Archive for the 'Genius is as genius does' Category

Cheap Parents

Published on July 7, 2010 in Gavin Year 6 and Genius is as genius does. 1 Comment

A super cute conversation between Gavin and his favorite Uncle Jake over Gmail chat this afternoon.

2:21 PM me: i <3 you
jake: I love you too Gavin
me: <3
jake: :P
2:23 PM me: hehe :)
2:24 PM jake: :8
:)
(A)
2:26 PM me: i tryed to video chat to you but i dont have a webcam and head phones and a microphone
jake: oh no
We need to tell your mom to get you some
2:28 PM me: :’(
jake: +o(
2:32 PM me: i think microphones cost too many money and my parents only buy stuff that are cheap
2:33 PM jake: No. They are cheep. Ask aunt Kara. Also I think I have a camera here I can bring to you when I come out next week
Talk about feeling like the worst parent ever. My kid thinks we are cheap assholes. Now I have to go out and get him a web cam and a microphone to ease my guilt.

You’re the good kind

Published on June 4, 2010 in Gavin Year 6, Genius is as genius does and The "A" word. 3 Comments

For three years I’ve had a lot of explaining to do. I don’t think there is a day that goes by that I don’t mention how Gavin is autistic to someone. Whether it be John and I discussing it, someone asking, or me making excuses for Gavin’s cheekie and or bad behavior. The “A” word is big around here. Its used freely and often. We never shy away from discussing it. Sometimes with friends, family members, even complete strangers. As Gavin has gotten older he’s heard the word Autism quite often. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that he finally asked the dreaded question…

“Mom, do I have Autism?”

And the even more dreaded…

“well what is Autism?”

I guess I never thought about how we’d discuss this subject with him. I guess I never thought he’d be able to even ask me such a question. But here he is just 5 1/2 years old looking curiously at me behind those glasses wanting to know what the deal is with this whole “autism” thing.

I didn’t really know what to say. I didn’t know how to put into words what Autism is. I wanted to just hold him and tell him how crappy it can be. How it steals so much. How I feel like I missed out on so much of his life because he couldn’t tell me about it. Of course I didn’t want to confuse or scare the crap out of him. So instead I put it as simply as I could.

“Yes Gavin you do have autism. Autism is a word we use to describe someone who’s words and thoughts are trapped inside and they just can’t get out”.

Gavin thought about it for a minute “Exactly how are they trapped”

“Well when you were littler you couldn’t talk. Your words were just stuck. It took you a really long time to speak the way you do now. You were probably four-years-old before you could speak full sentences. And because your words were stuck inside and you couldn’t tell us what you wanted you spent a lot of time crying and throwing fits”.

He smiled really big and laughed, “Was I funny when I would throw fits?”

“Not really. They sort of made mom a little crazy”.

He thought for a second still smiling “Well I can talk now”.

“Yep, you sure can. You are so lucky. Your autism hasn’t stopped you from being so smart.”

G: “Yeah, yeah, I am so smart. So my autism is good. It made me smart”

“It sure did. Even though you have autism you are still so smart, funny, awesome, and all the other million things we love about you”

G: “Oh, Oh, its cause I have the Good kind of Autism”.

“Its the best kind”.

He really does. He has the best kind around. The kind were we feel so blessed. The kind that if you have to have a kid with autism, it might as well be the kind Gavin has. Even with the challenges he faces and the constant ups and downs. He is still just the awesomest kid around. He may drive me crazy on a daily basis. But its mostly for regular kid reasons now. And for that I am glad he has the good kind of Autism.

Gavin is now very into telling people all about how he has Autism and couldn’t talk until he was four. But its okay because he has the good kind of Autism and its made him smart :) . He’s also promised me that he will teach our new baby how to talk so he doesn’t get Autism.  Man I love this kid!

The imagination of Tomorrow

Published on February 9, 2009 in Gavin Year 5, Genius is as genius does and Welcome to Parenthood. 5 Comments

Yesterday I was cleaning the house and Gavin for a change, was quietly playing with his blocks. Usually he is sneaking onto my laptop if I leave it unmanned. Anyway,  after he had stacked up the blocks into this huge tower, I overheard his imagination at work in the strangest of ways. He announces proudly:

“Ladies and Gentles, boys and gurls, Welcome to my Apple iPhone App Store. You wanna buy iFifness or iShoot?”

Back in the day kids used to build forts and castles. My son built a website where you can buy applications. Oy, He spends way to much time on Apple’s website dreaming about his iPhone.

I told him the iPhone is his if he poops in the potty every day until he is married. After that its his wife’s deal.

