Josiah ambled up the sidewalk after school, pulling his backpack behind him. Opening the closet door, he set his back pack down and walked off. Knowing Josiah would be heading to the kitchen to sit and wait for his afternoon snack, I took a moment to unzip his backpack and remove his binder. In that instance, Josiah veered off course.

Before I even realized what was happening, he hurled the flat screen TV to the ground. It landed with a thud.  Josiah gleefully began tossing it around on the floor. Without reacting, I scooped him up and marched that boy to his room.  I guided him up onto his bed and left.  Josiah has been throwing the TV to the ground for a couple of days. I figured with enough consistency he would eventually get the message that TV throwing equals time out.

I figured with enough time outs, he’d leave the TV alone.  For about 15-20 minutes, Josiah stayed in his room.  He was quiet.  He was calm.  He never once tried to escape. Quite honestly, I figured he had fallen asleep.  Josiah never stays in his room, against his will, for longer than a minute or more. I waited in the room directly across from his bedroom.

Eventually, Josiah emerged.  He took off down the hallway and raced towards the TV.

It was then I noticed. Josiah was only wearing a shirt. His shoes were off.  His socks were gone.  The boy was buck naked.  I directed him to the bathroom and rushed to his room to gather the discarded clothing. While there I discovered his sheets were soaked.

I scrambled to pull them off his bed and pile them in a heap in his room until I had a moment to throw them in the laundry room. Too late. In the minute I was gone, Josiah had removed the deflector from the toilet seat and peed all over the bathroom floor. Throwing towels down quickly before he stood and slipped in it, I led Josiah to the bath tub for a brisk scrub.

As warm soapy bubbles built up around him, I stole away to deal with the sheets and towels and urine stained bathroom floor. I didn’t make it 6 feet before Josiah bolted from the tub and raced up beside me.

That’s when I decided.  It was time for a ride. I put Josiah back in the tub, washed him fast, dressed him in some fresh, clean clothes and headed to the van. I knew he would be calm and content in his favorite spot way in the back of the van.  We would ride for miles and miles and I would know for sure he was content; he was safe; he was not breaking anything.

A short way into our adventure, Josiah reached up and grabbed my shoulder. He had wriggled out of his seat belt, walked over the middle row of seats and was attempting to climb into my lap. I was driving.

Here’s what I know.  Life with Josiah is never dull.  He keeps us thinking.  He keeps us moving.  He keeps us on our toes. With Josiah, you never know what’s ahead.

It just may end up being one of these: