A Big Boy Birthday

Dillon will be turning 20 this coming Sunday and I’m very excited to celebrate this birthday with him! Dillon doesn’t understand what “birthday” means so usually we just order his favorite food and get him some snacks he enjoys or new sheets or blankets. Its hard to buy gifts for Dillon because he doesn’t understand why we get them for him and he never really needs anything, just some little items here and there. I have decided that since this is a big birthday for him, I’m going to buy him a rocking chair. When Dillon first discovered rocking chairs, we had a Lazy Boy type, a big comfy recliner rocker that he practically lived in. He used it so much it started to fall apart and we would buy replacement parts for it just to keep it going. Finally we had to let it go, as we couldn’t keep buying parts on a weekly basis.

These types of chairs are costly to maintain and to continue to purchase on a regular basis. From the comfy big recliners we moved to Cracker Barrel rocking chairs which also worked very well. Though as Dillon got older, and bigger, he became rougher with his rocking chairs and we found ourselves purchasing a new chair every year, and then fixing the chair only three months into use. Finally we gave up, and in between using chairs he decided he liked computer chairs. They roll, plus they have some rocking ability. Now we have several, and we usually one as back up in case one broke (Dillon has three right now). All of these chairs were either picked up off the side of the road (which people had out for garbage) or were given by friends and family. So this year for Dillon’s birthday I’m looking to purchase a used Lazy Boy like rocking recliner to give to him, and I feel as though this would be an awesome present.

Another hard thing about buying Dillon presents is that you don’t know if he will use it or not. Its not like you can ask him what he wants for his birthday, you have to guess and use past experiences to come to a conclusion of what you think he will use. Last year I bought him a really nice soft blanket and he didn’t start using it until a few months ago.

Overall I’m very excited to stay at home, swim in the pool and celebrate Dillon growing one year older. I still can’t fathom that he will be 20 years old! It feels like yesterday he was still a little boy. Imagine, next year he will be able to buy alcohol!

A New Year

It’s a new school year for Dillon and I truly think he wanted to go back to school. He was eager to get up the morning of his first day back and put his school clothes on and carry his new backpack on to the school bus. The bus driver and monitor from last year appeared again this year, which I am very thankful for because they both know and understand Dillon very well. Though this has only been the first week of school, I’m sure Dillon will get tired of this routine quickly, and long for summer vacation to start again.

Last weekend we were in Indiana to visit family and friends and to watch a beautiful wedding take place. My parents and my fiancé were able to take a mini-vacation with me to travel to our home state. My mother hadn’t seen our childhood house since we left, and to be honest it was dilapidated. We drove around where Dillon and I grew up, and were able to see family we hadn’t seen in a long time. Though Dillon stayed home, it would have been almost impossible to fly him up there and then take care of him without his comforts of home. We were able to hire one of Dillon’s teachers to watch him, and take care of him while we were away. Dillon probably enjoyed the mini-vacation away from us as well. He only became upset once while we were away, which is wonderful because now we might be able to take more family vacations (not anytime soon though).

This week was pretty easy for me, as Dillon got off the bus and we just hung out until Dad got home from work which was pretty early this week. At one point Dillon was outside with Dad and Dad had to run to the pool supply store, so he left for only a few minutes but Dillon had a major meltdown. I sent him quickly to his room, made sure he was somewhat safe and sat in a chair outside of his room and monitored him to make sure he didn’t hurt himself, or break anything in the house. Literally a minute before Dad got home he settled down which leads me to believe that Dillon knew he was coming home. After that he wore a big smile on his face and was a happy camper for the rest of the day.

The Battle of Sunny Days; The Final Battle

The Battle of Sunny Days; The Final Battle

Summer vacation is drawing to a close for Dillon, and this will be the final week of our extended time together. I have spent the last two months taking care of Dillon, only having a few days off here and there. Though we have had many battles, Dillon has kept a great attitude and has been relatively good for me. As school begins, Dillon will get back into a routine he is familiar with. This will be a little difficult for Dillon since he has started to enjoy his time away from school.

Meanwhile, Dillon has had rough days every once in awhile, and over the weekend he had one of those rough days. We had a family gathering on Sunday, and while the beginning of the gathering was uneventful, Dillon decided to change all that. While watching the Olympics, Dillon decided to attack me out of nowhere, and go after my grandfather who sat next to me. I was able to block his attack, and before I could react my father stepped up and put him in his place. He sat him sternly on the chair, letting him know that the next time he did that he would go to his room. Dillon didn’t waste any time going after my father, so Dad escorted Dillon quickly to his room.

