The Tree.....it all makes sense.

Sometimes even the strangest behavior has a simple and easy explanation. It is just easier when you are looking back on an event. The whole "hindsight is always 20/20". 
     When my son was being assessed for Autism there were many questions to answer....many forms to fill out, and many people to talk to. There were health questions, social questions and well....does your kid do anything weird questions.....The answer to this one was....well yes, but....A little back ground is needed.
     My daughter is older than my son, so in his eyes she is amazing. She can do all sorts of cool things. Her friends are equally amazing. They also do really neat things. When my son was in first grade and allowed out onto the "Big Kid" playground he started to develop a strange habit...he would go to this one tree and kneel in front of it. Then like someone praying to their religious mecca he would bow down....again and again. He would also say, "All hail the tree". He would hug the tree, he seemed to be quite happy with his tree....this is not something the other first grade children were doing. He tried, believe me. He tried to get others to appreciate the greatness that was the TREE. Didn't happen....he was then resigned to worship alone. Like some strange spiritual warrior forging the way for his people....(who would someday see the real joy)
     I did try to explain to him that this behavior was a bit odd.....it made other people worry, it was, not normal. He didn't care, nor did he offer an explaination. He just loved that tree....and then we found out why.
Apparently he had seen his sister hanging out there with her friends at recess. He asked, "Why do you hang out at that tree?"
She replied, "The tree is just where all the cool kids hang out. It is just the place to be....."
So the tree, you see became magical. In my son's eyes if that is where the cool kids hung out it must be important. It must be THE TREE.
He wasn't going to be a Druid after all. The problem is of course that I had explained just the behavior to the people who assessed my son for autism. Not knowing the reason at the time, I just thought, well this definitely fits into "strange behavior."

Once we discovered it was all his sister's fault I just laughed. It all made sense. He was really worshiping her, and he still does.                                                                 She is after all the coolest kid on earth.