Patience is a Virtue

I never thought these words would pass by my lips but I can't wait for the Short Bus to come to our house to pick up the Doodle.

This week has been a little hectic making four trips to the school for drop offs and pick ups each day. Jimmy has to be there by 8:30am and the Doodle doesn't start until 9:15am.

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have the Doodle melting down in the back seat. Apparently he has a keen sense of direction and knows exactly where and what it means to pull up to the school and it's only been two days. This morning he freaked out when we dropped Jimmy off. He was trying to get out of his car seat and screaming, he thought it was his turn to go to school.

So that meant he cried most of the way home, did not want to go inside and eat breakfast or get dressed, he only wanted to get back in the car and get to school damn it. We got him back to the school and arrived 10 minutes early to receive a thoughtful reminder from the teacher that school did not start until 9:15 am, in other words...go home and come back when it's really time. Another reason I can't wait for the Short Bus to get here.

While he might have a pretty good sense of where he is, he has no clue about the passing of time or having to wait for something. Jim says he's a bit like a dog, no matter how long you've been gone he is happy to see you. You could be gone all day or for 3 minutes, it doesn't mean anything to him he's equally excited to see you again.

He did OK at school today. Not great. He cried a lot. He's having some difficulty transitioning from activity to activity, recognizing boundaries of where he can't go and learning how to be patient. He likes to go in and out at his leisure on his schedule. He has no sense of waiting his turn. At home, he doesn't have anyone to take turns with and he gets pissed off if he doesn't get what he wants exactly when he wants it.

Bratty? Check.
Autistic? Check.
3 Years Old? Check.
Spoiled rotten? Check.
Irritable from Medications and/or Seizures? Check.

I don't know where one bad behavior issue stops and the other begins. The bad behavior lines have been blurred since around January now. With all that he has to deal with medically and how the seizures must make him feel and because our hearts are breaking for him, we cut him a tremendous amount of slack...maybe too much.

We do what we can to get through the day and that's all we can do.