Summer School

Published on June 10, 2008 in Gavin Year 4, Genius is as genius does and What happens in preschool. 2 Comments

Gavin starts summer school tomorrow. I’ve been doing my best to prepare him for the big day. I’ve been saying things like, “3 more sleeps until you see Miss Nicole” (cause he loves her like a second mother who is better than his first), “are you excited to ride the bus?”, “Are you excited for snack time at school?”. He has been very negative about going back. He keeps telling me “Nah, I will stay home with my computer” or my favorite “No, Keaton goes to school”. Yeah, I suppose it doesn’t help that I have been sick and letting him play computer all day while I lay on the couch in a coma.

Continue reading ‘Summer School’

Reading

Published on June 1, 2008 in Gavin Year 4, Genius is as genius does and Videos. 5 Comments

I have been wanting to post a video of Gavin reading for awhile now, but he gets so distracted by the camera it never works out. Finally yesterday I was able to get him to read a new Little Critters book we just got. He always enjoys a new book and he really loves Little Critters, so I think it was a combo of the two that allowed me to shoot this. He is reading so well now it amazes us. Never did I think in a million years I would have a kid as smart as Gavin.

(You’ll have to excuse the fact that he is reading with his mouth full of Crazy bread. Also like I have mentioned in other clips the kid can’t hold still. So its kind of all over the place.)


Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Photo Printing – Photo Books

The opposing

Published on May 22, 2008 in Gavin Year 4, Genius is as genius does, I'm the mom and Shut this lady up. 7 Comments

A couple of days ago when talking about how Gavin will never potty train. A woman, who I am sure was just trying to make me feel better told me that her son ‘didn’t train until almost four and he is the farthest thing from autistic, he has a high IQ and in gifted and talented’. Its a common misconception that people assume that all children with autism have low IQ’s. That their lack of communication somehow fits the mold of being mentally retarded.  Autism occurs at all IQ levels, from genius levels to the severely learning-disabled, like that of neurotypical children. There is a large distinction between autism and mental retardation. People with mental retardation often show even skill development, where as individuals with autism typically show uneven skill development. Individuals with autism may be very good at certain skills, such as music or mathematical calculation, yet perform poorly in other areas, especially social communication and social interaction.

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YouTube Rehab

Published on May 16, 2008 in Gavin Year 4 and Genius is as genius does. 3 Comments

Am I the only one who has had to put my 3 1/2 year old in the time out because he won’t stay off Youtube? Yeah, I figured I was the only one with this problem. Its one of the downfalls to having a computer obsessed preschooler who can already type. Gavin gets computer time every afternoon during Keaton’s nap time. He used to just surf PBS, Disney, Hannah Tanna. That was until the day I showed him that YouTube had Hanna Tanna and Corbin Bleu music videos. Now I find him searching YouTube for vidoes of random things. One day I came down from the bathroom and he was watching a video of some stoned teenagers smoking weed all because he searched “grass”. He searches Gavin, cats, even watermelon. Most of the videos have been pretty innocent, but some are just not designed for an almost four year old. We activated some parental control software but for some reason he has gotten past it. Now we are going to have to go out and buy some….nice.

He also will watch me computing and see the address I am on and go type it into his computer. He has been on our banking website a few times, myspace, Flickr, and is obsessed with checking his email (which is just going to gmail, but he swears he is checking his email). Damn kid is too smart for his own good.

On the Diet front

Published on February 10, 2008 in Gavin Year 4, Gavin on a diet, Genius is as genius does and Quest to a diagnosis. 5 Comments

Today we made the decision to for-go Gavin’s diet. He’d been off dairy for one entire week and if anything, the kid was in a better mood. I emailed his teacher on Thursday and asked her how he was doing this week. I explained to her he is back on dairy so we were just curious how his attitude and behavior were there. She emailed back just gushing about how he’s had one of the best weeks in a long time. His diarrhea stopped instantly as well. He seemed to be just fine going off the dairy, so we thought, why not gluten too? At least now he can go in an get his allergy tests done.   Continue reading ‘On the Diet front’

He speaks computer

Published on February 3, 2008 in Gavin Year 4 and Genius is as genius does. 5 Comments

Gavin is a very peculiar child. Some times he has me guessing which planet he came from. One thing I do know is that said planet must have been obsessed with computers much like Gavin is. You see Gavin has formed his own language. It is based on the Playhouse Disney website and PBS.org. I will share an example of how strange and amusing his computer speech is.

Little back story. Last night the boys got 2 HUGE balls from target (so they are new and the best toys in the house for the moment). Today Gavin was playing with the balls in the kitchen and “role playing” if you will. (which is good, shows the boy has an imagination.) It went something like this (remember this is all a one sided conversation. I never said a word)….

Continue reading ‘He speaks computer’

One Happy Tat

Published on June 20, 2007 in GaviGaGooGa Year #3 and Genius is as genius does. Closed

I found that Gavin had dressed “orange Tat” in a sailor cap when he loaded his game this morning. There were some intresting S&M style Anklets, but by the time I got my camera out, he had taken them off the cat.