There’s the rare morning where I’m solely in charge of getting the Monster ready for school and out the door.
The Monster’s morning routine’s not very complicated:
- Get up
- Go to the bathroom
- Eat breakfast
- Pack bag
- Get dressed
- Get on the bus
Now, granted, we do prepare number 3, do number 4, help him with number 5, and guide him through the rest. However, there’s usually two of us leading him, since the baby’s not usually in a “wake up ” mode until about a half hour before the Monster’s out the door.
There are mornings, though, where I do manage the whole process myself. As I said, it’s rare – it’s usually when the wife’s had a particularly rough night of sleep and since I have to be on my way out the door shortly after the Monster’s off to school.. it’s really no sweat on my part to take the lead.
Of course, this morning’s routine included an additional step – the Monster’s homework, which wasn’t done last night due to his being so wiped after going to the urgent care facility. (Not that it was hard – it was literally coloring a couple of circles and counting said colored circles.) Homework is one of his least favorite things in the world to do, and having it in the morning when he’s already in a mood is not something that helps get him going.
Ironically, homework went easily – I let him do it while he was drinking his juice, and he didn’t fight me overmuch… but that just set me up for more trouble. Instead of having his fit over his homework, he had it when the bus arrived (with a sudden demand to hit the bathroom)…
Oh, the fun and games of dealing with a child with Autism with a disrupted routine…