Category Archives: Sam

Monday is NOT Pretty in Pink

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TheInnocentSmile“Mom, I need your help.” Sam leaned halfway out of the car, his belt still fastened, his body in almost no way restrained by it.

“What honey? Can’t you see Mommy is putting on her shoes?”  I hated the accidental third person. I wouldn’t have said, “Can’t you see Jessie is putting on her shoes”. And my kids haven’t referred to themselves in the third person in years, so I can’t claim I’m echoing them when I morph into the person I call “Mommy is”. She usually comes with a slice of “Can’t you see she’s” followed by any number of activities.… Read the rest

Sam Says / Caroline Says

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SamAndSisSam Says

We play a lot of Lego Star Wars in our house. I recently restarted the whole game in a new save slot in a vain attempt to have my OWN game. It was quickly taken over by the children, who are having fun getting back all of the extras that come with each level. The most important extras to have, for those of you who live under rocks, are the score multipliers. There’s a 2x, 4x, 6x, all the way up to 10x. I spent about a week getting the two million five hundred thousand studs (Lego coinage) needed to buy the doubler.… Read the rest

My Children Have Asperger’s

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My kids’ Christmas party was yesterday. It’s the first time I’ve been to their school since the Sandy Hook tragedy. In the lobby, one mother asked if the front desk could have a panic button installed, just in case. The secretary, whose son also attends the school, agreed it would be a good idea. I’m not typically given to worry about the grand scheme. You want small scale frets? I have them in plenty. Conspiracy theories? I’m your woman. But the big stuff doesn’t usually bother me.

This does.

My kids were with me on Friday, December 14. It was my birthday, and the opening night of the Nutcracker, in which they both performed.… Read the rest

A morning in the day of the life

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“Sam, get back in this house right now. We do not go outdoors naked.” I stagger-stuffed my legs into jeans as I pelted out onto the back patio. “Jesus Christ it’s cold.” I turned around and went back for something to put on my feet.

“Told you.” Scott was lacing up his own shoes.

We went back out together. Sam poked his penis through the tree house slats and shook it at us. “Wanker!”

“Oh God, I thought the ‘wanker’ phase was over.”  I stalked to the base of the tree. “You’re going to get splinters if you keep that there.”

I could feel Scott’s eyes on my back.… Read the rest

Dancer

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The ballet culminates in the lieutenant general’s return to his family. Before he goes, he touches his son’s face in wonder, and when he saves himself and returns, he hoists the child up on one shoulder.

My son plays that child.

Dressed in a white button-down shirt and khaki shorts, he wears an expression of solemn focus for the ballet’s duration. I have seen him do it five times now, two dress rehearsals and three productions. The last show, the one in a company studio in Mississippi, was the only one I could control my weeping enough to get pictures.

 

Any week I can play with Leeroy can’t be ALL bad, and since he let me pick this week’s song, ZZ Topp’s sharp dressed man, I have to say I am tickled pink.… Read the rest

Sonic goes to pieces

19

“If Sonic keeps hitting, he’ll have to sit with me.”

“No!” The hedgehog took another swipe at Caroline.

“Sonic, we need to talk about control.” I plucked the toy out of Sam’s arms and hugged it close. Sam roared and leapt, trying to steal it back.

Scott offered, “At least he’s quit hitting.”

“This weekend was incredible. He had to come down sometime.” Sam held up one hand but didn’t jump again.

“Did he have to crash?”

“That’s the real question, isn’t it?” I returned Sonic and waited to see if Sam would continue using his toy as a weapon.

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I have missed Leeroy, Lance’s robot assistant over at the 100 Word Song.… Read the rest

Fix You

29

Sam Part I,

Sam Part II,

Beauty and the Beast

Sam Part III

Sam Part IV

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Chris Martin’s voice permeated the studio, singing a lullaby straight to my son. “I will try to fix you. Lights will guide you home.”  Sam’s part hadn’t even started yet, but I was already dabbing my cheeks.

The danseur playing the lieutenant general sat to one side in a chair. His ballerina wife threw herself forward in grief. And then the youth ballet corps rose up and pantomimed flying, flashlights aloft, bringing an imaginary man home to a family he didn’t know.… Read the rest

Recipe For a Madcap Morning

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First Day

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“How was your day?” I buckled Sam’s seatbelt then climbed back in front while Caroline hooked her own.

Caroline said, “It was AWESOME! I get to be in classroom B, and I’m only with one of the Katies, but it doesn’t matter because I get to go up to C and D for reading and math and spelling, and language, and writing, and I have the best seat ever in all the classrooms, and I’m right next to my one Katie in homeroom…”

When she paused to inhale, I jumped in. “Sam, how about you?”

“I like my teacher.”

The barrage from his sister’s side resumed.… Read the rest

Sam Part IV

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Before you begin,  here’s the Sam series, in order, with an important note about ballet in there:

Sam Part I,

Sam Part II,

Beauty and the Beast

Sam Part III

Sam Part IV (this one)

Fix You

 

So, the last time we saw Sam, he had just jumped out of my car, and the family was headed for Wit’s End Lane really fast. As an emergency measure, the psychiatrist prescribed a mood stabilizer, Risperdal, and we hoped for the best.

The results were sudden and stunning.

For the first time in a year, we saw our son. The funny little guy under all that anger, the creative thinker hidden under all the frustration.… Read the rest