The Christianville Spirit: Let's Talk about Halloween

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

October 25th, 2017-TCS # 567

So, Happy Halloween, My Readers! and, a Happy Birthday to My Brother, Michael! His Birthday is Tomorrow! I do not like Halloween. Remember to be Kind to The Kids Trick or Treating and Try Not to be too Scary. Happy Halloween Everyone! So, It is that Time of Year again, The Time of Year that unlike Christmas, I dread. Halloween. Okay, so, Two Things that come to Mind with This Newsletter. One Thing is Halloween was NOT as Scary as it is Today. Yes, I thought that Halloween deserved a History Lesson because Halloween might as well be a Holiday from Hell (Sorry Kids!) Actually, There are People who believe that and can back it up with Scary Facts. So, Halloween (otherwise known as “Hallowe’en” or What it originally was called back in Pagan Europe, Pre-Christianity, “Samhain”. (or Basically, My Least Favorite Holiday) Anyway, Halloween or Samhain is a Celtic Holiday that is basically the Eve before All Saints Day. A little darker version of Christmas Eve basically. Anyway, People in the Celtic Region went to Neighbor’s or Friends House to knock on Their Door and Recite Poems to The Door Answerer, and for that, They would get a Treat of some sort. Yes, they did dress up, but only as Angels or Mock-Spirits to prevent Real Spirits of The Bad Kind from Harming them. So, In other words, They would trick The Spirits into thinking that They were another Bad Spirit. Again, The Celtic Rumor at the Time was that Spirit of Good and Bad would come to Earth more likely on Samhain. Maybe because All Saint’s Day was a not-so-great day to do that. So, “Trick or Treating” took it’s form going from Reciting Poems to Pranks for Treats, which then turned an Americanized Holiday and Now, We “Trick or Treat” to get Candy. Some say, It is a Night for The Kids to get Candy and Get High on Sugar, that and dress in Cute Costumes (like Super Heroes). As long as There is No Mask, I am okay in that category. Others say It is a Night for Mischief. Now, to be fair, Mocking Spirits in either Good or Bad Ways, back in The Celtic Days, probably was considered Mischief. and, This is where Halloween gets Bad because Today’s Mischief means Toilet Paper and Egging. I, of course, would never do that. and, Finally, The Pranks. Now, People can get Extreme with Pranks and of Course, dressing as Scary as You can and Scare Kids. Logic says, It is Scary Holiday, Right?! Well, The Pranks, The Scary (Costumes with Masks and Scary Figures), and The Mischief are Why I Hate Halloween. Honestly, for Some People who don’t celebrate Halloween, those are The Facts that They use to say that Halloween is a Hellish Holiday. Now, Here comes the Second Thought here, but, I was reading an Article from a Site called “Scary Mommy” it basically described Halloween for a More Autistic Kid Way of “Observing Halloween”. They, I feel are The People in The Middle. The People that really don’t want Observe Halloween but, Yet They don’t want to be Counted Out of Halloween. In Other Words, They have to Conform to Halloween. Come to Think of It, They would be Okay, Reciting Poems and then, Maybe flipping on and off The Lights! Now, Back when I was Kid, I pretty much had to Conform to it. I did not want to go Trick or Treating, but Everyone else was doing it and I did not want to not be Included in it. Luckily, I lived on a Street that had a Cul’d Sac and Four Yards interconnected. So, We would have a Little Block Party on Our Cul d’ Sac. At That Time, I was more fascinated with Hanging Out with The Block Party because it seemed like Fun to do so. Of Course, When It was time to go Trick or Treating, I did not want to, I wanted to stay at the Block Party but, I went Anyway. The Most Exciting Part to me of Trick or Treating was not The Candy or Shouting “Trick or Treat!” I was more Excited about Ringing The Doorbell and Seeing The Inside of My Neighbor’s House. The Scary Mommy article mentions that Her Child likes to go inside and Look at The Lights or some off thing in Their Neighbor’s Houses. After all, Special Needs Logic and Regular Logic would say that if You rang the doorbell of Someone’s House and They answer it, that means You can Come In and Talk. Now, I did not do that as a Kid, but I did look inside from The Front Door to what I could see Inside. Because I was Curious about The Lights inside. After that, I did that at Every House. It is a Chance to see what was Inside Your Neighbor’s House even just for a Second. I was a Kid, who really like the Style of Lights. I really liked The Flashing Lights or Lights that did different things inside their House. After going Trick or Treating, I was excited to get back to The Block Party, It is a Fun Time! These Days, I am glad that I don’t have to conform to Halloween. I can Hide in My House, Watch TV, or Maybe go to The Book Store and Read while All the Kids go Trick or Treating. I know that I am not Alone because I have talked to others that feel the same way. All We ask for is Some Understanding and Respect! All in all, Just Because You like Halloween does not mean that Your Child does. Anxiety goes way up and it does not feel good!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. We all have Our Favorite Holidays, Halloween is not Mine! 

The Christianville Spirit: Find Out Who The Fettuccine You are

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

October 18th, 2017-TCS # 566

Ciao, Hallo, and Hola, My Readers! Wow! A Triple Greeting! Those are from all Three of My Origins, Italian, German, and Puerto Rican. So, On to This Week’s Newsletter and I promise it’s a Good One! Ya Know, There is question that People have to ask in Their Lifetime, Who The Fettuccine Am I?! I don’t mean, who are you, meaning The Personality side of You, but Who are You in The Background? My Name is Christian, I am Christian, and I have Potocki-Lupski Syndrome, what else is there to know? Well, how much what Descent are You from? My Mom’s side is Italian (Grandma Honey’s Father was Italian) and German (Grandma Honey’s Mom, Great Grandma Mimi was German) and, Of Course, My Dad’s Side is Puerto Rican. But, In Life, You are curious to want to learn about What Percent of What are You? and, Where exactly are You from? Well, I found out the answers to that Question via My Mom, Asking My Grandma Honey, and Research. So, First, I will tell you the Percentages of My Background. I am 

40 % Puerto Rican (Made up of 80% Spanish White, 8% Black, and .4 % Native American)

 25 % Italian

 25 % German

10% Irish

So, It was if I did My Ancestry Report without Submitting anything, just doing Research between My Mom and I. Now, I will say that with Two Sides of a Family and Two Descents, There may or may not be a Little Bias. Often You are told what Decent to Identify with. For Example, My Dad and His Family always told me to Identify as Puerto Rican (or Puerto Ricaño). As I did at the PTLS Mini-Conference (Maybe I should call it “PTLS Conference on The Road or PTLS Conference to You!”) in Madrid, Where I said I was Part-Puerto Ricaño. Actually, There is where My Last Name (Like or not) Centeno, came from. After All of Our Research, I feel that I would Identify with both of Puerto Ricans or Italians because of My Love of Pasta and Italian Food in General. However, I can Thank the Germans for bringing us The Language of English. Yes, Folks! It is True, in case You did not know that English comes from German and Yes, even a little Dutch.

