Mommies Monday morning.....

Well, the bad part was having to get out of bed because I was having objects thrown at me. Never a good way to start off a day. Plus Ty had woken up at 3:30am. Woke me up- he finally at 4:30am took Oliver out of the crate (our dogs sleep in crates in Ty's room)and he and Oliver crawled under my bed and finally fell back asleep. Until 6:30am. So this was the start of my Monday. Which I don't even mind the 3:30am wake up call since he was calm. It's the having to get out of bed to deal with his behavior that I hate. So, ultimately things calmed down- he picked everything up that he threw. And today his "shop" is open for business. Yes, we have put a store together, actually a boutique, for Sarah to shop for her school clothes in. Full of clothing racks, shoes on display, and pretend money and cash register. She is our third child, my second girl, and the youngest of all of our friends kids. That is the recipe for HAND ME DOWNS! And she loves it- gets beautiful dresses, skirts, everything she'll need for school. It's wonderful. But she misses out on the whole shopping experience- well sort of- but just like I took Megan, she wanted to shop for new school clothes. So, this is what we do- we set up the boutique of clothes in our living room, including a dressing room. It's fun! She loves it- and this year Ty has really gotten into it. Even hanging up all the clothes on clothes hangers to be displayed. This serious business. The store will open at 10:30am and Sarah got to do a preview of clothes at 9:00am.

So this was a good part to the morning. Especially because Sarah is so excited about starting first grade. And getting dresses from cousins, friends, well she loves it. So the store will open shortly for her to "shop" and pick out new school clothes. A second part to my morning- which was so cute. Ty getting creative. His brain spinning trying to come up with ideas. And after a big weekend of garage re-organization, I was able to put the platform swing back into the garage- which serves as an OT space, a craft space, laundry room, tool work area, pantry closet and bike storage- and pretty much all things storage. But spaces carved out to do the crafts, to play on the swing- it's especially helpful as the weather gets bad. And we're not outside as much. And for Ty, movement with his feet off the ground is hard. And I've been noticing lately he hasn't been doing it at all. Not to swing, not to play, he always wants one foot on the ground- yes gravitational insecurity for sure. I even built a new swing yesterday- it's kind of a 4 in 1. Old skateboard, handles on side. It can be a regular swing front and back. It can be a glider like swing- I said it's like a horse, or a motorcycle, it moves back and forth- it can be a standing swing holding onto the sides to project either side to side, or hang on to the water ski rope above and it can be a "wake board" kind of experience. Personally I thought it was pretty cool, so did the girls. Ty, nope didn't want to even try it. He really is a tough audience. So anyway, back to my day and Ty being difficult to get to swing. Which it tells me that system is really out of whack with him. I enjoy seeing him feel more secure to experiment with motion, with his feet off his ground. So when he went into the garage and started getting creative with the platform swing- yippee! Then he got even more creative- and put his high back booster on top of the platform (it's very low to the ground) and pretended it was not a race car. Then his wheels really started turning. Steering wheel, gas pedal, brakes. So he asked me to get him a few supplies- and he was off! Love when he gets the creative juices flowing. Then he called me in and it was no longer a race car, but a Star Wars flying ship- even with his own little creature friend and levers.

So this was my morning- and it's still only 10:30am. But even though I had to get out of bed in a bad way, these are the types of ups and downs through out EVERYDAY that I experience. Everything is a moment- a moment of bad behaviors and aggression, name calling- anger. A good moment of ultimately being creative, actually doing an activity on his own that is a purposeful activity- the swing, the dog on his lap, cutting a steering wheel out of paper- all very good useful activities (but please don't tell him that) :) So I will continue my day, wondering what each moment will bring my way. I'm hoping for more good moments then bad- but I"m also realistic to know there will be the bad- I just hope it's not too bad. My one wish for today- pretty simple. I told my husband last night- on this last Monday before school starts in 2 days: the behaviorist isn't coming today- so I"m here, with my 3 children without interruption, and I would simply love to be able to take a short bike ride with them. That's it- nothing fancy, nothing monumental- just a short bike ride- where we all enjoy it, smiling, no yelling, no anxiety getting in the way- oh and be able to come back home too! (that's a luxury- biking one way is easy- getting back home is never easy- and that's why we stopped doing it- takes the fun out of it when you have a kid who ditches the bike and runs, or sits on the curb, refusing to move. And as the adult, wondering how the heck am I going to get him home?? So, a simple bike ride on this last day- that's my one wish. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.... and just maybe we'll try it. Wish me luck!