The crazy things we find ourselves saying

To the big one:

You can't just leave your sister tied up with a skipping rope in the tree-house. Go back outside!

The joys of the holiday season

It is a genuinely fun time for our family. We enjoy getting new toys and books, seeing the extended family and we’ve had quite lovely weather recently.

However, being on the Autism Spectrum adds another level of challenge. There are unexpected late nights, some very early mornings, entire days spent away from home, difficulty finding a quiet space to unwind and all the extra noise and bustle that comes with the time of year we just left behind. 

The girls and I are still recovering from the fairly constant movement and socialising that came with the month of December (there was a record number of birthday parties to go to in the lead up to the family Xmas eve dinner). It’s interesting to witness the strain we're still under because things will seem fine for a while then something breaks the fine film of ‘normality’ that we’ve put over our frazzled inner-selves and suddenly there’s meltdowns, tears, whining, yelling and wanting to fall asleep on the couch at 8pm (and that’s just me).

Because the girls handle themselves so well, I often forget how sensitive they are. This morning I destroyed the peace when the girls were playing with the digital toys their Opa gave them. The big one has become a fan of using the digital video camera built in to the device and making mini-documentaries around our house. In recent days, she has created a series about our dogs and their constant fight against evil, today she filmed herself running around the house pretending to be a) the potential victim of a child-eating monster or b) the monster chasing the child. If she ever puts the films together, sound effects will need to be added or it might get confusing for the viewer. So, I was in the kitchen, unpacking the dishwasher and I could hear the big one making another doco. She was wondering through the house commenting on what she could see and was getting quieter as she came closer to the kitchen. I assumed her purpose was to sneak up on me for a surprise attack (possibly the monster from earlier had an increase in appetite?). I thought I could be funny (HA) and sneak up on her instead. I hid behind the fridge, waited until I knew she was right next to the doorway, jumped out and yelled ‘boo’ (or something of the kind). This resulted in the big one squealing and running into the bathroom to hide and the little one screaming very loudly and bursting in to tears. Not the result I was looking for. It took ten minutes to get the little one to calm down.

After recovering from their terrifying mother, the girls went outside to play and the afternoon was a mixture of wonderful, inventive games, getting along really well and soul-searing shrieks with occasional accusations or threats. There was happiness, grumpiness and, eventually, some quiet time on the couch watching an insipid TV show about Dinosaurs with an annoying American man who doesn’t seem to pronounce anything correctly.

I think we’ve still got some holiday-fatigue recovery to do. The next week in Melbourne looks to be quite a hot one so I am guessing that there will be a considerable amount of lying around in front of the air conditioning unit. Hopefully that helps.