Yes, we got dumped on last night.
Thursdays are one of the busier days for me with the Monster, since I pick him up from school to take him to gymnastics. (Again, I’m very grateful that my employer is flexible enough to understand that I need to do this, and to make up the time later.) Though, yesterday was filled with the concern about the weather turning.
Meteorologists here had predicted that it would snow – but primarily that it would be too warm before sundown for anything but rain, and it would quickly turn over to snow and ice. The Monster’s gymnastics lets out just around sundown here, and since Baltimoreans can’t drive as it is in the rain, I’d already started steeling myself for having to drive home in very bad traffic.
And then I emerged from the office at 3 to find that it was already starting to flurry.
By the time I’d retrieved the Monster from school, the flurries had turned to fluffier, bigger flakes, but nothing too worrying. That changed within a matter of minutes – before I’d gotten back to the Beltway from his school – to a decent rate of snowfall. Traffic of course was crawling on the Beltway as a result, and figuring that might happen, I’d left a lot of time to get him to gymnastics. After a bit of a deviation from the route to avoid more traffic (and his whining from the backseat as a result), I managed to get to Rebounders. And that’s when it happened.
It hadn’t occurred to me that we’d never actually taken the Monster out while it was snowing. We’ve taken him out to play in it after… but not really during it, not without a hat or gloves. So when we got out of my car in the parking lot… the snowflakes falling on him distracted him. (Remember, the Monster is mostly sensory-seeking, rather than broadly sensory-adverse.) He stood there, next to the car, listening to the snow falling on him and his head, and brushed his fingers through his hair to dislodge the flakes. Again. And again. And again.
I finally had to take him by the hand when it became clear that he was too distracted to listen to me, and took him inside, but it definitely was an interesting kind of trouble to run into…
I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now. As a dad of a newly (7 months) diagnosed boy I have found some of your posts very helpful. I must say that I am increasingly uncomfortable with the reference you make to your son. I read the post explaining the origin, but am stil finding it very difficult to read, especially given some of the behaviors that kids on the spectrum can display . This is obviously my problem and I in no way shape or form would expect you to change. I just feel that for me your message is distracting because of the way you refer to your son.
Good luck on your journey
I can understand, and respect, the feelings his nickname can evoke. And yes, as I’ve mentioned (and hopefully made clear) in the discussion of where it came from, he’s been called it since long before he was ever diagnosed. Though, as I’ve also made clear I think, he doesn’t live up to that name – usually – in his conduct.
But thank you for reading, and distracting or not, I hope it’s helped you.