While this all takes place, the dogs are all barking which makes Dillon even more unhappy and agitated. I try to corral most of the animals, but Bentley takes off down the hallway after Dillon and Dad. While in the hallway, Dillon goes after Dad again, and Dad takes Dillon forcefully and puts him in his room. As Dad is doing this, Bentley gets mixed up in the middle of all of this and ends up biting my father on the leg.

My father is outraged at this point, and goes after Bentley. Dillon comes from behind and starts to grab at my father, which makes things even worse. I yell at my father to not reprimand Bentley and deal with the situation at hand. I pull Bentley out of the hallway and into the kitchen and command him to sit and wait. While Dillon works out his aggression in his room, my father comes back into the kitchen, his leg punctured and bleeding. I told him it was not Bentley’s fault, that this was the first time Bentley has ever experienced Dillon being overly aggressive to anyone before.

Bentley loves Dillon and when Bentley saw Dad physically take Dillon into his room, Bentley defended Dillon and bit Dad. It was partially an accident, and partially Bentley’s fault. Though I will make sure I have Bentley locked up next time this happens, its good to know how Bentley will react in these types of situations. My father quickly apologized to Bentley for getting angry at him, and realized that Bentley was only acting out of instinct. Though I didn’t witness the entire event, I believe that Bentley might have been caught between Dad and Dillon and accidentally bit Dad. When Bentley gets excited he plays with his mouth open, like an alligator. Bentley could have thought they were playing and wanted to join, and his canine got too close to dad’s leg and punctured it.

There could be several theories behind why Bentley did what he did, accidental or not. The lesson we have learned here is to lock up the dogs first before dealing with Dillon, and when situations get heated Bentley will do what Bentley does and defend the person in distress. Hopefully this will never happen again, and hopefully this is the last battle of the Battles of Sunny Days. Though there will always be battles we must fight with, for and against Dillon, we must keep fighting on.

The Battle of Sunny Day; Battle with a Bull-headed Dog

Dillon has had his moments this past week, but most of these moments were brought on by our new dog Bentley. He is a bull, to say the least. He loves Dillon and thinks he should be with Dillon all the time. He gets in bed with Dillon when he is trying to sleep, and Dillon sometimes finds it funny that this lug of a dog is sitting on top of him. Other times he finds it frustrating that this dog will not leave him alone. Bentley does not understand that Dillon wants to be left alone, and sometimes finds it fun to play with him when Dillon is pushing him off the bed. Bentley jumps right back up and starts to play with Dillon, which he does not want to be a part of.

Recently we have found Bentley pulling on Dillon’s blanket, or trying to play with Dillon and nips at his hands or feet. We have reprimanded Bentley for this, but he is a dog, and a puppy at that, so we just continue to monitor the two of them and hope Dillon doesn’t hurt Bentley. The other dogs in the house have learned to stay away from Dillon after countless pinches and eye pokes but Bentley, though he has been pinched and poked several times still doesn’t understand. He continues to play with Dillon and at times Dillon finds it fun, other times it makes him angry.

Dillon has been wise with our dogs previous and now. When they annoy him he leads them into a room and quickly leaves, shutting the door behind him. The dog is then stuck in that room until someone realizes that a) a dog is missing or b) we hear them crying. Dillon has been locking Bentley outside lately, which has been entertaining to say the least. Bentley lays there and waits for Dillon to come back, which doesn’t take long, and then Bentley is back at giving Dillon a hard time. One of these days Bentley is going to get hurt to the point where he won’t find Dillon fun anymore. Until then, the bull-headed dog will continue to be a nuisance to Dillon and entertainment for the rest of us!

On another note, next week is my last week with Dillon full time. We are also leaving to attend a wedding for a family member and Dillon will not be going. Dillon will be stay home with one of his former teachers, and I will report on hopefully good behavior when I arrive back in town.

The Battle of Sunny Days; Battle with Insanity

Sometimes I feel as though insanity has settled into our house and rears its ugly face at times. We lose our sense of calm and begin to lose the fight to endure the repetitiveness and unhappiness in our lives. These instances happen often, and when they do we all feel as though we are losing a battle we never thought we could win. This week has been a tremendous battle for not only myself but my family as well. Dillon’s behavior is getting a little out of control, and we find ourselves trying to regain control we never had.