 Anyway, Continuing with The Research because Percentages on Graphs and Statistics of Things fascinates me. What got me more curious more than The Percentages was The Where of it. Too many times, When it comes to History of Things, We tend to focus on the Who and the When, but not too much on the Where, that is unless The Where in History is Important. Now, If You tie all that together, I feel that it makes The History more Exciting and More Interesting to want to learn about. If It is not Interesting to us, then We think it is Boring. We think it is Boring, when History is told in a less Interesting Way. I remember in School that it is was like that and Pulling back to Family, At One Time, I was more Interested in Playing with My Cousins than Listening to at least what I thought at the Time, was boring History Stories from My then-Great Grandma Mimi. I bet you that She tell us The Who, The What, The When, and The Where; All Best Parts of a Story. Honestly, I wish I would have appreciated it more than I do now. But, You live and Learn, and Sometimes, although You may think that History is boring and Does not relate to You, but Oh, It Does! 

Anyway, (Clearing Throat), Back to My Research Story Here! I did Find out the Where of My Family. My Dad’s Side is Easy because My Dad’s Dad lived in a Town called Manati which is a Few Hours West of San Juan. I believe that, The Spanish part of My Dad’s Family came from Toledo, Spain. My Brother found that out and I found out while I was in Spain. 

The Italian/German/Irish Side of The Family, My Mom’s Side, took a Little more research. The Italian Part is from My Great Grandma Baba, who married Great Grandma Mimi who was German. After that, came Grandma Honey, came My Mom, came Me. I was Curious about it because I knew that We were Northern Italian (and, Yes, I am told, It really matters whether You are Northern or Southern Italian) But, to say that You are “Northern Italian”, to me, Is Very Broad! Northern Italy can range anywhere from Rome (Roma) to Milano-Torino (Milan and Turn respectfully!). Italian Names for Cities! it sounds Better, Okay?! Anyway, We are from a Town (now a City) called Bergamo in The Italian Region of Lombardia. But, There is a Little of us that is Tuscan (or Toscana) from Pisa. I like to know the Nearest Major City when It comes to Geography and Where Places are. It is Northeast of The Major City of Milano. 

The German Side came from Great Grandma Mimi, who was German. Now, to say that You are German again is Very Broad as Germany is a Large Country. So, You could be Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfort, or any other City in between German. We are from a City called Stuttgart. The Nearest Major City on This side of Germany is Frankfurt. Although, Stuttgart can be considered a City of It’s Own. 

Of Course, The 10 Percent Irish segment of Me, comes from My Mom’s Dad, Popi who was a little bit of Irish. We are not what region of Irish, but because Ireland is a smaller and less broad Country, I would probably guess that We were from Dublin. Now, I have heard that You could get Ancestry Citizenship of a Country like Ireland, like I feel that with respect to Ireland, I don’t feel that Irish. Italian, is more of a Likely Ideal. When You have Family Names like Borella, Cravero, and Vitagliano, You can’t get any more Italian than That! All in all, If You are Curious about History or Your Own History, I think You ought to check it out because You may find Interesting Things!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Learn Where You Come from!

The Christianville Spirit: J-S Right Place, Right Time

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

October 11th, 2017-TCS # 565

Cześć, My Readers! Wow! This is a New and Very Challenging-Appearing Greeting. It is actually means Hello in Polish! Now, Contrary to what looks hard to say, It is pronounced “Chest” like the Chest Part of Your Body or in other words, the part of your body that covers Your Heart. So, You learned something new! Way to go, My Readers! Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, If You may recall in My Newsletter in 2016 that I have picture of Myself and A Woman who I mention at the End of My Newsletter. Refer to “The Untold Story of Mrs. Bachman and Mrs. James” (Newsletter 509). I mention her like This,

“One Last Note here, I met the Vice President of The College that My Mom works at and told her about My Mom (Who is a Brilliant Teacher as well!) about How Awesome The College is too. I hope that Someday soon They will have Work Programs for People like Me at The College. I know The VP is working on it. So, A Shoutout to VP Jennifer, who I will admit looks more like Her Name should be Samantha, therefore referring to her as Jennifer-Samantha. Shout Out!” 

Well, Jennifer-Samantha, as I refer to Her as, is to say the least is a Very Successful and Busy Woman! That is a Very Good Thing! So, A Couple Weeks ago, She said that She wanted to go to Dinner with us because She is Very Interested about My Fascination with Geography/History/Politics as well as The PTLS Story as well, and All the Places I have been so far. So, She invited us to Dinner last night and in True Jennifer-Samantha Fashion, It happened to be “Volunteer Night” at a Local Restaurant, Texas Roadhouse. So, On top of The Greatness of Going to Dinner, We also helped The Community of McKinney because 20% of Your Bill was Donated to a Group called “Volunteer McKinney.” Well, as Destiny would have it, Grandma Honey-Style, We ran into The Owners of a Place called “Hug’s Cafe”. Yes, that “Hug’s Cafe”, The one who for the First Time in Our Area, Hires those with Special Needs in the Food Industry. Now, Okay, There are Places that Hire those with Special Needs including Grocery Stores and The Baseball Stadium that I once worked at,( It might have been Hot to stand Outside in The Summer but, It was a Fun Job!) But, Hiring those with Special Needs are far in between. It really was an Honor to meet them! What was Funny though, is that When they walked up to us, It was as if They had felt like They had seen us before and Perhaps They did! or it might have been The Right Place at The Right Time type of Destiny. After We talked to them, We sat down and Hung out with Jennifer-Samantha as People wanted to see her and talk to her. Jennifer-Samantha is of and is in High Demand, She is a Hot Commodity, Ya Know! Actually, A Couple that wanted to see her was going to sit somewhere else and Sweet J-S invited them to eat Dinner with us and They did. Doing It Grandma Honey-Style! More Friends! The More, The Merrier! Dani and Claude Day were Their Names. They were Interesting People to talk to, We talked about Fasinating Things and Yes, including Airplanes and Airports. It was Very Interesting, The People that I talked to or were Introduced to. I Thank Jennifer-Samantha in a Big Way because of The Way that She Introduced me with such Pride, “This is Christian, You got to Meet Him! Hear His Story!”. I felt loved and accepted by Everyone! I look forward to Spending Time with Them and Jennifer-Samantha herself, again. Finally, Speaking of The Right Place at The Right Time, I felt a bit frustrated about An Event earlier in the day and so was Jennifer-Samantha, but Our Time hanging out, brought Talking and Laughing.  It reminds me of a Few Weeks Ago when I was Frustrated about Workers taking down a Part of My Fence to cut out a Part of One Our Trees and as I walking, My Neighbor’s Child, “Dom” ran across The Street to Hug Me and I thought to myself, “You have No Idea how much that helped me!”. All in all, Sometimes, Destiny has a Funny Way of working itself through. Gratis Destino! (Thank You Destiny in Italian). Of All Words in Italian, That is My Favorite Phrase!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. It is Good to feel loved and accepted.  

