Guest guest Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Dear Ones, I just can't help sharing this one: Yesterday we were setting up our Christmas tree. DH was untangling and replacing bulbs in some very naughty light strands and so DD and I were finding other things to do, waiting for DH to finish. Our son, DJ, gets up real close to the half finished tree and says, " Christmas. " He then goes to his toy shelves and retrieves a cookie-jar toy, the kind with shaped cookies that poke into it, and says, " Cookie jar. Christmas. " He then placed the cookie jar toy UNDER the tree, ever so carefully. We all held our breaths. It was the first sign of anticipation of Christmas that we had ever seen in our 12 year old son. He continued to put a few of his toys under the tree, naming each and adding, " Christmas! " after each name as he placed them gently under the branches. Of course, the moment went by, and he decided he didn't want to wait any longer to play and one by one the toys were removed from under the branches, but for one moment I saw anticipation of what we consider to be the most important holiday of the year in his eyes and words. It was truly breathtaking! Hugs, Donnell (mom to DJ, age 12, DS/ASD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 HOW WONDERFUL!! Many hugs!! shawna **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Donnell, That is so wonderful, and the BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT you could get! How very nice! Viola **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Wow! That is a gift in itself. **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 > > HOW WONDERFUL!! Many hugs!! shawna Totally agree, what an early Christmas Gift that money can not buy. What a joyous moment to observe! Just lovely. Irma,19,DS/ASD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Donnell, How wonderful - I could completely picture DJ while I read your post, and goosebumps too with how neat this was/is. Congratulations and a very Merry Christmas to you! Jayne Donnell Kenworthy wrote: Dear Ones, I just can't help sharing this one: Yesterday we were setting up our Christmas tree. DH was untangling and replacing bulbs in some very naughty light strands and so DD and I were finding other things to do, waiting for DH to finish. Our son, DJ, gets up real close to the half finished tree and says, " Christmas. " He then goes to his toy shelves and retrieves a cookie-jar toy, the kind with shaped cookies that poke into it, and says, " Cookie jar. Christmas. " He then placed the cookie jar toy UNDER the tree, ever so carefully. We all held our breaths. It was the first sign of anticipation of Christmas that we had ever seen in our 12 year old son. He continued to put a few of his toys under the tree, naming each and adding, " Christmas! " after each name as he placed them gently under the branches. Of course, the moment went by, and he decided he didn't want to wait any longer to play and one by one the toys were removed from under the branches, but for one moment I saw anticipation of what we consider to be the most important holiday of the year in his eyes and words. It was truly breathtaking! Hugs, Donnell (mom to DJ, age 12, DS/ASD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 How awesome! I absolutely love to hear about moments like that. Thanks for sharing! Becky Donnell Kenworthy wrote: Dear Ones, I just can't help sharing this one: Yesterday we were setting up our Christmas tree. DH was untangling and replacing bulbs in some very naughty light strands and so DD and I were finding other things to do, waiting for DH to finish. Our son, DJ, gets up real close to the half finished tree and says, " Christmas. " He then goes to his toy shelves and retrieves a cookie-jar toy, the kind with shaped cookies that poke into it, and says, " Cookie jar. Christmas. " He then placed the cookie jar toy UNDER the tree, ever so carefully. We all held our breaths. It was the first sign of anticipation of Christmas that we had ever seen in our 12 year old son. He continued to put a few of his toys under the tree, naming each and adding, " Christmas! " after each name as he placed them gently under the branches. Of course, the moment went by, and he decided he didn't want to wait any longer to play and one by one the toys were removed from under the branches, but for one moment I saw anticipation of what we consider to be the most important holiday of the year in his eyes and words. It was truly breathtaking! Hugs, Donnell (mom to DJ, age 12, DS/ASD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 In a message dated 12/4/2007 2:07:19 P.M. Central Standard Time, gldcst@... writes: And, being a bad mom (?) I always buy her what I think will make HER happy, no longer what will make me happy. This doesn't make you a bad mom in the least! I know all of us parents go through this stage. my nathan guy is 16 years old and we got him a v smile for his birthday this summer and he is in his room right now in fact singing Old Mcdonald with the sing along game and mic. All i ever really want is for nathan and nicholas (my 15year old) is to just be happy, infact i think its one of the first things for nathan's future on his IEP. If it means buying a mickey mouse clubhouse dvd or little einstien's then that is what im getting, nothing is better than seeing their smiles on christmas day and know that its what they really wanted and it will get used. hugs!! shawna **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Oh