Summer brings many challenges for my family in the sense that we need to try to keep our ten year old son (who has autism,) engaged and on some semblance of a routine; and our four and half year old daughter (who is "exceptionally bright,") out of boredom.
The past two and a half weeks have been trying as we've had to send our son for a week (June 17-24) to stay with his biological father out of state; and then my daughter and I went to pick him up at his dad's and then the three of us stayed with my family at my folks' house for a week (June 24-July 1.) This major change had been very difficult on my children.
My son does not handle major changes such as staying away from home - even with his biological father. The first couple days of his trip, I received a couple tear filled Face Time calls where he said he missed me and wanted to come home. It's always hard when that happens. I tried to reassure him as best as I could, and his dad assures me that he keeps my routine with my child - but I know that's simply not true. Then with my daughter, she enjoyed being the only child for a bit - but she still missed her brother and would cry for him at night. It's always tough.
Upon picking my son up from his dad's (who lives in Indiana,) my children and I stayed with my parents and sisters and their children for a week in what we affectionately refer to as "Camp Clark," which is on the other side of Indiana. Every year, we spend one week together and just hang out and stay with my parents since my little family lives in Wisconsin and one of my sisters and her family live in Virginia. Generally, it's a fun time... but this year was chaotic.
Six adults, one Blue Heeler pup, and seven kids all in a 4200 sq ft, 3 bedroom house. Pandemonium. The children ranging from 10 years old (my son, the oldest grandchild in my family,) down to 18 months old, (my baby niece, the youngest in our family. Three boys (10, nearly 7, and 3.5 - and the oldest and youngest of them have autism,) and four girls (almost 9, 7, 5, and 18 months.) The oldest five kids stayed upstairs in the "loft" area and slept on a pull out couch or queen sized mattress - which presented problems in that my children sleep alone in their rooms at home. My son doesn't enjoy sharing his space, so he didn't want to sleep with my nephew - he wanted to sleep alone on a couch. My nephew, in turn, would whine and cry about this and it was a bone of contention every night. My daughter was so excited to sleep with my nieces that she wouldn't sleep. They stayed up late and woke up early and were grouchy or whiny every day. No bueno. This lead to fighting and bickering and a lot of teary episodes each day, but overall, they all had fun.
We came home Saturday night and took all of yesterday (Sunday,) to decompress. Today we have been back to our normal summer routine, and already I can see my kids as much more calm and quiet, serene even. It's interesting to see how much they depend on and need the boundaries and predictability to thrive. The excitement of family visits and going and doing things is fun - but not something a family like ours can endure for longer than a week.
I'm so glad to be home! We missed our little house and 
