Halloween Memories

This is a true event! If you know my family... this is typical!

About nine or ten years ago, Jonathon was set on going up to South Dakota to scare all of our relatives for Halloween. He wanted to be Frankenstein.

We got him all dressed up and he scared the Grama's, the Grampa's, the aunts, uncles and cousins. On Sunday we were to head home, after stopping in Rapid City to scare one more person... my aunt Joyce. I got Jonathon dressed up in his Frankenstein outfit and we headed to Rapid City. We weren't very far down the road when my Mom called and said they were concerned, as no one had been able to get a hold of my aunt... the one we were going to scare. She was 78 years old at the time, so we were concerned.

By the time we got to Rapid City one of my uncles, a brother and the police were at my aunt's house. My aunt had passed away.

My aunt Joyce would have laughed at the scene that followed... her house was crawling with the police, family arriving, neighbors out on their lawns looking to see what was going on... and here's Jonathon... dressed as Frankenstein (with hair painted black and stiffened to create the perfect "pokey hair" - as Jonathon called it), green painted face with bolts sticking out his neck, walking around her yard making his Frankenstein noises and doing his Frankenstein walk ... and her... my aunt... dead... on the couch! I can only imagine the neighbors trying to figure out WHY Frankenstein would be walking around her yard at a time like this!

I had to giggle and think... ONLY IN THIS FAMILY!

Tallywhacker 2

What is up with this kid! He is obsessed with talking about his tallywhacker! I guess maybe I should be relieved... it could be a typical guy thing! LOL! Good Lord!

The other day his comment was "a perfectly good tallywhacker... WASTED!"

TALLYWHACKER!!!

Jonathon and I were returning home from South Dakota Sunday night. We were about an hour and a half from home when Jonathon decided..."hmmmm, that's right... I was ticked earlier so I think I will continue my rampage." When he is mad he will often bring things up that he knows are not appropriate. Sometimes he will do it to fuel his anger (it's hard to explain and I have yet to figure out why he does it, but he does) OR he will say things that he knows irritate the living daylights out of me. He decided to try to irritate me with the dreaded conversation about tallywhackers. (Yes, he knows it's really a penis, but he prefers to call it a tallywhacker... whatever... I have bigger problems to deal with than what he calls his body parts!) Soooo, for 20 minutes... TWENTY MINUTES... driving down Highway 59, I listened to "Does Vickie have a tallywhacker? Does... Vickie... have... a... tallywhacker?  Does Vickie have a TAL-LEE-WHACK-ERRRRRRR?
Did he suceed in irritating me... YES! Did I let him know he was irritating me... NO! I simply stated "when you can ask me a different question I will talk to you." Once I had a cell signal I had him call Daddy Tim so he could tell Tim how irritated he was with me. The phone call FINALLY ended the TAL-LEE-WHACK-ERRRRRRRR conversation... well that and a little bit of medication!  

Problem Solving

One of the areas I see growth in for Jonathon is the area of problem solving. He encounters what he perceives as a problem and he is coming up with his own solutions. It may not be a practical solution but at least he's actively thinking about the situation and is showing concern for others. That is HUGE for people with autism. To think outside their world and to think of what others needs might be!

For example when my father in law, Ron, died a year and a half ago Jonathon was worried about Grama DeVries being by herself so he suggested his Uncle Kim, who was separated from my sister, marry Grama DeVries! That would've been an awkward wedding! LOL! Instead "Uncle Johnny DeVries" spent a good deal of time with my mother in law after Ron passed away.

Now with Grama Renner dying Jonathon is worried that Uncle Clayton or "Uncle Clankton" as Jonathon calls him, will be all alone. My uncle lives in an adjoining apartment from my Grama Renner. In these last years of her life Clayton was her primary caretaker. Jonathon with his problem solving has decided that "Uncle Johnny DeVries will live with Uncle Clankton." I guess he figures that Uncle Johnny DeVries took care of Grama DeVries after Grampa DeVries died so he should be able to care for his Uncle Clankton too!

I love how his mind works! I don't think I'll ever totally understand it, but he is definitely unique in his thinking!

To Participate... Or Not?

My aunt has requested a period of time during my Grama Renner's funeral to be opened up for people to share their memories. I thought, okay... we have a couple of days, I can visit with Jonathon and see if he has anything he would like to say about Grama Renner.

I think we may need to visit a bit more before Wednesday since his comment so far has been, "I am sorry Grama Renner is dead."

Perhaps we'll skip participating during the open mic portion and just listen!