Little. Yellow. (red, blue, black and the like) Different.

Nope. Not talking about Nuprin. (does anyone remember that commercial slogan? or just me.)
No, I am talking about LEGO. Those blocky little bricks of various sizes. In our home, they are weapons of mass destruction. They somehow are found in every room. And I do mean every. There are heads, pants, wheels, cars. There are mini figures, there are games, even catalogs! There are partially assembled "creations" adorning most of the flat surfaces in our downstairs. It has been that way since Ayden was roughly 5, and his attention shifted from Thomas & All things Thomas related, to Lego.

He inherited his fathers collection, and all conversation could be had through Lego speak. We as his parents have indulged the Lego habit. We have been his dealers to this addiction! And I don't feel bad about it. It is a connection. Years back, it was the way to have discussions with Ayden. As he was not going to just walk up and ask you how your day went. I learned during the Baby Einstein DVD's run and the early Thomas Days  THIS was his chit chat. This is where we can reach each other for some common ground. Ayden is like a walking Wiki of sorts. He gathers information and categorizes it in his mind files so it is at the ready for any conversation. At 5 he could manage a few topics. Now at 12, his arsenal is massive. StarWars, DC and Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Pokemon, and this is enhanced by the fact that all of these themes are crossovers in Lego as well.


The conversational benefits are not just felt at home. He has honed this skill at school as well. He has a handful of friends that share lego magazines with him back and forth, trade characters and seek him out for his expertise. He will notice a sticker or picture on a desk in class that is the logo for a certain Superhero and amaze his teacher with his unending knowledge. And just try to catch him up. Almost impossible. Sadly, at his meetings this year we have all had a good chuckle over the fact that if he stored his Math lessons and other subjects he struggles with in the same way! WOW.  They all laughed harder when I said if you can figure out how to turn it into a video game or a Lego set he would.

 

And this realization was made even more clear yesterday on a run to Wally World (WalMart). Instantly he asked me if this was a lot of groceries or just a few because if it's just a few, he can stay in the car.  For obvious reasons stores are a complex situation for him. He does like them, in theory. And some days he can manage just fine, but yesterday I had Just picked him up from school, it's FRIDAY and even he knew it would be too much. Sound. Smell. Lights. And people. I assured him he could wait in the van, and asked him as an afterthought what was in the store he didn't want to deal with.  He matter of factually said, looking at all the people.  I don't understand why they look so "uuuuuuhhhhh" he said as he mimicked a zombie.  Their focus in the store distracts him. The looks on peoples face as they rush to and fro, trying to get to the isle they need. I do my very best to ignore any human when I am there, it occurs to me that he is actively trying to read them all....and if you can picture what you would like in "shopping mode" you'll see that for him it looks like everyone is mad and on a mission to mars. AGREED!!!!! I asked him what he does to make it better...without looking up from his comic book he says, "I just turn them all into Lego people in my head and the store too."

I looked at my buddy, and smiled. Of course he does. I can't think of a better way to make something seem less serious then to picture it silly.  See, case in point! Last Supper or Lego Party! you be the judge!

Like Water.

We are just like that. I read a quote today. And that was what was revealed to me when I did.

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins… not through strength, but through persistence. -- H. Jackson Brown 

PDD-NOS is just like a rock. Or a few of them. Little pebbles in the path blocking up the works, making the stream branch out, around, over, under. Given time, it will break down that rock too...or at least smooth it out. And it does so by simply finding a way. We do that. Creating your own path is easy enough to do - just not always easy. You can get to Ohio by way of Texas...from NY. Trust me, you can - it will just take a longer time. And a lot of useless stops and detours along the way. Or it's the Scenic route! Depends on how you look at it.

Then I wonder if we are not really the rock? Equally as willful, Steady, constant, just trying to be a rock while this dang water keeps making it muddy. Chipping away. Pervasively. Shoved around by the current, wherever we land dependent upon where "the water" shifts us. Or worse, no movement at all...stuck. In the Mud.

And if that's too philosophical for your taste then by all means let me sum it up, we are Perplexed. By the very definition, it means: completely baffled, very puzzled. How poetic that "puzzle" is the word they used to describe it. On all levels, from watching our child figure this all out, to trying with all we have to help the school figure it out, puzzled (and exhausted) is what we are reduced to at the end of most days. Perhaps the most perplexing is just how often you find yourself back on square 1. Starting over. Gains made are seemingly left in the very day they were had. Be it Ayden's or the educators. For 1 all it takes is getting off track in a class, for the other, it is given up in the question of "If he would just....!" Ahhh, yes! If he would just and if it were JUST that simple. But it's not. However, it is consistently Inconsistent. Does that work for everyone?  Even I, a 12 year veteran can be lulled or get comfortable. I need to remember that "No News" rarely means "Is good news" - it usually indicates that Ayden has not relayed some info to me.  Leading to the eventual email or "update call" from the teacher. And POWW. The Nuclear Meltdown is imminent. Insert metaphoric red alarms and countdown . . . 8 . . 7. . 6

The actual tears were shed last night after days of math tests and trying to find them, what will I DO? They are lost, and is Mom going to find out, and I didn't do the corrections because I never wrote it down and and Math is next! oh no - aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh And now, Clean Up mode. I don my hazmat suit, I spring into action. Wipe tears, reorganize class folders, run kids to dance, do homework, make dinner, "re-group" , I send emails, make calls, fret, fight, and live to see another day. Yes. That was today. "Today was fun. And tomorrow is another one." And at the end of the day, If I am water, I'll make my way. And if I am a rock I'll be standing my ground. Puzzled as I may be, I guess I have that part figured out.