The Christianville Spirit: The Good Doctor

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

October 4th, 2017-TCS # 564

Happy October, My Readers! Yes, Some People just love October. It means Autumn, Pumpkins, Pumpkin-spice Lattes, and Of Course, Halloween. Me? I only like it because It is My Brother’s Birth-Month and for Fall Foliage but, Halloween is in Not My Favorite Holiday. So, on to This Week’s Newsletter and Happy 11th Year of Writing to Me! So, This Week’s Newsletter is about something that has been Unconventional for The Longest Time. Don’t Worry, Folks! It is not going to get real like Last Week’s Newsletter. So, There is a New Medical Drama in TV and It is actually better than Grey’s Anatomy, Better than Grey’s Anatomy?! No Way! That is Crazy! It is actually from Writer of The Former-Medical Drama, House. This Show takes on The Medical World with a Huge Twist, The Doctor has Autism. Yes, Really, Autism. So, The Show is called The Good Doctor and contrary to belief, There are a Ton of what They call “Good Doctors” or Basically, Doctors that have Special Needs out there. As Long as They are Morally Right, Can Speak as Clearly as Possible, and Have a Passion to Save Lives, then You can become a Doctor! Anyway, This Show stars a Doctor named Dr. Shaun Murphy, who has Autism, but is Extremely Smart and Can Sense Things that Most People can not. My Mom and I started watching this show Two Weeks Ago, Once to give it a Trial Run to see if We like it or not, and Move on from There. Well, Long Story, Short, It opened My Mom’s Eyes up to the Mind of Someone with Autism, as well as Myself. 

Like, The First Thing, He can Imagine the Medical Anatomy of Particular Region of The Body, has it Pictured in His Head, and then can figure out What is Wrong with The Patient. It is something that I can do, only with Maps. I can Image a Part of The World while explaining about a Country or Explaining History of When something happened. 

The Next Thing, Opened My Eyes, with an Issue of Communication and (At Least for Me) The Distress of Someone in The Hospital, How do You explain what You are seeing to Another Doctor that needs to hear it? Well, First Off, The Distress did not bother him because His passion is to Save Lives! Anyway, The Way They animate this Show, They show on a Screen what He is Seeing as to What is Wrong with Said Patient, but trying to Explain to another Doctor along with The Hardness of Communication and The Doctor’s sometimes don’t listen because They believe that, “He doesn’t Know Anything! He has Autism!” and, that can’t be farther from The Truth. Sometimes, even though I have PTLS and I can Communicate well, I sometimes have trouble conveying certain things as well. Because so many things are going on in My Mind that I want to say, that My Mind gets ahead of Me. One Thing that I connected with was that He listened to Each Order that The Doctors (who did not understand him) said and Took it in Every Literal sense of The Word. Regardless, of Whether They were being Sarcastic or Just Plain Mean! Sometimes, Doctors can be that way. Not Our PTLS Doctors Though!

Another Thing that He did that amazed me was His Intuition! Whereas I have Intuition about People’s Emotions, Dr. Shaun Murphy had Intuition about People’s Health. For Example, There was a Little Girl with a Stomach Ache and Shaun thought it was Something other than a Stomach Ache. One of The Doctors mentioned about The Girl’s Parents arguing, and Shaun was told to send The Girl home because They thought that It was Only a Stomach Ache caused by Stress. Later, Dr. Shaun did one of Images in His Head and Figured out what was Truly Wrong with Her. He then went to The Girl’s House and try to help Her and The Arguing Parents did not believe him. Shaun used his Power of Obsession by knocking on The Door repeatedly, and Finally, got in to see that Shaun was Right about The Little Girl, Her Intestines were Twisted, making her Stomach Ache. I can relate to that because Us PTLSers have that Stubborn/Determined/Obsessive Streak. She went into Surgery and came out Okay. But, What amazed me was that He sensed it, He broke a Few Rules trying to care for Her, and He was Completely Right. Had Shaun not been there and so determined, She would have Died. Who says that Stubbornness and Obsessing never got you anywhere! In This Case, It actually has gotten Him results for what He thinks is going on. If a Mean Doctor says No, He will Obsess and Find a Way to get it Done! Just like Dr. Shaun has another Doctor to support and fight for Him because The other Doctors don’t want him there, I have Someone to Support and Fight for Me to get a Job that I can do that Others think I can’t. After Watching This, I noticed the Discrimination of People with Special Needs, it does not matter what Special Needs they have. All in all, Just like Dr. Shaun Murphy is Smart in The Medical World, I am Smart in the Geography World like People will not give me an Opportunity in the Job World! I just need an Opportunity!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. See A Person Abilities, Not Disabilities. It Might save your Life! 

The Christianville Spirit: Weird Family; Explaining What I had and What My Mom did

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

September 27th, 2017-TCS # 563

Happy Autumn, My Readers! That is the Old English Way of saying, Fall. Honestly, I like to refer to Fall as Autumn, It sounds much nicer! So, Gather ‘round, My Readers, Rather ‘round! It is Time for Another Untold Story of My Life! This One, I feel is going to a Funny One and I am going to Warn You Folks, It is Definitely Not Traditional! 

So, The other Day, My Mom and I talking and started talking about My Childhood. It led to The Topic of What My Mom did for a Living when I was a Kid. We had a Good Laugh and I said “Boy, We were a Weird Family!”. Funny How You realize just how Weird your Family is or was when You get older in Life.

So, As A Child, There are a Few Questions that You can be asked of when You talk to Your Friends or Your Friend’s Parents, “What does Your Mom and/or Dad do?”. Other than that You proudly say What Your Parents do. In a Child’s Mind, If Your Parents do something simple and easy to explain, well it is Easy to explain. Presently My Mom is a Professor at a Community College teaching Medical and Health Care Classes, President of The Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Foundation, and The Last one, Part-Time Lactation Consultant. Easy to Explain, at least Right Now that is. Now, try to Imagine, Trying to explain or at least, wanting to Explain what Special Needs You have or in other words, Why I have a Little Twang in My Voice that is a bit Nasally. I have Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (or PTLS), It is Autistic-like. We are like Autism, only Friendlier. Again, Easy to explain. Well, Let’s flash back to When I was a Child! (Sound of Time Machine Whooshing). I am in 4th or 5th Grade in the Late 90’s, Old enough to want to explain what I had and What My Mom did. At This Time in My Life, I knew that I had something called “A Duplication of Chromosome 17” because at the Time, Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski had not put a Name to It yet. Add to that, that not A lot of People had “What I had”, I was 4th in The World and 1st in The United States, A Blessing and a Curse at the Same Time. Again, This was at The Time. Now, My Mom, at the time, was a Nurse, but, did Lactation Consultation until She decided add on Massage later on a Couple Years Later to help with The Child Birth and Parenting Classes that She was Teaching.