Donnell, What a beautiful story. sniff sniff. You know I have so identified with all the moms who wrote in about their kids not caring at all about Christmas or gift giving. That was us for so many years. I remember roaming thru Toys R US every single Xmas (in the infant department....finally into the preschool department years later) looking for that one single toy that would excite her beyond belief thereby probably totally eliminating her autism and of course making it so clear that she adored me unconditionally. Ha! We did learn after 5 years of infighting with dh that she was horribly allergic to the real Xmas tree. He finally caved and we got a fake one. There was an article in yesterday's paper about the incredible amount of mold on cut trees and how it increases daily the longer it's up. I never knew about that...I thought it was the pine or the sap or whatever. But knowing now how strong an allergy she had to mold I'm sure that was a piece of it. Of course this doesn't explain birthdays which we was also indifferent to. I remember feeling so sad and alone (with no other kids) those years. Absolutely nothing interested her. Finally she became obsessed with videos and once she realized some of those packages contained videos she started to go to town. She must have been 7 or so tho before she took an interest in Christmas and birthdays. Wow has she made up for it...hang in there all of you. Now she is actually tearing thru the house looking for presents. I never would have believed it. And every summer she goes thru a phase where she plays all her Xmas music hoping we'll have a second goround. Last night we went to get her from her room to come look at the tree at various stages of decoration and her little eyes just lit up. She started clapping and dancing. Then she picked thru all the empty ornament boxes looking for presents. We also have an advent calendar where she moves a little teddy bear thru the countdown to the 24th. She still eats breakfast before opening presents on Xmas AM...not the wildcat approach our family had. And it takes her all day to get thru them. And, being a bad mom (?) I always buy her what I think will make HER happy, no longer what will make me happy. If she wants a raggedy old copy of a video she has 3 of already so what. It makes her happy on one special day. I used to buy all these learning and educational toys that were actually for me. I still do...but I give them to myself LOL. Now her favorite word cards and expressive language has to do with presents, Santa, PsPs (Xmas) etc. One thing a girlfriend of mine with a 6 year older DS-Aut son told me was to SAVE the toys and presents that she wasn't interested in. Well for the most part we did even though storage does become a problem but she actually several years later began to enjoy them or at least they were perfect for therapy. I found the ones I gave away I had to go out and buy again many years later. I wish happy and beautiful holidays to all of you! Sherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 I think this was meant to go to the list. Reaves wrote: To: jacksonsmom99@... Subject: Re: Christmas Cheer! Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 15:09:01 -0500 Donnell, I was so encouraged to read your post. My son, Colton is also 12. He has DS and Autism and to date has shown no anticipation of Christmas. Colton only seems to get excited about his Sesame Street Videos but not people or events. This is really hard for us as his family and so your e-mail encourages us. It also sounds like your son has some speech. Colton has words but he does not use them unless he has to and he only has about 5 words then. Çan you tell me more about your son. I know all kids are different but we keep struggling with what can can hope for regarding Colton's functioning, what is realistic to expect and what we just need to accept. Thank you, Lori check out the view from my shoes at www.wickedbusymomto3.wordpress.com --------------------------------- Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Oh, how awesome. doesn't really get into birthdays and Christmas. He loves opening and receiving gifts, but does not get into the anticipation stuff. I'm so happy for you. Beth Re: Christmas Cheer! Dear Ones, I just can't help sharing this one: Yesterday we were setting up our Christmas tree. DH was untangling and replacing bulbs in some very naughty light strands and so DD and I were finding other things to do, waiting for DH to finish. Our son, DJ, gets up real close to the half finished tree and says, " Christmas. " He then goes to his toy shelves and retrieves a cookie-jar toy, the kind with shaped cookies that poke into it, and says, " Cookie jar. Christmas. " He then placed the cookie jar toy UNDER the tree, ever so carefully. We all held our breaths. It was the first sign of anticipation of Christmas that we had ever seen in our 12 year old son. He continued to put a few of his toys under the tree, naming each and adding, " Christmas! " after each name as he placed them gently under the branches. Of course, the moment went by, and he decided he didn't want to wait any longer to play and one by one the toys were removed from under the branches, but for one moment I saw anticipation of what we consider to be the most important holiday of the year in his eyes and words. It was truly breathtaking! Hugs, Donnell (mom to DJ, age 12, DS/ASD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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