these kiddos to think about others before themselves. Teaching empathy is a huge part of our struggle. It's those little daily victories that let you know that you have done something right. Today, team Hunter had a little win. Empathy 1, Selfishness 0
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