OMG, schools out for the summer. That thought went racing through my head today. I'd be lying to you if I said that racing thought wasn't accompanied by a bit panic.
I mean, I'm heading into a three month period of time, where my kids will *all *be home at the same time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I love spending time with them as well. However, with 3 boys on the #Autism spectrum, it's not that simple.
Individually, my boys are a handful, especially Gavin and Emmett. When you mix them all together, it can, will and very often does, become a explosive combination.
It's also exhausting. Summer break means that we will have to watch Gavin that much more carefully. Instead of Elliott being at school all day, he'll be home instead and wanting to play with Gavin. We are going to have to work very hard to keep our *zero tolerance *policy for touching, enforced.
Further more, instead of letting the school worry about feeding them breakfast and lunch, now we have to do it.
The problem with that is not only a bigger tax on our grocery budget but also the change in routine is a struggle for the boys. Everyone's routines are going to have to change, much like Emmett’s did when Gavin was pulled from school for health reasons.
The other thing is our neighborhood. It's not like when I was a kid. We played outside with our neighbors. They became an extension to our family and we all grew up together. In fact, to this day, if I were ever in trouble, they would be one of my first calls.
My kids don't have that. It's not even safe to play outside most of the time anyway. Not only are we literally surrounded by pedophiles but also gangs and drugs.
While my childhood wasn't perfect, I remember it fondly and want that for my kids.
Summer vacation means that I have to find even more things to occupy their time and energy. Because all of my kids each have different needs, having them all home at the same time makes it ever more difficult to meet those needs. During the school year, we can focus on Emmett during the day and the other boys have their needs met at school. We pick up when they get home but that's usually something we can pull off.
So yes. When I realized that today was the last day of school, I experienced some momentary panic as all of these things went racing through my head at the speed of light.
I have some planning to do. :-)
Does this make sense to anyone else? Do you have the same or similar fears going into summer vacation? How do you handle it?