To start this week, Dillon and I had a battle in the swimming pool. He attacked me as he was coming into the house from the backyard, and I chased him out of the house as he lounged for me. He threw himself into the pool, and began to scream and splash to show his frustrations. He started to emerge from the pool, as I stood outside watching him with my arms folded to make sure he didn’t hurt himself or destroy anything outside. He lounged for me again, this time, I tilted my body forward as if to egg him on. He responded by taking his nails and digging them into the back of my arms. I was able to undo his death grip and push my body into his, launching him straight into the pool. He was very upset at the fact that he was losing this little battle. He tried again, this time rushing out of the pool to attack me, as I was prepared and pressed my arms into his chest, keeping him a good distance from my body. He leaped back into the pool, splashing and having a temper tantrum for what seemed like hours.

After a few back and forth motions of in and out of the pool and failed attempts to attack me, he emerged from the pool to grab a toy, which he then decided to throw at me. I caught the toy unexpectedly, raising both of my hands to protect myself from the flying projectile. He was outraged and began to come after me, as I used my leg this time to keep him away from me. He reached down to grab my calf, ripping the skin off as he clawed his way to me. I used my leverage to push him back into the pool, keeping the toy for good measures. He approached me a few minutes later, asking for the toy. I told him to give me a “nice touch” which he did, then I handed him the toy. After the toy was in his procession he decided to pinch me, which I quickly tried to block while grabbing the toy away from him. Upset at losing this battle he jumped into the pool again and splashed water and yelled for a few minutes, before calming down and reemerging from the pool to ask for the toy again.  He gave me a nice touch before asking for the toy, which I handed over, and we went outside to sit on his rocking chair. I knew this must be the end of this battle, which I was very relieved and grateful I had won.

Though I had won this battle, I still felt a great weight sit on my chest from pushing him into the pool several times. Though I was demonstrating self defense and control of the situation, I still felt as though I never had control. These instances are what make me sit down and think about my actions, could I have changed what I did. Regret fills my heart quickly and I begin to replay the past events in my mind. Did I do the right thing? Could I have done something different? Why does it have to be this way? I know that I have done the right thing, but sometimes I feel as repetitive as this is, I always end up feeling the same way. And this is insanity settling in, this is insanity at its finest.

The following day (its only tuesday) my mother was home alone with him as I had the day off. I spent most of my day out at my grandparents property with my horses. This is how I escape and let reality go and travel to my kind of paradise. Though sometimes I feel bad leaving her alone with him, I need an escape, we all need an escape. I arrived back at the house later that afternoon to discover that he had attacked her several times during the same time frame he had his episode the day before. She fended herself off but was in a vulnerable position in the computer room cornered. Though she escaped with scratches and bruises, none severely injured her and we just count our blessings that nothing bad happened.

Dad arrived home, and soon after Dillon became very agitated and attacked mom in front of both Dad and I. Dad was aggravated and sent Dillon to his room. Dillon started to attack him, which hardly ever happened in previous years but now Dillon has grown a theoretical set of “balls” and has started attacking the man of the house, the man that is quite larger than Dillon and twice as strong. My father is a kind man but when he gets angry all bets are off. He never physically hurts Dillon, just uses his size to threaten him and enforce rules that Dillon needs to understand, like he can’t beat up his mom and sister. Though Dillon loves to get the last word or “pinch” in, it frustrates my father to no end that Dillon disobeys him like this. He never used to try my father before but now Dillon is bigger and stronger he knows he can inflict some pain on my father. As soon as Dad leaves Dillon’s room, Dillon starts crying as he knows he hurt someone and a frown draws down Dillon’s face. My father enters the garage in anger, slamming the door closed as he walks in. I follow, making sure he is okay. He explains that he feels bad for doing this, feels bad for having to deal with Dillon in such an angry state.

I tell him that it’s okay, that he has to do that. What if Dillon were normal and could talk and was disobeying you in some other fashion like a normal 19 year old boy would. You would get angry in the same manner. Just because he can’t talk and is doing something he understands is bad does not give him an excuse for continuing the bad behavior. Dad understood where I was coming from and agreed with me. We couldn’t allow Dillon to do this things while keeping a smile on our face.

