It’s almost over. I don’t know who is more excited about the end of the school year; my kids or I. Or is it me? In less than a week it won’t matter anyway 
We went to Chicago last week, and only lost our son twice. This is a new record, and we were thrilled. He doesn’t have every Autistic trait {hence the NOS} but the ones he has are strong. Although I laughed the first time I heard his wandering tendencies clinically referred to as ‘flight risk’, I had to admit that it is remarkably accurate. It’s as if, the second you turn your head, he does somehow fly away. How does he get that far that fast?
In the “Autism: Membership Has Its Privileges” category, he did memorize the entire Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line, including the connector sites for other lines. He was a great reference for us and offered this location information freely to other passengers; generally being received with heartwarming kindness. I’m sure he passed as a Chicago kid who liked to talk; had they known this was only his second time on the El they may have responded differently but it was nice, for all of us, not to get the “he’s weird” look we are used to.
I’m having a hard time keeping junk out of his diet at school, and it’s showing up in his behavior. The year end celebrations are overwhelmingly junk filled and I felt HORRIBLE when I brought pre-packaged cookies to an event I’d was asked to bring a treat for. The irony was that on one side of my kitchen counter was healthy food I was preparing for the day.
At the other end were the store bought cookies. 
Then I got to school and realized that had I made gluten free dairy free carob cookies it wouldn’t have made a dent. There are 75 children in second grade. For a Reading Celebration at 8:00 in the morning, apparently every parent had been asked to bring a dozen of something loaded with junk and sugar.
How do you handle an onslaught of junk at school?!
Bless you for your candor and humor!
I’m cyber schooling next year. My youngest would HAVE to have me bring his own treats for celebrations because of his multiple food allergies. I’ve learned that unless you deal with food allergies on a daily basis, you DO NOT get it as evidenced by the constant ignorant statements I get all the time. It wouldn’t be worth the possible trip to the ER since he also has contact reactions. I guess those other parents can be glad I’m cyber schooling since they would’ve had to have a nut free school to keep my son safe. They can keep their precious peanut butter in school (no, I’m not bitter with how I was treated, why do you ask?).
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I’m impressed that he got the El so well. We’re still just fascinated by the train concept and forget where it stops! Fortunately I know where I’m going
We fortunately have a school that requires healthy snacks, so even for parties, fruit and veggies are required, usually with cheese slices, as well. It helps a lot. We see the difference in behavior when Mister Man has the processed foods (Little Miss has a dairy allergy, so we keep a supply of cupcakes I’ve made in the freezer at school for her), but he’s also pretty good about saying “no thank you” and leaving it at that now. He may have a little or he may skip it because he knows the impact it has. But it’s still a work in progress and always will be. Whoo, autism. *sigh*
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Unhealthy snacks at school were definitely an issue! The worst was the year there was a ‘school store’ where the kids could buy junk food– one of mine temporarily developed a paunch! We homeschooled most of the time, which I think did establish healthy eating habits among other things.
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Wouldn’t want to be those teachers the rest of the day. Our school actually doesn’t allow the sugary treats anymore. Healthy all the way right down to it has to be sugar free, and gluten free.
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