Anyway I will cook a nice dinner that day with some of his favorites for special times.

My kid is 36 but still the child each of us seeks to find at least once more in life. On my own third childhood which is average for a senior male. Keep seeking!!!

maybe some socks? i don't know if dollar store presents are possible but that could be loads of fun - thrift store (we call them thrift scores) presents are possible? and wrapped in the funny papers or tin foil make it look pretty and still so much fun to open.

again, i get it that those things can be too far to reach.

i like the idea of wrapping up candy - can he have candy?

maybe pop corn... what elsse?

i'm sorry it i sdifficult.

hugs xo

a box filled up with pieces of paper that say, hug, all sorts of different ways on them.

(i actually made a cookie tin full one year and it was received very well - startled me)

Theres 365 days every year to buy a Christmas Present or to make a Christmas present if that was a priority.

you could sell one of those fancy trikes you have that do nothing but cause you pain...I imagine they aren't cheap and would buy a few Christmas gifts....just a thought.

I'm confused. Do the lack of gifts have a financial reason or some sort of moral and religious lesson??

I too have financial challenges. My son is 21. This year for the first time I told him I would not charge Anything and go into debt. It took me 6months to pay off his '21' birthday gift.

To make up for the lack of 'expensive gifts' I'm knitting him a blanket. In stead of roast beef, we are having turkey. Stocking stuffers have dollar store gifts.

It's not so much about gifts. For me, it's my goal to create happy memories. We'll bake cookies together for neighbor friends. And we will make a Birthday Cake together for Baby Jesus on Christmas day.

My son has only me, Iive no family, his father is not in his life. It's a hard time of year for many. My son has autism and is also challenged with processing. We can only do the best we can..for me, sometimes putting one foot in front of the other is hard.
My best to you and yours

Merry Christmas to all is my simple wish, not to create a boxing match online or asking for a pity party. Be safe one and all in our Xmas celebration.

So what's for dinner? And do you want me to bring a virtual Pie? Maybe have a taffee pull, string popcorn and cranberries for the tree. Ha! Popcorn ball ornaments?

How functioning is he?

And yes, it's VERY hard with kids (of any age) with cognitive challenges...they just don't understand. And are often much more rigid than we'd like them to be.

If he's very, very impaired, then maybe you can actually wrap up stuff that he already has. Like a 1 year old, the fun is in simply ripping up the wrapping paper.

A bit less impaired, you can do dollar store type gifts. (This isn't going to help if his mental age is 6 and he wants a video game, however...he doesn't have peers...and you can often get some really old games from gamestop for only a few dollars.)

If his mental age is closer to 12-15...it's going to be tough. But it's also possible that he might surprise you with his ability to understand. You could try filling his stocking with slips of paper with activities listed (One foot rub, One trip to see the Lights, One trip to the Part, etc.) These are going to just be things that you would have done anyway...but that doesn't mean that your Heart can't make them special.

If he rejects all of that (and he might), then just know that it's just one day...and you've filled his heart in other years, and there may yet be more to go.

As for the actual day....I agree with jewells...maybe string popcorn, make paper chains, make sugar cookies?

Or maybe...don't even try to make it "special". I have teens...special is leaving my son be to play online video games all day long. He's going to spend Christmas Eve at the fire station, so I'll just let him sleep in as long as he wants.