ski club session 2

Two weeks ago, SJ had his second ski club session.  We tried to go over some of the mistakes that he made the first time, so he didn't repeat them.  We told him "don't ski with your money in your boots", "be careful with your gloves" and "don't lose your ski strap".  We also told him to remember to check in with the chaperones at the scheduled time and to ski with someone.  (He tends to always be in a big hurry and ended up skiing alone last time.)

My husband and Meryl's dad drove up without the ski club, so I was a little more relaxed about SJ being there.  SJ didn't have to take a lesson this time and my husband reported that he was skiing with friends.  The students were to check in at 7:15 p.m. SJ said he came into the lodge a little after 7, but he didn't see the teacher/chaperones.  He decided to do another run and returned to the lodge.  Unfortunately, he was running slightly behind (not according to him) and he checked in two minutes late.  Topher made the same mistake.  A consequence is that they are not allowed to ski at the third session.  This could have been a big problem, but we were going away that weekend to ski at Holiday Valley in New York.  Also, the teacher was clever enough to not tell SJ that he couldn't go.  That would have caused a huge fit and it wasn't going to matter anyway.

It was snowing a lot that evening.  The roads got messy and icy.  The students left the resort at 10:00 p.m.  It normally takes approximately 90 minutes to get back to the junior high.  That was impossible, however, that evening.  SJ and his classmates didn't make it back to the school until closer to 1:30 a.m.  (Thank goodness it was a Friday.)

My husband, Meryl's dad, Meryl and her friend got home a little earlier.  My husband dropped them off and made his way to the junior high.  There is a very steep hill that you need to navigate on route from our house to the junior high.  My husband was driving slow due to the road conditions.  Unfortunately, there were two deer in the middle of his lane.  Had he swerved to miss one or both deer, he could have hit an oncoming car.  He hit both deer and damaged the front of his car.  Even though they were struck by my husband's car, they jumped up and ran into the woods.  I was just relieved that my husband was fine and SJ wasn't in the car.  That will be a night that we don't forget too soon.

SJ told me the next day all about his trip. He was excited and said he did ski with friends.  I am glad he joined the ski club and am hopeful that he will join it again next year.  When he is skiing, he is not the boy with Autism.  He is just a seventh grader who loves to ski!