Part 2 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

In case you missed the first ‘episode’ of my new series, here’s the link. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you read it. Really. I don’t want to repeat myself and lots of things are going to be the same or very similar.

Done? Okay, let’s get started on today’s episode…

The Bounce occurred at an astonishingly late 4:30AM. I was already awake though. Like Pavlov’s Dog, I’m ‘trained’ (conditioned?) to wake up between 3 and 4 every night/morning. Same thing as yesterday with the bedquake and the ear sniffing, same thing with the tablet. There was one major difference today, Ben stayed with me, so no dozing back off.

Daughter was off work last night but Ben didn’t pay her a visit. She didn’t stumble out of her room until after 8:00AM.  She was apologetic, but whatever.

Around 10:30AM she decided to get the Disney streaming thingy. We had been discussing it off and on for a while. We decided this would be a great time to try it out, Ben being home all day and all that. She set it up on the Roku TV and then installed the app on Ben’s tablet and mine.

I like the idea of Ben spending his tablet time streaming Disney stuff better than him streaming YouTube or Netflix. He likes to reenact movie scenes and Sweeney Todd, Resident Evil, Zombieland, even Shaun of the Dead can be dangerous to Daughter and me.

Since the sun is finally shining, its laundry time. Our dryer is broken so we hang stuff out or cart it across the street to the laundromat dryers. Daughter started around 11:30AM and found out we had several loads. Since I have my car until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, it was decided to laundromat dry them. (Yes, I drove across the street. It’s a 5 lane street, I’m not supposed to lift or carry over five pounds and I drive a Prius)

Back to King Ben & Zeus… It was an extraordinarily chill morning. Ben pretty much just did his thing. Around 1:00PM things started to turn. He started scripting from Austin Powers movies, he told me “You have to get dressed. You have to go to the store…” UH-OH!!!

I told him I can’t go to the store, but we can look online. He was going on about a police car in the movie Up. This child has at least 30 police cars. I’m not exaggerating. He has liked emergency vehicles since he was a toddler. I think it’s the flashing lights, he’s very visual. Anyway, onto Amazon (I had signed up for Prime and I’m still within the trial period) We scrolled through the pictures together. He was very upset that they didn’t have the exact animated police car from the movie. He kept showing me his tablet, where the scene was paused, and saying “This one!”. I’ve tried over and over to explain that some things are just not available to buy. Some things aren’t made. He’s really really smart, but he has HUGE gaps in his understanding/comprehension.

A police car was found and ordered. Ben was off to create more havoc. He went into the kitchen, grabbed the broom and started sweeping his chalk, which he’d left all over the floor after playing with it, to all corners. I write ‘sweep’ because he was using a broom. It was actually more of a high-powered flinging, using the broom as a ‘flinger’ (did I make up a new word?). There was dust from the chalk going all over the kitchen. Swell… Daughter told him to stop and I knew he was about to head down the dark pathway.

I went into my room and excavated the new box of chalk I had stashed and presented it to him. CLICK! The danger could be felt draining away. Whew! Close one.

He got himself set up on a pillow on the floor in front of the TV (Avatar is still on repeat. We turn it off after he’s in bed, he turns it on when he gets up. Occasionally he changes the movie. We aren’t allowed to) with his new box of chalk. He has to break it and shave it into the correct sized pieces before he can arrange one of his patterns.

After he was settled, I picked up his old chalk. Zeus took the opportunity to quickly inhale his food. He won’t eat unless I’m in the room. He has to follow me everywhere, all day. I got the kitchen straightened up and left Ben in front of the TV with his chalk.

When I went to take the laundry over to the dryers, I noticed a box on our porch. We weren’t expecting any deliveries today, then I remembered I was expecting a delivery. A Blogging Buddy Angel found and sent me three boxes of Ben’s ‘juice’. There were a few other little goodies in the box too. It put a huge smile on my face and possibly saved me from the wrath of King Ben. Hopefully the Amazon shipment will be here by next weekend. I think we’re good until then.

This is the perfect place for me to say something I’ve wanted to say… If there is anything any of my Blogging Buddies needs, from toilet paper to some money, please let me know. We are not wealthy, but our bills are paid and we have plenty of food. I’d like to help in any way I can. My contact page will get your message direct to my email.

Again, back to King Ben and Zeus. The afternoon was spent much like yesterday, with Ben bouncing around the house, shooting at stuff (and people…”Oops!”) with his Nerf gun, demanding that I script with him, general Ben stuff.

At one point he came in from the back yard holding his underwear. Yep, wearing just a shirt. I asked him if he went pee in the back yard and he said “Yes, I did!”. Like I mentioned yesterday, we don’t even question these things. He wandered around for a few minutes holding his underwear until I told him to put it back on.

At 5:00PM dinner is started. Ben is having a frozen pizza. A Red Baron Classic Crust pepperoni pizza, which he will pick the the pepperoni off of before he eats the pizza, to be exact. Zeus gets the pepperoni. No, getting the cheese pizza won’t do. Cooking the pizza without the pepperoni won’t do. Ben, like many autistic kids (and some adults) has VERY particular tastes. He will literally starve rather than eat something not on his list. Once in a while we can get him to try something different, but it’s rare.

At 5:30PM Younger Daughter and her partner stopped by. They had been running errands, getting mice for their snakes, worms for their Bearded Dragon, and food for them. They found Ben’s ‘juice’ so they bought 5 boxes and dropped them off. Hurray! More juice for Ben! They also wanted to pick up a water filter thingy they ordered and had shipped here.

I have faith. Not the religious kind of faith, but more of a general trust that things will work out how they’re supposed to. I also believe that you get back what you put out. I am all about Random Acts Of Kindness and helping other people whenever I can. Today I have 8 more boxes of Ben’s juice, the only thing he will drink (beside water, at school only, and an occasional soda), and it was from the kindness of  family and a Blogging Buddy Angel, who is becoming a dear friend.

Anyway, Ben managed to eat, get clean and off to bed without any major drama. Today was, like I keep saying,  a remarkably mellow day at Casa Cuckoo.

It was a good day. A day of hope and gratitude. Things are not always bleak. The sun does shine. There are kind people, people who care.

I care.

Stay healthy everyone, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s episode…

 

(I’m just gonna keep using the same picture of Zeus for this series. I’d love to share a picture of Ben, but his anonymity is more important than my bragging rights)