Sunday, November 7, 2010

Tomorrow's Another Day

I am a blogger who has, in the recent past, tagged a blog post "having a craptastic day" and who warned people at the beginning of said post that there would be whining and ranting involved.

Well, today I'm having another bloody one.  But I don't want to share that with you, don't want to bring my crappiness here, to my blog today.  I'd like to leave it behind, for just a little bit.

Yesterday I was light as air and posted a fun, funny post.  Today, that seems a thousand miles away.  Today I have had a blinding headache all day, and children who do not get along.  But that is all I will speak of this. No whining today.

Some days?   They suckity suck suck, and I just have to keep my head down and barrel through.  And remind myself: tomorrow will be better.

My son Jake, the one on the autism spectrum, tends to use scripts, stock phrases he picks up (from books, TV, other people) a lot.  In fact, a speech therapist once described him as "learning English as a second language, when he doesn't have a first one."  And that seemed apt.

You know how when you're in a foreign country and don't really know the language and you have something to say, a need that must be met, a thought or feeling you want to convey?  You go to your little handy dandy guide book and try to find the most appropriate phrase, one that most closely fits the situation, even if it's not... quite... 100%... all... there.   That 's Jake.  Completely so at the beginning.  Less so now, but still, quite often, the scripts are handy.

For a while every night at bedtime, after I have given Jacob my final kiss and said my final goodnights, as I am closing his bedroom door I would hear him call out to me: "Goodnight, Mom, tomorrow's another day" in a lilting voice.  I have absolutely no idea where he picked that up.  To my knowledge, he has never seen Gone with the Wind.

He has since moved on.  I still do get that particular goodnight, but only every now and then.  And I miss that dose of sweet, innocent optimism on a nightly basis.

So, having nothing positive to say tonight that is original, shiny and new, I will instead pass on these words of wisdom and hope from my son Jacob.  I will borrow from his phrase book for tonight.

So I say this now to you:

Goodnight, Dear Readers. Tomorrow's another day.

(consider yourselves tucked in and kissed)

8 comments:

  1. "After all; tomorrow is another day."- scarlet O'Hara. God i love that movie its the main thing i kept thinking lol

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  2. I love your ST's description of English as a second language.
    That's a wise little owl you have there XXX

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  3. Yep, some days that is my mantra too. Gotta love Scarlett!

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  4. I hope today has been a better day.

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  5. Hope today has, in fact, been a better day.

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  6. I love your description of the "scripting" that your son uses. My daughter still does that a little, mostly if I've just explained something to her and then she turns to my husband and says exactly the same things to him as if he hadn't been in the room at the time...I remember telling the SLP that it sounded like she was talking from a tourist's phrase book [this was before I knew much at all about ASD] and the SLP got this odd look...sigh

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  7. Awesome. We need to be reminded of these uniquely ASD gifts from time to time.

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  8. I am with you. I have posted many times about things my son says that he got from TV. The line from your therapist is perfect.

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