We had been having a bit of a rough month. The kids' daycare (parents day out program) asked us to withdraw the children and find them alternative care. I was hurt and angry--Emerald has some behavioral issues, but I didn't think they were as bad as all of that; but with Gabriel it felt like it came out of nowhere. They had been telling us he had been doing well in class and enjoyed going, but then we had a meeting with the directors that said their program was not equipped to handle a child with a disability like Gabriel.
On the 13th, we took Gabe to see the developmental pediatrician Dr. Karen Rogers, who reaffirmed the diagnosis of Autism, adding the stipulation that because of his complete lack of communication despite a year in therapy that he is on the severe end of the spectrum. Granted, it doesn't look like he is mentally retarded--he is in fact quite intelligent--but socially he is...unmotivated, uninterested, and a bit stifled.
Of course, this should have hardly come as a shock. But you get used to people acting with skepticism when you tell them about Gabe, and despite yourself...you start believing them. The emotional part of you starts listening just a little, and you start to hope. It was a mistake--I realize that. I should have clung to that rational part of me, or it wouldn't have been so hard to hear a second time. But sometimes you don't have much control over that.
So, there we were--just a few weeks away from Christmas, and the mood in the house was far from festive.
That's when Santa's Christmas Elves began leaving presents on our front porch every morning. :)
We don't know who our secret friends are, but having something to look forward to every day has done wonders for our optimism, our attitudes, and our stress.
(I may have a few of these out of order--I wrote it down and then lost the list; I do remember everything we got, just not the order!)
1. The first day, we got snowman mugs, hot cocoa mix, and stuff to make s'mores. We decided to save the s'mores for Christmas Eve when Michael would be home; but the kids loved the cocoa, and I have loved having a friendly little snowman smiling at me from my coffee mug every morning :)
2. The second day, we got a tin of three types of popcorn--white cheddar, cheese, and caramel. My favorite is the caramel (what can I say: I have a sweet tooth!), and Emerald and Gabriel have loved having this little snack to eat while laying in bed on cold days and watching movies.
3. The third day was Christmas stuff for my kitchen: red white white snowflakes, we got a floor mat, pot holder, oven mitt, towel, and table cloth. Now the kitchen was decked with holiday cheer!
4. +\-he fourth day was cookies--a LOT of cookies :D We got stuff to make 15 dozen sugar cookies, plus cookie cutters shaped like a bow, a Christmas tree, and a gingerbread man.
Emerald was very helpful--she cleaned off tables and helped me clean the kitchen before starting on the cookies. Gabe stirred the dough a little, but Emerald did most of the hard work--rolling it out, cutting out the shapes, decorating. Gabriel's biggest contribution was tossing the bag of flour on the floor to make flour angels then tracking the powder through out the house, all over the carpet, and on my furniture.
The whole project took two full hours, most of which Ben slept through and listened to Christmas music as he played with his toys. The end result were not particularly works of art, but they were tasty enough. We are planning on making more today or tomorrow to leave out for Santa Claus when he comes.
5. The fifth day was Snowman candle holders; a whole family with a father, a mother, and a baby. Gabriel ate most of two candles while I wasn't looking, so we had to put them away and leave the snowmen out. Luckily they were just white candles without scent or coloring, so Gabe should be no worse for wear after his waxy culinary adventure :-/
6. For the sixth day, we got chocolate covered pretzels. Those are going to be my downfall, because I just cannot quit snacking on them. Both Emerald and Gabriel enjoy them a great deal as well.
7. We were expecting a winter snow that night, so at the end of the sixth day a rather tall elf brought the seventh gift early :) In it were gift cards to Burlington Coat Factory, coloring books and crayons for Emerald and Gabriel, and a Rudolph stuffed animal for Benjamin. Ben loves his new reindeer toy, as it makes for good chewing.
8. On the eighth day, we got a pretty green and blue tin full of shortbread cookies. Momma may have hidden those cookies in her room so that the kids wouldn't eat them all!!
9. For the ninth present, we got a gift card to Domino's and a stuff to make our own ornaments. Gabriel liked to smash our shatterproof Christmas ornaments, so we had to strip our tree bare of everything but the angel Emerald made for the top and the lights. It was looking rather forlorn, and Emerald was heartbroken thinking that it was going to die. These ornaments were absolutely Gabe-proof, so together before breakfast we made snowman, snowflake, Christmas tree, and stocking ornaments to decorate with. After a long morning of making ornaments, we ordered a big pepperoni pizza (Emerald's favorite!) for lunch.
10. Today was the tenth day, and we got this water-less snowglobe...on the inside are penguins mailing letters to Santa; you push a button on the front, and it lights up inside and blows "snow" all over while it plays any one of many Christmas songs.
The good news is that all three kids adore this--they haven't left it alone for more than 15 minutes all day long, and they are sharing with one another surprisingly well.
The bad news is that for the last 7 hours or so, I have had non-stop Christmas music literally following me around like my own holiday theme music, which can get a little grating, lol.
Two days until Christmas! Whoever the "elves" are--Thank you, from all of us. You have really brightened our holiday season!
--Andie--
