Long Weekend Ends, Back to School

Yesterday marked the end of the Memorial Day weekend and back to work.  It also marked the end of my son's long weekend home from school.  Normally, his visits of a mixed bag.  It is always good to have him home, but he is a lot of work.  As much as I hate to admit it, I sometimes look forward to his returning to school so things can return to what is the "new normal" around here.  Don't get me wrong, I love having him home and I am sad that he has to go back, but I am also somewhat relieved.

Due to his disabilities, there is a lot more that has to be done compared to when he is away.  When he is home, we usually have to prepare special meals for him because he would only eat certain foods.  Then there is the issue of his still not being toilet trained.  It is not easy to clean up the dirty Depends of a young man that is 5'10" and 145 pounds.  He also has a tendency to take over the television and my laptop whenever he is home.  We have had computers that he could use, but they are older and slower, and don't work too well, so he often sits with me and we play games and watch videos on mine.

As this past weekend came to a close, there was the usual sadness that he was heading back to school.  However, the sense of relief was not as strong.  Some of the past issues that make having him home so difficult were not as intense.  First, after taking him back from his April break he began eating a much wider variety of foods at school.  We were determined to try to keep up the wide variety of food that he had begun to eat at school.  We made sure to prepare a plate of whatever we were eating and give that to him first.  He ate most of what we put in front of him and we only occasionally had to supplement with chicken tenders when he hadn't gotten enough to eat.

Another thing that made this past weekend better for him was that we bought a new desktop computer for him to use.  When he had his First Communion at school nearly two weeks ago, he received over $100 in gifts.  The next morning, I found a basic computer for less than $300 that would provide him with everything he needed to do the things he likes on the computer.  This consists primarily of watching videos on YouTube and listening to music.  Only occasionally did he want to sit with me and do something together on my laptop.

There still were the other issues that we have to deal with.  His toileting is still a problem.  He usually is OK with urinating in the toilet, but the bowel movements are a problem.  We go through a lot of Depends and wipes whenever he is home.  Often, and sorry to be graphic, we have to give him a bath after a bowel movement.  Bathing is another area that he is not able to do on his own.  And of course, for the most part, when he was home the television was on whatever he wanted to watch, which isn't really that big a deal because I usually only have it on for background.

Since he turned 18, his progress once back at school has been remarkable.  In the past 6 weeks he has made a number of improvements in some of his problem areas.  Previously, he only ate chicken wings or tenders and salty snacks.  Now, he is eating a wide variety of proteins and vegetables.  He even ate ice cream, which he had never eaten, right before he came home.  He is starting to take his medications without having to have the pills crushed and mixed with food or drink.  If he continues progressing as he has recently,  I am sure that some of his other issues will be conquered soon as well.

It is funny, as my son was growing up and it was becoming painfully obvious that he would not have a "normal" life, I was determined to keep him with me as long as I could.  I have a friend that I used to work with who also has a special needs child.  We both talked about how we would want to care for our children because we weren't sure how we could trust anybody else to do it.  I no longer have that fear.  My son is 18, and at the age when a lot of kids are starting to thing of going to college and eventually getting out on their own.  Now, I can see the possibility of him moving on to a group home when school is over and I do not fear it as much as I did.

Music Monday-Trace Adkins "Til the Last Shot's Fired:

It is Memorial Day, a day to remember and pay tribute that those who served in our military and paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free and safe.  For all who served in all the wars through our history, thanks.
 

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

First Communion and Memorial Day

I mentioned on Saturday that it was a big day for our family.  It was our son's First Communion at the school he is attending.  I don't think it could have possibly gone any better, though there were a few potential moments.

The First Communion was scheduled to begin at 4pm, but my wife and I were to get there around 3:30 to meet with the folks that helped my son prepare for Communion.  When we got there, the person we were to meet with was not at the chapel.  I headed up to the dorms to tell the dorm personnel that we were going to take our son out to dinner after his First Communion.  As it turns out, that is where I found the lady we were to meet with.

Unfortunately, nobody had told the dorm worker that my son was going to have First Communion, so she allowed him to take a little nap on the couch in the rec room.  They were trying to wake him up to get him ready but he wasn't cooperating.  Like a lot of us, he gets a little cranky when you wake him up.  I walked in and told him we needed to get ready for church, but he told me he didn't want to go.  I told him that if he went to church and had First Communion that we would take him to Golden Corral for dinner and had a surprise for him.  It worked.

