REBLOG: Some Days I Forget

Reposted from 8/30/11
Some days I forget, or almost forget HistoryBoy is different from any other child because things are going so well. No using mommy as a life line, no hiding, no meltdowns, just a kid being a kid. It was great. 

Until yesterday...

I am not sure what set it off, or even if it had a trigger. He was playing nicely with his cousin in the morning but even then I could tell he was a little off because I kept having to call him and repeat myself. Then he wouldn't eat lunch even though it was pizza, and if you know HistoryBoy that is one of his favorite food groups. Pizza, Chicken Soup, Grilled Cheese, Hot Dogs and Steamed Dumplings.  If I made these every day of his life the child would be happy as a clam. Thankfully he can and will eat other foods too but is VERY gratefully when I have his favorites. But anyway he wouldn't eat, I got him to drink some water but i think he took two bites of pizza.

We head home. It is time for me to lie down and rest. He comes and lays next to me and clings and I ask him what is wrong. He can't or won't say. He just clings. I cuddle him as best I can. I fall asleep and when I awake I realize he has fallen asleep too. I have woken just in time for me to leave for my Doctor's appointment, and I gently awaken HistoryBoy to take him with me. He clings to my arm and doesn't want me to go. I have to go so, I tell him I will drop him off at Mimi's house and he can get some cuddle time from her while I go to my appointment.

I call my mom to make sure she is OK with this arrangement and she says she is. I also let he know he is way off. I do not know what is off but he is not talking, just clinging. I didn't say it but I was thinking, at least he isn't melting down. So I went to my appointment and came back. We had dinner at my mom's and HistoryBoy did eat a little Spaghetti and Meatballs. Not as much as I would have liked. I only gave him a little and he didn't eat all of it, and he wouldn't drink any of his milk. He just kept telling me he was full. After we cleared the table, he wanted me to sit with him in the living room. I sat down and he climbed into my lap. I do need to point out that HistoryBoy is now 11. There is a lot more to him, mostly limbs, looooong legs, than there used to be; he weighs 75 lbs. I shift his weight so it is not really on me and more on the chair. I try to get up after a few minutes but this is where he wants me, close to him. I shift over, so he can sit next to me in the chair and he "allows" that as long as I don't leave him.

After a while we leave to head home. At home, I try talking to him but he isn't opening up. He just says he feels off. So either he doesn't know what is wrong or can't put it into words. A little while later there is a knock at the door HyperGirl and her sister, SassyGirl (HyperGirl came up with the name for her sister) came over. They seemed to bring HistoryBoy out of his funk. He showed them, his new room, which was almost done. And he chattered to them some which I saw as a good sign.

On another note...
The first thing out of HyperGirl's mouth when she saw HistoryBoy's room was "Cool, bunk beds! When can I stay over?" Don't worry Michelle I said NO! Then SassyGirl pipes up "Well I can stay over, I'm not his girlfriend!" Again I said No. LOL HistoryBoy was just laughing, which I took as a good sign.

I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com

Tough Days/Weeks SUCK

I realized I haven't blogged in two weeks. I have had lots of thoughts, millions of them and I just didn't feel up to putting them out them. I apologize for my laziness if it can be called that. It wasn't exactly that. I will explain.

First, Halloween ran away with me. We (Angus and I) took HistoryBoy, HyperGirl and SassyGirl Trick or Treating. I didn't make it too far. I ended up sitting in the car and Angus walked with the kids. HistoryBoy ened up not feeling well and being sent home from school the next day. He hadn't had much candy just to let you know. He loves trick or treating but he is allergic to chocolate and peanuts so that limits what he can actually eat after the adventure. Doc says it's just his allergies. Fun.

He makes it through the rest of the week. He has the whole next week off due to election day and the teacher's convention and whatnot. We had great plans for this week. However, this cough has other plans for us. He seems to be coughing non-stop. Back to the doc we go... Doc says it could be a virus but he is going to a strep test to be sure. (This is Monday) Now HistoryBoy in the midst of all of this, is supposed to be training for his Black Belt in Karate and is feeling very poorly, which is affecting his performance, with less than a month less to go is making him stressed on top of everything else. So our nice week off turned into a week in bed sleeping, eating soup and drinking lots of fluids and only going out to go to karate class.

