Our low-key approach to his birthday was a good move on our part. He seemed to enjoy this as much as any ‘observance of his birthday’ ever. (Definitely not a party animal.)
The weather was just achingly beautiful today. It never got above 76 degrees, was sunny all day, and felt like pure magic in the shade. I put together his big present while he was at school, and we spent the late afternoon together outside enjoying it.
The ‘some assembly required’ (taxing to its limits my visual and spatial acuity for threading straps) paled in comparison to his complete bliss in his new swing. He long since outgrew the ‘bucket’, and swings for bigger kids don’t work because he gets excited, flaps his arms, and then flies out like a two-legged projectile.
We found this particular swing on a site that sells adapted equipment for special needs kids. It’s pretty much like a plastic, high-backed recliner with a 5-point harness. It’s rated up to 100 lbs, so he’s going to get lots of use out of it.
BTW – his other gift was the “We are the Laurie Berkner Band” DVD. Since she’s in the select company of the J-Man’s Pantheon of Goddesses*, that only seemed fitting!
All in all, one really good day.
[* In case you're wondering, membership in the J-Man's Pantheon of Goddesses is currently limited to Mary, our Blessed Lady of Signing Time Rachel Coleman, Laurie Berkner, and his Pre-K teacher Mrs. Jennifer!]
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
elizabeth from bounce might be up there too!
We started taking a low key approach to birthdays and also found it successful! I also thought my son would never learn to swing on a regular swing and hold on and pump by himself, but now, at age 8, he can do it for hours and really loves it. And we too are Laurie Berkner fans!!! Happy Birthday!
LOVE the swing! We usually have to go an adaptive playground 30 minutes away for Kayla to swing.
@Megan – Yeah, but he has so far totally freaked out when we watch Bounce at home. Context Violation! I like Bounce and wish he would watch it here. Would help us mix things up a little bit with some different shows!
@hkt – I know the whole wanting to make a big deal out of his birthday is totally about me and what I want to do. Low-key was definitely the way for us to go. He seemed thrilled with both the swing and Laurie, so all was good!
@Ecki – Our local parks and rec department has a good reputation for trying to work with families with children who have various disabilities. Since we built the swing set in our back yard well over a year ago, we haven’t much bothered with looking for a good playground. But your comment is a reminder to me that we should look for more public play spaces with more things for him to play on, and hopefully more kids and parents for us to hang out with.