SIKE!!!!

I love the imagination of children. I love watching my daughter play and I love listening to the conversations she has with her toys. I love how she has sparked imaginative play with Joshua and how his imagination has soared.

For a child on the spectrum of Autism, imagination is not something they come to easily. So, when he has these incredible moments of imagination I just sit and rejoice. Often with silent tears...except this night. My tears were mingled with OUT LOUD LAUGHING, and I was not alone.

I noticed that Joshua had found his black snow pants, mask and a black t-shirt earlier today. These items were found when he decided to take down all of the boxes on his shelf and empty them. Yes, his room looks like a store exploded. Yet, that is not the story of the day.

Matt and I arrived home this evening from a date night. I walked in and sat down to talk with Becky as the kids played around us. At one point during our conversation I noticed Joshua had put on his snow pants. No big deal. Yet, after I noticed he ran back to his room. I did not think a thing, after all, this is not "unusual" for our house. Our kids are constantly changing their clothes.

A few minutes later, Matt came out from the back of the house and was standing in the kitchen, joining in our conversation when we heard a knock at the door. He began to walk over to the now dark area where the front door is and all of a sudden...... Joshua walks away from the door...all dressed in black with his mask on and Matt jumps, and does a "man scream" (you women know the sound I'm talking about). Can you picture it? Matt, with his hand over his heart, "man screaming" as Joshua jumps into the kitchen stating, "Sikes is here."

We laughed so hard at Matt's response and Joshua's look...all we could think was, "Yes, you totally siked out daddy." I cannot be certain, but it is possible that Matt streaked his pants when "Sikes" jumped out. I've heard "fear" releases all sense of muscle control and the reflex takes over.

Sometimes you just need a "SIKE!!!" moment.