How To Change Chaos Into An Adventure

On January 5, I wrote that our water heater broke. Three areas in our house were damaged: the garage, kitchen, and bath room. We had to change our daily routine. We changed how we cooked and where we ate. We relocated many items from our pantry. In short, we had organized chaos, which autistic children do not like. As stated in a previous post, autistic children prefer a predictable routine.

I had to think creatively to ease the transition for Ryan, Nick, and Cameron. For meal times, I suggested we "picnic" on the living room floor. They thought that was really "cool". They spread out towels on the carpet. Plastic forks and paper plates were the rage.

Since we had minimal cooking facilities, we ate via candlelight to complete the "rugged" atmosphere. Fire and flame were also "cool". They each had a turn lighting the candles while I cringed with a water bucket in hand. All went well.

To find items that had to be moved from the pantry, we simply hunted. We never "looked" for an item; we hunted. Again, that really appealed to the primitive conditions of our house. Hunting was "cool".

I had to think outside the box quickly to keep this whole disaster in check. If I could stay calm, the boys had a better chance of staying calm. This was critical. I simply switched from the pessimistic point of view to the optimistic point of view. I was very careful with my words and my tone.

So what started as a nightmare turned into a wonderful adventure.