Spencer's Big Splash

For those of you who aren't aware, my youngest son is a bundle of contradiction. Nine year old Spencer hates to be touched but can't sit next to someone without burrowing into them. He can't walk strait lines but can balance squatted down with his knees against his chin forever... in fact that's the only time he's still. He fights hair cuts because the clippers are too loud but is a drumming fanatic. He can't tell you the name of the person who sat next to him in class today but he (and his photographic memory) will correct anything you say about ocean life, dinosaurs, Pokemon, or superheroes.
Most noticeably he screams in the shower ("water feels like needles") but loves to swim. Last week and this week all three boys have been taking swimming lessons. Spencer loves to splash and is overall fearless in the pool, but I can't say he's an exceptional swimmer. Moving more than a foot or two from the wall, even when his gangly 4 foot something body is just fine in the 3 foot deep water, still seems to cause a bit of panic for him. On more than one occasion he has splashed an instructor in the face as they struggled to help him float. My father-in-law has dubbed him "the flailing duck." But he's always willing to try.
Today, about half way into the lesson, the kids headed around the pool to the deep end... and the diving boards. I watched as the Level 4 kids lined up behind the low dive, Spencer's Level 1 class following suit. Only a few brave souls were willing to try the high dive. Spencer didn't even pause before walking straight to the high dive. I admit, I kind of freaked out. I know my child. This is the one I had to warn the playground ladies about because he thought he could fly when he was younger and would jump off the equipment. I also know he can't really swim and he was planning to jump in the deep end.
I could see his two instructors standing on the other side of the pool, but they might as well have been across the ocean as far as I was concerned. What I couldn't see was the third instructor in the water just under the diving board. Spencer patiently waited his turn and even tried to cheer on the boy in front of him who panicked at the top and climbed back down.
When his turn came he climbed quickly and then began to waddle. There is really no other way to describe it. Walking on the outside of his feet, toes tucked toward each other, and squatted down to maintain his balance, he inched toward the edge with a giant Funoodle safely tucked under his arms. By now, the other moms around me on the bleachers had started to recognize my panic and were watching closely. Giggles arose at his slow motion waddle, but other wise everyone held their breath.
Then he jumped. He stepped off the board and dropped straight down into the water, quickly bobbing back up. The bleachers erupted in cheers as he held tight to that Funoodle and paddled towards the edge, climbing out and running right back to the high dive. That was a great moment for him today, I'm very proud of my Spencer-man. Besides, no one else got cheered!

Expectations

Maybe I'm over sensitive (nah, never!) or maybe I'm just misunderstanding something, but some things have been said to me recently that made me re-examine how I explain my children's functionality and interactiveness with the community.
My boys, being overly sensitive to noise and chaos, do not enjoy participating in scouts at church. We count it as a good week if we've made it through church itself, let alone any extra curricular activities. We haven't been successful at after school sports, heck PE is too much sometimes. My younger boys love to go to Chess Club every Friday, but that's a lot more low key than most after-school activities.
It has been pointed out to me (repeatedly!!) that I am depriving my boys from great life experiences as well as "required" church activity. Then it was suggested that at the very least I need to put them in Karate.
I fail to see how forcing them to participate with a rough group of boys, that have been known to blatantly attack my children, will benefit them. I also haven't seen how the only way they will succeed in life is if they get their Eagle Scout award. And does not going to scouts make us bad Mormons? That's like saying every primary age child should take piano lessons. While it's almost comically well know that Mormons are musical, that doesn't mean that every child enjoys that activity.
It's not like I've kept my children from learning any of the skills they might learn from scouts either. We talk about the stars and the solar system, my youngest loves nature and animals, we watch and read everything we can on the history of the world, and we also do many projects involving survival skills. We just do them at the level our boys can handle.
Besides, with the world pulling us in so many directions already, is it a bad thing that we are spending more time together? I'm happy putting up the tent in the backyard and watching the stars from there, I don't need a four hour hike to make it a learning experience.

Is it really 2009 already?

Last year went so fast and now we're already a month into 2009. I can't seem to keep up anymore. I've been working on an exciting project to create an all inclusive Autism resource center in the Tri-Cities (Autism Connections of Eastern WA) and I'm hoping that will be the big thing this year. It will be so wonderful to have one place where families can go for help. We've got a website up already with a down-loadable resource guide, check it out & share it with friends! .
We're still having a little too much fun at the middles school level this year. We were forced to call the police and file a report on another student after he told my son he was going to bring a gun to school. This student had been harassing my son since last Spring and yet there were no disciplinary actions on file for it. He got a slap on the wrist, but by us sending the cops to his house we finally got things to stop. Now we're struggling with a teacher that feels my son is lazy and a liar, when the real problem is he has a communication disorder and she's not following his IEP. It's sad when it's the teachers making things difficult and not the students.
I'm still working hard at the bridal shop (Formal Couture) and hoping to put on a Prom fashion show in the next month or so. Anyone know any cute teens that want to model some dresses? :)
This year I've decided to pay a bit more attention to this blog and at least aim for a monthly entry.... so someone out there in web-land remind me, please!
Happy 2009!!!