One of my biggest "make me something" people is my son. He's a teen now so I don't get it as often anymore (now it's all video games and movies!). But when he was younger I made him all kinds of stuffed animals. I usually don't work from somebody else's pattern: I just make it up as I go along. He was always happy with the results. We have a great relationship. Every night at 8:00 he takes a shower, then hangs out in my bedroom watching TV or movies with me (usually his choice, even if I'm in the middle of a show!) until 10, then does his bedtime routine. I tell him "goodnight, you rotten kid" and he says "goodnight, you horrible mom" and we laugh.* He sticks to a pretty strict schedule because he gets a bit of anxiety if he doesn't. See, he was diagnosed with autism in 2nd grade (but I knew when he was about 6 months old that there was something different about the way his mind works). While I was working out how to make the zigs and zags in a Chevron blanket, he was working out how to get his favorite toy without moving! I'd put him on a blanket on the floor for tummy time and put the toy just out of reach and he'd cry and scream. It was terrible! I figured if he wanted it that bad he would maneuver himself forward to get it but no: he grabbed the blanket and pulled it toward himself! So I tried putting him on his bottom and putting the toy just out of reach again, thinking that he'd decide to reach for it, probably tip over on his belly, and then crawl to it. He grabbed it with his feet and pulled it toward himself! That "rotten kid" outsmarted me every time! Incidentally, he still doesnt like to move much!
When he got a bit older I made him sweaters and even crocheted pants to keep him warm in these cold, snowy, Michigan winters. I used his favorite color, which changes every time he gets a new favorite show or video game. Back then it was Dukes of Hazzard so his favorite color was orange. Since then I've made him Gizmo (our first Guinea pig), our various rats and mice, (it seems to help him cope with their deaths when he has a stuffed version of them) and various others: Homer Simpson, stay puft marshmallow man, the velociraptors from Jurassic world (those I used a pattern for), other video game characters, and a few failed experiments that he just wanted to keep!
I can imagine him living with us for a long time after he graduated, but we are working toward making him independent. I wonder how long he'll keep these mementoes I've made him.
*one time I said "you're a rotten kid" and he said "I know I am, you horrible mom, why didn't you raise me right?!" And I laughed till I choked! He got me again! He's still proud of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment