Wanna Talk About All Of My Stuff... Do You Like Stuff Too?

Confession #1~ this post isn't a typical one, but I know a lot of the ASD parents out there will relate.
Confession #2 ~ I am a huge Toby Keith fan!!  I love his sound, his rhythm, his lyrics, love love love.... One of my favorite Toby Keith songs on the Pull My Chain CD is Wanna Talk About Me.  If you don't know it, basically it is about a guy "listening" to his girl friend ramble on about her "important" stuff.  He eventually cuts in with the chorus:


"I wanna talk about me 
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
Oh my me my 
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see 
I like talking about you you you you, usually, but occasionally 
I wanna talk about meeeeee (me,me,me,me-)
I wanna talk about me (me,me-)"


Who would have imagined that this song would become my sons theme song even though he wasn't even born when it was first released in August 2001.  Somehow every conversation that I have with James turns into a conversation about his favorite things: Mario, Angry Bird, Pokemon, and the new one, football.

"James, don't use too much toilet paper... you will clog the toilet" --->"yeahbut, then Mario would come and fix it because he is a plumber! And Mario likes tacos and spaghetti.  I don't like tacos but I like spaghetti but not with the sauce just the noodles............"

"James, don't chase the cat he will scratch you if he gets angry" --->"yeahbut, angry cats chase Angry Birds especially the red and black one.  The black one is the bomb........"

(This one had the potential to be a really good deep conversation... but alas...) 


James~ "Who was the Lusssss..." (couldn't come up with name)                             
me~ "Give me a hint" 
"He was shot by a James but not James who is me"
"Give me another hint"
"He was the guy who said don't worry about skin but character"
"Ahhh, Martin Luther King Jr."
"The James who shot him shot him with a raft"
"You mean a rifle?"
"Yup... mom do you know what his favorite sport was?
"I heard once it was baseball"
"Nope... football"
(then his sister chimed in)... "you made that up"
"YUP but I love football and the quarterback is the boss and he is fast and runs and tells everyone what to do and.................."


For verbal conversations I haven't come up with a global good solution yet.  We do have taboo table topics.  Mario, Pokemon and, Angry Bird are not allowed at the table during family meals.


I never thought I would buy "character" shirts for my kids and never did for my daughter but for James, I send him to school everyday in an Angry Bird, Mario or Pokemon shirt so the kids will talk to him about his shirt and he can naturally jump into one of his favorite topics. 

I also send him in shirts that have the word awesome on it so that adults will comment on how awesome his shirt is and hopefully comment on how awesome he is! I also have one that put humor about his volume into perspective! 

Dressing for Autism success is my goal everyday, but sometimes James decides to go to school dressed for success!  

So today, I choose to find my bliss in the familiar conversations that I know so well!  I choose to find the comfort in the giggly times where James is becoming more aware that he is manipulating the conversation.  

Confession #3 ~ I love having a conversation with my little one no matter what we are talking about and it makes him smile.  And as we all know, smiles are contagious!