Our siblings started September 2021 completing the Octopus Ahoy! Art Trail. Darren drove us everywhere to finish our collection on the app before the children had to start back at school. They both really loved this activity and it was a fun thing to do before we got back into the full school routine.
Our siblings actually had quite a few adventures in September 2021. We headed into London’s West End for the day to watch The Lion King. This was the children’s first visit to a London theatre. I had booked the relaxed performance of The Lion King as I knew it would have things in place if Ethan needed them. There would also be no judgement as everyone there would have someone in their group that had a need of some sort. We originally had tickets to see the show in 2020. Due to covid cancellations, this was our revised date. Thankfully we had kept it a surprise from our siblings so there was no disappointment when the show had to be rescheduled.
We were able able to enjoy our last beach hut day of the summer. It was a beautiful sunny day and the children had lots of fun in the sea. We had purchased a boogie board on our previous visit to the beach. On this trip, we purchased a second. Our siblings had so much fun in the sea with the boards.
We also got the chance to visit Colchester Zoo a few times in September 2021. Taking the time to renew our annual passes during one of our visits.
It was on one of these trips that we got to witness Little E’s unconditional support towards her brother. We stopped for cake and I normally share my cake with Ethan. Cutting him off pieces as this is something he struggles with. Little E took over my role on this visit. Sharing her cake and cutting it up for her brother. I couldn’t have been prouder of her and it was quite an emotional moment for me. I feel that by being an autism sibling Little E’s needs can often be pushed to the side. Being young she struggles at times with this. But even though she can have her down moments she didn’t pause for a second to give her brother the help he needed.
September also brings with it school year changes for our siblings. For Little E it was time to move up to the juniors as she started year three. Ethan also had a big move into the senior side of the school. He now has a new teacher, new classmates and a new area of the school to call his home. If we had placed Ethan in a mainstream school when he was younger this transition could have been worse for him. At the moment it feels like it is going okay.
I just hope that this school year our siblings won’t face as much disruption as they have over the past few years. There is a chart going around on Facebook that shows the last school year the children were in which didn’t have any covid disruption. For Little E that was her reception year. Let’s hope our children will finally have some normality in this covid world we now live in.
