LOOSE SCREWS AND CROSSED WIRES

I was taking the boys to gymnastics (taught by an OT) when I noticed Mason sneaking something out of his pant's pocket and slowly putting it into his mouth. Then I saw what it was and laughed a good laugh: Tater Tots. Just like Napoleon Dynamite. I would bet that Napoleon is on the spectrum somewhere.

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The other day I was thinking about all of the things that the boys have broken throughout the years, that had something to do with their fine motor skills/sense of body-in-time-and- space/awkwardness/OCD/frustration and I came up with a list:

Antique baby dress--Hunter tried to put it on and ripped the delicate fabric
Laptop--Hunter put a magnet on it
Clock--Hunter
Breadmaker--Ryder pushed it off the counter
George Foreman grill--Ryder pushed it off the counter
Books--Ryder bites on them CD's, DVD's--Ryder chews them, Mason can't get them out of the packaging and breaks them
Ceramic tile--Ryder and I don't know how...
Bathtub finish--Ryder bangs objects on it
Casing around windows--Ryder flicks the blind cord back and forth very fast
Trampoline--Hunter
Umbrellas--Hunter
Plants, flowers--Hunter and Ryder
Computer screens--Hunter with the cat
TV screens--Hunter with a hammer
Windows--Bill and Ryder Telephones--Hunter and Ryder, both cases involved toilets
Lots of toys--Hunter and Ryder
Lots of spilled cereal boxes--Hunter, Mason and especially Ryder
Chairs--Everyone
Arm--Hunter tripped over a toy shopping cart
Light bulbs, lamps--Hunter, Ryder
Tea set--Hunter remembers this one (I don't)
Ceramics--Hunter and Ryder Walls--Bill Head concussions--Bill (I've lost count) He usually runs into something accidentally, or one of the kids headbutted him when they were a toddler, or basketball induced

Right now, I'm looking at our office chair that has bite marks on the arms and the back is falling off due to a lost screw. I've asked Bill to screw it back together, but the timing was wrong. He was too engrossed in a project on the computer. *Asperger's* Of course, I can fix it. But I'm always fixing things and that is something Bill can do and then he will feel like he did something right for once, so I let him. I just hate being patient about it.

I'm sure these aren't the last of the broken things, but it's good to be reminded now and then that these are just things, they can be replaced or fixed. As much as I try to "fix" my children and hubby, I need to remember they aren't exactly broken. Just wired differently...which reminds me, a month ago, Bill was switching out some outlets (I thought an easy job) but when I went to turn on the garbage disposal, the fridge would turn off. Typical. Another day in the life of loose screws and crossed wires.