He went back to school yesterday to be sent home sick. He stayed home today. Back to the doc again. Today, the doc sent us for a chest x-ray, he didn't like the way he sounded. I have been saying he had a horrible cough from the beginning. It sucks. He sounds like Darth Vadar when he breaths today. He is blowing out so much snot I am going to have to buy stock in Kleenex.

Thankfully for me, I can still rest myself when he is resting. I can make soup in the microwave. He doesn't care. I can hand him a yogurt as a snack. and we can both go back to sleep. Doc says to try to send him to school tomorrow. So I am going to try. He is hoping he makes it through the day. I just want him to have a year where he doesn't pick up EVERY sticking bug that comes down the road. That is usually my job.

Until tomorrow or the day after at the latest...

HistoryBoy Trying to Understand Emotions

HistoryBoy's Asperger's has its ups and downs, as we all know. My least favorite difficulty is his expressing emotion and understanding emotion in others. He will most likely have this difficulty all of his life. We are working hard to overcome it, helping to read other people, and understand why people say certain things and do certain things. But I even have to pause sometimes and think about why I said something or did something because to me it is second nature.

In all fairness, HistoryBoy has gotten so much better at expressing his emotions than he used to be. He also understands some nuances better than others. While this is a good thing he still doesn't understand when someone says something in anger they don't always mean it or how when someone says one thing, they mean something else.

Our little HistoryBoy and HyperGirl are growing up. A little while back, they have decided they were boyfriend and girlfriend. To everyone, all that means is that they hold hands on the way to the bus sometimes. HistoryBoy is ok with that, it means his best friend is his girl friend, so I guess to his mind, life is perfect.

The other day, I do not know exactly what happened, except the two of them had a fight. They do that from time to time. One will huff and puff and go home. But this time HistoryBoy didn't come home to me, he went off to play with some other kids in the neighborhood and at dinner time I had to go search him out. He was all wound up and I had to really work to get him calm. He told me HyperGirl had broken up with him. He was devastated. Now I know that they had a fight and I know that she probably said this to him. But now I need to explain that this is not the end of the world. HyperGirl and he will most likely be friends again tomorrow, as always.

He and I talk about their past fights and how someone usually goes home mad. I asked him if he ever considered not being her friend, "but she said" Ignore what she said. HyperGirl says things when she is angry and she apologizes when she sees you or she hugs you the next day, doesn't she? "Yes." She has some of the same troubles expressing her emotions. She just overflows with them sometimes. "Oh, I get it. I think, but that is what I like about her. She can understand me too."

Don't worry. Talk to HyperGirl. I bet she misses you already.

Silly Short Story

So HistoryBoy comes home from school sick with a sore throat and a headache. It's his allergies and his molars are coming in. Not much we can do. Tylenol, Ambesol and rest. He is sitting in the living room relaxing, watching TV when HyperGirl comes over and wants to know if he wants to play. I tell her why he wasn't on the bus and I tell her he came home from school early with a headache. "Can he play?" I tell her since he came home from school sick he can't go outside to play. Then she looks at him and says "Do you want to play?" He looks at me. I say to her, If you want to play on the Wii or watch TV but I want him resting. I don't want him running around. She looks up at me and says "Ok." Then looks at him and says "Are you coming?" and runs out the door.

HistoryBoy just looks at me and says "I don't thinks she got it Mom."

First Day of 5th Grade

He woke himself up. He set his alarm for 6 am and got up all on his own. I reminded him that he needed to get in and out o the shower because he dad needed to get in at 6:15 and he said "I know." He hopped in and out of the shower got dressed, ate breakfast and was ready in no time, with an hour to spare before we had to leave for the bus. He was happy with that. He said "I wanted to be able to play with my toys before school" I said fine as long as you stop when I say it is time to go.

I went and flopped on the bed for 45 minutes. No need for me to up if he is all ready. LOL. I set my alarm for 7:20 so we would make it to the bus on time. We did with no hitches. He really didn't want to stop playing, but he didn't want to miss riding the bus with HyperGirl and SassyGirl either since this was the first time they has ridden the bus together in two years. We waited to for the bus. I snapped pictures like I do EVERY year of his waiting for the bus. I know one year he is going to be like "M-O-M that is enough!" But it wasn't this year, so I got my pics. Bus comes and off to school they go.

