Saturday, January 18, 2014

Not Ready for Primetime

He may be legally an adult, but that doesn't mean he's ready for primetime adult life.  You know ...like when you are responsible for meeting your own basic, human needs like um...feeding yourself!

Red gets up 20 minutes before the bus arrives.  He rushes downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal.
Did he wash his face?
I don't know.
He did take a shower the night before.
Did he brush his teeth?
Probably not.  Most days he carries his toothbrush and paste with him because heaven knows, he doesn't have time to do it when he wakes up only 20 minutes before the bus!

Before he left, I asked if he took his medicine.

He said, "I'm taking it now."

He goes to his adult transition cooking class without the three dollars he is supposed to bring to contribute to the meal.  Therefore, he has the opportunity to shop for the meal, but not to eat, because he didn't contribute to the cost.

He comes home in-between his class and his volunteer job for an hour.  I leave immediately to go get my nails done.  He spends the hour alone at home singing in the mirror.  He calls me to make sure I would be picking him up from his job and to let me know that his ride was late.

I remind him to close and lock my front door so that we would still have our belongings when I got home.

3:30 p.m. he calls me from his volunteer job and says, "Please pick me up on time.  I'm so hungry!"

"Why are you so hungry?" I ask.
"Because I didn't get a chance to eat." he replies.
When I pick him up I ask,  "Why didn't you eat when you were at home."
"I was singing. Can you please stop and get me something to eat?  I will pay for it!"
You bet your ass you will pay for it. 

We get home he's acting kind of wild. I ask, "Did you take your medicine this morning?"
He looks in the container where it is distributed. There it is!  The medicine was never taken.

As a result, of not taking his medicine, he went all day without eating.  He was too busy singing and forgetting everything.

ADHD is still very much alive and well.

Will he ever move out of my house? 

Here he is casually singing as he loves to do.  I must say this about the kid ...when he's singing, he may be hungry, but at least he's happy!