I’ve been sharing our story for over 3 years now. One of the things you should know about me is that I really push my kids kids to be as independent as possible, within reason of course.  😉

Independence seems to come more naturally for the two youngest but in Gavin’s case, it’s always been more of a challenge.  This is why I tend to push Gavin a little harder, not because I don’t love him but because I want him to reach his potential, whatever that is for him. I want him to be challenged, while I’m here to help him through it. 

Today I took Gavin on some errands and had him do as much as possible on his own.  Actually, to be more precise, Gavin asked to go with me, which lead to everything that follows.

Our first stop was the Post Office. 

We needed to check the Lost and Tired PO Box.  This is where all your letters go, when you write to us.  🙂 I want to get Gavin to the point where I can pull up to the Post Office and he can walk in and check the box, all by himself.

Today, he used the key, located the box by himself and checked it for mail.  It was empty this time, not feelin the love guys.  😛 He even locked it back up when he was done, without being asked. That’s a pretty good start.  🙂

The next thing we did was visit the grocery store.  This is something that I really want to get Gavin comfortable with because there are so many skills involved with grocery shopping.  These skills will overlap into many areas of his life and aide him in gaining his independence.

I gave Gavin one, very important task while we were there. 

He was in charge of finding a tree nut allergy friendly snack for Elliott’s school lunches.  I showed him the aisle we would need to go down and what to look for on the labels. 

I made sure he was okay and told him to keep looking while I grab something else for their lunches, an aisle over. 

I wasn’t gone more than a minute or two and when I arrived back, Gavin had located an Elliott friendly snack in a sea of tree nut tainted obstacles.

He did unbelievably well.  After reading all the ingredients, he presented a package of Little Debbie cinnamon rolls.  While not the healthiest snack choice, it is tree nut free and that’s what I had asked him to find.  Perhaps next time, we’ll work on healthier choices.  🙂

While this is truly a remarkable feat for Gavin, that wasn’t the really the highlight of the experience, at least not for me. 

Gavin and I actually had fun.  He wasn’t always socially appropriate but I really felt connected to him and I haven’t felt that in a really long time.

It was really nice to spend time with him and know that he was actually seeking to spend time with me. 

For so long, Gavin’s been all about his visibly challenged friends.  This is a result of some very serious mental health issues.  In fact, I was checking on him last night and I caught him sorta climbing his dresser.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said “I’m getting something for Sonic, because he can’t reach it himself.”

This afternoon was really nice, even if it only lasted for an hour or so.  It was time well spent and I feel like I made a difference and Gavin accomplished something that was pretty impressive.  Great job Gavin.  🙂

This site is managed almost exclusively from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Please forgive any typos as auto-correct HATES me. 😉

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