Later on that night Dillon was in a better mind set and we all were gathered around the kitchen table. My parents both acknowledged how impressed they were of me and my attitude towards Dillon. They both stated that they don’t understand how I have maintained a solid mindset this entire time, and that they both would have gone insane by now spending as much time as I do with Dillon. I smiled, and nodded. “I’ve been doing this my entire life, I know nothing else”. This is true, I have been his caretaker my entire life, even before the State of Florida decided I was, and I will continue to be his caretaker until whichever one of us perishes first. But until then, I will continue to fight these small battles and keep pushing forward to win the war.

The Battle of Sunny Days; The Battle of Broken Swing

This week has been uneventful except for a few incidents that we have battled through this week. Dillon’s attitude has continued to be excellent, and he continues to enjoy and love life! Though the long days of limited activities has worn on both Dillon and I, he still laughs and runs around (sometimes naked) and plays in the pool.

This week, we have battled a broken swing yet again. When Dillon swings, he proceeds upward with a mighty force, then swings down forcefully while the chains on the swings take the full force of his downward weight. When the chains take the weight, the back poles of the swing sink lower into the sandy earth and create gaps between the top caps of the swing that hold the top of the swing together. This was the issue that Dillon created on the 4th of July, where it took several people to help push the poles back into the caps on the top of the swing. So of course, it was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, as I was heating up my Outback Steakhouse leftovers, I heard chains and a loud clink from outside in the yard. Dillon had swung so hard on the swing that the caps on the other side of the swing came undone. He immediately removed himself from the swing, looked at the swing itself, and tried to get back on it. I dashed outside to keep him off the swing, which I knew would make him very upset. As I imagined, Dillon became very angry, and screamed as he ran back into the house. I locked the door that leads to the swing outside, and Dillon came to the door and shook it violently and kicked it as he continued to have a mild tantrum outside. He bolted back into the house to continue to have a meltdown.

I thought quickly about what I should do, as I did not have the muscle to fix the swing. I called my father who was on his lunch break and I explained my situation and came home as soon as he could. Once dad was home we both worked to fix the swing but another person was needed to put the pole back in its cap. I called a friend of mine to see if he was home and could help, and he was! Our friend came and helped put the swing back together and Dillon was a happy camper after that. I will admit though he understood they were fixing the swing and waited patiently, no angry noises or faces and no kicking the walls of the house. Just sat in his rocking chair and had a small smile on his face as they beat down the top of the cap to the pole. I was very impressed that he calmed down quickly enough and was almost excited that he could swing again.

One battle down, the other battle this week was with food. Dillon was bored and it showed as he pulled out everything from the pantry and fridge to try to find something that would satisfy his hunger and his boredom.  I think it’s time to change his diet and add new and exciting foods to his pallet as I feel he is now getting literally bored of the food he is eating. Maybe this will be something we work on for next week… I feel another Publix run coming soon!!

The Battle of Sunny Days; Battle of Independence

Battle of Sunny Days; Battle for Independence

 

This week we celebrated the 4th of July with a bang! Dillon started the week with a great attitude and was absolutely fantastic to hang around with. Though I only watched him this week on Monday and Tuesday, I knew he would be in the best of moods for our party on Wednesday for the 4th of July. Wednesday rolled around and the whole family was off, preparing food and drinks for the group of people we would have over to celebrate our Independence day by playing corn hole, drinking games and pool volleyball. There were some things to be concerned about before going into this party though; first, Dillon loves to swim without pants. This has been an issue in the past as we battle to keep pants on him as he swims. He usually starts out with pants but ends up naked. The second issue was with how Dillon would do with crowds of loud people. Usually Dillon is either very good or very bad and we were prepared for either one.

Dillon started out laughing and giggling as the people started to roll in. He swam in the pool, and eventually ended up without pants, but put them on after being prompted to do so and telling our guests not to look. It’s funny because usually when you tell people not to look they look anyway. Though everyone at the party was warned that this may happen, we were still proud of Dillon for keeping his pants on the majority of the time. Dillon continued to be amazing throughout the whole day… except for when his swing broke. Dad, who had been drinking, rushed out and climbed up on a ladder with my fiancé and a few others as they raced to put this swing back together. This is the first time this has ever happened and hopefully the last.

After securing the swing, checking all the nuts and bolts, we continued to have a great time, Dillon included. He was absolutely wonderful even up into the wee hours of the night. Though we had a large amount of fireworks to blow up, Dillon didn’t seem to care to watch and continued to swing while we lit rockets of red glare into the night sky.

