In Sickness and In Health
I wasn’t feeling well yesterday (better today). I put together a very perfunctory dinner for Charlie—-vegetables, shrimp, and some rice—and sat beside him while he ate. Once done, he put all the dishes into the sink and then stood with one elbow bent, looking towards me.
I surmised (correctly, as it turned out) that he wanted more to eat. As I felt woozy, it seemed best to stay in my chair and, after finding out that Charlie did indeed want to eat more, I requested him to: get out some rice that was in the refrigerator, put it in the microwave, turn it on for a minute (he did 1.23 seconds), get a plate, get a spoon, get the rice out. .All of which he did, and fluidly, readily. And then he shut the door to the microwave and closed the cabinet doors and sat down at the table, and ate.
I felt well taken care of.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, cooking, disabilities blog, disability, Education, Health, microwave, mother, Parenting, sonRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Charlisms, Family, Food and Diet, Parenting
11 opinions for In Sickness and In Health
Emily
Nov 18, 2008 at 6:35 pm
That is exactly how I do it with TH. He can make a bowl of cereal now without my having to provide step-by-step instructions–except that he leaves the cereal box out and open and down flat on the counter and he leaves out the milk. But he’s got bowl–>spoon–>cereal–>milk down OK. Which is great because otherwise, I’d be make bowls of cereal all afternoon after school.
I’m pretty sure I’d never be able to get him to figure out the microwave, at least not right now.
I’m glad Charlie could help out his mom that way, and I hope YOU get to feeling better.
M
Nov 18, 2008 at 8:39 pm
posts like this…being able to watch his independence grow and grow…it’s quite inspiring, kristina.
“onward, yes”
Niksmom
Nov 18, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Such independence indeed! Sorry you were feeling poorly. Hope it was transitory. :-)
Fearless Females
Nov 18, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I love stories like this. I remember the day that I taught my kids the “microwave” and ever since it’s almost in constant use… it was like power and independence for both mom and kids!!
Hope you are feeling better!
Storkdok
Nov 18, 2008 at 10:20 pm
A has requested that I teach him to cook. Funny, as I don’t really know how to cook. If only cooking was as easy as performing surgery…sigh.
First, I reminded him why it was important to follow the steps, because a couple of years ago he tried to microwave his chik patties still in the plastic container, caught the microwave on fire, had a huge plasticy smelling black smoke fumes problem. Had to get a new microwave.
So today, I taught him to remove the chik patty (vegetarian chicken patty) box from the freezer, how to open it, how to open the plastic with scissors, place two on a plate, put in the microwave and close the door, push 2:00 minutes and push start, wait for the buzzer, remove, using a butter knife cut the patty into pieces, place pieces into a plastic baggy (his favorite way of eating on the run).
He is quite proud of himself!
I hope you feel better, Kristina!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 18, 2008 at 10:51 pm
thank you for all the kind comments, I am better (it was one of those really fun 24-hour things………)
Charlie makes most of his afterschool snacks for himself too (that microwave again—-what would we do without it). And he spooned out vegetables for himself from the pot; he wanted some ketchup and that was when I “inserted” myself or there would have been half of the bottle complete immersing the food.
Jim commented that Charlie handles the microwave—knows what buttons to push—better than he does.
Leila
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Wow, great job Charlie!
Linda
Nov 19, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Feeling needed is powerful. Helpers feel, well, helpful. We all like to feel needed and that is how helping makes us feel.
Lean on your son more and he will rise to the occasion. Glad you are feeling better.
Synesthesia
Nov 20, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I hope you are feeling better today.
Bonnie Sayers
Nov 20, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I loaned the teacher the visual cookbook for non readers since tomorrow is peanut butter and jelly. They did hotdogs last week, learned this at parent conference yesterday.
Phil Schwarz
Nov 20, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Step by step. That’s the way.
Yea for Charlie!
And glad you’re feeling better.
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