know the early warning signs

early intervention is the most important key when dealing with a life-altering diagnosis.

in order to get the early intervention, one must first know what to look for, and, if ever, to be concerned.

do you have a child that is angry because they got a 106% on a spelling test instead of 110%?

how about if they got 100% on a math test, but had to erase one problem and fix it, do they consider it a failure?

does your child make their own chore list and then cross off the chores as they complete it? all without you even asking them to?

and, heaven help you if this is true, do they put smiley faces next to the clean chore?

if you are able to answer yes to any of these questions, you may have an overachiever.

this has shaken a lot of people up before, especially when they look at themselves, and their spouse, and the past 3 generations, only to realize there are no over-achievers in the gene pool.

this may cause the spouse to look to see if the mailman is an overachiever.

is desperate cases, the maury povich show has been contacted.

this is often an under-reported, under-diagnosed problem that has been known to tear families apart.

stay strong, find a support group and make that overachiever your favorite child as they are the ones who will obviously be funding your retirement.

this public service announcement has been brought to you by the parent of an overachiever.

boobies

the bear is your typical, red-blooded, hormone driven teen-age boy.

he is also your normal, red-blooded, autistic, non-filter teen-age boy.

when these two worlds collide, be ready for the summer of boobies.

we went to lava hot springs last week.

or, as bear seems to think, bikini wonderland.

“belly buttons!!” he told me while walking in.

“yep, that is a nice belly button. don’t stare.” it seems to work better if we acknowledge his belly button find.

he has also learned to power of the swim goggles.

he likes to float around with his floatie around his middle and dive under with his goggles when the girls get close.

we spend a lot of time pulling him and his goggles away.

at the lake, as i was cleaning things up to head home, i looked over to see bear bending over examining a belly button very closely.

the girl had no idea a 6’1″, 237 lb hulk was checking out her belly button as she was blissfully tanning with her eyes closed.

her family behind her did, and they were laughing their heads off.

me?

not so much.

i got this picture when bear realized there were girls sitting across from him and suddenly decided to sit on the edge of the hot tub.

helloooooooo ladies.

i should feel some responsibility of my own in his ogling trait he seems to have inherited.

i did a bit of that myself when a walking photo shop of a man walked into the pool.

i am serious, he looked like he had been photo shopped, he was that perfect.

before you judge me, the happily married man playing with his kids next to me also thought this man was exceptional.

how do i know this?

probably by the holy trilogy he uttered as the man walked in.

i have learned in this whole puberty shenanigans with bear, that is does not matter if the dude has mental disabilities or is as normal as corn in kansas, boys will be boys.