A Nerd, A Geek, or A Stroke of Genius

Studies can go back to the early Dr. Suess book about the introduction of the Nerd and his ability to focus on making differences to improving mankind. Nerds have dark black eyeglass frames and, unkempt hair, and use the ultimate pocket protector to make sure the ink from their six different colors of pens did not spill onto their perfectly white and crisply ironed shirt – supposedly they have never heard of pen caps. Early Internet users were Nerds. They wrote coding to make sure the Internet worked and very rarely would you find a female "Nerd", at least not until the digital age became a little more prevalent and being a Nerd was actually cool.

The Geek is a lot like a Nerd but has one vast difference – a striking social ineptness that portrays the image of "I am smart, just don't ask me to explain it to YOU." Geeks are often the loners who draw more attention to themselves by their eccentric "damn the world style I am going to wear and do what I want." Napoleon Dynamite was a great geek. He knew a lot of random nothingness but when put on the spot, he really did know a lot – just not about the social aspect of dealing with others – perhaps he was actually on the autism spectrum for a social development delay.

In the early 1980s through the late 1990s Nerds and Geeks have had near synonymous meanings. The words were interchangeable; if you were a Geek you were a Nerd and vice versa. With the emergence of social networking and blogging sites where a person can post updates, receive instantaneous news updates, and share international secrets with terrorists across the world with push of a button, one has to wonder – does being a Nerd or a Geek have the same eccentric fashion style and social ineptness behaviors as the decades past or have Nerds and Geeks progressed to a new, elevated level of Stroke of Genius despite the person's lack of designer clothing and frazzled hair.

One night out of 365 days...

Dishes. When clean and in the cupboards, dishes seem nice, pretty, unobtrusive. Put food on those same dishes and leave them in the sink for someone else to wash or put in the dishwasher and the word is dark, foreboding, and ominous. At some point, every child does the dishes after dinner -- just not every child at my house (or so HE thinks).

He has the smile of an angel -- when he is sleeping.
He has the humor of a comedian -- when you get it.
He has the work ethics of -- who am I kidding? There are no work ethics.

I get the autism and that lessens the frustration -- but only to a point.

The simplest chore, such as putting the toilet paper in the drawer so the cat does not destroy it, takes 23 minutes. It actually takes 22.5 minutes to convince him that he was the one who left it out and 30 seconds to run to the bathroom, open the drawer and put the toilet paper in there. Then, there is the request to do the dishes.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup. That's what we had for dinner. One plate, one bowl, one spoon -- per person. Oh, and the griddle, knife to spread the butter, spatula to flip the sandwiches and the pot to cook the soup. Four people eating. Four plates, four bowls, four spoons, a griddle, a knife, a spatula, and a pot. 365 days that everyone else in the family has done the dishes except for the one child. What's left to put away? One pot, one griddle, one bowl, two spoons.

The end result? One argument, ten minutes, and these items still left on the counter. I could five times as many dishes during that time but I have to go back and wonder if the principle of the lesson was worth my frustration.

A Long While!

When I reflect on my earlier blogs, I realize it has been nearly two years since I have shared anything new -- I guess that's what happens when you get caught up in living life and drama goes on all around you.

At the beginning of summer 2009, my son was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (high-functioning autism). I live in a world where my fantasy include him being normal and me being an over-reactive parent. I only need to spend a few minutes with him to know he really does have the challenges of Aspergers! Was it the day he went out front in 90 degree heat fully dressed in his storm trooper costume with his light saber (he was nearly 12) or the time our friends looked out the window and asked what he was doing only to see him jumping off the side of the car with an umbrella mimicking Mary Poppins (where were the rain clouds??)

Regardless of the activity, having a newly diagnosed child on the autism spectrum has created many new challenges in different areas (including becoming an advocate for him in school). Every day I wake up and a little song goes off in my head-- ouh-ba-dee, ouh-ba-doe, la-la-la-la-la-la, life goes one. I may look up the lyrics one day but for now I just want to hum the tune and not really care about the words.