A Day in the Life - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It has been a roller coaster of a past few weeks - which we now know is very par for the Autism course. The are bad times, challenging times, and times that are so wonderful as well! It's a constant emotional struggle to keep the good in mind through the not so good. Here's a sample:

1 - Getting haircuts with Zach is quite the challenge. They have a toy Ernie doll that he loves. He gets to play with it during his hair cut, but then obviously needs to leave it behind. And he hates this. He flails, screams, you name it all the way to the car, fights me getting in, and cries half the way home. He just doesn't understand the concept of not being able to take things home with him that aren't his. And he should at 3 and a half. Is a fresh hair cut worth that? And now it's even worse in that he's realized that he's not going to be taking it home with him, so he's anxious and unhappy from the start now, instead of only at the end as in times past.
2 - Yelling/disciplining Zach is the pits. He needs to know that he's done something wrong and that there are consequences for his actions - but the look of sheer fear and confusion and almost a look of "why?" is so painful. We're just not sure that he even understands what he did wrong and therefore just thinks we are being mean to him. Awful.
3 - His memory is just amazing. Things I'd forgotten about from months earlier. Knowing exactly what toys he played with at people's houses he'd only been to once. Remembering how many fans are in people's houses. Identifying people he met once and forever ago. Etc, etc, etc - I could go on. The kids brain is strong, there's no doubt about that!
4 - Music is a great tool for Zach. It calms him down. It redirects him. It excites him. And I think he even learns from it. I'll make a prediction right now that music will very much be a part of his adult life. He wants a "horn" right now - yeah, like a sax or trumpet. And you know what - he may get one for Christmas it's that much of a passion. Good stuff.
5 - I have to prepare in advance every time we are leaving the house. I have to trick him into getting his shoes on if he knows we are going somewhere he doesn't want to go, or make him use the bathroom first before leaving. I have to sneak toys away that I know he will want to bring in the car and therefore won't want to give up without crying when we get to where we are going. Thus he brings them in and they are now a distraction from the expensive therapy. And on and on. Sneaking and tricking are part of my daily life.
6 - Sometimes the littlest things can completely ruin an hour. Literally an hour. And you NEVER see them coming. For example, after dinner the other night he wanted a piece of cheese. I took the wrapper off the cheese, and as is often the case with cheese slices, a little corner of it ripped. And you would have thought it was a body part that ripped. He lost it. And it took about an hour to come back from that dark side.
7 - And to end on a positive note instead of focusing on the negative... his speech has been amazing lately. A little thing such as in the bath last night, he took his dolphin and held it on the edge of the tub and said "1, 2, 3 - Jump Dolphin" - that was amazing for him. No one prompted him to say it. It wasn't an exact phrase that he was taught, as is often the case. It was his own words. His own imaginary play. Greatness.

So the days are filled with all kinds of things every day for us. And the hard part is that we never know what kind of a day it will be. Fortunately this week (with the exception of the cheese slice incident) has been a good one! So we roll with it.