I helped him get dressed and we headed down to the chapel.  We were still pretty early for the service, so we were pretty much the only ones around.  When the priest showed up, my son's eyes lit up and he smiled and said, "It's Father!"  He greeted all of our relatives that showed up and waited patiently.  When the head nun showed up he said "It's Sister Jeanette."  We went over and said hello to her and she told us he had been attending church regularly and was very well behaved.  That is a far cry from the first couple conversations we had with her when he first started to attend the school.

During the service he stayed pretty quiet.  He fidgeted a little now and then.  There were a couple times when he put his head on my shoulders and wanted me to stroke his head or his hands.  When it came time for him to take Communion from the priest, he hesitated at first, but took it with some encouragement.  He then said "just one more time" which got a laugh from everyone.  I know that is something he often says when you get him to do something that he doesn't want to do and are trying to get him to do it again.

After the service, we took several pictures.  He received a number of cards and money as a gift for his First Communion.  He got enough money to cover half the cost of a new basic computer for when he comes home from school for the Memorial Day weekend tomorrow.  As promised, we took him to Golden Corral for dinner after the service.  This was the first time that we had attempted to take him off campus for a visit. I was a little concerned that we would have a difficult time getting him back in the car, but there were no issues at all.

Another concern was whether or not he would eat the same variety of food with us that he has been eating at school for the past few weeks.  The concern was short lived.  He told me that he wanted chicken, ribs, potatoes, and corn.  They didn't have ribs, but I got him a plate of bourbon chicken, pot roast, corn, mashed potatoes, and fried rice.  He ate it all.  In fact, he ate a total of three big plates of food.  He also ate some sesame chicken and another style of roast beef with gravy.  The school nurse also emailed us today to tell us that he ate ice cream at school.  Another new food.

We are looking forward to our long weekend home for Memorial Day weekend.  We have plans to attend a couple of Bowie Baysox games on Sunday and Monday.  Who knows?  Maybe he will even go so far as to have a hot dog or two at the ball park.  All I know is that every day we are more and more certain that we made the right choice in having him go away to school, as difficult a choice as it was at the time.

First Communion

Today is going to be kind of a big day for our family.  Later this afternoon, we will be heading out to my son's school to attend his First Communion.  18 years old is a little older that is typical for a child to go through First Communion, but with my son's developmental delays we seriously doubted that anything like this would ever take place for him.

Over the years, we have tried to take my son to attend weddings, First Communions, Christenings, and other events for family members that have taken place in churches.  With his disabilities has come a number of behavioral issues that have led him to be disruptive.  Often, one of us would have to sit out in the vestibule while the other sat in the sanctuary to observe the occasion.

When my wife and I got married, I was not active in any church.  My wife was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to Mormonism a few years back.  When our son was born, he was Christened in the Catholic Church, but we never really attended church.  With our own lack of participation and his behavior issues, we never thought we would see this day.

There have been times when we have been able to keep him occupied and quiet for such occasions.  Unfortunately, it often required that we allow him to sit with his CD player, listening to music with his headphones on.  We were also able to get him to keep his constant speaking at a whisper so as not to disturb others at the occasion.

The school my son attends is a special needs residential school on the Eastern Shore that was established by a group of Benedictine nuns.  When they first asked us a few months ago whether or not we would want for them to have our son prepare for First Communion and Confirmation, we were unsure as to how he would take to it.  Reports from the woman running the class have been glowing.

My wife had to go out to the school to take my son his medications.  When she talked to him, he was excited to talk about events that were coming up; his First Communion and his upcoming long weekend home during the Memorial Day weekend.  He also gave her a kiss without any prompting, which is something he normally does not do.  We usually have to ask for kisses from him.

The past month since his 18th birthday have been among the most encouraging since he has been at the school.  His diet has improved dramatically.  Previously, he would only eat chicken and some salty snacks.  Now he is eating peas & carrots, peaches, mashed potatoes, pizza, and just about anything they put in front of him.  It is further confirmation that we made the right choice in sending him away to school.

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

My son went back to school today after being home for the long Memorial Day weekend.  He was actually supposed to go back to school yesterday, but my wife and I could not get him out of the house.  He has this uncanny ability to know exactly which day we intend to take him back to school.  My wife thinks that when I stay home from work, other than the weekends, he knows that means it is time for him to go back to school.  There is probably some truth to that.