The next evening was my fiancé’s birthday and to celebrate we took him out to dinner. He asked Dillon’s teacher to come and watch Dillon for a few hours so we could enjoy our evening without worrying about Dillon. After dinner, my parents left and raced back home to relieve his teacher and pay him for the hours he was there. When they arrived, Dillon was asleep, but was not very good for the teacher before this. He had a major meltdown after his teacher summoned him to come inside when a thunderstorm rolled over the top of the house. Dillon didn’t want to get off his swing, which made him very upset and he started to have a major tantrum. Luckily we were not there but I’m glad he didn’t break anything and his teacher came out unscathed.

Friday morning my father left to visit family in Indiana (our home town) and Dillon was fatherless for those few days. Though this tends to make him rather upset as the amount of time spent without his father extends, we was very well behaved for the whole weekend. Mom didn’t spend too much time alone, which was nice as my fiancé and I spent most of our weekend with her, taking turns watching over him. We also had family in town as my aunt flew in from Washington. Though we enjoyed her visit to the Sunshine State, Dillon showed no emotion as far as her arrival goes. He went about his own business and was a content happy boy for the most part. Overall it was a great weekend for Dillon and the rest of our friends and family as well.

The Battle of Sunny Days; A Battle with Debbie

This week we had a battle of a different kind. We battled tropical storm Debbie who sat off Florida’s west coast for much of the week dumping tons of water throughout the state. This put a hinder on Dillon’s outdoor activities. Though he was a trooper throughout the whole storm, it was still upsetting to see him long to go outside and swing on his swing or play in the pool. The beginning of the week he was great, rocked in the garage and napped throughout the day while Debbie unleashed rain from morning till night. It was quite boring for Dillon I should say, besides eating and taking the occasional bath, he spent most of his time in his room or in the garage, playing with buckets or rocking in his chair. Come Wednesday, the weather finally cleared enough for Dillon to begin his outdoor activities he loved so much. He laughed and smiled as we swung on his swing, giggling the entire time as he played outside. It was nice to finally see him enjoy playing outside again.

On another note, last Saturday my fiancé and I went to visit an adoption facility where we browsed the dogs who were up for adoption. We weren’t going to get one, just look and see what they had. Of course we fell in love with a pittbull/ basset hound mix named Bentley. We decided to adopt Bentley and after his neuter surgery on Monday I was able to pick him up and bring him home. I was able to finally get Bentley and introduce him to the family on Tuesday, which was such a great experience. Bentley has the best personality and just meshed with the other animals in the house. The two Jack Russell terriers and our dog Flash enjoyed his company (though I think Flash was a little jealous at first) and he even got along with the cats right off the bat as well. Bentley was very interested in Dillon, and of course Dillon could have cared less. When Dillon would show some attention to Bentley, he would poke him in the eye. Dillon has an interest in poking people and pets in the eye, and Bentley took it like a champ, multiple times!

Thursday rolled around and Dillon and I spent most of the day lounging around and playing outside. Dillon would swing and the dogs were wrestling and playing outside. Bentley didn’t know Dillon would swing with such force and knocked Bentley over a few times on his upswing. Though Bentley learned quick to get out of his way, Dillon still thought it was funny and would laugh and giggle while he watched the dogs play. That afternoon Dillon became agitated and upset. It was either out of boredom or something set him off that I was unaware. He came after me all of a sudden and Flash jumped up at Dillon to try to protect me. Though Flash has learned to be aggressive towards Dillon when he attacks me (to try and protect me) I don’t want Bentley to learn this behavior. After telling Flash no, and getting Dillon into his room I watched Bentley’s reaction to Dillon’s minor melt down as he kicked the walls with the heels of his feet. He seemed puzzled and would turn his head to the side as Dillon become increasingly upset. I finally came to the conclusion after a few hours of this little temper tantrum that I should control the situation before it got out of hand. As you recall the last time he had a temper tantrum the cops came to the house and I didn’t want that to happen this time around. I grabbed the emergency medication and gave it to Dillon, which he took well and eventually calmed down and was in a much better mood before he finally fell asleep.
This morning, Mom and Dad were home with Dillon, keeping him company and looking after him so I could finally go see my horses after all of this rain we have had. I came home this afternoon to Dillon asleep in his room and Dad outside doing lawn work. Dad decided to go for a swim in the pool and Dillon got up and went outside to play with him. All of a sudden Dillon got upset and started to attack my father, which he handles much better than I do due to his size and his status as the man of the house (Dillon respects my father much more than he respects mom or I). After a few minutes of blocking strikes from Dillon, Dad was able to settle him down. Dillon came inside and started to eat lunchmeat while Dad made him some chicken nuggets, all while Dillon had a huge smile on his face. Hopefully this weekend will be a great weekend and we won’t have any battles any time soon!

