Here comes Trouble

Whew. What a week it's been.

I still have a job, which is more than many of my (now-former) co-workers can say. Monday's payroll blood-letting was brutal -- we're now down to approximately half the staff we had a little over a year ago -- and confusing. I thought I had lost my capacity to be stunned, but I was wrong. Some of the most versatile (and therefore valuable) employees were cut, as were some part-time (and therefore cheap) employees. So again, there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the decisions.

But I survived, and my schedule henceforth will look something like this:
4 p.m. to midnight Mondays.
Off Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
5:30 p.m. or so until whenever we're finished on Thursdays. Hopefully before midnight.
Off Fridays.
4 p.m. to midnight Saturdays
4 p.m. to midnight Sundays

It's starting to feel less and less like a part-time schedule, and more and more exhausting. Until now I've gotten a three-day block of time off every week, which sort of feels like a mini-vacation, and so I haven't really minded the fact that I get no paid days off and therefore can't take any time off other than those three days each week. (Haven't done so since going part-time in August).

I think the thing that will finally get to me is the fact that for the foreseeable future, Jeff and I will have NO days off together, ever. Up until now I've had Mondays off, which means that whenever one of those Monday holidays rolls around, we can all spend the day together as a family. I'm pretty zonked from having worked the three previous nights until midnight, but still, it's nice to go to the park, or the zoo, or wherever and not have to worry about making it to the office by 4. Granted, there are only four of these family days in an entire calendar year -- Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day -- but oh, how I looked forward to them. So much for that.

I'll stop complaining now, because at least I do still have a job. It's going to be far more stressful because we are each taking on so many added responsibilities, but there will be enough money coming in to pay the mortgage and all the routine bills. At this point in the recession, that's enough.

So on to our other news: Elijah is just completing his first week ever of being away from home all day! He's at something called Spring Break Adventure Camp at our fitness center, which as far as I can tell consists of a group of teenagers and 20-somethings leading a bunch of 5- through 12-year-olds through a day of games, swimming, rock-wall climbing and arts and crafts while trying to maintain their own sanity. (I couldn't do it.)

At first I was really hesitant about sending him, because he's so different from other kids and I feared that he would be teased and bullied and scared and lonely -- all the things most moms worry about, but which I amplify through the magnifying glass that is autism.

It appears my worries were, for the most part, unfounded. Although he has mostly stayed to himself (OK, yes, I've checked in on him each day!), he doesn't at all mind sitting and coloring while other kids play basketball and field hockey and whatnot.

He even has a little hanger-on who rarely seems to leave his side. That would be Will, a precocious little guy who actually looks much younger than 5, which is the cutoff age for this camp. Elijah had told me one evening, after my usual round of questioning in an attempt to get even one word out of him about his day, that one of the other kids at camp was named "Will." This was the only name he could come up with, and I was skeptical.

But he turned out to be right. When I checked in on him the next day, sitting off to the side of the gym coloring with another little boy sitting beside him, I walked up and asked Elijah how he was doing.

"He's fine," chirped the little boy.

"Hi!" I said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Will," was the reply. "I like to color."

"Do you know Elijah?" I asked.

"I know he's TROUBLE!!!" Will exclaimed.

I was a bit taken aback, and was beginning to wonder when Elijah was going to look up and at least acknowledge that he had just been defamed, when Will launched into his explanation of "trouble."

"He goes over THERE," (pointing to one corner of the gym), "when we are supposed to go HERE!" (pointing to another corner). His eyes grew big with excitement as he related this tale of anarchy. "He's TROUBLE!"

I tried not to laugh, but it was hard. Yes, Elijah does tend to zig when other children zag. Usually it's not a problem, as long as there are enough adults around to redirect him. Or to put his swim trunks back on when he decides he's had enough of the pool and strips butt-naked right there in front of everyone (that would be Tuesday's version of Trouble). I would think THAT would have made more of an impression on young Will, but no. It was the going-to-the-wrong-corner episode that really marked Elijah as Trouble.

Today is the final day of camp, which will be a relief, no doubt, to the wonderfully patient staffers who have led Elijah from one activity to another all week long, with Will never far away. It marks a big milestone for Elijah, who never seemed interested in coming home early even though his worried mom made the offer nearly every day. It also marks a big milestone for me, because I've finally been able to let him be with strangers in a child-care setting all day long.

Next stop, kindergarten! It's just 5 months away. Perhaps I should warn the teachers now to watch out, because Trouble is coming.