I am not sure yet what time the after school bus is supposed to be here because it is only the first day. By next week they will be in full swing and have everyone where they are supposed to be but not yet so buses run late. So I wait at home instead of sitting by the bus stop for him. He gets home. I ask how he day was he says "Good." I asks for more. I get nothing. I am not surprised. Some days he is not talkative. Us moms of Aspies know how it can be, but I can usually cajole he out of a funk so long as he isn't in meltdown mode, if I try. So I try.

I make him a snack. I take it to him in his room, where he is flopped on his bed. I try to ask him about his day again. He says to me, "Mom, can't you just leave me alone. I just want to be alone." I say ok and try to hug him and get pushed away for my efforts. Was it a bad day at school or was he just overwhelmed? Or is he just tired? Or all of the above? I guess we will have to wait and see. Only tomorrow will tell.

Some Days I Forget...

Some days I forget, or almost forget HistoryBoy is different from any other child because things are going so well. No using mommy as a life life, no hiding, no meltdowns, just a kid being a kid. It was great. Until yesterday...

I am not sure what set it off, or even if it had a trigger. He was playing nicely with his cousin in the morning but even then I could tell he was a little off because I kept having to call him and repeat myself. Then he wouldn't eat lunch even though it was pizza, and if you know HistoryBoy that is one of his favorite food groups. Pizza, Chicken Soup, Grilled Cheese, Hot Dogs and Steamed Dumplings. If I made these every day of his life the child would be happy as a clam. Thankfully he can and will eat other foods too but is VERY gratefully when I have his favorites. But anyway he wouldn't eat, I got him to drink some water but i think he took two bites of pizza.

We head home. It is time for me to lie down and rest. He comes and lays next to me and clings and I ask him what is wrong. He can't or won't say. He just clings. I cuddle him as best I can. I fall asleep and when I awake I realize he has fallen asleep too. I have woken just in time for me to leave for my Doctor's appointment, and I gently awaken HistoryBoy to take him with me. He clings to my arm and doesn't want me to go. I have to go so, I tell him I will drop him off at Mimi's house and he can get some cuddle time from her while I go to my appointment.

I call my mom to make sure she is OK with this arrangement and she says she is. I also let he know he is way off. I do not know what is off but he is not talking, just clinging. I didn't say it but I was thinking, at least he isn't melting down. So I went to my appointment and came back. We had dinner at my mom's and HistoryBoy did eat a little Spaghetti and Meatballs. Not as much as I would have liked. I only gave him a little and he didn't eat all of it, and he wouldn't drink any of his milk. He just kept telling me he was full. After we cleared the table, he wanted me to sit with him in the living room. I sat down and he climbed into my lap. I do need to point out that HistoryBoy is now 11. There is a lot more to him, mostly limbs, looooong legs, than there used to be; he weighs 75 lbs. I shift his weight so it is not really on me and more on the chair. I try to get up after a few minutes but this is where he wants me, close to him. I shift over, so he can sit next to me in the chair and he "allows" that as long as I don't leave him.

After a while we leave to head home. At home, I try talking to him but he isn't opening up. He just says he feels off. So either he doesn't know what is wrong or can't put it into words. A little while later there is a knock at the door HyperGirl and her sister, SassyGirl (HyperGirl came up with the name for her sister) came over. They seemed to bring HistoryBoy out of his funk. He showed them, his new room, which was almost done. And he chattered to them some which I saw as a good sign.

On another note...
The first thing out of HyperGirl's mouth when she saw HistoryBoy's room was "Cool, bunk beds! When can I stay over?" Don't worry Michelle I said NO! Then SassyGirl pipes up "Well I can stay over, I'm not his girlfriend!" Again I said No. LOL HistoryBoy was just laughing, which I took as a good sign.

I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com

Insights into the Mind of an 11 Year Old

These little nuggets of info come straight from the horses mouth... Or rather HistoryBoy mouth as it were.

HyperGirl: "She is my best friend. She is pretty much a female version of me."

Random-ness: "Ahhhh" What's wrong? "There are three of me in this mirror with bed head!" I nod in agreement. "Wow! Imagine Three of me! I think that is too many HBs don't you, mom?"Definitely! I don't think I could handle 3 of you. "Yeah two of me could take over the world! Three of me would take over the whole universe!" W

Cellphone: HistoryBoy just turned 11 and is not allowed to have a cell phone although he really wants one. So here are some pieces I think you will enjoy.

