Since E was one of the first to get his COVID vaccine in the 5-12 age bracket, we did not have a lot of information on what to expect. J had a pretty difficult time with his booster (3rd Pfizer) with high fever, fatigue and headache so I prepared for E to have some side effects. Ultimately he needed Motrin the night of the vaccine for arm pain but then slept well through the night and woke up on Friday full of energy and feeling great. In other words, he got a 4 day weekend and enjoyed his freedom. We took a family trip to The Umstead to enjoy the last of the fall color.

Coming back to school and enrichments after a long weekend is always a struggle for E. It is not that he does not enjoy the work that we do but it is more that he enjoys his ultimate freedom to create and to explore his interests in his own way. To help ease him back into school work, we began with a project I knew he would be excited by. We were going to uncover the true age of the giant hardwood trees on our property… something he has long pondered! I used this as and opportunity for him to conduct research, to organize materials, to plan a process, and to communicate with a team on his strategy. Along with those executive function skills, it clearly involved some math and writing.

E has never been one that enjoys television. In fact, I can count only two shows that he has reliably watched since birth - Peppa Pig (because it is humorous and he loves the accent) and Little Einsteins (space-themed). Neither is something he would watch if given the choice to do something else. He generally finds television emotionally overwhelming as he responds deeply to intensity, emotional drama, suspense, and negative events. So, we generally avoid all tv other than well screened documentaries, etc. But, Wednesday evening, I needed to watch a masterclass on cooking for one of my own classes. Assuming that E would not be overwhelmed by a show on cooking, I turned on the episode while E played his favorite iPad game. Within seconds, E was tuned into my show and could not peel his eyes from it. It featured one of the world’s most creative chefs who transforms fine dining into full sensory experiences at the Alinea restaurant in Chicago. As the chef verbalized a story about his childhood working in a diner, “I placed a slice of orange on the top of the omelete and my father told me people only care that their food is hot and fast.” I knew this would not resonate well with E because he believes that design matters, even on the things you can’t see. But I did not expect the strong reaction that occurred. E immediately asked for the show to be stopped and physically removed himself from the room. Come to find out, it was the mention of an orange that alarmed him. I will write more about this specific experience separately (see ARFID). But, the important thing is that the event sparked an interest in E performing cooking experiments this week. And, so, we did! The first day, he wanted to explore broccoli. We used chemistry as the common thread across three forms of broccoli to try - raw, boiled, roasted. We then performed a similar experiment with oats the second day - raw, baked, boiled. In the end, it was a good opportunity for E to participate in the kitchen and he discovered that he does in fact enjoy broccoli… but only when boiled!

In addition, we of course did some lessons like usual this week with spelling, writing, philosophy, mindfulness, artistic expression, and body regulation.