Joy along the Journey

Today is the 7th anniversary of Daniel's diagnosis with autism. So, in honor of that - a little joy along the journey:

Sometimes, Autism makes for hilarious moments. The following is an e-mail that I sent out about two years ago after just such a moment.

Oy. Just oy. Okay, I have to share this because it was so stinking funny I almost burst a gut trying NOT to laugh....but oy! What's a Mama to do????

Tonight, Daniel was sitting in front of the TV doing something - he wasn't watching TV, just doing something on the floor in front of it. The TV was on - Joel was watching something and had gotten up to come to the kitchen to help me with something. He'd left the TV on the channel he was watching and a commercial came on for "Meet the Fokkers". During the COMMERCIAL, one of the characters said something like, "I'm going to kick your A**!" Welllllllll...

My son, the dear echolalic boy, said, "Mom, I'm going to kick your A**!" and I reacted, naturally, with a shocked expression - mouth open, voice slightly raised, "DANIEL!!"...He then decided he'd said the wrrrrrooonnngggggg thing and promptly corrected it by saying, "Oh, um, I mean, I'm going to KISS your A**, Mom!"

Well, ladies and germs, my dear husband - the pillar of support that he is - ran to the laundry room so's not to be visible to our dear son, and dissolved into laughter. Yours truly strained every muscle in her stomach, throat, back, etc. trying to talk to him about the inappropriateness of that word (and I had to explain WHICH word was the wrong one!) without cracking a smirk. I'm here to tell you it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I may never get back the full range of motion of my giggle box.

After I'd sufficiently impressed upon my precious one the importance of never, ever, ever so-long-as-we-both-shall-live-EVER saying that word again (especially at school, or, gasp! Heaven forbid - CHURCH!), and he'd fully grasped the severity of the situation, been forgiven and soundly kissed, I exited stage left and joined my husband on the laundry room floor in a hysterical heap of SILENT, wheezing, tears rolling laughter.

Okay, yes, we're bad. We're also insanebutinagoodway. So, give us a break.
And if you hear our son say that word...he didn't hear it from us! Scouts honor!