Yesterday was a unique day. My not-so-little Kirk came to work with me, and we unearthed some boxes of toys to keep him entertained while I powered through my tasks. Though I was nearby, I wasn’t watching him closely. I could hear him chatting away with the toy animals, saying things like, "Here you go, chicken! You can go in this gate! They say this is for the cows. Here you go, cows." 😂
Curious about his little project, I peeked over to see what he was up to. To my amazement, he had meticulously sorted all the animals. The cows had their own corner, ducks were gathered by the trees, and each pig had its own rock. Even the plants had their special pile.
The next box revealed a mix of dinosaurs and ocean animals. Kirk pulled each one out with excitement, exclaiming, "Wow, that's a TALL brachiosaurus!" A little later, he announced, "Mom, it goes with this one!" He had sorted the dinosaurs too and was carefully deliberating where to place the lone velociraptor. It seemed to fit with the short-armed upright ones, not the long-necked four-legged ones. He handed me the plants and a mysterious one-legged T. rex skull, asking me to put them somewhere else. I think the plants weren’t similar enough for him to categorize, but they were distinct from everything else he had.
Kirk’s autistic brain thrives on order and pattern recognition. It’s his way of making sense of the world, creating a sense of safety and calm. It's something he has done since he was a toddler. In his book "The Pattern Seekers," Simon Baron-Cohen explains that people with autism and their pattern-seeking abilities have been crucial for human progress and invention. Science is all about discovering consistent patterns, observing the world, categorizing things, and making order out of chaos. Whether it’s stars, weather, or sea tides, the world becomes less confusing when you understand the patterns.
As a mompreneur, balancing work and parenting can often feel like a whirlwind. But moments like these remind me why it’s all worth it. Seeing Kirk thrive and pursue his passions fills me with immense joy and fuels my own drive to keep pushing forward in my entrepreneurial journey.
I’m beyond excited to see where Kirk’s love for finding patterns takes him. He might not become the next Einstein or Elon Musk (though who knows, he might! 🤷♀️), but if sorting and finding patterns make him happy and comfortable, it will definitely be part of his unique success story. 💛
Thank you for sharing this journey with us. It’s a reminder that even in the busiest of days, there’s always magic to be found in the small moments. 🌟
Let me know if you enjoyed this post and if you have any tips or stories about balancing work and parenting, especially for our wonderful pattern seekers out there!