optimism, is that you?

It is so nice to see you again.

Sunday, April 22, 2012
I leave H's kindergarten homework on the kitchen table. Beside it, a pencil. If I dare ask him to sit and "sign" his name (sign, scribble-- same thing) I will get some sort of non-compliant answer. We used to complete homework during dinner and I would read the questions aloud and write his answers, and he would try and write his name. I always put the H where it belongs as a visual prompt for him to put his "signature" next to it.
He has been working really hard on getting that "H", and on Sunday it finally dawned on me that maybe I should put the "-ayden" instead. This way he could just fill in the blank.
So, I did just that and I left the homework on the table.
When I returned, the homework was beside the pencil just where I left it (pictured above). I was so surprised at what my eyes were seeing, that I asked Dan if he helped Hayden. He had just returned from an overnight shift at work and it seemed unlikely that he would have gotten up from that couch, but so did the homework in front of me.
That right there is a mighty fantastic "H" if I say so myself.


Monday, April 23, 2012
First day of the new toileting protocol at school. Per the new plan proposed by the behaviorist, Hayden will be encouraged to drink his water more often, and prompted to sit on the toilet very frequently. I shopped for lots of extra pants, began collecting (hopeful) reward items, and gathered plenty of items from the cleaning supplies aisle. That afternoon one of H's teachers called me with an update. They were very pleased that Hayden willingly sat on the toilet so many times throughout the day.
"How many?" I asked. Three? Five? We were very hopeful.
"Let me count," she replied. "Fifteen. No, sixteen. Sixteen times."
Nothing happened, but actually, plenty happened.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012
It is 11:27AM and my cell phone rings. The screen is flashing the name of Hayden's school, and I get up from my desk to go over to the other side of the office where it's vacant. I hear Miss B prompting Hayden to tell me something... I hear Hayden, "sat on koilet" and I hear him say "me poop". Miss B clarifies and says they went to change him because he was wet, and when he sat on the toilet he went to the bathroom.
She said they celebrated and blew horns and he ate a doughnut hole.
When H got home from school I was beaming with pride, and told him that we would take him out for dinner, and then, he could also choose a prize. "What do you want?" I asked. He stood at the foot of the front steps with his arms outstretched and declared, "a big boat!"
When all was said and done he enjoyed an enormous hot dog at one of his favorite local places, and then we made another stop and he picked out some cars... five to be exact. Four of them were packaged together, so I think we all pretended it was just two.