Parenting B....

I consider myself to be a pretty good parent.  I am aware of what’s going on in the lives of my children and their friends.  We have rules and consequences.  We have a routine and lots of structure.  We are consistent.  I believe that, one day, they are all going to have the necessary tools to tackle the world on their own.  Some days are more challenging than others to be a good parent. Today is one of those days.

Our son B has Aspergers Syndrome.  He was diagnosed when he was five.  As he gets older he can explain his feelings and thoughts clearly; helping us better understand his needs.  Most of the time he is a typical, almost 11 year old, boy.  He is happy, funny and a great artist.  He loves video games and superheroes.

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As going back to school approaches the mood in our home is changing.  B’s anxiety is on the rise affecting my own level of calm.  He is picking fights with me so he has a valid reason to be mad.  In his different kind of mind he can rationalize that he shouldn’t be angry about going back to school because everyone is; but if he is angry that I will not purchase him a new gaming system it’s a valid emotion.  Sigh….

For every child a new school year, new grade, new peer group can cause some jitters.  For B it can be overwhelming. Thanks to small miracles he has the same teacher and Educational Assistant as last year.  That will make the transition from summer to fall a little easier on all of us.  

B grew over the summer, which means new shoes, new clothes and more annoying tags to cut.  Smalls things like keeping his backpack and lunch bag from last year will make it easier on all of us.  No way am I to buy him a calculator, though I am sure it’s a requirement in grade six.  Mechanical pencils only please!

My challenges this week will be:
·      Getting him to bed and up again at decent hour.  Bus comes at 7:45am!
·      All screen time needs to be pared back so he can focus while at school.
·      Reading!  The summer reading list was abandoned week two as he insisted he was reading every time he had to do a search on the internet. Some things are not worth arguing about.

Normally these are all things I try to maintain throughout the summer but this year I dropped the ball.  Busy recovering I guess.  Surely something I will pay for in the weeks to come.  Wish me luck.