Last year was Jackson's first Christmas to understand the idea of presents. Not necessarily that there was something new inside, but understood that he could unwrap something. This was all he required, he was good with one gift after that he was preoccupied with the first gift and had no desire to see anymore. When it was required for someone else to unwrap, he was willing to help, excited that something else would need to be unwrapped. The previous years he was just happy to be there with no understanding of what we were doing.
With the knowledge of past experiences and the growth of each year, we always enter a celebration with a fresh pair of eyes and look at it as a new experience. We don't know how he will react, but we celebrate the changes and the excitement that comes with him. His excitement is so contagious it would be difficult to not be able to celebrate each moment with him! It always allows me to sit back and enjoy the simple things instead of missing moments because of commitments and traditions. It keeps us flexible as a family and tight-knit.
This year was met with the same experience and freshness. This year Jackson not only knew how to open gifts, he knew that they were for him! He enjoyed everything he got and commented "That's Cool!" to just about everything. He wanted to pass out gifts (which was new) and also waited patiently for his turn (unless we took too long looking at our gifts!). This year Jackson also became over-stimulated...this is not to say that his has never happened before, it was just shown differently. Typically Jackson would start crying or act out, which was typical everyday. This year maybe I was more aware, seeing as every year is also growth for me in my knowledge of how life affects him and how he will react to it. His over-stimulation this year was different as this year he requested a bath. Now I saw this coming and understood what it was before it happened (thankfully).
To back up for understanding the past few months Jackson has asked almost every day after school to take a bath. Not necessarily because he was dirty, but because it allowed him to unwind from the day. He would have his bubbles and his pick of toys that would join him in his conquest (whatever it was for the day). I would close the curtain and just let him go until he was ready to pull the plug. This also allowed me to help the kids with their homework and start dinner, so it helped the both of us! LOL At first I thought he wanted to take a bath because he enjoyed the water, but when I knew he had a hard day at school and he would request it I put 2 and 2 together.
Now back to Christmas...after our unwrapping at home Jackson asked to bathe on 3 separate occasions. Receiving each bath he was calmer and refreshed, but the mere fact that he wanted 3 was very unusual. So with that understanding we scaled WAY back! The next several days we were low key, going nowhere and expecting nothing so he could readjust. This is not to say that next year will be the same...we never know. But with the understanding and knowledge of this Christmas we will revisit our typical traditions and adjust to fit the needs of Jack. It will not only allow us to refocus our family but also allow us to question what is of the utmost importance -- traditions are always made to be broken if they no longer fit the needs of the family, and new memories will be made with the new traditions that are invented! I am sure this will not only benefit Jack but the other kids as well!
We had a wonderful Christmas! We had a restful break from school! Now to look forward to what the new year will bring!!
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