As fall has already arrived with cold weather and lots of rain, I put all of our deck furniture away a couple of weeks ago.  The chairs are folded up and sitting along the side of the house and the table is on it’s side, also on the side of the house.

This afternoon was very sunny, a perfect Fall day.  When I arrived home, the sitter told me that my 9 year old son with Autism was commenting on how sunny it was.  I think he’s still figuring out what the seasons are and with the sun coming out, he decided it must be summer again.

In the summer, we eat dinner outside on the deck almost every night.  One of my son’s chores is to set the table so while the babysitter was working on homework with my younger daughter, my son got to work.  He got the patio table back out.  I can barely move this thing let alone get it from it’s side to an upright position.  He did both and put it back in the spot where it usually goes on the deck.  He got out all the chairs, set them up and put them into place.  He cleaned off the dirty table and then set it with place mats, plates, silverware, napkins, everything.

The babysitter discovered all of this after he was all done.  She was so impressed by his work and all the effort behind it that she was worried about telling him it would be too cold and dark to eat outside.  She praised his good work and gently broke the news to him but told him to leave everything until “mom got home” so I could see what a great job he did. She cleaned off the kitchen table so it would be ready to set when I got home.  Without saying a word, my son decided to move his table setting inside.  He wasn’t upset or anything.  He just seemed to understand.  (Maybe the setting sun confirmed what the babysitter told him?)

The moment I got home, the first thing my son said to me was “Can we eat outside?”  I didn’t know what had gone on yet so I just told him it would be too cold and dark and “we only eat outside in the summer”.  The sitter told me the story in front of my son and he just beamed proudly.  When I saw the table and chairs, I was just shocked!  “Ddid you set the table up all by yourself!?”  Again, he was just sooo proud.

I love watching what my son can accomplish when he sets his mind to something.  I think all parents love moments like these.