Understanding Anxious, Part Dux

Don't Panic...Don't Panic...Okay, PANIC!!!

Ahhhh....bonding time. Those special moments when it is just you and a loved one can be open and honest, just the two of you, no interruptions and no inhibitions. For Tommy and I, these moments are tailor made for our 15 minute car ride to his middle school. After taking the bus to elementary school, Tara and I figured that an 11 year old with autism, would be served better if he were spared the daily "Lord of the Flies" bus ride that the 6th through 8th graders partake in. It was a rough age when I was a kid. Tommy's older siblings all agreed that this was a wise move, unanimously declaring that middle school...well...let's just say it was the low point of their academic careers.

It is during these rides that we try to get in Tommy's head, as he is not prone to initiate conversation and offer his worries up himself. This is why things tend to bottle up and we get what I mentioned in a previous post, "the Mento's/Coke Effect"  with our young Thomas. It was during one of these recent 'ride and talks' that we experienced one of the occasional moments where an outside force comes with it's own Mento, and drops it in Tommy's Coke right in front of your nose...and theirs nothing you can do about it but ride it out....

The Christmas music was playing from the local pop radio station that goes Yuletide the day after Thanksgiving. We were talking about which was our favorite float from the Macy's parade when it hit. That in mistakable sound from the radio, a sound more annoying than the Spice Girls "Tell-me-wot-chew-wont-wot-chew-really-really-wont..." song and slightly less annoying than Gilbert Gottfried's voice...

"AFLAC!!!"

Yeppers...The "Emergency Alert Systems" alarm goes off aside from annoying the heck out of his hyper-auditory senses, it plunges us right into defcon-one "Panic Mode"...

Radio: Eeeeeee---aaaa----gggggggg---hhhhhhhh.............
Tommy (covering ears): OH NO!!!! FLASH FLOOD!!!
Me: Don't worry, it's probably just a test Tommy, happens all the time, do you want me to turn it off?
Tommy: Yes please...NO! What if it's a real emergency?...JUST CHANGE THE CHANNEL!!! 
Radio (new station): Eeeeeee---aaaa----gggggggg---hhhhhhhh.............
Tommy: OH BOY...THIS IS BAD...WHAT COULD IT BE???? A TWISTER??? A HURRICANE???
Me (trying another station, getting the same): I'm pretty sure it's a test Tommy. They have to do them...
Tommy(interrupting and not having any of it): IT'S A TSUNAMI...OR A TORNADO...AN ALIEN INVASION...
Me (wishing they were playing a Spice Girl song about now...): ...sigh....
Radio: This has been a test of the "Emergency Alert System" blah-blah-blah....
Tommy: Thank goodness, that was close...



Well, that might have been about the longest 30 seconds of my life... Now, how to 'data-dump' the files upon files of 70's era Armageddon-disaster movie images this poor guy has stuck in his head before hew gets to school?

A quick pep talk of encouragement and a stop at the Micky D's drive through for an order of Cinnamelts did the trick...after all, I'm Captain Sensitive now...But left to his own devices, like any other kid, Tommy is going to fill in the pieces of what he doesn't know, the best way he can.


Alarm noise from the radio=Emergency=Panic mode

...makes sense I guess.

So here we are, a weekend removed from one of the most horrific scenes a parent could imagine. As painful as it is, my wife and I told all of our children what had occurred in Connecticut this past Friday. Better hearing it from us first. We knew other kids would be talking about it, especially in middle school. Tommy came home knowing more details than what we gave, but he did okay with it. He was as prepared as he could be for this 'loss of innocence' moment. We didn't want him 'filling in the pieces' with this one, or any of our other children for that matter.

Prayers for all those who are suffering from this senseless tragedy.
God bless.

Please donate to Ocean Cure @: http://www.crowdrise.com/tomlewis