Eccentric #FridayReflections

Eccentric - "of a person" "unconventional and slightly strange".

Today, instead of blogging about my disabled brother in law, Bil, I want to talk about me.

My father was a bit eccentric.  In modern times, he may well have been diagnosed with OCD.  One of my cousins on my father's side (now deceased) suffered terribly with OCD, and I am told one of my great aunts also exhibited OCD type behavior.

In my Dad's day, though, the behavior was "quirky".  To the teenaged me, growing up with my Dad - just us two, after the untimely death of my mother, it was more of an embarrassment.

As one example, my Dad liked to put dates on things.

For example would buy a box of crackers - he used to love to snack on saltines.  Every time he removed saltines from the box, he would write a record of it - the number and the date - on the side of the box.

He would buy socks. They were always the same style and color. He would date each sock.  And if I, doing the laundry, put two socks of different dates together, it would make him uncomfortable.  Don't get me wrong, he never yelled at me or verbally abused me - never.  But you could tell he wasn't happy.

I have my own little quirks.  When my child was young, he had several sets of Legos.  It wasn't enough for him to put the Legos away.  They had to go into the exact box they came in (so, after getting him to put the toys away, I would redo them, sorting out the Legos into their correct boxes.  If they were in the wrong box, it made me uncomfortable).  I did live my life just fine but there would be that nagging discomfort if I didn't put the Legos in their correct, original box.


Quirk?  Eccentric behavior?  Or something more?

What about you?

Join Sanch Vee and others for #FridayReflections.  Today's prompt:  "Eccentric".

Happy Father's Day to Special Needs Parents

A very simple blog today, Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers Day to all fathers of children with disabilities!  I wanted to share two blog posts with you.

The first, "An Autism Dad on Feelings and Manhood"  I found this one on Twitter.
 
And secondly, thanks to "Five Minutes for SpecialNeeds.com" for this one

This is a simple and very moving tribute to a father, and to the mother who wrote it.

Fathers especially get a bad rap.  They have a reputation for checking out, either mentally or physically, when a child is born to them who isn't exactly perfect.

Sadly, I've known situations where this happens.  But I also know situations where the fathers hang in there.  Like my son's friend, who has Asperger Syndrome.  He's a young adult now, newly graduated from a one year program at SUNY Delhi and his father has been a constant presence in his life.

So, happy Fathers Day to the fathers who hang in there.  And, the mothers, like my mother in law, and Bil's mother, who have hung in there, too.