Now, Lactation Consultation (We will just call it LC), to put it simply, is teaching Your Baby to basically feed from The Mother. The Mother’s Breast. Also known as Breastfeeding (I will be Honest, those Words make me Laugh still). Now, as A Child, I could not even pronounce LC, All I knew was The Alternate Name, “Breastfeeding” because that was, what it was, to put it simply, It was Breastfeeding. So, When that question came about, What does Your Mom do and Why do You speak Funny? I answered Very Proudly (even though I probably had No Idea what I was actually saying) “My Mom does Breastfeeding” and I talk Funny, again answering Proudly “I have a Duplication of Chromosome 17”. I got quite a Few Puzzled Looks when I said both of Those. Both of Which I usually said, Just ask My Mom. Yes, even though I had No Idea how to explain about What I had, I would still say “Do You want to do what Special Needs I have?” They would answer Yes, thinking it was something Easy like Autism or Down Syndrome. Nope, I had something that was more More Unique and Even though, I was Rare and 4th in The World having it, I was Extremely Proud! Even My Brother had a Hard Time explaining, What My Mom did and What I had. He was curious one time about What Color the Milk was that coming of These Moms, thinking It might be Red like Blood or maybe Blue or Green. My Mom did her job at The Hospital, Doctor’s Office, or At the Client’s House. So, We did not see her when She was doing her job with The Babies and the Moms. It made things confusing, This was not a “Take Your Kids to Work” Day kind of Work. But, We did go to Her Business Partner, Mrs. Ramirez’s House every now and then. We went to School with Mrs. Ramirez’s Kids. As for Explaining What I had, It was Hard to explain, let alone pronounce “a Duplication of Chromosome 17” and Know what I was saying. At The Time, My Brother, Michael, was Very Confused! All We knew was that I had something Very Unique! So , I look back on all of That and Laugh because it was not Easy at all. All in all, If You need to know how The Body works (even if You are not Breastfeeding, Pregnant, or Parenting), She can help you understand all the Medical Stuff, and She is The Expert on PTLS!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Embrace Your Weird Family!   

The Christianville Spirit: PTLS Adult Struggles-A Christianville Classic

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

September 20th, 2017- TCS # 562

Buena-sera, My Readers! As I like to try different greetings, Buena-sera is Italian for “Good Day”. You Know, I have to say, Saying it and hearing it the way it is said sounds really nice. I am Excited about that saying because I am proud to announce that We now have a few PTLS Family Members from Italy! Shout Out to My New PTLS Family in Italia! Sounds a Perfect Excuse to see Italy! Okay, This Week’s Newsletter is going to be rather Personal and Real. You See, as I have mentioned many times before, Often I come across Some really Gold Newsletters that I have written in The Past in My Facebook “On This Day” Feed, but I realize that This One that I wrote a Few Years ago, I did not like The Structure of It, so I am going to Re-Structure This Newsletter as well as I should add it to My “Christianville Classics” List. As a Reminder, My Christianville Classics are Classic Newsletters that I feel, are The Highlights and The Truly Gold of My Newsletters. Always check to that List because I am always adding more Every Now and Then. As an Editor’s Note, at the Time of This Newsletter, I was not going through My current Laser Hair Removal Process. *As a Precaution, I will put a Rating on One of My Struggle Topics.

This Newsletter was written on September 17th of 2014 (Refer to Newsletter 417). It is The Struggles of a PTLS Adult. 

So, As PTLS Family Members (I have Acronym’d them as PFMs) always wonder about The Life of A Young Adult with PTLS and What do They struggle with. Parents of Young Kids with PTLS often forget that The PTLS Adults also need Support for Different Things like Living Situation, Jobs, Romantic Life, and My Personal Favorite (Not Really!), Independence! At Least, that is What I struggle with.  

Independence

So, I guess I will start with The Struggle with Independence because That often Frustrates me The Most. The Truth is, although I love My Mom and Love Living with My Mom, I will eventually want Independence. 

So, Let’s Start with What I can do. I can dress Myself, Feed Myself, Cook Meals (within Reason), Microwave Meals are the Best I work with if I am by Myself. I don’t work with The Stove if I am by Myself, If I do, I have to have Someone There. I could go to The Grocery Store to get things If I need to, only Problem is that, I don’t announce that I need something from The Grocery Store until It is almost Gone, so I need to Work on that, and I can Shave My Face (But, only Top half of My Face), because Shaving the bottom bothers me sensitivity wise, and The Motor Skills don’t help much either. So, Yes, I need Help with that, usually My Mom helps me with that. 

The Things that I can not do, I don’t Drive (that is okay with Me). Now, that is not to Say that I Can’t Drive because I have Driven a Car with My Brother in The Neighborhood and I have driven numerous Golf and Go Karts. But, Again, The Problem is that living in a Suburban City like Plano, I would be more of a Danger to The Other Drivers, as They would to Me. Add to that, that I am busy looking at all the Surroundings and My Reaction Time is Very Slow, so Someone could cut me off or Slam on Their Brakes and I wouldn’t be paying attention or I wouldn’t react as fast. I’ve always told Myself that, “If We lived in a Small Town where Everyone knows Me, then I would do better Driving.” In My Head (which is a Saying, I use ALOT!), People would know me well enough, that They would be like, “Oh, There’s Christian on The Road, be Careful!” Next Thing that I believe holds me back the most is The Shaving. Now, before You tell me that I should use a Good Razor, I have tried Every Razor that I could. I use an Electric Razor because in My Head, It seems easier to use than a Straight Razor. Believe Me, I tried a Straight Razor once (a Single one) when I was Younger and it got caught and it ripped My Skin off on My Chin. 

Jobs and/or Finding a Job

The Next Thing that is a Struggle with is Finding a Job that suits me. Meaning a Job that is not too Overwhelming, Has a Calm Environment, and has Good Structure. Let’s not forget to Mention, Something that Interests me. Now, I have seen Jobs that I have liked like Navteq, The Weather Channel, and Google. I would want to do the “Street View” side of Google. 

As Far as Jobs that I have done, The First Paid Job was The Frisco Roughriders (a Double-A League Baseball Team) as a “PlayBall Attendant”, meaning Someone who passes out Programs to The Community. I have to say, although, I had to stand in The Heat most of The Summer, It was actually an Enjoyable Job. 

I also did “Kid Sitting” one fall, All I had to do was Make sure that He did his Homework. I did well at that job because I am a Rule Follower. Unpaid Jobs, I did what I now refer to as “Parking Lot Duty”, back when I was in 10.5 Grade (a Repeat of 10th Grade) which I had to walk the Staff Parking Lot and jot down the License Plate if They were parked in The Wrong Place. That Job, I am Very Proud of because I got 100% Compliance from The Teachers at the High School I went to. While I was doing that, I also Delivered things to different Classrooms as well as Office Work in The School Office. 

