Comfortable in his Own Skin

I was prepared for a battle, but it never came.  He woke up.  He grumbled how he missed March Break and asked when summer vacation started, but then he stopped.  He started his morning routine:  He showered, he ate breakfast, he read his scriptures, he made his bed,  he watched his allotted half hour of screen, and then he got to work.

Who is this kid?

It's Elliot, and dare I say, I think he has finally become comfortable in his own skin.  He is finally getting this thing we call life, and he is finally starting to understand its ebb and flow. 

Lately, he has been saying things that make me stop and want to shout:

Eureka!  The boy has got it.

Like yesterday, we were studying a book called "What to do When Your Temper Flares" for health, and we were talking about slowing down your body. Elliot piped up:

That's why I like carving wood.  It makes everything slow down for me.  My heart slows down and so do my thoughts.

I swear my mouth dropped, and I didn't know how to respond. 

Who is this kid?

Looking back, I didn't even write out Elliot's bedtime routine for his grandparents when we went away, which is something I have always done in the past.  I guess I just figured he knew it, and sure enough, he does. Grampy was astounded when he told Elliot it was time for bed, and Elliot began to do the drill, without any prompting:  He put his jammies on, he brushed his teeth, he grabbed a Melatonin, he prepped his blankets just right, he turned on the fan, he turned on his red light, and then he fell asleep.

Again, who is this kid?

Sure, this may not sound like much to you, but for us, this is huge.  Up to now, even the smallest routine like going to bed would send Elliot into hysterics.  He couldn't figure out what was expected of him and how to go about it, which would set him off into tantrum mode, every single night, but that has stopped.  Heck, he seems to have even conquered Daylight Savings Time!

Okay, so if you are still not convinced that we have reached a ginormous milestone with Elliot, listen to this:  March Break was busy for us, and there was one stretch where we spent three days in a row having friends over.  This is a lot for Elliot, and to top it all off he was invited to spend the night at a friends' house.  He excitedly said yes and began to go through his sleepover check list.  As I was driving him to his friend's, I noticed that he looked awful.

Are you okay, Bud?

Yeah.  I'm just exhausted. We've had a lot of people over lately.

You don't have to sleep over.  I can pick you up in a little bit, or we can even call and say this is not a good time.

No, I will be fine.  I don't have to entertain Isaac like I do the other kids.  Isaac understands me and we can just chill out together.

Okay, but if you change your mind, call me.

I will.

And he was fine.  He stayed the whole night.  

The next day, our church was putting on a Winter Olympics for all the kids, and I was in charge.  I had to go to the chapel early to set up for the activity, and Mr. Level-Headed dropped the boys off to me.  If I thought Elliot was tired the day before, he was done today. I took one look at him and cringed.

Ugh!  This is going to get ugly.

But, again, he surprised me.  He told me he just needed a few minutes alone and went off by himself to one of the classrooms.  Then, when the other kids showed up, Elliot came out and was completely on his game.  He laughed, he played, and in the end, he even thanked me.

Mom, that didn't suck as bad as I thought it would. I had a lot of fun!  You did a great job.

Okay, so this is really starting to freak me out.  

WHO IS THIS KID?

Seriously, though, just writing this post has brought me to tears. It means that all the prayers, all the sleepless nights, all the hard work, all the studying, and all the time we have spent implementing and going over even the most mundane routines, are working.  We have finally broken the code to Elliot.  We have finally made contact, and Houston, we have no problem!

Yep, we've achieved equilibrium just in time for for puberty to hit and to send everything back into a whirlwind . . . tee hee!  Life, it always keeps you on your toes.

Have a great Tuesday!