"I am Not Slydexic!" and the No-Knock Rule
My son Jasper has finally reached the milestone age of thirteen. He is as gawky, cantankerous and generally as adolescent as they come. He is struggling with his ever-changing body, his ever-changing attitudes and his mother, who stays constant as the sun. I know he often wishes I would change my mind about rules and regulations, but he is not my first teenager, and he won't be my last. One unpleasant aspect of his changing self is that it seems his dyslexia has gotten worse than ever.
I have written many times about Jasper's struggles with dyslexia. He and I have, through trial, error and education, overcome many of the obstacles we have previously encountered. Lately, though, it seems he is ever-more distractible, and I suppose it is related to his new interests in life, as well as his recent growth spurt. I have been told by his doctor that it can take neurological functions a while to catch up to a child's sudden growth, so I am hoping that soon, he will be able to overcome, once again, his difficulties.
I don't take the vestigest of mere adolescence as hard as I used to. I vividly recall when my eldest, Michael began to go through the tribulations of puberty. I tried everything I could think of to get him to behave more like he had before, and after an especiall trying evening, I decided to try something new. Having read that the American Indian used sage smoke as a purifier, I got a bundle of sage, lit it on fire, and put the fire out when it had gotten good and smoky. My mom had Cherokee in her family, so I figured it "couldn't hoit". I stepped quietly into the bedroom where Mike lay sleeping, and waved the sage bundle (still smoking, occasionally flaming up) around and around above his face and body. I knew he had awaken when he jumped like a jolt of lightning had struck him. However, he stayed still on his bed. Barely breathing, he asked, "Mom, is that you?" and I said, "Yes." He asked, trying to sound casual, "Everything okay?" in a shaky voice. "Yep" I replied. He never did ask me what I had been up to, but he was good for several weeks. Occasionally, I caught him glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes. I think, to this day, he believes I went temporarily insane. He may have been right!
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