The Goat

Well, the goat journey was an interesting one. It brought our close family even closer. I never would have thought we would all get so much out of the Ag class as we did. Yeah, my son is diagnosed PDD, and animals are his "thing." So we did he wanted to take Ag. My son spent his time with Cena. The name of our goat Cena means dinner. We were trying to pick something so we all wouldn't lose focus. lol I'll tell you now it didn't work. Anyway, every day after school we fed him, walked him and played with him. We all did something. Whether we were just sitting out there with Cap or helping him muck out his area. We all did it together.
My son's nickname is Cap. My son got the nickname from his aunt. (It's a Shirley Temple thing). Anyway we would all kid that the goat would call for him when he walked away since when he "cried" it sounded like Cap.
I knew my son was having issues around December with the goat. He wasn't wanting to spend time with it & getting him to practice things with him were well...challenging. I asked him what was going on. He sat with me on the hammock by the goat pen and said, "Mom, I'm kind of getting worried I'm getting to attached." WOW!! He was struggling with knowing what he has to do and what he was going to have to do. In the end we have to show it and it goes well bye bye. Little did we know it would be hard on all of us. That is for the next post though:)
I will tell you as a mom all I did was encourage him, push him and love him through. I pushed him like I would my other kids - no easy breaks. At times I'm not sure if that makes me a good mom or a bad one, but I believe that is how he has become as independent as he has. He didn't like it, but in the end I hope he appreciates why.

AG experience

Well this is our last week with my son's goat. He has done really well on his responsibility. He feeds it twice like he is supposed to. Cleans out his pen and walks him. I noticed he wasn't spending as much time with him once December started. Couldn't figure out why at first. Then it hit me. He was struggling internally with knowing we would be getting rid of him. So I asked him why he doesn't spend time with his goat anymore. He said the typical Cap response, "I don't know". I know what that means. He was struggling like I thought. Little did I know that talking to him I would tell my self the same thing. We had broken a "farmers" rule - we had gotten attached. It sure wasn't hard.

The Goat journey begins

So my ASD son had as you know begun high school. He chose Ag as one of his electives. Raise an animal and learn to care, show and sell it to earn some college money. Woot. I just hope my son gets the whole "show" part. He hates people "looking" at him and of course doesn't really like the "unknown". I'm counting my fingers and saying prayers.
Today we took him to his goat number drawing. This is where you wait your turn to draw a number to find out when you get to pick your show goat. Ahh alot of stuff just to pick the goat. Lol.
So on Saturday bright and early we will be at the Ag Barn along with every other Ag kid in the district and wait our turn to pick a goat. Oh yeah did I mention what number my son drew ....140!! We will be waiting awhile. I guess that is why they said it will go from 9am to 5pm. I just hope I can keep him interested and not get fidgety and have to hear "when will we be done" a zillion times. I'm sure I'll hear something from him, but I will pack him something to eat :) that will definitely keep him happy and have a fully charged phone he can goof on. Sometimes there is a time and place for Netflix in your phone - this is going to be one of them.
My husband and I are going into this positively. Animals are his thing so I believe he can do this. I just have to support him and remind him it's okay to make mistakes we are learning together. He doesn't have to know it all yet. I don't want to think of the show part since that isn't until February:)
Here's to the Ag experience!!

Newest challenge

So my son that started high school, CJ, enrolled in the Ag class at school. I mean duh the kids loves animals and everything that has to do with animals. It's one of his gifts with Autism. He is excited about raising the goat, yep that is the animal he picked. So I'm glad I'm excited too and the teachers for this class are wonderful. They have so much knowledge that CJ just soaks it up. There are sine days when they talk about stuff and he can't write it all down fast enough. His spelling isn't his strong suit so he does what he can and listens to the rest to tell us about when he gets home. So we have paid for the goat and now wait till the end if the ninth to draw for a goat. This is new to all of us so many prayers are needed. I know CJ will do great raising this animal I just worry about showing it at the "fair". He doesn't like everyone "looking" at him and he won't be sure of EXACTLY what he is supposed to do and that equals lots of mommy talking and trying to calm him down. I'm staying positive and hopefully he'll just watch and see what the others do:)

