Another Almost Wordless Wednesday

This photo is actually almost difficult to look at, it was taken less than a month after my father passed away. We had an extremely difficult 13 months as he hung on for life (the last 6 months on hospice). There were so many things that my son saw at 5 and  6 years old that no child should ever have to see. But he also saw how hard I advocated on my father's behalf and in effect my mother's behalf to, even if it meant calling the county sheriff to file a formal complaint against a nurse for patient abuse. Fortunately for us, most of the local hospital management remembered me from when I worked there 10 years prior. You see, I had a reputation for ALWAYS putting the patient first, even if it meant I may have to "speak" to administration for stepping on a nurse's toes due to a perceived power struggle. (Since patient care & satisfaction was always my goal & result I never received a formal reprimand or even an informal reprimand in my 7 years at the hospital for making patient care a priority).  Anyhow, of course being the only child who stayed near my parents I went through the whole 13 month old ordeal at my parents' side while my siblings tended to their own lives out of state.  When there were problems that my mother couldn't handle at the medical facilities, I'd get a note that my mom would be taking out my son for dinner and that I needed to sit with my father (who was in a coma).  I'd go and rabble rouse at the hospital or nursing home to ensure my parent's needs were met. In the end, my son & I were at my father's bedside with my mother, when dad finally passed. I had to make the arrangements with the funeral home, and I will be forever thankful to the funeral director for his grace, compassion, and understanding at that most difficult time.

Anyhow, my mom needed a day out and she always loved the beach. One of the ONLY things that could make my mother smile during that most difficult time was my son. Not even my nieces and nephews had the same effect. Even now 2 years later, my son still has the same effect on my mother (though sometimes she acts like an 8 year old boy along with him).  We were walking and exploring on a trail in the county park. They went ahead of me. I found them hiding in the grasses exploring the shoreline. They didn't know I caught up to them so I was able to get this (and a few other) photo. It was like peace after a very long ordeal.

My Almost Wordless Wednesday..beautiful butterflies!

I wish I had my camera with my this morning when I dropped my son off at baseball camp. He wanted me to take a "breathtaking" (his words) picture of the sun rays beaming through the clouds over the field.  It was truly a beautiful sight that I am sure won't exist when I return after lunch to pick him up.

Anyhow, his class took a field trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, one of the stops was the butterfly room. Even though it was 80F with like 1000% humidity, the beauty made up for the sweat produced.  My son was fascinated not only but the up close and personal look at butterflies, their chrysalis, and the poison dart frogs, but also the beauty of the vegetation. These are two of the butterfly shots we took. Sometimes if you stood still, the butterflies would come and sit on your shirt or arm or backpack, or leg.

Tomorrow hopefully I can get my son to sit still long enough to snap a picture, but my son got a sensory friendly haircut. You just have to see it.

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

Of course, as has become my tradition I have to add some words.  How do you get a bunch of 6-8 year olds to voluntarily clean up trails & a lakeside beach?  Why give them cool tools of course. These grabbers on a stick worked wonders (arrows point to the "tools"). We nearly had a knock-down-drag-out fight over who gets to use the 'tools' vs.who holds the bag for the garbage.  The boys started cleaning up nature too (pine cones, pine needles, sand, sticks) because anything you can pick up on a grabber on a stick, well that's just cool.

So as far as this week, not that I post much anyway, I am working hard as a den leader at my son's Cub Scout day camp. More fascinating is that there are 3 boys (including my son) with Asperger's Syndrome. One is more social, more outgoing, no gaze issues but more obsessive-compulsive and attention problems. The other is more like my son. I paired my son with A, and this boy is truly a special child. I made certain to tell his mother (and his grandfather who was our token male for half the week), I ended up triple buddying these two with the other child with Asperger's (the one more like my son). A is an angel. He knows just how to get these two engaged. They laugh & play while swimming. A makes sure the other 2 don't wander off & keep up with the den. A knows how to make them laugh. Both my son and child #2 have become more social. Son & child #2 have been more verbal. Son & Child #2 now sit with the group for Lunch (with A between them). Most interesting by the 2nd day, Child #2 & my son both started volunteering for activities. Child #2 got a bulls eye in archery yesterday. My son scored a bullseye today. Child #2 has improved in BB shooting, and my son qualified as an "expert marksman" by score. I proudly told Child#2 how much her son has changed. I told her he's started volunteering for events (this morning he proudly held the flag for opening ceremonies) and he is generally always smiling. Mom was happy and turned to see her son smiling and trying to patiently wait to tell her all about his day. It turns out that A goes to school with child #2. A has been an angel in disguise for child #2 in the past.  Knowing exactly what she goes through, I knew how much the comments about her son's verbal volunteering, positive attitude and awesome social skills development would mean to her.

The best comment from A's mom was, you know I always knew he was a special child. He was just born that way. I told her A was born with a halo on his head.  Thanks for stopping by..