Doing Christmas: Little Man Style

December 4, 2012January 16, 2021 Claire Parkinson

At long last I write a positive post… And I’m loving it

The blog has been full of doom and gloom this past year! Ok there has been a happy post here and there… But only a small handful at the most. It brings me great joy to report some happiness has gone down in the Little man household … And it’s all thanks to a little thing called Christmas!

We tend to take no day for granted, as we know Little man can often blow like a volcano without any prior warning. Christmas time can be incredibly stressful for any parent, However parenting a child on the spectrum at Christmas (like most days) can be a great challenge. Social gatherings, changes in routine, over excitement… ect… ect… All these and more can be a child with asd’s nightmare.

The fact we have had such a hard time this year… What with the whole school situation and the up and coming tribunal, I just wanted us all to have one special day. Was it too much to ask the man above for…. A day without meltdowns or tears, a day where little man felt truly happy, and so did we? I just wanted Little man along with his brother and sister to have an amazing magical day.

Things were looking pretty bleak in the run up to the big day. Little Mans bedtime routine has gone of the wall… The “crazy” Little dude is settling down to sleep at 6am… Not at all ideal when Mum needs to wrap a thousand gifts. I think it was a whole lot of everything that was contributing to this lack of sleep routine. Since the week before the children officially broke up from school, Little man hasn’t been (And isn’t going back!) As mentioned before in an earlier post… Little Mans mental wellbeing was becoming a great concern and for this reason I decided enough was enough! Luckily we have been told a statement is in the process of being drafted… we’ve just got to wait and see what’s in it and make a preference for a special school. The LEA have already asked all the maintain special schools in and out of the area. They either have no places, or can’t meet his needs… We have been offered five hours tuition in a library in till a school place comes up! What a bloody disgrace! I sure as hell wont be agreeing to this being put in part four of his statement. So… My point is…. A lot has gone on, and the prospect of a meltdown free day was…. Slim!

Well… I had to eat my own Christmas hat! Christmas was a meltdown free zone. Given the fact Little man had rarely closed his eyes, and his tendency to be easily “set off” when sleep deprived… He proved me wrong and was a star!

“OK… OK, I would be lying if I said he didn’t have the odd moment… But his ten and that’s what most ten-year olds have… MOMENTS! We had the brother and sister bickering, and he almost lost it when his sister began singing “All I want for Christmas is You” By Mariah Carey (He goes mental if people sing… But this isn’t acceptable and upsets his sister a great deal. He has to learn to tolerate this as his sister tolerates his “loud” singing at all hours… day & night) Apart from these Mini hiccups, We had a pretty awesome Christmas.

This year, given the fact Little man is a non believer in Santa… I let him choose his gifts. He hates surprises and if you get it wrong… “HE TELL’S YOU SO!” So I took my chances and stuck to the plan. I even broke one of my own golden Christmas rules when I reluctantly agreed to take Little man out with me to the shops where all the crazy christmas shoppers rushed around us. We went the day before Christmas eve and I convinced myself I was in for some hard work… Again I eat my own hat… Little man coped well… If anything I was the one stressed and falling apart. There was one funny story to our trip… I asked Little man to go to the collection point in Argos while I was at their Jewellery counter awaiting something else. We had been wise and had reserved a number of items via the net ensuring that they would be in stock and would save a great deal of time (Waiting & Aspergers… Never a good combination, as I was about to find out once more…) Once I had collected my item of jewellery I walked over to the collection counter where little man was stood. As I got nearer I could hear him talking to the assistant in an overly formal voice. “I’m not being at all funny, but… The number has been called, yet I don’t see the item I want… My ticket also say’s a six-minute wait… (he now looks at his watch)… I make it ten whole minutes” Can you just imagine the look on this guys face! I think he was utterly gobsmacked…. Once he had gone over my little man’s words in his own head… He replied, “I’m extremely sorry sir, but we have a small problem with staffing today and I will be sure to look for your item right away! Again I’m very sorry” Little man stood nodding like an old grumpy man, and I felt my cheeks glowing. I told the assistant I was very sorry… which lead little man to state… “Shut up Woman, You always undermined me” Lol… He was deadly serious and I was now gobsmacked alongside the assistant and my fellow Christmas shoppers. Sensing a volcano brewing I grabbed our order said my thank you’s and good byes and got us the hell outta there.

I often wonder where he finds these lines… He really does take in everything!

So… Meltdown avoided… Shopping was a success

Little Man had been bleating on about getting a smart phone (htc) I was a little reluctant given the price and his age… However I discovered the HTC was a lot like my iPhone (Which he doesn’t leave alone) He would be able to download apps and these applications could have a great impact on his communication skills. There are educational games, applications aims at children with Sen and autism, social stories and more. Also little man has been using music as a de-stressing tool of late. He can listen to music for hours… Sadly the same song or set of songs… Over and Over. The phone doubles up as an mp3 player… Something I was already considering putting on his Christmas list, so the HTC was suddenly becoming very appealing! After finally agreeing we got on the net In the search for one. My god these things are like gold dust at Christmas and things were not looking promising…. Till… One of our local stores emailed me informing me they had just received two in stock and would put one aside for us to collect in store that or the following day. Little Man did not stop begging for his present early… I admit he did my brain so much damage I almost gave in! It was so worth the wait as Christmas morning he was over joyed… So much so that he stood crying! I’m not talking watery eyes… I’m talking River Thames! His father stood shocked, turned to me and said… “Why is he crying, don’t he like now?” He really couldn’t get his head around the fact his son was reacting this way due to sheer happiness. All though it was fantastic to see him so happy (been a while) he didn’t seem to stop! He cried on and off every few hours, he sat staring at it. He spoke about it non stop to anybody that would listen and he took it to his room where he recorded himself announcing bus destinations!

Other things he added to his christmas list were… Safety pins, magnets, handwriting pens, stapler, new padlock, bus picture, 2011 diary, and lots of stationary items!

After three long days awake (that’s me by the way) due to sleepless nights with little man, Christmas shopping and looking after the children throughout the day, and wrapping Christmas presents till 7.15 am Christmas morning had finally had a huge impact on me… I fell into bed Christmas night at just past midnight. My bed was warm and comfortable… To me it felt like the best place in the world! After having had such a beautiful christmas day… I thanked god and happily entered the land of nod