I recall a couple days ago my wife told me there was only 10 days left of school for Braden, our 9-year-old son who has autism. Today, I’m guessing there’s 8 days or so left. When he’s out of school that’s when our summer officially starts. And summer is usually our most challenging time as parents.

Braden is go, go, go. And when school stops, stops, stops it puts a heavier load on us. Yes, there’s summer school and another local program during summer, and that helps, but this time of year is still the most challenging for us. Braden doesn’t want to sit in the house. I guess we should be glad about that, because many kids want to sit in front of their PlayStation or their X-Box and play video games all day. Not Braden. He wants out. He has to get out!

Days are longer and much hotter. When the sun is still shining at 9pm it’s difficult to convince Braden that it’s time for bed. We darken his room, but he still knows it’s sunny out.

Follow up:

Before long we will frequent the lake and probably the river, even though we have a large pond directly behind our house. Spiking gas prices don’t help, but they probably won’t deter us much either. Our sanity is important. Remaining sane is worth paying $10 for a gallon of gas. Heck, it’s worth paying $20.

If you don’t have a child with autism you might wonder why summers are any more trying than winter or spring. Mainly, it’s the lack of structure and routine that school offers. The rest of the year Braden is gone from 7am until 1:40pm on weekdays. During that time Mom gets valuable hours to get things done around the house while I’m at work. She also gets to take a break from the boy, which makes her a good, refreshed parent when he comes home in the afternoon.

Due to the strain on the national (state, world) economy our school district is likely going to reduce the number of school days from 180 to 175. That certainly doesn’t help us any. That means 5 additional days of summer.

As a parent, I do have plans about ways to keep my son going during the heat. I think within the coming weeks I’m going to get some oven and refrigerator boxes from a local appliance shop and build some cardboard structures in our front yard. Braden can help me paint and draw on them. I’m betting those play houses will attract kids from up and down our street who will then come and play with Braden and get to know him. And remember, typical kids need things to do during summer too.

Our family bicycle rides will increase. We will also have to wake and get out of the house by 7am to beat the heat. In Northern California where we live the summer temperature often reaches over 100°. In the morning hours the temp quickly climbs since the darkness of night doesn’t reduce it that much. Earlier days and longer days. Ugh. More responsibility. I don’t mind being responsible, but it makes me value the little bit of ME Time I get.

Braden loves to travel and Mom really loves to travel. She is currently and actively exploring our summer travel options. And the options are few. My wife isn’t a fan of stay-cations and neither is my son. We often combine business trips with vacation trips so that our mileage and hotel are paid for. That makes things a little easier on the financial front.

We call our family Nurnberg Enterprises. No, we’re not really a business, but running our family is a lot like running a business. We have a system of checks and balances set up, kinda like the government. I’m the Dept. of Finance while my wife heads up the Dept. of Spenditures and the Dept. of Travel. She’s also in charge of Relationship Development (I thought up that name). A few months ago I ordered her some business cards complete with her titles and phone numbers and other information on ‘em. Haha!

OK… how many days until school starts up again?