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I thought I would really enjoy the break from Kellen. I wouldn't have to get him off to school everyday or worry about getting home in time for his bus after school. Instead, I really missed him! There was no one to open all the curtains and turn on all the lights every morning. No one to sit in his "spot" on the couch. I think even his cats missed him. He is such a major part of my life and literally the sunshine in my day.
Kellen's teacher or paraeducator called us every night around 9:30pm. They said that he was soaked, but having a good time. He packed his bags one morning to come home, but I don't think he did that because he was having a rotten time, I think he wasn't sure about the schedule. The other kids were interacting with him and including him. He was enjoying the square dancing and the hiking. He was talking a lot about watching his DVDs when he got home! He got to ring the bell to announce breakfast. The first night Kellen was exhausted so he went to bed about an hour before the other kids, but I think he lasted the other three nights.
When I went to pick him up this afternoon, he was wearing some "loaner" sweatpants. I guess all of his other pants were wet and muddy. He kind of shunned me! He wouldn't look at me or acknowledge me for a while. I asked him if he wanted to go to KFC for some popcorn chicken and he perked up. It was obvious that he had made lots of friends and that he had really bonded further with his paraeducator. He opened the door of our car and told her to get in! I told him that she needed to go home to her own family.
Anyhow, we went to KFC and then he came home to his beloved movies. I unpacked his stuff and was surprised to see that he had everything except his rain poncho and a thermal shirt that he slept in. He must have had 20 pairs of soaking wet socks in his laundry bag. The funniest thing was that he had a HUGE 32 oz.jar of hair gel in his duffel bag. I have no idea where he got that. I wonder who would bring a 32 oz. jar of hair gel to camp???? It kind of got all over his duffel bag and some of his clothes. Hopefully it is water soluble!
Kellen looks taller and more mature. He is talking in more complete sentences. New experiences always seem to increase his speech and language skills. I survived! His teachers survived! Kellen thrived! He is happy to be home and we're so happy to have the sunshine back into our lives.
2 comments:
Your memories of camp trigger my own memories of Vic at camp--he goes to a camp for kids with handicaps, along with their sibs, in the summer. Vic was a timid camper this last summer---afraid to ride the horses, afraid to climb the rock wall. (He had done these things in other years.)
At Vic's camp, there is a buddy for every camper with disabilities
--a high school student who volunteers, or a PT in training at a local college. Really, the whole thing is volunteers, including the camp site. The cost to the families is $50 for the week---4 days (not overnight), including a meal, crafts, horses, rock wall, space walk trampoline, etc.
To me, this is the perfect solution to segregating kids with disabilities in camps designed just for them (I have this same problem with Special Olympics---it just looks too much like segregation to me). There are neurotypical sibs, there are buddies, and so the disabilities kids have neurotypical examples to observe; and they have role models in the volunteers. I love it!!! There are also volunteer nurses, really experienced nurses (one is a colleague of mine) who give meds, manage diaper changes, do tube feedings, etc.
I have never had the experience of Vic being gone overnight, though I have been gone from him for nearly a week. I didn't know what to do with myself--without the role of care-giver-watchdog for Vic, I was an empty shell, and very unhappy.
I don't know if this is true in your household, Jodi, but our household revolves around Vic and his needs. I don't know any other way to be, after 11 years. Vic is much less medically fragile these last 2 years, but still, he needs supervision for everything. He needs to be coached through every meal (Chew, Vic, don't just swallow it whole---Cough,cough, sputter, etc.). He needs help dressing, and toileting---he needs to be reminded to sit on his potty, because he is not yet toilet trained---we just have such a carved-in-granite toileting schedule that he seldom has an accident--but he doesn't seem ever to feel the urge to go.
Vic is not just our sunshine, as you say of Kellen. He is our everything. He is every goal and ambition that I/we have. He is every frustration that I/we have. I am always trying to figure him out, what he will do or say next. I am trying to anticipate some of his emotional lability . . . I am always trying to feed him (He is not yet 70 # at age 11 3/4), groom him, answer the same questions over and over--perseveration.
It is a total immersion thing.
Chris and Vic (CAK)
I call that "extreme parenting"
Kind of like one of those extreme sports that only a brave few venture into. The difference is that we didn't exactly choose this...but the result is strong, capable parents.
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