Extracurriculars

Even though it’s barely even July, I already I have to figure out what the boys are doing this fall. I mean, in addition to kindergarten (!), of course.

The easy answer would be “nothing.” They don’t have to be involved in any extracurriculars…it would be cheaper and less chaotic to be sure. Except, Aidan really wants to learn hip-hop dancing (thank you, “So You Think You Can Dance”) and I feel compelled to balance out Aidan’s activity by signing Owen up for something.

Plus, now that they are five I’m trying to encourage separate interests when possible. They are already SO competitive over everything, that I think it would be good for them each to have their own “thing.” However, figuring out what those “things” should be is proving difficult, as Aidan wants to try everything and Owen has a “me too!” attitude about everything Aidan does.

I’m trying to decide whether or not to put Owen in a social skills class (that is, if I can find one without a waitlist). I know it’s something he needs to work on, but part of me thinks he gets better practice when thrown into activities with “typical” kids. I’m not saying learning to hold a real conversation isn’t a valuable skill, but I’m wondering if it’s a skill he could build on while also learning something else.

As usual, I feel underqualified to make these decisions…but my gut is telling me we should try him out on piano. Concert pianists don’t really need to be good conversationalists, right?

**Special note: Check out Judith's Autismville blog today. See? I'm not crazy! Or, at least, it's going around...the more the merrier, I say.**