Living Situation (with Mom, Roommate, or Soulmate)

So, The Next Thing that I want to move forward with is My Living Situation, Now at the Risk of Sounding Negative about this, It is not really a Struggle but, a Concern. Currently I live with My Mom here in Plano, but The Concern comes in when I want to be Independent. I have told Myself that I have always wanted to live near The Smith Family and My Mom wants us (meaning Myself, Michael, and My Mom) to be near Each Other. I, of course, want to make sure that My Mom lives nearby so that She can help me. By Nearby, I mean, Down The Street, Next Door Preferably, or at least in The Same City. 

By The Way, as Far as Living Independently, I would probably live with a Roommate if I am Single at The Time (Which I don’t believe I will be!) or I will live with My Significant Other (aka, My Future Soulmate). 

Romantic Life, Dating, and Married Life (PG-13 to R)

Speaking of Romantic Life, that would be something that I am watching for. I have a Feeling that She is Reading This, Secretly Admiring Me, even though I have never met her. Although, I think that I would have Control of it for The Most Part, I would meet her, Date Her, and then Eventually, Marry Her. I would Love My Future Soulmate with All My Heart! And, I am sure that She would too. Considering The Fact that I get Anxious about New Things and New Events, I would hope My Wedding goes off Anxiety-Free. Which is Normal for Everyone to get Anxious about it.
My Honeymoon will be Excellent, I have that all planned out to Possible Places to go! One Area that I am Really Concerned about is Having Sex with My Wife (This might be Personal, but It is Reality), due to having Texture Issues, I am not sure how I will respond when that time comes. Seeing and Touching Body Parts, and The Act of Sex may or may not go over so well. That Thought Alone makes me Very Anxious.

As Far as Married Life goes, Her and I would live together and Travel The World together! We would not have Children because They would be hard to take care of and It is a 50/50 Chance of them also having PTLS. In The Event that We wanted Children, We would Adopt. So, All in All, It is not always Easy living with PTLS, but I would never give it up for Anything, Not even a Cure!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. PTLS makes me who I am, Wonderful and Unique.

The Christianville Spirit: What I Love about Sirius/XM Radio

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

September 13th, 2017-TCS # 561

Turn It Up, My Readers! Turn What up, You might ask? Well, You are in for a Treat. Okay, This Week’s Newsletter may not be The Most Conventional of Topics that I write about but, It does have a History. You See, I wrote a Newsletter about a Service that helps “Young People” that don’t have a Computer..... I actually explain it really well in This Newsletter about A Service called “SunnyGram”. Here’s Me when I wrote This Newsletter on October 21st of 2009 (Refer to Newsletter 170)

So, I was watching the News like I always do and the other day, they mentioned that I thought would be helpful to our “Younger People”. You know how people these days email each other a lot? Well, how about emailing your grandparents or parents that don’t know how to work or not have a computer, well now you can. They call it a SunnyGram, a SunnyGram is a service for people who either don’t know how to a work a computer or a person who doesn’t have a computer. And, how it works is you and other write an email to them and, SunnyGram compiles all the emails into a newsletter-like format and then, sends it to them via Their Mailbox. And, they can respond by writing their response in a pre-paid envelope back to you. So, now you can email a family member that doesn’t know how to work a computer or have one by email and have it sent to them. And, by the way, the newsletter format is in big letters so that they can read it also. I believe it will be a faster way to communicate with them, without sending letters that take a longer time to get to them. All in all, it’s an amazing way to keep your “Younger” member of the family both informed and in the loop. 

Back to Present Day Me! So, A Couple Years after writing that Newsletter, They actually responded. I was Very Surprised that They did. They basically thanked for Promoting Their Service, Which to This Day I read it back and Although, It changed It’s Name, It really is a Brilliant Service. So, I figured that With This Week’s Newsletter, I would mention something more Present Day that I Love. Sirius/XM Radio. I Love Sirius/XM Radio. Okay, so You are probably asking a Few Questions, Where did this come from? In YouTube Way, Am I sponsored by Them? and Why Am I writing this? Well, in Short, I saw a “Free Listening Period” Commercial for them and I thought about How Much I Love Them as well as The Previously Mentioned “SunnyGram” Newsletter. No, I am not Sponsored. Although, It would probably be My Mother’s Dream to be or for PTLS to be mentioned on “Doctor Radio”. and, Why am I writing this? Well, not Necessarily to get any response from Them, but Just to mention how It benefits me. So, I researched it Years Ago, It used to be Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio separately adding Howard Stern on Sirius Radio. At The Time, That was not enough to get People to listen. It was not until Sirius and XM merged, Now known as Sirius/XM Satellite Radio and has Plenty of Programming. So, When We bought the Car that We presently have, This was back in 2009, I believe, but I digress. It came with Sirius/XM Radio along with AM/FM Radio and We have had AM/FM Radio forever. At The Time, I thought, “Satellite Radio?! Doesn’t that eliminate Radio Markets and Listening to The Radio with Local Commercials and What not?! That is just Crazy!”. Luckily, with The Car, They gave us a Free Trial to see if We would like it. Again, at the Time, I thought that it would be a waste! Well, Not Quite anymore. Now, I should mention that This is Paid Radio, In other words, A Subscription. Back when it was separated, Not a lot of People wanted to “Subscribe” to listen to Not-A lot-Of-Programming, except if You were a Loyal Howard Stern Fan! But, Today, They have a Ton of Programming. From Music of Pretty Much Every Generation (They have Music dating back to The 40’s!, Yes Really), Genres of Music, The News (CNN, Fox News, BBC, NPR; to name a few), Talk Radio (from Glenn Beck to Oprah Show, Today Show, Gayle King Show), Comedy (Larry The Cable Guy to Howard Stern), Old Stories, and much more.. It was enough to even entertain Grandma Honey with 50’s Music or Even, My Brother with Jam Sessions. So, What do we or can we Listen to? Well, My Mom, She loves listening Doctor Radio, 50’s Music (50’s on 5), and Mix Music with The Blend or Pop Music with The Pulse. But, I think Her Favorite has to be Doctor Radio and NPR. “The NYU Docs” as They call themselves. They actually have useful information on There. Although, Before We turn the Car off and Put it on Doctor Radio, They often talk about The Weirdest Subjects in The Medical World. 

Me, I like Pop Music on The Blend; Country Music (like 80s/90s Country) on Prime Country; I like to listen to The News if Something is going on or We are on a Road Trip and I like to Listen to The News at The Time. I usually listen to either CNN or Fox News, and finally, In The Politics Region, I used to Listen to Glenn Beck on Conservative Radio, Sirius/XM Patriot. I do like to listen to The Pulse but They have Pop Music that is Very Current, like This Week kind of Current. Now, 80s/90s Country Music on Prime Country, like My Mom with Doctor Radio, is My Favorite Station! I could spend an Entire Drive around The Area listening to that. 80s/90s Country, at least, I feel, is one of those Genre’s of Music that is the most pleasant to listen to while on The Road. It is Very Road Trip Friendly kind of Music. 

My Brother, when He rode with Us, was Hard to please with Music before Sirius/XM Radio. He would listen to his own music. But, on Sirius/XM, I feel that He likes Sirius/XM Jam_ON which Plays his Favorite Music.

