Someone is watching out for us...

And whoever it is, they knew we needed a break. Jaymes had a really positive reaction to the Adderall. It did not stop tantrums, rather it kept him able to concentrate on fun stuff we were doing, and because he could focus, he did not tantrum as much. He did a lot less flitting around between things, and spent more time on specific activities.

We finger painted this morning, since it was rainy... I put them out in the carport and Jaymes painted lots of pictures. He did foot print art, hand print art, and sponge and finger painting. He favors blue. He really made some nice stuff. Still selling his art to save up toward Buddy the horse's therapy animal certification- $5 unframed, plus $1 shipping.


After we painted, Jaymes went for a ride on Buddy. We stopped at all the street signs and he read me the letters, then said "byebye Sign!"

When Jason got home, we all went out to the park. I guess at this point the Adderall was wearing off, which the doctor told me would happen, and he had a little bit of trouble. He has become very obsessive about his blanket, which is relatively a relatively new thing. It had been that Blankie stayed in his room with Horsey. The blue Blankie got all painted on this morning, so that was in the wash and he had to have Sierra's pink Blankie. It's the exact same blankie, the only difference being the color, so it works for when the real Blankie is unavailable. However, it causes issues.

The only thing that calmed Jaymes down at the park was Blankie. Pink Blankie. A little boy draped in a huge pink blanket attracts some odd looks at the park. One incident in particular really made me sad, and kind of put a damper on the entire day.

Jaymes was alone, doing his peaceful reflection thing on the swing, wrapped in pink Blankie... Another boy, probably 5 years old, came over (Jason was there, not me, so this is what he told me) and tried to get Jaymes to come play. Jaymes did the usual look right through the other kid thing, so the kid kept trying to get his attention. Eventually it turned into this:

Kid: "Why are you wearing a pink blanket?"
Jaymes stares
Kid: "What's wrong with you?"
Jaymes stares
Kid: "What's wrong with you, are you too stupid to talk?"
Jaymes stares some more
Kid: "Well you're stupid and my shirt is spiderman and your's sucks."

He walked away, with Jaymes looking after him curiously. It breaks my heart to hear this kind of thing. Jaymes wants to be friends with other kids, but he doesn't understand. There is nothing wrong with him, he just did not understand. He didn't know what the kid was trying to get him to do, nor did he have the words to respond. And who cares if he's wearing a pink blanket?

I know, that 5 year old kid doesn't understand that those things he said are hurtful. They're kids, and they don't get the whole consideration for others aspect of social interaction. He was only being a kid. It just makes me sad, thinking that poor Jaymes, even on a really good day, is still somehow not good enough for "normal" society.

In more amusing news, I got video of our dorky old horse running around like a fool, and falling down in the mud.



And here is a video that really demonstrates just how careful Buddy is with Jaymes, and how much they love each other. Notice how Buddy carefully watches where he is in relation to Jaymes, and how he looks after Jaymes when he goes: