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A continuation of my original blog, "Surviving Motherhood". |
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Welcome to my world of middle school, high school, and motherhood. The life of a mom is never easy, especially as children grow, and especially when you have a special needs child. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| The middle school has genius marketing for fundraising for the school. They don't require the middle schoolers to bring home any catalogs or chocolate bars, sell candles or wrapping paper. Instead, they create school dances. For just $5 a student, your kiddo can get into the dance, and be social. Around this age, with so many kids wanting to attend a dance and meet up with friends in a safe but fun environment, it's GENIUS. You figure the school holds about 1100 kids, even if only half of them want to go, that's a boatload of money right there. They also ask parents for donations of drinks and candy, so they can sell those, as well as pizza, and trinkets at the concession stands. When Ryan was in middle school, he wanted NOTHING to do with the dances. We couldn't even talk him into going to his 8th grade formal, and all his friends went. Ryan did not ask to go to homecoming this year (which is good, because he doesn't have a suit, and I don't have $30 to give him to go in), and I have a sneaking suspicion that unless he's dragged or he gets asked, he's not going to be attending any proms either. He's as stay put as his father is. Whereas Ryan didn't, and still doesn't, buy into the shiny....Journey does. My girl has decided she is ALL ABOUT the dances. So far, she's attended every one that's been thrown. Don even chaperones the night time PTA ones so he can be there with her while she goes. It's insanely awesome. But never, in my wildest dreams, did I think my autistic daughter would be interested in loud, crowded, overstimulating dances. According to those who give me feedback (because Journey won't really talk to me about the dances), she rarely actually dances, but she does socialize quite a bit. Sometimes with kids she knows, sometimes with kids she doesn't know. Don said she was talking to some 7th graders this last dance on Friday. I was shocked!! This is all new, interesting information to me. This is another side of Journey that I've never seen before. She's willingly going out of her comfort level to be social and have fun after school hours, and meet with new people. Believe me when I say, that music is LOUD. You can hear it outside the school. But, she seems to do fine while it's on, and it doesn't keep her from doing whatever it is that she wants to do while she's there. I love it. I love that she's unabashedly herself, and that she chooses to do these things, even if they're out of her comfort zone. I love that she goes in there, even without a bestie, and just has a great time. Grace is the closest thing to a best friend Journey has ever had, and Grace wouldn't be caught dead at one of those things. She's just not that type of girl. Journey is. Journey doesn't really care if people she knows are going or not, she just wants to go. I say, as long as we continue to have $5 for her to go, she can keep going. If this is what helps her remember her middle school experiences fondly, then so be it. I want to help her carry that on. |
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