jaysaint

17 Aug

Chatterbox

Posted by jaysaint in Elliot, speech. 6 Comments

Imagine that I am whispering. If it wouldn’t be annoying I would type this in a teeny font.

Elliot is talking.

Actually, let me say this… ELLIOT IS TALKING! That’s right, I went all caps lock.

Still, I am afraid of saying too much too soon. If you can think of anyone for whom hubris worked out be sure to let me know.

For so long it was a whole lot of not much. Then suddenly it was “school bus” and “walrus” and “palm tree.” It was as if he got his teeth into a simple sentence or two and was thrilled by the effects of his communication. Now he can identify all the letters in the alphabet and the sounds they make. Now he can say the names of all the Pixar Cars.

His speech therapist told me how worried they were when they met him. She felt he was likely autistic. He scored below the first percentile on expressive language. I didn’t even know that was possible. I spent weeks researching. A guy on a plane told me about a special school in Atlanta, just for boys with language problems. I took notes.

Now, I don’t know what to think. His speech is still hard to understand. His therapist wants to keep him. It’s obviously helping and he loves going. That’s an easy decision.

She says the average 2-year-old has about 200 words. Elliot has more than that now. Can you believe it? Because I cannot. I swear they all came in a rush… 5, 10, 15 new words a day.

All I’ve wanted is for him to catch up to where he should be. I know that some people (who love us and are awesome) will celebrate that he appears to be “normal” now. I think it’s too soon to draw conclusions. And Elliot has always been as normal as he needs to be. I’m not any happier with him now. But happy for him? My heart sings.

16 Aug

A Vegetarian Who Eats Meat

Posted by jaysaint in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

I just kind of threw it in there, didn’t I? Not eating meat for 20+ years is kind of a big deal, in my mind. And then I did. And then I blogged about it like, “whatever.”

The reasons I stopped are all still really good reasons. Mainly, I couldn’t get with being any part of this process since I couldn’t get right with all parts of the process. I wouldn’t work in slaughter house or a factory farm, aesthetics or abilities aside. Most of them are morally corrupt operations, both in the treatment of the animals and the workers.

Reading Temple Grandin’s books helped soften me. Not in my opposition to how animals are usually processed. But it opened me up to the idea that there is an acceptable way to do it.

I remain conflicted. When I made the hamburgers I went to a hippie grocery store and bought conscience-soothing (whitewashing?) beef. But I still wouldn’t personally kill a cow. Not unless there was nothing else to eat. I feel like an accomplice.

But. Still. I believe that we’re built to eat meat. Humans are high on the food chain and I don’t intend to challenge nature. That’s how you get mutant monkeys and dinosaurs roaming the earth in modern times.

Being an absolutist is easy. Expressing compassion and ecological concern can be tied up in a nice bow when you take meat off the plate. Maybe my way through is to counter-balance these occasional returns to my carnivore roots with a heightened sense of those values in the many other ways they are available.

6 Aug

Sunday Dinner: Horseradish Burgers with Havarti

Posted by jaysaint in Alden wouldn't eat it, Sunday Dinner. Leave a Comment

I ate a hamburger.

So I guess I’m not a vegetarian anymore. After 20+ years. I still am not prepared to do this outside my Sunday Dinner project, though.

I didn’t slingshot into an orgy of meat-eating. I wondered. I loved meat. I was not one of those people who rarely ate it. I ate it a lot. I liked red meat, medium rare. I wonder how I would feel about some of my old favorites, a gorgeous filet, pot roast. We may discover one of these Sundays.

This, though, was a good start because the recipe was super simple.

I went to Earth Fare and picked up some organic, antibiotic-free, grass-fed craziness. Came home and mushed it up with chopped up chives and a big scoop of horseradish. Threw it on the grill with the havarti coming in at the last minute.

Damon loved it. Alden and Elliot passed, bun or no bun, cheese or no cheese. I even made the little knuckleheads a horseradish-free variety. For no good reason, it seems.

My Dad loved a good burger, though, so I enjoyed making these for him.

If you love horseradish as I do, you should know two things. The first is to double the amount in this recipe. The second is to go to the Popover Cafe in New York and get the Real New Yorker Omelet. I don’t even like omelets.

Recipe #8: Horseradish Burgers with Havarti from Food Network.

31 Jul

Gone

Posted by jaysaint in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

We have been there more than here in the past month. “There” being various places, some local some not. I have to look at my calendar to remember. We lucked into a very important house guests. The family, in various combinations, rode boats and ate clams, grilled corn and hailed taxis.

All good.

Last night Elliot yelled his face off on an airplane. In a short pause I heard someone many aisles back say, “Someone is NOT happy.” Considering the situation, I appreciated the mildness of the comment. The flight attendant came to offer him a cookie and I had to admit to her that he was screaming because I made him put his tray table up for takeoff. We were all so happy to hit 10,000 feet.

Last week on an airplane the gigantic man in front of me pushed back suddenly in his seat. I mouthed “Oh my god” to Damon and then looked up to see the guy was standing up and totally busted me. He and his wife apologized, which made me feel even more like a jackass.

Alden quizzed a flight attendant about the speed of the plane, negotiating with her to arrange a speed that is comfortable for him. Later, once he decided he liked the flight (As soon as we lifted off he yelled, “We’re flying! We’re flying!”), he stopped her passage to send a message to the pilot that he should feel free to go fast.

I will happily fly with Alden again, but Elliot is getting checked with the luggage.