So Little Time, So Much To Say: This morning, after dropping our daughter off at the Day Services Options program, the other mother and I met with the ABD service manager for DSO programming. What unfolded was most reassuring. My daughter and her future apartment-mate are two members of a newly formed group of 12 young adults from several towns all of whom have just aged out of their school systems. Our daughter and apartment-mate are the only two who will be residing outside their parental home but more will do so down the road. Three staff, Renzo and Shannon, both with psychology backgrounds, and another still to be hired, will be with this group in their own space which will be painted and decorated according to group choices; in addition they will have a smart board and computers at their disposal.

Meaty Indeed: The planned programming includes curriculum training in a variety of areas including cooking, where they access kitchens in other settings and/or observe kitchens in commercial environs; group volunteering out in the community in such settings as an animal welfare center; attending community performances; music and art training with professionals; and a physical activity component each day, which could be yoga at a nearby Y, or walking a track, swimming, bowling, or others of their ilk. All these activities will be with other program members, with a slightly different composition each day based on their schedules. As in our daughter’s case, most attend other programming as well during the week.

There is a lot more meat to the program than I thought! The other mother and I shared smiles of relief. Funniest thing is that while the moms were fearing, the girls were delighting. From the get-go, both girls loved the DSO.

The Red Couch: Yep, it’s a go. The other mother is swamped! Super swamped. She is smack in the middle of the sandwich generation thing and I am not. Consequently all notion of a joint journey to Ikea an hour away, to compare couches prior to move in date of August 1, is out. In fact, I have received carte blanche to pick out the remaining common area furniture. This includes the couch, dining table and chairs, I guess the television too, along with the dishes, potholders, and kitchen towels. Gosh, what about the bathroom soap dish? I am somewhat overwhelmed, too. I hope she likes my taste. But I welcome the clarity. At least I know what I have to do.

Getting Things Done: I had already included the red couch in tomorrow’s delivery of our daughter’s bedroom set, with the option of pulling it out of the order today. But as I suspected when I put it in the order, it’s go.

Gotta Go: To pick up said daughter and take her to the DMV to get her non driver’s license I.D (we have a passport but no one carries that around daily) and to the library to insist that they recognize our lease as authenticating her residing in the town of Ridgefield. I really do like to get things done.

©Jill Edelman, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. 2011