Glimmer: Walking Like a Penguin

Today I just want to share a “slice of life” moment.
I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about hard things. I choose to, because I know not everyone can. However, I’ve decided I also need to share some of the joys, delights, and glimmers as well, because this journey as a neurodiversity mamma is full of them.

Here’s what made me smile this week.

My oldest son is AuDHD, (Autistic & ADHD) and follows his own education plan at school. His teachers have been leaning into his passion for animals to encourage him to speak, write, and express himself more, so I’ve been seeing a lot of writing prompts on various animals lately.

Another one of my son’s passions is writing. He is always re-writing the things he has done at school to show them to his friends and family. Yesterday, he rewrote one of his writing prompts and gave it to me.

Text on the photo:
Name & Date at the top.
The question, “If you could get one animal, what would you get?”
A place to choose from a grid of 8 animals.
The writing prompt: “If I could get one animal I would get…”

Wanting to be a good student, I filled it out, and left it at his spot at the kitchen table for him to find. This was my answer:

Text on the photo:
I filled in my name & date.
I circled a penguin.
I wrote: “If I could get one animal I would get a penguin! I think a penguin would be fun to see, because they walk funny!”

Well, it’s safe to say that me doing my homework absolutely delighted him! He came to find me, walking like a penguin and smiling ear-to-ear. I laughed when I saw the walk, and then he laughed at my laughter. We shared a hug, and even had a little chat about penguins afterwards.

There was a time when I wasn’t sure if he would ever talk. There was a time when I wasn’t sure if he and I would ever connect on an emotional level. So these moments… they are everything.

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