Food, Reading, and Middle School

My baby has had a big week over this last week. Lots of Random Sunday things about him this week. Yeah, I know, he’s not really a baby anymore, seeing as he’s going on eleven. I don’t think I can ever not think about him as the tiny squirmy bundle they handed me almost eleven years ago.

Food

First off, I’m super proud of my son this week. We had several major steps forward for him and his food-texture issues. He has some sensory issues and food is one of the biggest triggers. Well, he decided he wanted to make dinner this week and picked out a hamburger recipe from one of his cookbooks. I told him I would help, but he was in charge. When it came to mixing the burger, I thought for sure he would shy away from it. After all, this is the child who refused to play with Playdough for the longest time because of the textures. But he did it! He got in there with both hands and even made a comment about it being “oddly satisfying” as he mixed. The next night, he elected to try lettuce on his taco. Yes, lettuce has been another rather controversial food item. Again, he surprised me by saying he liked it and added lettuce to a second taco all on his own. Like I said, major progress forward for him.

Reading

I must admit, I love our new bedtime routine. My son needs to be reading regularly for school and because I want him to learn to love reading, the last half hour before bed is reading time. He needs to have everything done by then, so all he has to do is read and then climb into bed. We’ve also chosen to reserve this time as family reading. It’s good modeling behaviors for us as parents to support him, it helps support his focus on reading, and it’s a wonderful time for us to sit together and each read something. My son seems to enjoy this, and my husband is getting back into reading as well. I’m getting way ahead on my Goodreads Reading Challenge this way. We’re all winning here.

Middle School

This last week has been huge for my son, as I said earlier. Middle School is another major milestone we hit this week. He got to go over to the middle school with his fifth-grade class to check the school out and learn a little about how it all works. They talked about music options—you know, choir, band, or orchestra—and how the general school day works. They sent home his registration paperwork to sign up for his first classes at the end. They don’t give him many options in sixth grade, even so, it’s not elementary school anymore. Seriously, where has the time gone? I can’t believe I’m sending him to middle school this September!