Ten Things of Thankful #4

I like to think I am a positive person. I like to think I am a thankful, positive person. I think I may be wrong. Trying to come up with 10 things each and every week is hard! I know. Think small and go from there. My pea size brain can only think small and still…it is hard! Yes I am whining.

Not one to give up easily I will give it another go…

1.      I am thankful to be alive. I am serious. After my boxing class on Thursday I have not been able to operate my computer mouse for more than a couple of minutes. My arms hurt that much. I actually had to go without a martini on Friday night because I could not shake the shaker. It was THAT bad!

2.      I am thankful for Advil. My BIL said I should take it after I work out to help alleviate the pain that would follow the next day. I forgot this time. I took some on Friday night. It was too late.

3.      I could not type or swipe or do anything physical all day/night Friday. Thankfully I belong to a book club and was able to start on this month’s book “419” by Will Ferguson. I am sure to finish the book which is a good thing…I picked it. It is not always a given.

4.      An aunt recently passed away. She was a widow and had no children. “We” decided we could probably probate her will on our own. My cousin bought a book and completed all the necessary paperwork. I am very thankful for all her hard work.

5.      After our second trip to work at my friend’s school library, I thought it might be helpful for Riley to have some type of dividers to sort the books on the cart before shelving them. Being the pack rat an environmentally conscious recycler, we have plenty of cardboard boxes. Thankfully G volunteered to cut them up for me.

6.      There is always so much that needs to be done around the house. It can be depressing. I am thankful I did not have to leave the house all day Tuesday AND Wednesday. I did not get anything done. I was too depressed. It’s the thought that counts…right???

7.      I am thankful G took R to his Special “O” Athletic Club on Tuesday so I could stay in my home clothes make dinner. See number 6.  

8.      We started Stage 2: Sauces & Condiments of Operation IFO on Wednesday. Yes I was very nervous. Riley did an amazing job! Thankfully I got it on video. Yes a blog post is coming. Yes I know you can’t wait.  :)

9.      Driving home in the pouring rain today I passed a soccer field. I am thankful that J2 no longer plays soccer. Ummm…not that I ever went to watch in the pouring rain. Hey…someone had to stay home with Riley. He hates the rain and it was a good opportunity for some father-son bonding. 

10.   Our house is at the top of a long, dark driveway so we never get any Trick or Treaters. :(  It has been years since the boys have gone out on Halloween night so we no longer get copious amounts of candy unless I buy it. Which I do. I was all prepared to buy more today and was giddy about the fact that it might be 50% off. I went to the grocery store only to find…

Thankfully in the last candy aisle I found these:

What have you been thankful for this past week?

Your Hosts:

A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, 

Home On Deranged, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

We are COOKIN'......#OperationIFO

Did you think I had given up??? You would be close. Although the introduction to new food groups in Operation IFO has yet to happen we have been eating a few meals together again…well at least for the 3 minutes Riley is at the table.

Riley keeps me on my toes which means I have to change things up. Often. I usually offer Riley at least one preferred food choice per day. After all…I don’t want his system to go into shock.  :) 

About a week ago I decided it was time to reintroduce cooking lunch. R used to cook his lunch two times a week at school. It never transferred home. I know. My bad. I thought the easiest way would be to start Riley off with hotdogs. OK…really just the wieners. Having to eat the bun as well as cooking would have been too much to handle in one meal. For both of us. It actually went better than I thought. A few vocal outbursts; some intermittent hand-slapping; otherwise…pretty uneventful.

Today I decided it was time for another cooking session. Much to my surprise Riley opted for perogies. Sorta.

Me:       For dinner tonight I’ll make you oyako-donburi*.

R:         YES!  (happy as a clam)

Me:       So for lunch YOU can make hotdogs or YOU can make perogies.

R:         Thinking…  Perogies. I’M HUNGRY! (NOT)

Me:       You want to make perogies?  (very surprised but tried not to sound it)

R:         NO!!  You can do it!

Me:       I'M going to make YOU dinner. YOU can make lunch.

R:         I’LL BE WHINING!  TOOOO-GETHER!!!

Me:       Sure. We can make it together.

*Riley World version.

Lucky for you I got some of it on video. In the beginning I was only going for audio then thought…WTH! Get it all on tape. I have nothing to hide. Except perhaps that I was still in my PJ’s.

As I was watching, some things really stuck out for me. Some are observations (mostly about me), some are reminders (mostly for me) and some are eye-openers (again FOR me). The up/downside of video-teaching. Let me explain.

First the observations:

·         My voice!  I am just getting over a cold. I usually sound worse.  :D

·         Riley is wearing the same t-shirt and shorts. Those are his home clothes. I do wash them regularly. 

·         My monotone voice. I never used to sound that way. I used to be very enthusiastic and animated. Ok so not nearly as much as my sister *wink* yet waaaay more energetic than now. Why?? Well in Riley World: The Early Years, we found that Riley was extremely sensitive to the inflections of a person’s voice. A calm and even sounding demeanour worked best. At times very difficult when I was tired and stressed out to the max.

·         I appear to be ignoring much some of Riley’s comments/questions. Ummm…yea. Busted. Haha! Actually I am trying to prevent an outburst and redirect his need to perseverate about his displeasure.

·         I say “Nice job!” and “Good job!”…a LOT!! Positive reinforcement is key in Riley World.  :)

Second some reminders:

·         I should have found out how he cooked perogies at school. How did they drain the perogies? Did they use a strainer, colander, or scoop them out of the boiling water? Easier to transfer learned skills than starting from scratch.

·         You will notice G stepping in to help Riley drain the pot. I do the same thing. I see something R may be struggling with/to do and immediately want to help him. We need to let out the apron strings as much as we can. 

Last…eye-opener:

·         There is this thing called echolalia and it is HUGE in Riley World. I am going to defer to my now IRL bloggy friend Bec’s post “Understanding Echolalia” for an explanation. I hope you pop over and read it. It explains a LOT!

When I say Riley repeats things…I mean he really, REALLY repeats things. Sometimes when a person (that would be moi) hears or sees the same thing over and over and over AND OVER again, said person begins to ummm...errrr...well...tune/blank out. For me it has been a survival thing. Listening/watching the same 7 second sequence of the same show for the 50 bajillionth time over 14+ years……I am only human. 

In the video, when Riley is sitting at the table and talking about Hansel & Gretel…that is an example of one of those times. Riley repeats/scripts when he is stressed. He repeats/scripts as a stim. He repeats/scripts as a conversation starter. Different situations, at different times yet all for different reasons. Yup. Echolalia in Riley World…a hard one to figure out and one that I am still learning about.

Oh…I just about forgot. Here is the video:

Click here or on the picture to watch the video.

Are you working on anything challenging in your World?  How's it going???