Please stop howling!

"Please stop howling!" I realize that it is close to Halloween, but that has nothing to do with this post. I'm guessing that at some point someone out there has used this phrase...while talking to a dog. We don't have a dog.

What do we have and why would I say this? We have a child with Asperger Syndrome, mild autism, social delays, whatever you might want to call it today!

We told her to take a shower. About 30 minutes later I found her in her room. Granted she had her night clothes in her hands, but she was in her room at the computer. I told her again. "Mom, I'm going. I just needed to do this first." Take a shower NOW! Off she goes to the bathroom. I was next door in the craft room. I didn't hear water at first. I thought maybe she was, um, taking care of business first. After quite some time, I call out, "Are you in the shower?" I knew she wasn't running water, but I asked anyway. She then runs out of her room and tells me, "I'm going to get in now!" Sigh.

She finally gets in the shower. This child sings. She sings well. She sings a lot. It was not unusual to hear her singing in the shower. Actually, both our girls sing in the shower. I don't. I think in the shower. I am ALONE in the shower with no one asking me questions or wanting me to do something for them RIGHT THEN. Well, the singing suddenly turned into something that sounded like this, "Awooooooooooooo....oooooooooooo. awwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooo....." and continued in different pitches. I'm sure she could reproduce the exact sound if asked. The other child was already asleep, so I didn't want this to wake her up. I was about to say something when it stopped. A few minutes passed and again I heard "Awwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooooooooooo...." I finally called out, "Please stop howling!"

I then laughed to myself thinking how I never dreamed I would be telling my teenage daughter to stop howling. After she got out of the shower I heard Phil telling her, as she was going downstairs, "WALK down the stairs. Walk on both feet. Walk standing up. That isn't standing up." I can only imagine she was climbing the wall as she went down, using the bannister as a balance beam, or finding some mode of movement other than using her 2 feet the way God intended.

All I can think now is how boring life must be for parents of normal kids. I think boring must be nice! LOL!