1> Why do you need a cell phone? "So I can call you or text you when I get out of school." We will 5 minutes from the school, your bus comes right after school to drop you off. What part would I miss? "But I could TEXT you. You LOVE texting!"

2> HistoryBoy and I have come to an agreement about the cellphone. When he no longers misplaces his mp3 player and gameboy on a regular bases, then we can discuss a cellphone. Until I can ask his at anytime of day where those items are and he knows where they are, no cell phone. He agreed to it. He has asked about it a few times since and I simply ask, Where is your GameBoy? He says "I don't know," sighs and then walks away to go look for it.

3> (THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE) Now HyperGirl has a cellphone and has bugged HistoryBoy (when she knows where her cellphone is) about when he is going to get a cell phone so she can call or text him. I caught this conversation between them while they were playing one day. "When I are going to get a cellphone?" HyperGirl asked HistoryBoy. He replied to her when I stop losing my GameBoy." She asks "So when is that going to be?" Looking hopeful. HistoryBoy doesn't even look up from the game they are playing and says "Never." I nearly choked in the other room. At least he is honest!

Is it any wonder that I ADORE being his mom 99% of the time? The other 1% o the time I spend threatening him that I am going to sell him on eBay. When he tell me, "HAHA They are SO gonna want their money back!"

Leave a comment or email me

teenahope@gmail.com

All Kids Are Hyper Aren't They?

Have you heard these? I know I have.

1. It's just a phase...

Well, when do you think it stops being a phase and starts being a problem? I know my son was hyper (VERY) hyper from an early age. For the first two weeks of his life he only slept 15 minutes at a time, afraid he was going to miss something. You know how the first pics of babies are all pink with closed eyes. Not mine, that's him at the right eyes open. What's up world, here I am. And he wouldn't close them for very long for the next two weeks. It was a LOOOOONG two weeks. Maybe that should have given me an ADHD clue. LOL

2. Oh, all kids are hyper at that age...

I know a lot of kids are hyper. I have seen it, and I can tell the difference when watching kids play the difference (usually) between regular hyper and ADHD hyperactivity. If I can get and keep that hyperactive child attention for a minute or two without magic or medication, then they might just be hyper. But if I have to hold the child down and threaten to tie then to it and repeat, Please look at me. Are you listening? Can I ask you a question? ADD just might be a problem.

These type of helpful comments ones I have heard at every age, so apparently EVERY age kids are hyper. IMAGINE that one. Maybe you just have a hyper child like I do. Hmmmm, something to think about isn't it?

3. Boys have just so much more energy than girls...

Apparently parents that see HistoryBoy play hyperactively are also experts. I hear, "boys always have so much energy." "Oh he is an active one, isn't he?" Do these people never see children play, that my son is such a wonder? Maybe I need to let loose his Aspie-ness on them, then they can really sit in awe. And if boys have so much more energy than girls, these same people have never seen him play with HyperGirl obviously. I need to find these people and put them in a room with both HB and HG. THAT would be *GREAT*!!

I was also once asked if medication "fixed" HistoryBoy problems. Since I don't view him as "broken" and he doesn't need to be "fixed" unless he is a dog or cat, I did my best not to whack the oh so inquisitive person upside her helpful head with my overloaded purse, maybe I ADDed a brick or two. I replied HB was doing fine thanks for asking. Bye. And walked off before she could asked me any other questions and ended up really hitting her.

It's funny how people judge from the outside. I do not mind sitting poolside and chatting with a mom about our kids. Or with friends but it's random outside comments that stick and sometimes dig and drive me nuts. I am sure you have dealt with these type of issues too, if your child is anything like mine. If not, count yourself lucky and blessed. Maybe you will *never* encounter the Idiots, I mean, lovely people, I encounter.

Feel free to leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com

Not Wanting to be Solitary

HistoryBoy is so solitary most of the time; I forget how much he needs/loves/wants to be around other kids his age. When he isn’t in school, he plays a lot of the time with HyperGirl. They are two peas in a pod, but they each need their own space sometimes too. HistoryBoy needs his time to watch Battle 360 which apparently holds NO interest whatsoever for HyperGirl, no matter how much he tries to convince her of how good it is.