Next week is the 4th of July and my fiancé is a fireworks addict so we will be shooting off fireworks in front of the house this year (normally we are a sparklers type of family ). It should be interesting to see Dillon’s reaction, if any, to the fireworks as they make loud noises and display wild colors and designs in the sky. I hope Dillon enjoys them and doesn’t get upset , as he has yet to see or care to see professional style fireworks. We will see and I will let you know next week how the battle goes!

The Battle of Sunny Days: Boredom Wins

This week marks the last week Dillon is in summer school, and so begins the next six weeks of being together every day. Though his summer school session was short and sweet, it was still an inviting break to have. Though this might not sound like such a hard job, it becomes painfully boring at times. As this week has drawn to an end, Dillon has become progressively more agitated as the week has drawn on. I do believe it is from pure boredom. He has napped every day after school, just to pass the time because he has done everything else he enjoys several times over.

Every day he has become more agitated with his routine tasks, such as eating, bathing, swinging and swimming. Though the weather hasn’t allowed for much outdoor activities, he still rocks endlessly in the garage, takes several baths a day and sleeps off and on. When I try to ask him to do other activities he becomes upset. Though these small tantrums have yet to turn into a fit of rage, he is still teetering on the border of becoming aggressive towards me, which is something I desperately want to avoid.

I too have felt the wrath of boredom. There are only so many magazines I can read, episodes of animal cops ( my new tv addiction) I can watch  and so many poems and short stories I can write. Though this might sound like such a burden to have (which its not) I still must keep busy. I too have taken naps throughout the day, and find myself getting frustrated and at times agitated at little things. I believe they call this “cabin fever” up north, which is something us Floridians know nothing about.

Maybe soon I will start taking Dillon on some adventures, which I’m sure he would enjoy. I just worry about taking him out by myself. My wonderful amazing incredible fiancé has a full time job, so he can’t help me take Dillon places during the week anymore. We have talked about taking the whole family on an adventure on the weekend and this might be a possibility soon. Maybe the beach? A Park? Who knows, but we need some action in our lives!

On a positive note, starting next week mom will be taking one day a week off to help me out so that I’m not stuck here all week long. I get a break!! I will be spending my off days at the barn riding, cleaning stalls, scrubbing buckets and cleaning pastures, organizing my tack room, de-cob webbing the barn and anything else I see fit! Though some people might not think this is pleasurable, I find it relaxing and I’ll be thrilled to be out of the house and doing something I enjoy with the loves of my life (minus my fiancé).  And maybe with moms help we could go on some adventures! I bet Dillon would enjoy getting out of the house too!!

The Battle of Sunny Days; Pouring Rain

Dillon has continued an exceptional attitude this week. Though the weather has been hideous, we have prevailed through the storm and come out victorious!

The rain has put a damper on Dillon’s lifestyle though. He spends most of his time outside swinging or swimming and when we have massive thunderstorms it hinders his outdoor activities. A few times this week I have persuaded him to stop swinging and come inside after seeing lighting crack right behind our house. As soon as he enters from the yard into the pool area he jumps right into the pool and I begin the process of getting him to stop one of his favorite activities again. It’s a game of cat and mouse that I prefer not to play in a severe downpour while lightning flashes all around. He giggles as he avoids capture and swims to the other side of the pool. Eventually he realizes that I mean business and he climbs out, and runs in the house soaking wet. I will play this game all summer long as long as he maintains his great behavior.

He has been bored though, taking many cat naps throughout the day. After school, which ends for him at 11:30, he grabs a snack and heads for bed. This has interfered with his regular sleeping patterns at night, as he stays up late hours or gets up early only to make noise and turn on lights which wake up my parents. I don’t discourage him from napping though, cause if I start to tell him what to do with his time, we could have another battle on our hands, and that is something that I’m trying to avoid at all costs this summer. As for now, we battle boredom and bad weather, but that I can handle, so bring on the rain!