Zach's Christmas List

For a number of years Debby and I have struggled to figure out what to get Zach for his birthday and Christmas.  As a parent you want to get things your child wants, likes and will enjoy, for those special occasions otherwise it is not a very good or memorable moment for them.  Our dilemma was based on two distinct reasons. First, Zach could not verbalize to us what he wanted and so it was a guessing game.  Second, we were unsure if he would actually like or know how to use what we got him. 

Over the years we had some significant hits and some definitive misses.  We tried some toys, but it became frustrating as a parent to see him struggle to understand the concept of what he was suppose to do with it and eventually he would chuck it aside.  For whatever reason we also tried getting him things that would be therapeutic and he would like to play with.  I remember one year we got him a couple of 2 to 3 pound medicine balls, yoga bricks and balancing disk, so he could use it as an obstacle course with the hope that he would stop using our furniture. Needless to say a young child is not very interested in exercise equipment at age 7, 8 and 9.  Now that I look back on it, maybe Debby and I were trying to exercise vicariously through our son or subconsciously we wanted him to be a Pilates instructor in the future. 

In recent years, Zach’s continued improvement of his communication skills, verbal and written, has made buying gifts for him a lot easier.  The last couple of years he hand wrote a list of things he wanted for his birthday and Christmas.  The majority of things on the list were age appropriate and items I would expect someone of his age to ask for. Zach has also been working on his typing skills with his occupational therapists and this year he decided to type out his Christmas list.  Then after he printed out the Christmas list he hand wrote across the top, “Dear Santa please bring my stuff.”  This was the first year in which Debby and I did not have to scratch our heads or bang it against a concrete wall wondering what to get Zach. 

 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Happy New Year!!!