After spending the weekend with Max and Doodle, HistoryBoy told me that it was so great to spend time with someone who shared his interests. It had been too long since he hung out with someone who really got him. Now I am not going to tell HyperGirl any of this but I felt bad that he felt he couldn’t share his interests with her, or that he doesn’t have someone he can. I know I *try* to be interested but I can only be interested so many times before I go insane.

I am beginning to wonder if HistoryBoy picked up our family’s teaching “gene.” I come from a family of teachers, and he loves to share his knowledge with everyone and anyone who shows and interest in it. He is especially good with younger children and answering their questions, which I love and think is AWESOME. He says something they don’t understand, usually because he likes big words, and then he tries to explain so that they do.

But I digress, he has asked me lately about having a friend over, which I am not opposed to, but I am still not feeling healthy and after he gets outs of school a lot of days are spent with me napping, so after school play is not really an option unless I am feeling better. He is craving more social interaction and I am lacking the energy/time to be able to get it for him.

So when we get back from this trip to Florida, I have to try to figure out how to get him more involved with other kids who like what he like. Do you think there is a History Club for 10 years olds? I think my problem will be finding a child his age with similar interests. His interests tend to be older and/or younger than his age, ie Thomas trains, which he still loves, or WWII. There are not a lot of 10 year old into Thomas or WWII, but maybe there are some into Legos or Transformers which he also likes, not as much as the first two but it is somewhere to work from.

I guess what I have to keep remembering is that while it is easier for him to be solitary; I need to push him to not be solitary and to encourage him when he is interested in being with others, even if I am not up to it, because that is what is going to make the difference for him in the long run.

Making in Through Monday

I meant this to go up last night but Murphy’s Law, or maybe it is just me. But anyway, after our adventures of past weekend, I should have allowed for some time to rest as was needed to me to recoup, but as usual I thought I could handle it all and come home and pack for our trip to Florida, which HistoryBoy and I were leaving for on Tuesday morning. Great planning on my part…

HistoryBoy’s last day of school was Monday. He was so tired and worn out from the weekend; I needed a shovel to get him out of bed. AND the last day of school was basically a carnival for the kids, and a day to pick up report cards. He was not missing it. I knew how he felt though. I was scraping myself out of bed as well but I knew I had to get him to school and get stuff done today if we were going to leave tomorrow.

I finally did get him off to school. How bad is it to be late on the last day of school? Do they give awards for bad parent of the year? When I left him at school, he was sitting with his class on the grass by the black top waiting for their turn in the kick ball tournament but he had his head on his knee and was falling asleep. HyperGirl seemed to be nudging him every so often so maybe he wouldn’t fall all the way to sleep.

I get back to my house and begin packing. I get a phone call, do I want to come visit my Grandmom before I leave. I said Of course HistoryBoy and I would come over when he gets out of school as it is only a half day. I get as much done as I can which isn’t a lot and I have to crash for a little bit until HistoryBoy gets home because I am just too tired. I am achy and need sleep. My aunt comes to pick us up and we head to my Grandmom’s.

We have a nice visit but you can tell both HistoryBoy and I are tired. HB is playing with his cars and keeps bringing my aunt over to see them but isn’t talking about anything else and really won’t answer other questions without A LOT of prodding from me, usually it takes a reminder of Your GG asked you a question for him to pay attention or to respond, but he is in single mind mode only, please do not disturb. He has been playing with Cars cars (ie from the movie Cars) and having races in preparation I guess for the new movie coming out Friday, who know.

My aunt drops me at my mom’s house so I can have dinner. I am completely zonked but we should eat food and my brother is going to take me home after dinner. After dinner I go home finish packing as best I can with a tired brain, and believe me when I unpack, I realize how tired I was and I C.R.A.S.H. Apparently HistoryBoy is too excited about vacation and can’t sleep now even though he is exhausted. I tell him as long as he doesn't keep me awake, lie down on the sofa, keep the T.V. low, and have at it. I do not know what time he fell asleep. I was asleep before I hit the pillow. Tomorrow off to Florida.

Black and White and Shades of Grey

A friend of mine mentioned that Saturday's blog "More of HistoryBoy and HyperGirl" was all about the shades of grey that our Asperger's "Give it to me in black and white" kids can't read, which entirely true. What amazes though is that my little guy has muddled so well through my world of Lupus which is nothing but shades of grey. Nothing is ever black or white, unless I am having a really good day or a really bad day, it is all shades of grey for me.

