Friday Amusement

October 26, 2012 by trechiq 4 Comments

Jas and Russ checking out the rhinos.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the zoo with our local chapter of the Autism Society of America and had a great time. The weather was perfect, everyone was in a great mood, and it was just fun, fun, fun. Jasmine loved seeing the penguins and the big cats, and she tried to touch an owl and the giraffe. She found many interesting rocks along the way, and even a few sticks and leaves that she thought were cool. She waved hi to the rhino and the zebras, and thought the ostriches were hilarious. Yay zoo!

“Look, it’s a volcano!”

So we were looking at the antelopes…or gazelle, what’s the difference? Anyway, there were these tall mounds of dirt in the antelope area, they kind of looked like ant hills. Russ said to Jasmine, “Look Baby, gazelles!” To which Jasmine pointed and replied with, “Look, it’s a volcano!” Yes, yes it is. HA!

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Several weeks prior to that, one of the ladies that comes to our home for in-home therapy for Jasmine suggested I narrate my day to her. “Pretend you’re a host on a cooking show.” OK, sounds easy enough. So one day we’re on our way to the grocery store, and I’m doing my best to narrate the drive. I described the trees, the road, the river and the bridge, the train tracks, the other cars, anything and everything I could think of. Finally, from the backseat I hear this little voice trying to get my attention with an ongoing series of “Mommy.”

Jas: Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…
Me: Yes Baby?
Jas: Music!

HA!

“Good job, Mommy.” HA!

Once we arrived at the store, and I got the two girls all settled, I began narrating the produce section. I started with the bananas, “Look, bananas. They’re yellow. Bananas are long. Bananas are curved. They come in a bunch.” Jasmine looked at me quizzically, and I took that to mean she was processing what I was saying to her. “Good,” I thought. We moved on to the grapes, and Jas continued her questioning look, but now her look also seemed to contain what I can only describe as sympathy. I was confused and concerned by that, but decided to forge ahead. Finally at the apples, after describing their color and shape and taste, Jasmine looked at me, patted my hand and said, “Good job.”

I decided to call it a day.