By The Way, I forgot to mention that, with Sirius/XM, You don’t have to go digging for a Radio Station in each Radio Market, that ends at the End of The Radio Market. You can to listen to Same Station through Many Cities. Since having Sirius/XM, We have not gone back to AM/FM Radio, except at Christmas to listen to Syndicated Christmas Lights and That one time that The Sirius/XM was not working temporarily and We got it Fixed. I like to say that Sirius/XM is totally worth having! The only thing that They are missing is a Christianville Spirit Channel! It is totally worth it! and, They are always adding Stations with New Material. If You are tired of The Christianville Spirit Channel, There is an Entire Channel for Catholics on The Catholic Channel (Not all Serious, a Little Catholic Humor in There) or Joel Osteen on Joel Osteen Radio. All in all, It all depends on What You want to Listen to at The Moment. 80’s Music? 50’s or 60’s Music? The News? Comedy? Stories? Your Pick!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Find the Station that Makes You want to Turn It Up! (See what I did there)  

The Christianville Spirit: A Requested Newsletter about Animals

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

September 6th, 2017-TCS # 560

Happy September, Everyone! This is The First Month of The Fall Foliage Season, so Get Yourself and Cameras Ready! I Love Fall (or Autumn) Foliage Season! It is so Pretty to look at Pictures of Nature’s Pure Beauty that is Fall Foliage! I wish to see it for Myself One Day! So, On to My Newsletter! So, Last Week, I got a request, along with Questions on a Topic that I should write about. So, Write about it, I will! So, This Topic is something I mention a lot about Briefly but, Never have really gone in Detail about. It is kinda Funny actually. I would think that after 11 Years of Writing and 500 Newsletters that I would have Explained Pretty Much Everything in My Life, in Detail, especially Something of This Importance. So, The Question from a PTLS Family Member says “About My Dog and How I care for Them. Thoughts on Animals in General. Did You like Them as A Kid and Do They help with Anxiety?” So, Most of My Childhood, after I was 7 years old, I remember that We did have a Pet. My Mom tells me when I was little I saw a Big Animal, like a Horse, and literally, Jumped up on My Grandma Honey, or when we went to a friend’s who had a really Big dog, I climbed right up the man who owned her, screaming and crying, I was so Scared! So, I guess, We will start with The First Segment.

 “Do You like Animals as A Kid?” As I Mentioned about The Horse Story, Probably not, or at least, Big Animals. Regular Animals like Cats and Dogs, I was not sure about, but I came to love them. Other than One Time that I was playing at a Friend’s House in San Antonio and The Dog got a Bit Excited and nipped at me, I have been fine with Pets. You See, One Day, My Mom, Michael, and I went to a Friend’s House that lived near a Park that we played at. Anyway, I remember There was a A Tree House that We wanted to play up in it. I remember running to go up in The Treehouse with My Brother and The Dog nipped at My Foot, they did not really Bite per se, but to Me, It Hurt. But, that was The Only Crazy Animal Story that I remember.

The First Pet that I remember getting was at Michael’s baseball Game (Refer to Newsletters mentioning “Mr. Jeff Era”) and There was a Guy selling Kittens and one of us wanted it. It was a Cat. Yes, My Readers! As a Present-Day Dog Person, there was a Time in My Life when We had a Cat. “Honey” was her name. A Dark Gray and White Cat. Honey was a Very Sweet Cat and Very Quiet as well with My Sensitive Hearing. The Next Animal We got was again during “The Mr. Jeff Era” (He was a Guy that My Mom was dating, and going to marry, that We lived with for a lot of Our Childhood). My Mom had a Friend that lived near Canyon Lake (Outside of San Antonio) and We would go visit her before I went to go visit My Dad for The Weekend. Anyway, I was pacing back and forth on The Rock Driveway and all of a Sudden, this Dog came up and It startled me at First, wondering where The Dog came from. It came from The Neighbors that were not so Nice to it (Her). She crawled up to us and Michael was like “Aww, Can we have it?!” and Somehow, The Dog jumped in Our Van and Back Home we went. We named The Dog, Sophie. Honey was not Very Pleased with Sophie but, She got used to it. After a rather traumatic ending for Our Cat, Honey, Each Time that We got a New Pet, It was always a Dog. Until Recently, We have always had Girl Dogs. My Mom would rather prefer a Girl Dog over a Boy Dog. But, Now We have Our Family’s First Boy Dog, Paco!

 So, Next Question “Thoughts on Animals in General”. Animals in General, I feel, are Very Smart! All of Our Dogs (and, Honey) were Very Smart, they could do a lot. Horses, in the Big Animal Category are more than Smart, They are Intelligent. One Thing though that Bothers me is when The Animals are in Distress, just like People in Distress (Barking distressly, Yelping, Whining). My Sensitive-Loving Heart can not take It! For Some Reason, When We have to scold them because They did Something Wrong, I hate that because I feel bad for The Dog. I think I can understand them, and they understand Me, even without Speaking. 

So, The Next Question, “About My Dogs and How do I care for My Dogs”. So, Each Dog that We got All of Them Rescues and Three of Them were what Animal Lovers refer to as “Foster Failures”. The First and Original Foster Failure was Mandy, Our Black Lab. A Friend of Ours was moving and could not take the Dog with them, so They gave Mandy to us and for us, to find Mandy a Home. After a Couple Months, I was pretty sure that We were Keeping Her. After Having Her for Several Years, It was Pretty Clear. After Sophie past away, Mandy went into a Depression. So, My Mom and My Aunt Kathy, took Mandy to The Shelter to find a Companion Dog for not only us, for Her too. She was a Mamma Dog as My Mom says, a Dog that likes to care for Another Younger Dog, Keyword here, Younger. So, in comes a 6 Month Ago Tea-Cup German Shepard that literally ran around The Room and Mandy put her paw on Her Head and Called her, Hers. We named her Zoe. So, Several Years Later, We were to “Foster” another Dog, A Rhodesian Ridgeback that needed to be Rescued from It’s Previous Home. We were only to keep Said Dog for 2 Days until The Previous Owner could find a Home. Well, needless to say, 2 Day became, 2 Week became, 2 Years and We did have Her. We named her Sadie Good-Lord. After Mandy passed away, We narrowed back down to 2 Dogs. that’s Perfect! I can handle Two Dogs! Hold On, says God! For I have a Humored Plan for You! God does that sometimes (Clearing Throat) A Lot! My Mom’s Friend, Barb was at a Flea Market in a Town called Canton (about an Hour East of Dallas) and She rescued a Brindle Colored 4 Month Old (NOT Potty Trained) Puppy, Boy Dog. After Attempting to Take The Boy Dog up to Michael, who He would have been perfect for, We had to bring him back, to Potty Train Him, and then Send Him back to Michael. Well, You see where This is going, Foster Failure! He was been here ever since and Him and I have Bonded. Funny thing though, I was not sure that having a Puppy, Especially that Young! I did not want him at first, I wanted him for My Brother. Well, Clearly, I have earned myself, The First Boy Dog that Our Family has ever had! Boy, He is probably the Most Vocal of The Dogs that We have had.