Today I may wake up to find I have energy to do things but it will run out by lunchtime, so HistoryBoy with see me ok in the morning but done in when he gets home from school. Tomorrow I may still be done in and in bed but I get him off to school but I am feeling better and able to do something with him after school. And the day after that I may be in bed all day. Yet he is able to adjust to it. He will sit with me, bring his homework to me, and I will fight him to get it done. Then he will watch *gasp* the history channel, or history ONdemand because that's how we roll. Lol.

I still worry how he will handle the shades of grey out there, just because he handle them at home with me, does not mean he can handle outside of it as you could see in "More of HistoryBoy and HyperGirl," but it is a process, a learning process. So with each experience I hope he is getting a little more in comfortable with that part of himself, of expressing himself, so that next time he won't be afraid of the grey area.

I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com

More of HistoryBoy and HyperGirl

I recently found out that HyperGirl is the only person in the entire world that HistoryBoy is afraid to say no to. Let me give you the scenario.

My hubby, Angus, loves all stuff techy, so we have a new front door lock that has a key but also a numerical code you can use to enter which is cool. We gave the code to HistoryBoy with VERY strict instruction that he keep the code to himself because we didn't want anyone in the house while we were gone, etc.

Several weeks go by, no problems, then HistoryBoy misses a day of school and we come home from the pediatrician and our front door is ajar and the day's homework assignments are sitting on the sofa. I asked HistoryBoy if he had given the door code to anyone, he said no one, but he wouldn't look at me, which isn't completely unusual but when I asked him to look at me he still wouldn't, so I KNEW something was up.

Ok HistoryBoy, how did HyperGirl get the door code? "Maybe she watched me type it in?" Is that what happened? Look, I am not yelling, I am trying not to get mad, but you need to tell me how she got the code. "She made me tell her" Ok how did she make you, what did she do? "She said if I didn't tell her she wouldn't be my friend anymore."

I took HistoryBoy by the hand and sat him down and I said Do you really think HyperGirl wouldn't play with you anymore? I think she would have gotten mad at you and gone home, sure but tomorrow she would have been back just like always. She was just trying to be bossy like she can be sometimes, right? HistoryBoy thought about it. "She does get mad sometimes and go home, but she always comes back."

I also had a talk with HyperGirl about using her friendship as leverage against HistoryBoy and told her Dad about it so he would talk to her about it too. But they are 10, and testing the waters and up until now HistoryBoy has shared everything with HyperGirl, so she was angry that he wouldn't share this one seemingly small thing with her. But like he said "She does get mad sometimes and go home, but she always comes back." That's what friends do.

I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com

The Importance of Friends: HistoryBoy and HyperGirl

If I haven’t mentioned before, HistoryBoy’s best friend is HyperGirl. They are peas in a pod. Forest Gump would say that are just like Peas and Carrots. They have been friends since we moved here about 7 years ago. At 3 years old, kids don’t care about whether you are a boy or a girl, at least HistoryBoy didn’t. He only cared that she liked Thomas trains. So a beautiful friendship began.

HistoryBoy describes HyperGirl as the female version of himself. And what is great about their friendship is that they give each other the space they need. HyperGirl says to me, HistoryBoy is having a meltdown, I’m going home. Or HistoryBoy comes home from her house saying HyperGirl is being too HyperGirly. They know each other’s limitation and quirks and don’t judge. It’s great. And when they have cooled off, they are off playing again, maybe later that same day or the next day.

HistoryBoy and HyperGirl are together most days after school, playing outside on nice days or rainy days indoors on the Wii. They are protective of each other. No one messes with one of them if the other is there. So they both feel safe

We have been lucky that HistoryBoy found such a good friend. It is very hard for HistoryBoy to be comfortable around kids his own age, and make friends. We are working on his social skills, but I think HyperGirl is a HUGE part of the development of those skills because he isn’t afraid to interact with her and tell her “No I don’t want to do that,” or “I want to play this.” I don’t think HistoryBoy’s social skills would be as good without her. If you aren’t as lucky as me to have a HyperGirl, look for a support group, at least one parent should have a child your age or close to it, and hopefully will be able to interact successfully with your child.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com