As a father of a son with Autism, everyday is an
adventure. Some days are more so than others. This is the story of one
such day.
My son woke up thinking about water. He wasn't thirsty. It wasn't raining outside. No, that day he was a deep-sea diver. Not a casual deep-sea diver that likes to play with plastic fish for an hour and move on. In his brilliant mind, he was actually a scuba gear wearing deep-sea diver that was on a mission. Just like the Kratt Brothers, he had the duty to save all the sea creatures from the evil predators that were trying to destroy sea life as we know it. One of the first things he did that morning was put on his oxygen pack (a.k.a. his school backpack). How could he survive underwater without it?
My incredibly patient and loving wife played along all morning until it was time to go to kindergarten. On the ride to school, my son informed everyone within the sound of his voice that he was going to leave his oxygen pack on all through school. He was gently reminded that he needed to follow the rules at school and when it was time to put his backpack away he needed to do so. Not much more was said, but apparently he had a plan.
My wife picked him up from school later that afternoon and his teacher recounted the following sequence of events. When he entered his classroom, he declared that he was a deep-sea diver and that he would not be taking off his backpack because it was his oxygen pack. Seeing that he needed a little help, his teacher came over and took his backpack off to put it in its proper place. Immediately, my son collapsed on the floor as if he was dead. Then he shouted, "I'm dying! I can't breathe without my oxygen pack!" You can imagine the scene this must have caused in this innocent kindergarten class. But then he jumped up and started yelling at his unsuspecting classmates, "You're all going to die! Hurry and put your oxygen packs back on or you're all going to die!" That's when things turned to chaos. Little girls started crying. They couldn’t figure out what an oxygen pack was and why their short lives were about to end because they weren't wearing one.
My son won. His teacher made him a deal that he could wear his oxygen pack the rest of the day, as long as he promised he wouldn't tell anyone else that they were going to die for not wearing their backpack. Luckily the rest of the day was relatively uneventful, but I’m not sure how a kindergarten teacher is supposed to recover from that. Bless her soul for trying to do so.
My son woke up thinking about water. He wasn't thirsty. It wasn't raining outside. No, that day he was a deep-sea diver. Not a casual deep-sea diver that likes to play with plastic fish for an hour and move on. In his brilliant mind, he was actually a scuba gear wearing deep-sea diver that was on a mission. Just like the Kratt Brothers, he had the duty to save all the sea creatures from the evil predators that were trying to destroy sea life as we know it. One of the first things he did that morning was put on his oxygen pack (a.k.a. his school backpack). How could he survive underwater without it?
My incredibly patient and loving wife played along all morning until it was time to go to kindergarten. On the ride to school, my son informed everyone within the sound of his voice that he was going to leave his oxygen pack on all through school. He was gently reminded that he needed to follow the rules at school and when it was time to put his backpack away he needed to do so. Not much more was said, but apparently he had a plan.
My wife picked him up from school later that afternoon and his teacher recounted the following sequence of events. When he entered his classroom, he declared that he was a deep-sea diver and that he would not be taking off his backpack because it was his oxygen pack. Seeing that he needed a little help, his teacher came over and took his backpack off to put it in its proper place. Immediately, my son collapsed on the floor as if he was dead. Then he shouted, "I'm dying! I can't breathe without my oxygen pack!" You can imagine the scene this must have caused in this innocent kindergarten class. But then he jumped up and started yelling at his unsuspecting classmates, "You're all going to die! Hurry and put your oxygen packs back on or you're all going to die!" That's when things turned to chaos. Little girls started crying. They couldn’t figure out what an oxygen pack was and why their short lives were about to end because they weren't wearing one.
My son won. His teacher made him a deal that he could wear his oxygen pack the rest of the day, as long as he promised he wouldn't tell anyone else that they were going to die for not wearing their backpack. Luckily the rest of the day was relatively uneventful, but I’m not sure how a kindergarten teacher is supposed to recover from that. Bless her soul for trying to do so.
We are never quite certain what adventure each day will
bring, but we try to live life to the fullest and embrace every cheetah boy, jaguar,
inventor and deep-sea diver that graces our household each day.
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