 So, How do I care for Them? Well, While My Mom is at Work, I sleep in until 2:45PM. Sadie really likes it because She can lay against My Leg and protects me. A natural Companion Dog! Something that Years ago (when Mandy and Sophie were around) I would not want Dogs laying with Me on My Bed, or Dogs on My Bed at all. I have certainly become more relaxed about that! Of Course, Paco, He loves to lay under The Bed as does Zoey sometimes. and after that, If My Mom is not home yet, I usually feed the Dogs and Let them Outside, and helped with the potty training of Paco (That was a Feat of It’s Own), letting him in and out all morning and afternoon, and evening. I do My Best to make sure that Paco stays out of Trouble because He has a Sensitive Stomach. I feel oddly that Me and Paco are Very Much Alike because If We are doing something different that He is not used to, I talk to Him about it and I let him know what is going on, and He listens to My Every Word! He understands me and I understand him, even if he is not able to talk. There are Sometimes I feel like He is a PTLS Puppy because He is non-verbal but, He makes these noises which I called “Talking” which is like me when I was little, I made noises thinking They were Words and I was Talking. So, I understand what Paco is saying. I understand Him like His need for Predictability, and He is Hyper leaping across The Yard not knowing where He is going or why. 

Regarding, if They help me with My Anxiety, All of Our Dogs are Very Intuitive and Paco is, as well. I call them My Companion Dogs even though They have not been officially trained and I Love Them Very Much. I think that us PTLSers have a Special Bond with Animals like Dogs and Horses. It is like We understand each other and It doesn’t take talking or words to Understand Each Other. All in all, I think that All Children should have a Cat or a Dog as a Companion.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Animals have a Very Important Place in Our Life. To Make us feel Loved and Understood!

The Christianville Spirit: A Conversation about Anxiety-Answering a Parent's Question

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 30th, 2017-TCS # 559

Be Blessed, My Readers! Be Blessed?! That is a New and Different Greeting! Well, Before I get to My Newsletter I want to take a Moment to Mention Something. So, Be Blessed, It has a Meaning. You See, I am sure that You already know this but, There is a Huge Flooding event from a Hurricane occurring in Our PTLS Capitol City of Houston. It is from a Hurricane that I have dubbed it both “The Drunken Hurricane” (It’s Path was going in Circles) and “A Very Overwhelmed and Tired Two-Year-Old Hurricane with Tantrum that Won’t Stop”(Slow Moving Storm and Stuck in One Area with a Ton of Rain). But, In all Seriousness here, It is Really Bad down there, like Worse than Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Harvey will likely live in Houston’s History forever. Now, I want to assure you that Yes, Our Respective Doctors, Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski are Okay and They are Safe. It hurts to know that Our PTLS Capitol is going through that. So, Be Blessed. It is means to One, Be Blessed You are not in it and Two, Be Blessed that If You live down there, that You got out and You are Okay. People of Houston, as A Representative of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (A Unique Chromosome Duplication that was named in Your City). Please know that We stand beside You in any Love and Support that You need. I am Very Proud of Our State of Texas because we came together to help each other not Hurt each other, Love not Hate. We love You, Houston!

So, with that said, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, After I wrote a Newsletter Last Week about Anxiety and Being Overwhelmed, A PTLS Family Member asked a Really Good Question that really made me think. So, I am going to answer it by doing a Remix of A Newsletter I wrote about it. The Question was that Her PTLSer is one that wants to know Every Detail of An Event coming up and then, asks about it repeatedly. As The PTLSer does so, It increases their Anxiety before The Event so, They ask “Would it be easier to not know about Something until the Last Minute or would that make the situation worse?” They really Floored Me there! Because that is a Really Good Question to think of asking. And, It is a Very Challenging one at that! So, I am going to try My Best to provide an Answer via One of My Newsletters. This Newsletter was written on October 24th of 2012 (Refer to Newsletter 322). I hope this Answers Your Question. So, I included a Little background from another Rerun of This Newsletter to help you understand.

October 24, 2012, Just before My Brother’s 24th Birthday. On This Day in My Life, I had gotten home from The Dentist’s Office and I was wanting to share My Experience about My Anxiety. Anxiety, By the way, is Very Typical of PTLS Children (One trait, that if Given the Chance, I would take away; All others I would Leave) and Hopefully, This will help you handle it when It occurs. As They say in TV and Radio, Roll it Guys...

So, Last Thursday, My Mom and I had one of the best talks we’ve had in a while. However, as My Uncle Bruce would call it, “The context of it” wasn’t that fun and happening at the time it was happening. Now, don’t worry it’s not bad, I promise! You See, about 2 weeks ago, My Mom told me that I had a Dentist Appointment on Thursday, The 18th. She let me know so I would be prepared and not spring up on me like “Oh, by the way...We’re going to The Dentist today.” Now, the reason she told me is because having predictability is essential to us PTLSers because we don’t focus without it. Not only that but, the Anxiety increases as well. On the other hand, when I know about it, I obsess about it and I get anxious about it. So, usually when I’m told in advance, I get nervous and fret about it until the day of. Bottom line, I’m nervous the most the night before, the morning of, and when the event starts. So, that brings me to This Afternoon (it was Thursday when I wrote this). So, I was nervous as usual and we discovered that the appointment was an hour later than she thought, so we had time to talk, but it also gave me more time to be worried. Here is how the talk began. You see, Everyone, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE having PTLS and I wouldn’t give it up for anything, Nothing! However, there are parts of the behaviors that I would love to get rid, that one being Anxiety and, that was one of the first thing I told My Mom. So, she was wondering if I sit during this extra hour of waiting, and do nothing, does it help with my Anxiety? Unfortunately, No. In fact it only makes it worse because I obsess about it even more, because I know, wether I sit still and Watch TV or check Facebook, whatever the event is, it is still going to happen. So, she suggested that we hop in the car, start driving toward the Dentist’s Office and keep moving. So, we started discussing, how I feel about my anxiety and methods on how I can get through it and how she could help me get through it. This has always been something she wondered about if she handled me the right way when I was a Child. As far as the sitting still or delaying it, that only makes me frustrated because it just means the event in question is still in your face and it’s not going to move unless you go through it. So, then comes the question of “should I tell you about a week before or be like, Surprise! We’re doing This” (in this case, “You and I are going to The Dentist, right now.”) I told her that it would be a Defiance of Trust to me if she didn’t give me enough warning. Remember though that My Mom and I have a good relationship, I tell her what’s going on with me and she tells me some of the stuff going on with her. So, how would I tell the difference when someone says, “Let’s get in the Car”; does it mean that your going out to Dinner, to The Movies maybe, on a Drive (which I love to do), or going to The Doctor to get your blood drawn. So I told her, that I have to know about it because I need predictability and predictable outcomes. Now, It may make me nervous, physically sick to my stomach and fret to no end, but it’s better for me to know than be surprised with something like that. The only thing is that it is frustrating is to know I am going to get sick (which is very ugly, loud and embarrassing) to know that you can’t get around it. So, then the problem comes, when the event happens, what do you (the parents & Kids) do? Well, that’s the part that gets me emotionally confused (and it had me very emotional talking about). Whether you ease into it slowly or be out front about it, just make me do it. When it comes to Doctors, Dentists, and Needles, the best thing is just do it, be direct, but with a gentle firmness that gets it over with quickly. Once I get through it, I am fine. Now, I know PTLS Parents are wondering, “But, I don’t want to force it on them!”. Well, the thing is, you don’t have to force but, you have to push a little bit. I mean, as I told My Mom, “If you didn’t push while I was worried and getting sick to my stomach, then I wouldn’t have given a Love Note to Ali and she wouldn’t have known that I liked her” Other examples, I would never have learned to swim, go down a slide, snow ski, or performed in the Second Grade play at School (all which I really liked and didn’t want to stop after I did it), go into the 4th grade Economic Fair (because they had “Gak” and the sight of this makes me throw up), I would have never went out on a date, Went to Homecoming, had a Girlfriend, had a job or I would have never even have met My PTLS “Sister” (yes, it’s been awhile since I mentioned her). Now, I know your also wondering about the whole dentist appointment thing went, well I have an easy Gag Reflex and I was afraid that I was going to gag when I had to open your mouth. I do not like peoples hands and dental things in my mouth, so when they do I gag and get sick. However, a positive note, I didn’t gag this time, because Julie (the Name of the Dental Hygienist) was very nice and talked me through it, they had a T.V. for me to watch CNN, as well as the fact that she was very pretty. So the appointment went fine. I should mention though that these anxieties lasts until the event starts happening and then I start to calm down and have a good time. Anyway, the bottom line here is that your child can do a long list of things, but sometimes though, we need a little loving push to get through the anxiety we have and we’ll get it done.