I have mentioned here before how much my son loves going to sporting events; Bowie Baysox games in particular.  Minor league baseball is just so much fun for our whole family.  There is always something going on prior to the game and between innings to keep the kids entertained.  Unfortunately, this season, the Baysox schedule and my son's long weekends and school breaks do not sync up very well.  Memorial Day weekend being a prime example as the Baysox were on a roadtrip and not scheduled to play the entire six days he was home this weekend. 

He comes home again for a longer two week break at the end of June, and there are only three games scheduled.  That has been one of the tougher things with him being away at school is not being able to go to Baysox games as a whole family.  So it has been a major disappointment for us that the Baysox do not play very often when he is home. We have a few major things lined up for when he has his two week break at the end of June.  I will be taking off one weekend from delivering pizzas so that we can go to all three games scheduled during his break.  At one of those games, I believe that one of the front office staff will arrange for him to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.  You can guarantee that will be a blog post.  We also have tickets for the 4th of July, the day before he goes back to summer session.

Thankfully, during the Memorial Day weekend, we did have an option available to us to attend a minor league game.  There are actually four more minor league teams in the state of Maryland besides the Baysox.  There are the Hagerstown Suns and Frederick Keys in Western Maryland, the Delmarva Shorebirds on the Eastern Shore (we go to those games when we vacation in Ocean City), the Arbutus Ironbirds up near Baltimore, and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in Waldorf.  All of the teams are affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles with the exception of the Suns (Washington Nationals) and the Blue Crabs (unaffiliated).

The closest of the teams to us besides the Baysox is probably the Blue Crabs.  They have been in existence since 2008 and began their 4th season this year. Since we spend so much time at the Baysox games, we had not had the opportunity to attend a Blue Crabs game. The Blue Crabs happened to be in town during the Memorial Day weekend so we decided to make the 45 minute drive down to Waldorf this past Sunday so my son could see a game while he was home.  We all had a good time, but to be honest, the Baysox games have a whole lot more going on during the game (as do the Shorebirds).  Still, if the opportunity presents itself, we will probably attend a few more Blue Crabs games in the future with their mascot Pinch.. 

Music Monday-Billy Ray Cyrus "Some Gave All"

Today is Memorial Day in the US.  For a lot of American it marks the beginning of summer and a long weekend.  However, the real purpose is to remember those that have served to keep us free and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  In honor of those who served, on this Memorial Day Music Monday, Billy Ray Cyrus and "Some Gave All."

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Big Assawoman Bay

As I mentioned last week, we spent a couple of days in Ocean City, MD over the Memorial Day weekend.  While browsing through some tourist magazines and maps looking for some coupons for activities for the family, I came across a map that showed two bodies of water that caught my attention; Little Assawoman Bay and Big Assawoman Bay.  I am sorry, but when I saw Big Assawoman Bay, the only thing I could think of was the video below.

Music Monday-Trace Adkins "Arlington"

On this Memorial Day, in honor of those who gave all,Trace Adkins with "Arlington" and "'Til the Last Shot's Fired"

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.


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Dolle's 100th Anniversary

Image by waywuwei via Flickr

Today is the start of the Memorial Day weekend.  As such, it marks the start of the summer season.  Here in the state of Maryland, summer means the beach, and the beach is Ocean City, Maryland. It also happens that we are heading out later today to spend a couple days in OC.

While we are in Ocean City, we will spend a bit of time each day walking up and down the boardwalk.  A fixture on the boardwalk is Dolle's Candyland store.  2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Dolle's shop selling salt water taffy and other sweet goods on the boardwalk.  The great thing about Dolle's is that after 100 years of being in business, the store is still a family owned and operated business.

A century ago, Rudolph Dolle was a carousel maker who came to Ocean City to operate a carousel.  He added a salt water taffy stand next to his carousel ride, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Four generations later, the family is still making and selling salt water taffy on the boardwalk.

Dolle's will be running special promotions throughout the summer.  They will be displaying copies of some of their vintage advertising.  Hidden in some boxes of taffy, will be a golden ticket, that will result in a prize for the lucky customer that finds it.  Sometime over the weekend, we will definitely be dropping by Dolle's to partake of their sweet goods.