Dear AJ

Starbucks responded!!!!

Here's what they said:


Hello,


Thank you for filling out a comment card when you came to our store on October 16th.

I want to say that I'm sorry the music was too loud and we haven't put up signs before we change things in our stores.

Your suggestions were great! What I'm going to do is send them to the store managers so that we can try to change things.

If you are ever in a store and the music is too loud, or anything else that we can change so that we can make the store better for you please ask the staff working.

We are happy to help!

Thank you for helping us improve what we do.

If you have any more questions I can help you with please let me know.

Warm wishes,
Monica L.
Customer Relations

They actually included contact information, too.  I'm going to show it to AJ tomorrow.  I'm pretty impressed that they responded, in something other than a form letter.  We'll see if they do the things that they said, but I'm impressed anyway.  And, AJ can get to see that constructive criticism is more efficient than whining and complaining.
 
Two thumbs up, Starbucks!!

Dear Starbucks

AJ HATES Starbucks.  Not the coffee - that he really likes (black, no sugar, thank you very much).  It’s the actual buildings.  They are too loud, too quiet, too bright, too dark, too small, too large, just too.  He’ll walk in there in a perfectly good move, and come out 10 minutes later like a hungry black bear that was woken up during hibernation.  Just not pretty.

So, he decided to do something about it.  Boycotting wasn’t working - cause Mama and Mamu LOVE Starbucks.  And we like to go there, and sit and talk - you know - with actual adults.  So, AJ found comments cards.  He decided that they were going to get his comments. God help them!!

Here’s what he wrote. Word for word. I didn’t change a thing. Swear it. This is actually how he talks…



To Whom It May Concern,

I am a 9-year old kid with autism, which is a neurological issue that changes the way I see the world. Kids (and adults) with autism also may not be able to process/compute too much noise, etc, or changes. But some changes are good. For example, if the music was quieter, I could keep it together longer, or if there were “coming soon” signs before an appearance change. These changes wouldn’t just be for me, but for autistic people all over the world.

Signed,
Kid Who Wants Change


Let’s see if we get any responses from Starbucks. I think it’s a pretty good letter, and I like that he is doing something other than complaining.

Pretty cool.

Before 9AM

OK, pity party is over.  I want to thank Ivy from Into The Wind (great blog - check it out), for her very kind comments.

Now, for something completely different - OK, not completely...  Still whining, but in a more light hearted way.  Here goes:

Here's what I do before 9AM on most mornings.  Wonder why I'm exhausted all the time??

1. Get up (after 2 hours sleep)

2. Work Out

3. Help AJ Meditate

4. Finish Our Laundry

5. Start AJ Laundry

6. Take Shower

7. Get Ready

8. Help AJ Finish Getting Ready

9. Make AJ Breakfast

10. Make My Breakfast

11. Eat My Breakfast

12. Encourage AJ To Eat His Breakfast

13. Make My Lunch

14. Make AJ Lunch

15. Start Dinner

16. Put Dry Dishes Away

17. Wash Breakfast Dishes

18. Take Trash Out

19. Kill “Bug” That’s Making AJ Freak Out (it’s a dust bunny)

20. Look Up Directions to whereever we are going today

21. Print Out Directions

22. Get AJ To Put His Shoes On

23. Put My Shoes On

24. Type This List

25. GO CRAZY!!!!!!!!

And that's before 9.  After we come home from said field trip, there is still our standarad home school curriculum, lunch, playing, more laundry, more cleaning, getting dinner started...

I need a nap!!

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER TIMES?

I usually blog about the cool stuff that AJ does - stuff that’s funny or cute or touching. But what about the other stuff?

What about when it’s raw and painful?

What about when it’s just ugly? Does anyone want to hear about that?

What if a little boy walks up to AJ and says “Do you want to be on my team?” and AJ screams in his face “NO!”, and the little boy cries?

What if AJ says “Yeah, I know I made you cry, but I don’t feel bad about it?”

What if AJ hits me and laughs?

What if I cry and AJ’s response is “Will you shut up, I’m trying to think?”

What if AJ spends an entire day hitting, screaming, and making fun of me?

What if I completely lose my cool and scream back at him?

What if it all gets to be too much and I consider residential placement because he’s getting so violent?

What if the only thing I want for my birthday is to be alone, and I can’t get it?

What if the bad days outnumber the good?

What if AJ runs away in a corn maze and I can’t find him for what seems like forever, and when I do, he runs away again?

What if this is the new normal?

Just a Little Funny

If you are easily offended by blasphemy, stop reading now!!

OK, you're still here.  If you get offended, remember, you were warned...

When I get annoyed, sometimes I blaspheme.  Just minor.  I say "JESUS!!", but I say it so that it sounds like "Hey-Zeus".  I don't know why - I just do...

So this morning, I was carrying something heavy down the stairs, and "hey-zeussing" all the way down.  AJ was down there waiting for me.  Here's what he said:

"Mama, why do you keep calling me 'Zeus'?"  (You get it right??  HEY ZEUS)

Needless to say, I laughed so hard that I now need a new tool box.  I will not be explaining to ANYONE what happened to the current one.

Also this morning, AJ and I were working out to an "Arms & Abs" video.  What?!?  It's part of the P.E. curriculum.  Anyway, the guy in the video kept talking about his "abdominals", and how we could have fantastic abdominals just like him.  AJ's take on this?  You asked for it:

"Mama, why does he want us to have 'fantastic dominoes'?"

See, this is why I never get anything done.  I keep hurting myself laughing too hard!!

We Must Be Doing Something Right

AJ was watching Penguins of Madagascar.  Lisa and I were talking about some friends of ours that are going through a difficult time.  I commented to Lisa that many of our friends had difficult childhoods, and some of them were horrific.

AJ: "What's a bad childhood, Mama?"

What - he's listening???  Crap!!

Me: "Well, some kids grow up with parents who don't always do the right thing for them."

There, that should do it.

AJ: "What do they do?"

Did I really think that would work - silly Mama!!

Lisa: "Some parents don't give enough hugs, or say 'I love you' enough."

Cindy: (getting emotional) "And those kids grow up to be adults who need a lot of love - they need people to tell them they are good people - that they deserve love."

I may have babbled on and on, and on, and on but for brevity sake, let's pretend I was concise...

Suddenly, AJ is giving me the tightest hug.

Me: "Thanks, AJ.  What was that for??"

AJ: (as he's tackling Lisa with a giant hug) "That's for being great parents!"

Go ahead - tell me you're not crying a little bit!!  Gotta love this kid.

Take That, Economy

I was driving around with my son talking about the economy. What??? Doesn’t everyone discuss the economy with their 9 year old?? OK, so we were. Whatever - don’t judge. J


He wanted to know if the economy was getting better. I was telling him about leading economic indicators, and all that kind of information. You know us home schoolers, everything is a teachable moment.  Then we started talking about all the construction we noticed as we were driving, with people fixing up their houses, painting and doing repairs. I told him that people were fixing and maintaining their homes, because they couldn’t afford new ones.

He said: “I think this is Nature’s way of teaching people that they should be happy with what they have and not to always want new things that they don’t need”.

I was so proud. My son is so clever, so insightful. I’m such a great mom, I raised him so well, I taught him such good values, I...

My thoughts are interrupted by the following:

AJ: “After the dentist, if I do a good job, can we go to the toy store?”

What???  Sometimes bribing is good parenting.  Sometimes....  OK, never mind...

Me: “But, AJ, didn’t you say that Nature was trying to teach us to be happy with what we had?”

AJ: “Yeah, but I didn’t say it was going to work!”

Got me on that one!