Distractions from the way life used to be.

Tonight's post is going to focus on my word of the day: distraction

Distraction is defined as:

a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

"the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight"

OR
extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.

"he knew she was nervous by her uncharacteristic air of distraction"

My current level of distraction can come from a myriad of sources.

For example, tonight I was doing the weekly pills- we call it "doing the pills" really it is a boat-load of vitamins set up for the cuter half, the boy and myself.  This part of my week is the time where I usually have my best ideas. Unless, of course, if I get distracted. 

Tonight's distractions were twofold. 

One the cuter half is painting a nativity that my great uncle made years ago. This nativity came from my great aunt's farm and to me it always meant Christmas, or that the holiday was actually beginning. The nativity itself is a simple wood cut - with Joseph, Mary and the baby. We have had this nativity for a number of years. The cuter one knows how I feel about it and is really good about getting it out and putting it up every year. The colors have faded....Joseph somehow got chipped, the set itself is getting old. Well the other day the cute one went out and bought outdoor paint to touch up the nativity for me. I was going to do it and as per usual I get distracted by whatever it is that is going on and then I forget about it. Anyhow, to make a long story longer, the cute one is now painting Joseph. He is carefully painting the lines, and using the colors to touch up Joseph on the living room table....it means so much to me that he is bothering (his back is out again....getting down on the floor is kind of a challenge). The cute one calling me to "Come see and let me know if this is too dark/light or looks wrong..." well all my grand posting thoughts promptly flew out the window.

Then the boy, "Mom I can meet with my Math Professor tomorrow afternoon. Can you drive me to school?" Making that arrangement and how he will get home and what we will be doing in the meantime. 

Another one is the princess. Princess is doing really well - she is in her 90's so every day is a gift to the rest of us....and she forgets things. Which if I live to my 90's I reserve the right to forget stuff too.

For example, the other evening we were visiting and she mentioned that she needed a manicure. I decided to do it before I forgot (right now I am doing things right when I think about it or it won't get done) and presto- she had her manicure. Last night we went by and she mentioned that some lady had come in and done her manicure the other evening....that lady was me. I thought it was pretty funny - but then my sense of humor has a pretty wide opening and I can get a giggle about almost anything.

So whatever it was that I had as my Grand Idea....It went.

1. It could have been talking to people when we all went out the other evening (THANK you for whoever made that meeting a quick one - Good job!) 
2. Or maybe it was talking to another parent about Aspies and college.
3. It could have been about vitamins and medication.
4. Or maybe it was about the boy and his lack of social acumen.
5. May have even been about cat barf and how wheat grass is a great thing for the puttens but not so great for the one room of the house that has carpeting.
6. It might have been about my regular use of vinegar and making things less - odoriferous.

I know I had been thinking about the boy and yesterday. 

Yesterday sucked.

The boy has had a TON of homework and having to get ready to retake another test plus midterms....well things have gotten a smidgen out of hand. Essentially, I once again showed by parenting prowess by blowing my stack at anyone who happened to get in my way. You would have done it too after listening to 48 hours of kibitzing.

Mid morning the boy had a meeting with his prescribing doctor. She is amazing and well, for the first time in 10 years I got annoyed with the arguing (cuter half and the boy) and I walked out of the office - and tossed the checkbook to the cuter half and went for a walk/jog around the upper part of the building. Me leaving had a slight effect on the day. 

Let's say it went down hill from there.

After several arguments and loud discussions with a lot of swearing (the boy is learning to swear correctly now- I don't think this is good but at least he doesn't sound like a dofus when he is angry about something) and screaming;  the boy settled down and started working on the rest of his math problems and whatever else he needed to do. 

Then on top of other stuff that came down the pike- lets just say there is an old saying abut "timing is everything" that probably would have been well placed at that time. And this addition, well I was in a royal "right state" about this time and ready to go look for the steam roller.

Really this whole post is supposed to be focusing on distractions - when in essence it is about flexibility. The cuter half and I exhibiting flexibility (even when we argue with each other and the boy) is showing an example. Us taking a break - even when we are pissed off - then coming back and looking at the questions/situations/goals/cat barf again means that we are prepared to step back and re-evaluate.

The boy doing the same thing is another tool that he has in order to make things work for him at a later time.

It was pointed out to me that the boy recognizing that he needed to make a change in his career path at such a young age is really a big deal. Unlike many, he knows where, what and how he needs to get where he wants to be. He is able to discuss "behaviorism" as a technique for his potential employment. We were reminded again how he is viewed as successful and that he really is doing quite well.

He is mapping things out and learning to be flexible at the same time. Now if we can cut out some of the distractions during the day - well we would be in a good place and doing just fine.....