Preparation for Christmas

Well, Christmas is fast approaching and we are pretty much ready in the Errington household. The boys both loved the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo (a tradition every year). Sam enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap at a friend's party during the Lights, but Gavin was hesitant and only sat on mom's lap pretending to be Santa after he left. The Children's Wonderland was even less "wonderous" than usual, but we managed to make a fun day of it with our dear friends, Geri, Mason and Maddox Altman. The train and karaoke were a great hit. Gavin and the boys all sang Frosty with their own microphones. Hilarious!!

Gavin and Sam both were reluctant to go onstage at the Gateway Preschool/Kindergarten Winter Program, but each participated in their own way. Sam at least stood on stage with his sunglasses and sun around his neck for the 3 year old class singing "Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun Please Shine Down on Me." Gavin wore his bear ears (for his class's Three Bears Song) and took photos of the group, but said it was too loud to join them on the stage. His anxiety went way up as soon as we entered this huge multi-purpose room in a church where we have never been before, with stage, speakers and microphones, 100s of people, and probably at least 60 3 to 6 year olds. Really....who wouldn't be overwhelmed?! Especially for Gavin, who continues to have some difficulty processing too much stimulating sensory input. It was great he was able to stay to watch the program and could tell us later why he didn't want to be part of it. It was an obvious struggle for him at the time. He really wanted to go up, and kept walking up to the stage himself and watching from there a little while, but then ultimately deciding it was just too much.

Dave and I had really prepared ourselves ahead of time to trust that Gavin would make the decision that was best for him. If he wanted to do the program, GREAT. If he felt uncomfortable and didn't, absolutely fine too. Our question to ourselves was, do we NEED him to do this for us to be happy? The answer absolutely is/was NO. We would have liked it, it would have been GREAT to see him take that risk and really be a part of the show, encorporating all the sensory experience into it and taking it in stride. But we don't NEED it. We can still choose to be happy, be grateful for the ways in which he did participate, and to appreciate all that we have been able to do with Gavin over the last year. It helps to think of what we WANT vs. what we NEED. We can choose our feelings and our behavior if we step back and look at our beliefs from a new perspective.

We've also taken a little different perspective on playroom time lately. We had a couple really busy weeks of playroom time and training volunteer facilitators, but now they are almost away for the holidays. So...playroom time has been a little more relaxed and flexible lately, although we're getting in family play time frequently. Sam is a great "peer" and adds a different social piece to the equation. He is not always as "user-friendly" and predictable as WE (parents and volunteers) try to be with Gavin, but he is more like a typical peer, who will have his own ideas, demands, and feelings for Gavin to interact with and manage. And he is a great asset to our team. Sam and G have the best time together, laughing and giggling to their own jokes, sometimes which I am just not clued in on. This is usually best if kept to short amounts of time. Most of the time, more than 10 minutes (without guidance and adult facilitation) they will resort to physical fighting and then withdraw from each other. So short is definitely more "sweet" for the time being. The new year will bring a fully staffed Son-Rise schedule for playroom time almost every day of the week.

I will post more throughout the holidays. We are all so excited to see friends and cousins home for Christmas. "Baby (cousin) Jack" will be home from Minneapolis and is now walking and talking a little. The boys will have a great time teaching him all their "tricks." I don't think they'll believe how big he has gotten!

Much love, happiness, and peace to anyone reading throughout this holiday season and into the new year. Wow, 2010!! Make it a great year!!!!