I’m happy for other people and their sunny vacations. (In that I don’t have to be them and roast in the sun but the vacation part I’m completely resentful and jealous of.) The sudden change in routines and increase in temperature initiates the crazies in my autistic children like someone spiked their punch.

Owen refused to bathe for over a week in protest, insists on wearing layers, and wakes every few hours at night to discuss his complaints in a nasally whine. He demanded a car ride at 2 a.m. I lied and told him my car doesn’t work at that time of night and that if he got up again it might not start at all. He stayed in bed till I came to get him.

Nora looks like she’s walking to the gallows every morning in fear of what lays ahead. “What are the plans, mama?”
I made the mistake of being sarcastic one morning and said, “Only darkness.”
My tender, literal soul kept looking out the windows all day to check.

Summer is chaos for us that is interrupted by moments of true sweetness. Big sis helping him climb the tower while I spotted, hiding an alligator in the bathroom to scare each other, popsicles in the park, disco dance parties, chalk art, playing in the sprinkler, watching the praying manti emerge and playing with them, nature walks, the library, and hours of cartoons together.

Yet the bickering never stops. The demands. The complaining. The sudden frustrations and running off. The constant accidents. The mess. The ensuing insects attracted to the mess.

These two that are nothing alike yet love each other more than their differences. How is it that they find every little thing to argue about? The WHINING?! The octaves correlate with the humidity and the temperature is only exceeded by my blood pressure.

So, no, I don’t think it’s beautiful today and, no, I’m not enjoying the weather yet I am loving the wondrous moments of reprieve from the heat. The seconds and minutes within that space of them. They distract me from the discomfort and pain the heat causes me.

Watching their delight when the preying mantis egg sac hatched and Nora singing to them as Owen did a chicken dance of excitement.

Blowing enormous bubbles for them to chase and then crash into each other to grab for while making animal noises.

Making sorbet together and watching Owen then power through a brain freeze by using his trampoline to jump out the pain.

Watching the “Greatest Showman” with them twenty-two times already and hearing the soundtrack in the car by request without any of us tiring of hearing it again. Listening to them memorize the songs.

Their faces at the aquarium when they saw a shark.

Owen streaking at the park when a water feature turned on suddenly and he ran for it like an oasis.

So enjoy your sunbathing and toiling in the heat on your bike, board, or boat if it pleases you. I’ll be finding ways to distract all of us until the rain falls, the leaves crack, and the snow crunches under foot. And if you happen to see a random four year old run by you naked holding toy cars? He’s all mine.