ocean | Simple. I Just Do.

The Boy and I have now lived in our new home for a year. All in all, our transition down here was a lot smoother than I anticipated. The beginning of the school year had its fair share of stressors, but over the course of the year, we have been very lucky with the opportunities that have come our way (including those that I helped force our way), and we have settled into a very happy existence.

Don’t get me wrong. We were happy before, and I miss that just a little, the single mom household thing, the metropolitan suburbia thing, the way-more-time-for-hobbies thing. I miss that a bit. I miss our friends (although we are looking forward to some visits this summer!), some of our favorite restaurants, having a Target around the corner as opposed to 45 minutes away…

But they have been replaced with The Man around full-time thing, the warmer climate thing, and that little thing called “family” – there is nothing that beats that. The ocean, new friends that crack me up Every Single Day, our new-to-us home, having The Man around Every Single Day, lunching with my mom, having dinner with my parents, getting off of work at 3pm and not having to do anything else with my job until the next morning (usually), sweet tea in abundance, and date night Every Single Weekend…

So as I sit and reflect about all that has changed in our lives since a year ago, I am very pleased that we jumped at this chance, very thankful for how it has turned out, and very, very happy.

Water has such a great effect on both of my boys.

The Man is a surfer, and has been since he was 12. He starts to get a little cranky if he hasn’t gone surfing in awhile, and just being in the water, doing his thing, does amazing things to his outlook. He needs the water almost as much as he needs air to breathe. That was part of the reason we decided early on that The Boy and I would move down here rather than have him move up north with us. He wouldn’t have survived away from the ocean.

The Boy reacts similarly to the water, like many kids with autism. He has always been this way, and could very easily spend his entire day in some form of water. I’ve written before about the amazing power of water over him, and the immediate calming effects. If he starts heading toward a meltdown, throwing him in the tub for awhile is the easiest way to avert it.

Over the past several years, The Man has been introducing surfing to The Boy, and The Boy loves it. I also love to see them sharing this. The Man is amazingly patient teaching him where to position himself on the board, how to stand, and how to keep his balance.

Today, we went to the beach, and today, The Boy went from riding on his tummy, to kneeling, to standing on the board, all in one ride, and I think this was the first time I saw him do all of this in one motion. And he was so persistent. “One more time, because I wiped out.” I could glimpse him doing all of this on his own in a few years, something I was never sure of before. So often, those of us with kids on the spectrum really can’t see into the future like parents of NT kids can, so when we get a peek like this, it’s pretty exciting.

This makes me a proud and happy mama. 🙂