The Foorce

I think we all have a Bucket List, however informal – you know, a list of things we want to do before we kick the bucket. So you won’t be surprised to know that I, queen of the list, have more than one. Here are the Top Ten items on my (very specific, mostly realistic) Special Needs Bucket List that I’d like to do with James, before either one of us kicks (or trips over) the bucket.

1. participate in the Special Olympics – this might actually happen this year, stay tuned!

2. go camping – this is a source of many of my fondest (and most terrifying) childhood memories. If only once, I would like to share with James what sleeping under the stars (or in the backseat of a van) is like. If nothing else, there’s always smores.

3. go bike riding – though the Lose The Training Wheels program’s 85% success rate became our 15% failure last summer, I have not given up the dream (or delusion) of a family bike ride. I will be trying this one out as soon as my mom gives me her tandem bike (hint, hint).

4. cannonball into a pool – we’ve worked our way up to “most of head underwater for >2 seconds,” and it only took a little more than a decade. At this rate we should be up to cannonballs by the time James is in his 50s. By then I should still be able to cannonball, with a little motivation (and perhaps a new hip).

5. run the Central Park Challenge 5K together – though we walk the heck out of that 3K every year, we both need a little training for this one (keep an eye out for this year’s team, forming soon!).

6. have a water balloon fight (in a fun way) – balloons popping + stuff coming out of popping balloons = littletoalmostnochanceofeverhappening. But I would’ve said the same thing about our chances of swimming in the ocean together last summer.

7. ride in a car with James behind the wheel. Okay – NYC, disabled kid – I get that this one is far fetched. But come on, how many of you were taken to a parking lot pre-license and given the wheel? I guess I should worry about getting the car first (Zipcar, close your eyes!).

8. go on a roller coaster together (in a fun way). This will involve either an empty amusement park, ear plugs or James suddenly not minding loud, continuous screaming, but after the ferris wheel success last summer I am not giving up hope.

9. have a 4th of July Picnic under the fireworks (in a fun way). I’m already trying to figure out how the ipod can work its magic on this situation (if it can get us through the morning routine anything is possible).

10. run across a sheet of bubble wrap together barefoot – does this sound trivial to you? Well I actually miss this. I miss doing it with my younger two children (we only get to do it when packages arrive and James is at school) and I miss it for the sheer satisfaction of popping every single little bubble in all of those Amazon.com boxes. I think James has NO idea what he is missing here and when I see the joy in my toddlers faces I long for James to give it a try, just once. But for now we need to work on being in the same room as the bubble wrap.

——————————————————

What’s on your bucket list, special needs or not? Please feel free to share in the comments section – in a fun way, of course.