Halloween and the "Holidays"

Happy Halloween or All Hallows Eve as some refer to it which is followed by All Saints day the actual reason for Halloween-- to cast away all the horrible and prepare to usher in the celebration of all that is good! YeaH RighT !!!!

Briefly I want to touch on something I have "nagged " about for many years. Probably on this journal a few too times,too! Parents Caregivers and all who are touched by our "kids" THIS IS A TRYING TIME --THE HOLIDAYS! All of us are stressed out and hurried trying to cram all the event that surrond the end of the year---Can you imagine what it does to our kids? I cannot stress on all how important it is to be cognitive of all that surrounds us. The lights, the decorations, the family gatherings, all the shopping, the smells, the visual stimulus, parties, plays etc.etc. our kids are so conditioned to routine that the holidays are like throwing a bomb into the middle of an already burning building. Behaviors will be up and compliance down. Remember too that if there are siblings in the mix that their activities will also affect behavior. Just want to put this out there because we all get caught up in one way or another and it becomes really easy to loose sight of the "big picture"--Every Day Life and Our Journey. Holidays make us all crazy including our kids. Do yourself a favor and make room for extra patience and tolerance and it will be better for all involved.

My personal experience this year specifically with Halloween has been very different. Every year Dakota has been motivated curious interested in everything to do with Halloween---This year was different. He seemed more anxious to get through it, less interersted in even having dialogue about costumes, decorating the house or participating in general, like handing our candy.

My observations and assumptions are this:

As with all things a pattern or routine is established.Our kids follow learned behavior-- then they start to grow and develop. They are exposed to many changes like people saying to them "oh arent you getting too old to Trick or Treat?"They get around typical peers who are going to parties or dances {which usually our kids are not included}or worst those same typical peers tease or taunt about doing the activities our kids have seemed to accepted. My guy is de-coding all this social crap and he is on his own personal hell trying to figure out what to do and how to do it-- rather than knowing that he likes something and just doing it whether anyone else likes it or not--{redundant to say it but again the social deficit our kids do not have} Then with the lack of language skills, not being able to say what your are feeling or thinking or at least not able to describe the thought process to someone who might be able to help our kids may shut down or act out. No real way to find resolution because they often times cannot do for themselves and those who want to help do not have a clue t