High School days

So this year my middle son enters high school and my youngest 8th grade. My oldest, my daughter, is still being home schooled, but I wish sometimes selfishly she would just "survive" public school.
Any whoo - I made it a point to contact key people before this high school year began. At the urging of my son's math teacher (and might I say Godsend) I am the squeaky wheel!! I emailed and made sure to ask in what way they would be supporting my son and I with the upcoming school year. I also made sure to remind them that with Autism routine and the unknown changes would be our first hurdle so I would need his school schedule so we could go over everything before his fateful first day. At this school they dint usually get the schedules until the first day which was one of the reasons my daughter struggled and she is now homeschooled. The school was new and not prepared for us or at least that is how I felt. So this time I wanted to start off differently for my son. He can benefit with the socialness of it all.
I did finally get his schedule the Friday before school and prayed that would be enough time. I was also lucky enough to find a maintenance man to help us get his locker open that we were unable to do at orientation. Another thing he was told to handle that first day. Hello **knock on head** he will get to overwhelmed and shut down. Ahh relief he was feeling relieved and he opened it several times after that and we went through that schedule until he felt comfortable.
Us running through the schedule and me taking the time to introduce him to key people so he knew them and they knew him was a huge pay off. I didn't feel like when I sent him to Kinder. UNPREPARED. Not us - ever again!!
He came home so loving it. The one thing bothersome was when I asked him who he had lunch with. I ask them all this question every day. Just to see whose names I hear & stay in touch with who they are surrounding themselves with. He was sad because he sat alone. For three days I would ask the same question and get the same answer. Then one day the answer changed not alot, but it was hopeful. He said that a girl came and talked to him about FISH club and asked if he had anyone to eat lunch with. He answered no and that was the end of HIS conversation. I was so annoyed with him. Why??!! I was telling him that was her trying to reach out and help him feel comfortable, but I had to pull the reigns on myself. Duh he is "autistic" social skills dummy. It's a work in progress. So I tell him you go and talk to her and ask her questions about FISH club. The whole speech about trying to meet new people. My sin has the biggest heart. So day 4 he jumps in my truck and I start to ask the usual questions. Before I get to the lunch question he says she walked over to him again. She gives him more info on FISH club and invites him to eat at the table with her and her friends. He was so happy!! His exact statement "I have new friends!!" I cried all the way to pick up his brother. Happy tears are such a blessing. He said she told him he could sit with them anytime and my son's innocent response, "really??" He's been eating with these seniors ever since. They even added 2 more freshman to the group. (I will say every high school should have stand up kids like the ones running FISH club) FISH club stands for freshman in senior hands!!
Tomorrow a better post not from my phone:) It's 1:35am and I need to try and sleep. Zzzzzz

In "autism" news

Friday my husband and I attended my middle son's high school freshman orientation. It was a nightmare bit chaotic. It started with us arriving early and picking up his class of 2015 shirt and then being sent to the auditorium. Let me just say I'm glad we got there early because it soon filled up fast and not even all the parents could sit. They they sent us to the gym to watch a pep rally. Just a motivator for the freshman, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me of my high school days of pep rallys and fun. We were then told we would be split up and he would go with a group & the parents would meet with a "counselor". He was already saying he wanted no part of it. Then it was the famous "I don't know". ugh When will this stuff get easier??!! Honestly, I was scared to separate too, but separate we did. I told him to go after I found out we were going to meet up as soon as the thirty minutes were up. We parted, I almost forced him and it took everything I had not to burst into tears with worry. 30 minutes later we met up and he had run into 2 of his friends and was pretty upbeat. Pfew RELIEF!! I made the right choice. 1 point for MOM!!
Then the good stuff. I found a counselor to explain the "schedule" to me because these don't look like the right classes. By the way the "schedule" is nothing but a course selection. UM hello, my son is on the Autism spectrum. He does not really care for surprises or chaos. Not only that as the counselor looks at it - it is wrong. He has 2 classes that are not for freshman. Really??!! Oh yeah they can't fix it now, but they will call me when they get it taken care of. I won't be holding my breath. Problem number 2 - HIS STUPID LOCKER IS BROKE!! Do you know how many times we practice that before school starts along with the schedule. OBVIOUSLY NOT. So they have no one that can fix it now, but they told him he should remind them on the first day of school. NEWS FLASH my son will be already facing new routines, new faces and now I hate to say this a new chaos.
I will be there the week before school starts and do my best to get a real schedule (preferably the right one) and get the locker fixed. Wish us luck - better yet please send us lots of prayers:)

A Day like no other

Today I awoke to hear that 31 men were killed when their helicopter was shot out of the sky. Not only were most of these US men, but some of the SEAL group that worked with the elite who "took care of " Osama Bin Laden. It was with sadness that I watched the news today. The days of banning myself from the one sided news media couldn't keep me from wanting details on the loss of so many men. I knew that this was a bigger loss than the one in 2005 when the US sent in a team to retrieve 4 SEALS & was shot down. Today seemed ominous. I attended my box packing for the troops with my group Cypress Cares and then came home. I had planned to attend my 20 year reunion, but just couldn't bring myself to want to go. How could I and enjoy myself?! I knew I couldn't.

Today a parent received a phone call, saw the news or received a knock on the door and today their world will have changed forever!! God Bless those men and their family's for their sacrifice.