Skip to main content

Getting His Just Desserts

The day after Christmas, we spent an hour walking on the greenway that meanders through our city. The large fountain was empty for the winter and Logan and Sean saw this as the perfect opportunity to race through it. Ben watched them, giggled a bit, then suddenly went crazy trying to get out of his chair. Interested in getting Ben some walking time in, I obliged by getting him out of his seat.

At the moment he was free of the chair, Ben pulled me in the direction of the fountain. (Imagine a large dog pulling its owner - that's how I felt.) We climbed over the fountain wall and kept walking across the circle. I thought Ben wanted to be a part of his brothers' shenanigans, but I was wrong.

When we reached the other side of the fountain, we climbed over the wall. Ben kept pulling me in this same diagonal path he had chosen. If we kept going, we were going to hit the street, not a place I wanted to venture.

Where the heck was this kid going? He clearly had something on his mind.

Then I looked up. Dunkin Donuts was directly ahead of us. Across the street, it was located exactly diagonal from the point where we started on the other side of the fountain.

Luckily Grandpa was there to run across the street and reward his very determined Grandson with a donut.

Happy New Year!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Parenting an Adult Child with Disabilities

  "Parenting an Adult Child with Disabilities" is a series on eSpeciallyBen. As Ben approached 18, it was clear our role changed as parents. We needed to help Ben transition into adulthood. These stories are meant to assist other families who face, or will face, some of the same challenges. Talking About the Future Guest Post - Matt Wilson Legal Guardianship, Medicaid and SSI Researching Group Homes Questions to Ask at a Group Home Visit Referral Packet for Group Homes Getting Assistance from a Care Manager From Group Home Placement to Discharge Reaching for Independence

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

After my post, Brotherly Love , I received an email from a reader who reminded me of this song. I knew the song, but had never really thought about the words and the meaning behind them. I looked it up and thought others might see the lyrics in a new light.   He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother The road is long With many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where Who knows when But I'm strong Strong enough to carry him He ain't heavy, he's my brother. So on we go His welfare is of my concern No burden is he to bear We'll get there For I know He would not encumber me If I'm laden at all I'm laden with sadness That everyone's heart Isn't filled with the gladness Of love for one another. It's a long, long road From which there is no return While we're on the way to there Why not share And the load Doesn't weigh me down at all He ain't heavy, he's my brother. He's my brother He ain't h

ABC's of ABA

A few weeks ago I attended a workshop presented by a behavior therapist. As it turned out, I went to a conference on the same topic over a year ago. I will describe what I have taken away from these methods in my own words - but please take a look at the links I have provided below. After I learned about this, life with children made a lot more sense to me. Not that this is earth shattering material, but it helped me to better understand the hows, whats and whys of behavior in children, and occasionally husbands. I am in no way an expert in this - just a parent who wants to share a behavior strategy that has worked in our home. I hope to inspire others to explore it further.  Any errors in information comes from me and cannot be blamed on the presenters. Also, you may have seen ABA - Applied Behavior Analysis - connected most often with Autism - please do not let this deter you if your child is not autistic. I use these methods with all my children, none of which are labeled au