Brainteasing

I'm finally able to spend a few moments sitting at the computer after a difficult week, both schedule-wise and emotionally.

Having (at least for the present) stopped using respite care, my husband and I are trying to find ways to incorporate more time alone into our days. This means "dates" at home after Grace goes to bed. (Notice I didn't say sleep--these days it's at least an hour or so before she quiets down in there.) Often times we end up watching NYPD Blue or some other show, but this doesn't give us the interaction we need to sustain our marriage. I have read somewhere that marriages with autistic children have very high divorce rates, and we don't want to go anywere near that, so it's very important for us to continue working on our relationship. Grace's situation is a challenge for us, but it makes it easier if we are a team, supporting each other.

So what's a tired couple to do on an at-home date? My husband, ever scouring the local antique shops and used book stores, stumbled across a large number of bound volumes of the childrens' magazine St. Nicholas from the teens and 20's of last century. This magazine includes some serialized novels, poetry, drawings, news items, and various word puzzles that would put Will Shortz to shame! We've been busting our brains trying to work out puzzles that were actually written by preteen children. And we're no dummies, believe me. These puzzles and the articles in this magazine indicate to me that children back then just had better thinking skills, and also didn't spend much time watching mind-numbing television. Those were better times.

Unless, of course, you think of the lack of civil rights, World War I, and the 1918 flu.