"Jinx!"--#NaBloPoMo

Sitting in our family room early one evening, I let out a sigh of relief. The day was almost done. My husband had just taken our older son on his evening car trip, and I had a moment of peace before our hopeful push to get the boys in bed.

Whap!

A smack hit my arm from out of the blue and behind. I didn't see it coming. Turning to investigate the situation, I found myself nose-to-nose with our younger son.

"JINX!" he yelled. "Bwahahahaaa! Hahahaha! I got you!!!!"

What? Huh? I'd been jinxed?? What's going on here? I stared at him in confusion for a brief time before gathering my adult composure to manage the situation.

"No way, my friend!" I countered. "I can't be jinxed if I didn't even say anything!" I arrogantly turned my head away in victory. "Everyone knows two people have to say something at the same time in order to have a legitimate jinx."

"TIME!" he yelled. "Hahahaha! Bwahahahaha! NOW I've got you!!"

"No, you DON'T!" I (kind of) yelled in response. I was getting sucked in. I hate to lose, even if it is to a stinkin' kid's game. "Our voices have to say the words simultaneously. At the same time. To-ge-theeerrrr." Humph.

"Oh, okay." he said. "Uh, mom? Could you say the word 'together'?" he asked not subtly at all.

"No," I answered.

"NO!" he yelled. "Hahahahahaaa!" he laughed as he ran out of the room.

Teaching humor to autism is a fine art. In this house, that process has literally taken years.

I remember when this child didn't joke at all. After all, humor often requires subtlety. It involves double meanings. It can require us to engage with other people and to read their actions. Sometimes, it requires us to interpret voice inflections. Wow. Those can be really difficult things for people with autism.

My heart dropped every time I would see that child stop in the middle of a conversation, confused by what was just said...not sure how to take it.

"Are you kidding?" he has learned to ask today. Sometimes, still, he just can't tell.

I smiled to myself in recognition of the progress he's made and then yelled to him that his bath time was fast approaching.

"Hey!" he yelled in return. "You're jinxed! You're not supposed to be bossing me around, lady!"

"YOU DID NOT JINX ME!" I replied, sucked right back in for another round.



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I am blogging my way through the month of July as part of the National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) challenge! Thirty-one days. Thirty-one interpretations on the topic of "Kids". This is no joke. I'm not kidding. Seriously...