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The Office.

November 14, 2014 By Heidi Allen 6 Comments

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2295. That’s what Jasan and I term the office. This is the building where I work. I have a new job and I am loving it so much. Because I can’t entirely work a full day yet, (single mom, no daycare, the boy is done with school and off the bus at 3:15 pm,) I came up with the brilliant idea of working Saturdays.

I remember very clearly the couple of times I went to my dad’s office when I was young. He was a graphic designer in my early years, and he had the coolest office. Just the whole office environment was pretty darn awesome in my opinion. It felt so “adult” and it was a chance to, for a few hours, be part of someone else’s everyday reality that wasn’t mine. Obviously because it was my DAD’s reality, it meant a lot to me. Plus, being the artistic little girl that I was, I could not get over the massive marker set that he had. I’m not talking about Crayola or Sharpie kind of markers, these were the “professional artist” Prismacolor set of markers. Not to mention, I was not drawing on typical copy paper, it was those artist pads of special “drawing”paper. ha. (This was graphic design before computers took over!)

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Now, with my son’s love of computers, and anything mechanical really, I figured he would love coming to the office I work in.

I was SOOOOOO RIGHT.

This Saturday will be week 5 of this experiment. I knew it would take a couple of Saturdays of just exploring with him and that I would not get any real “work” done. I was very correct about that. 🙂 But now, he knows what he wants to do when we go there and he LOVES it! (And, I can actually be productive.)

I am hoping to create a fun memory for him.

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Oh man. The Canon. This puppy is a BIG hit. We hardly EVER use this tank of an old copy machine. But, Jasan has provided it some love lately because it is his new object of affection. I keep a special stack of “Jasan paper” that we keep reloading for his use. He does not care what is being copied. It is all about the sounds and the mechanics of the machine.

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And then, Mama’s headset. (heehee. It’s just cute on him.) He was quite mesmerized by it at first. We call Grampie from the office every time and Jasan will mumble about turning computers on and off and Canon and copying, etc. (We are still not quite versed with talking on the phone. It’s pretty much a mystery to the person on the other end what the heck Jasan is saying, but it is adorable none the less. He is really trying!)

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The conference room is way cool too. The computer in there is viewed on the big screen which is very handy when watching Wall.E videos on YouTube! He wears his noise canceling headphones because we also have a fancy coffee machine that is a bit noisy when you turn it on. And off. And on. 🙂

Because it is pretty much just us in the building on Saturdays, we can run down the hallway to the lunch room. Putting coins in the vending machine to get chips and Oreos (ha…his favorite!) is always a thrill. There is a key code to get into the restroom, and of course we have to spend a few minutes there each time as well.

I like that we have our Saturday “Mama’s office” routine. It fills him up with his time to explore, and I can get a few more things done that I wasn’t able to Monday – Friday with my limited hours.

And……..we are together. I love that more than anything.

Making memories.

<3

 

Filed Under: General, Obsessions Tagged With: aspergers, autism, autism awareness, obsessions, offices, parenting, quality time, single parenting, weekends, work

Hotel.

October 20, 2014 By Heidi Allen 12 Comments

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Jasan and I were gifted a night stay at a hotel nearby our home and we went for it this Saturday night. (Thank you Lisa & Ken Leisering if you are reading this!)

WHAT AN AMAZING TIME. I cannot say enough good things about this mini getaway. Because Jasan and I do not live alone currently, it was nice to just spend some quality time together. Just the two of us. My intention going into this overnighter was to just let Jasan explore this space exactly as his heart desired. I would then, in turn be in awe of his perfection of himself and how he views the world.

It was magical.

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Whenever we have spent time in hotel rooms, Jasan has always gone for the thermostat. Of course! I let him change it to his heart’s desire. Hot, cold, on, off… This one was “Amana.” (Everything is named by it’s brand in Jasan’s world.)

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Oh! And we had so much fun in the elevator. We pretty much did the majority of our multiple rides just the two of us, but occasionally we would have other riders. An alarm would go off if people would press more than one floor at the same time (hence the noise canceling headphones.)

Now, I have been practicing for some time now just letting Jasan truly be Jasan. That means, I will not allow myself to be affected by other people’s reactions to him. So, while we were riding the elevator, I did not sush him. He was a little loud in the hallways at times, but I let him be. He was hugging kids like crazy in the pool and I let him go. You know what? Everyone loved him.

The alarm went off in the elevator when we were with two teenage girls and an older woman. Jasan was loudly matching the tone of the alarm while it was going off, and the girls were like, “Oh! He’s so cute!!!” and giggling incessantly. The older woman commented, after the alarm had stopped, “Oh my goodness!!! He matched pitch!! How old is he? That is not normal for 5 year olds to match pitch! You are going to be a singer, boy…” and all I could think was, HE ATTRACTS LOVE EVERYWHERE HE GOES WHEN I LET HIM BE WHO HE IS. I have seen it many times before.

I am done with sushing him to what I think society deems appropriate.

When I revel in his “Jasan-ness” he rocks it. We are both vibrating on a high. It’s FABULOUS.

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He hasn’t had much experience with these old school phones. (Its crazy. Am I getting old? Will he ever hear a busy signal? haha) His examination of this was too funny and so brilliant.

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“What the hell is this thing?” He is probably thinking. But then, his brilliant mind goes to this:

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I was giggling inside so much about how much I LOVE THIS KID!!!!!!!!! I COULD EXPLODE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

I feel grateful that he is oblivious that I photograph him all the time. Because I use my iPhone, I can put it on silent and he hears nothing. It’s fabulous. I get to be in my bliss creatively capturing the beauty of my son. WHAT COULD BE BETTER, REALLY?

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Those of you that know Jasan or religiously follow this blog know that the GUEST LAUNDRY was a huge hit. 🙂

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I love him. I love him fully. I love him regardless. I love him always. I love him EVERYDAY EVERY MINUTE. Even if he spits in my face sometimes. I love him. He is perfect.

Newsflash: ALL OF OUR KIDS ARE PERFECT.

When you look at your children that way, they will feel UNCONDITIONAL LOVE from you.

Think about that word UNCONDITIONAL. We all say it quite a bit, but I don’t think we all act it out, REALLY.

Loving someone completely and fully, WITHOUT CONDITION. Regardless of anything that they might say or do. They are NOT here to please US. We are given these children as gifts…to love them for who they are. However that is. It is my opinion that we do not grow up learning to love this way.

Think about it.

We are so used to reacting to conditions around us…what would happen if we just fully loved our children and they felt that from us, energetically, unconditionally? Worlds would change.

<3

Just go have fun and let them be them.

Filed Under: General, Obsessions Tagged With: aspergers, autism, autism awareness, children, fun, getaways, kids, mother son, parenting, single parenting, vacation, weekends

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