As I was dropping my son off at school (about two hours late – he has a variety of special needs which I’ll discuss later), I said, “I’ll probably be home when you get home.” His immediate response, as he moved on down the hall with his tardy slip, was, “Why?”

“Why,” indeed. I’m not usually home when he gets home because I’m usually at work. As “fate” would have it, however, I got laid off last week along with a sizeable chunk of my co-workers (I don’t generally think of people in chunks, btw). I have not yet told him or his younger brother about this, so I said, “I’ll probably just be home.”

My son is 9 and, as I mentioned, has a variety of special needs (mainly a combo of mood disorder and pervasive developmental disorder). One result is that change makes him anxious. The main reason for school refusal this AM, for example, was Daylight Savings Time; “I want 6 back,” he lamented at 7. Later, discussing the morning on the way to school he said, “I like everything to be the same.”

Personally, I’ve always subscribed to the Heraclitean “All is flux” school of philosophy (although I’m a creature of relentless habit – go figure). I also tend towards the Franklinian (?) “Honesty is the best policy” camp. Nevertheless, I strive to protect and shield him from the abrupt and sometimes harsh fluctuations of reality even as they put me through some drastic changes.

He’s gonna figure out that something’s up sooner or later. Do I gild the lily, or just be matter of fact about it: “I’m not working right now but I’m getting things together.”

What did you do when hard times came to you (or you dad)?

Image courtesy of Believe Collective.