All in All, remember that it depends on what the event is will tell if the PTLSer will be anxious about it and be able to get through it, no matter how hard you push them, but try anyway. This is what My Mom did and it worked.  

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Why do people eat Desserts when they are Stressed? Because Desserts is Stressed spelled backwards.  

The Christianville Spirit: School Days, Overwhelming Days

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 23rd, 2017-TCS # 558

Welcome Back to School, My Readers! Okay, actually, Your Children are probably have already been told that or will be told that! Yes, It is Back to School Time! The Time when Everyone, young and old go back to School. I guess You could consider This Newsletter, School. Because I teach you things that You may not even think about. How School is that?! Get It? Just figured that I would make a Joke for those actually Going to School, both Kids and Young Adults. Young Adults can go to School too via College. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, Speaking of School, Going back to School means at least for us, PTLSers, that We finally get into a Nice Routine. I remember I did. I obviously talk about The Importance of Routine in My Newsletters a lot. Routine is Very Important to us PTLSers. But, Here is something that I am not sure that I have talked about or have only mentioned in Brief. Usually, I mention it at The End of an Exciting Event in My Life that I tell you. Or It is in the Newsletter after. So, What Am I talking about? Well, Like I said Routine is Important but, being Human and having Out-of-Routine Events happen. That is a Given. Like a Vacation, A Family Road Trip, A Cruise, Someone coming to Visit, or Some Kind of Adjustment to Our Routine. The Thing that makes it easier if It is Predictable, but Again, that does not happen. I am reminded of a Question of One of The PTLS Member’s Boyfriend asked me at The Conference, Being that You need Routine, How do You come down from a Routine-Changing Event? Usually, It involves what I call a Recovery from Whatever Event. My Theory is that My Recovery comes from a lot of different factors like How Big is The Event? Lots of People or a Group of People; How Much of a Difference in Routine am I dealing with? For The PTLS Conference, It was 4 Days. For My Cruise, It was a Week but, with Somewhat of a Different Routine than My Own. and, Probably, The Biggest Factor, What is The Craziness Level in This? 10 being Lots of Activity and/or Distress (or Both) or 0 being I am going out to Dinner with Friends to a Familiar Restaurant. So, How do I recover from Something like a PTLS Conference? So, once The Event ends, I describe it as Driving Very Fast on a Highway and all of a sudden, There is Nothing pushing you, Nothing left to do except Slow Down and go back to Your Routine. To Me, that basically means, that I have to Literally Slam on My Brakes and that usually causes me to Need Time to Calm Down or What I call, “Coming Down” (In Kids, It would be called a Meltdown, only They cry, scream, and kick their legs) after all The Excitement. I have one after Every Big Event that I go to. What I mean is that I am Tired Physically and Mentally. I am Overwhelmed.

Sometimes, My Excitement gets to be Too Much for Me to Handle before My Big Event is over, There have been numerous times when that happens. Two Times that I really remember, Once while at Disney World when I was Kid and Another when We were driving to a PTLS Member’s House during The Stockholm and London Trip.  

After I have My “Coming Down” and Assess all of My Emotions, and Is It normal that I am having them. Then, I get into My Routine as much as I can but, Also It still takes a while to Digest, depending on The Size of The Event. PTLS Conferences (Refer to Any PTLS Conference Newsletter), Great Wolf Lodge (Refer to “Great Wolf Lodge” Newsletter), My Cruise with PTLS (Refer to “Cruise of a Lifetime” Newsletter), It took anywhere from a Week to Week and a Half to Recover. It does help to talk to My Mom about Everything, both exciting (which comes first) and then Emotional, It also helps to Listen to Soft Music (Back when The Great Wolf Lodge thing happened, I listened a Ukulele version of The New Zealand National Anthem. It is Beautiful, I recommend it!), I Take a Nap, or Watch a YouTuber driving on The Road and Listen to sounds of The Road and Bridges (I like Bridges more because They make a Better Sound). Just some Quiet Time with Little to No Activity is all I need. But, I know that all of Us PTLSers have the Same Needs like This, so I am not Alone. Only the Little Kids cannot express this well for a Parent to know what is going on, so The Parent complains of The Child’s Meltdown, not really understanding what is going on. This happened to Me when I was Little, but Good Thing, My Mom knew what to do and Still knows My Facial Expressions which She knows when I am Overwhelmed and Ready for a “Come Down”. When I was Younger, The Teachers could always tell when I had spent the Weekend with My Dad because of The Lack of Routine and Too Much Stimulation, I had My “Come Downs” Monday Mornings at School and They said, I could not focus. I would rock back and forth, hum, and Stim More intensely, and The Teachers had a Problem with getting me to re-focus. But, They knew that I would be Okay in a Day or Two and Back to My Old Self. All in all, Going back to School means a lot of Excitement both Good and Bad, We PTLSers love School, Love to watch The Kids, Just have respect for Our Need to withdraw to “Come Down”.

Thanks For Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrate going Back to School, Balanced with Quiet Time.