Monthly Archives: September 2014

When I was a child, I loved Amelia Bedelia. She made me laugh on almost every page. Gabe never really took to her so I haven’t thought about her in a long time. Now, thanks to Max, she is back in my life and with more meaning than before.

Max never likes to pick books at the library, but last week something about the Amelia Bedelia books connected with him. Don’t ask me what. He chose a few to bring home and they were the first ones he wanted to read too.We started with the very first Amelia Bedelia when she starts working for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. As I read to Max, he wore a very concerned look on his face. At first I thought maybe he wasn’t understanding the humor in the books, so I started stopping and asking him what he thought the Rogers were trying to tell good old Amelia to do and then had him point out how that was different from what she thought they were saying. But that concerned look stayed concentrated on the book until the last couple of pages when the Rogers discover that they want Amelia to stay around.

Max turned his eyes to mine and said “Mom, she’s just like ___________ and ____________ (names withheld, but he named a few of the several kids we know who are on the Autism Spectrum). Her brain just works a little bit differently than their’s so she doesn’t always understand what they mean.”

My heart did that Mommy-melty thing, when you fill up with a mixture of tenderness, pride of your child, and gratitude all at once. I opened the book back up to the last couple of pages for examples and steered the conversation through related subjects. I know we covered how everyone has value and should be treated with respect even if we don’t understand them as well as how when we know someone is different from us, sometimes we can change how we do things (like the Rogers changed how they phrased things to make sure Amelia would understand what they wanted) among other things.

Last week, we read these books more often than any other. We’ve been back to the library again since then and returned with three more. Guess what he wanted to read first! I have no doubt that soon we will have read the entire series. But that’s okay with me. Anything that helps my child to find beauty in the people  around him is more than welcome in my house.