It's Bigger on the Inside. Turning Doctor Who in to a life lesson.

Nik headed to Homecoming!

This house is the Doctor Who house. The kids love the show. We have made a habit to sit around the TV every Saturday night and watch the latest episode. Nik in particular, seems to really love this show. He loves a good adventure. And series 9 of Doctor Who couldn't have come at a better time, as it ended up inspiring Nik to go outside his comfort level.

"Let me tell you about scared. Your heart is beating so hard -- I can feel it through your hands! There's so much blood and oxygen pumping through your brain, it's like rocket fuel. Right now, you could run faster and you could fight harder. You can jump higher than ever in your life. And you are so alert, it's like you can slow down time. What's wrong with scared? Scared is a super power! It's your super power!" - The Twelfth Doctor

Now some would argue that this is just a silly TV show. But there are some real learning opportunities here. The quote above came from the most recent doctor. Fear and anxiety is something that can take over with my kids. We constantly work at getting them to move past their anxiety. I love how the particular episode explained that you can use this fear to your advantage. In fact, it can be your super power. Here is how we turned an episode of Doctor Who in to a life lesson.

Last month, I received an e-mail from Nik's teacher. She explained that the peer tutors all wanted to get together and ask his special ed class to the homecoming dance. I was pretty excited, because I knew that Nik would never ask anyone to the dance on his own. The anxiety would get the best of him. Going to the dance would be unfamiliar territory. Home was safe. He likes home. 

So when the weeks passed, and I never heard Nik talk about the dance, I asked him about it. He said that someone did ask. Now, he had a big smile on his face. I could tell that he was genuinely happy that someone would think to ask him. So I was totally shocked when he said that he turned the offer down. What?! I asked why. He just shrugged and said he wanted to stay home. Like I said, home was safe. 

Alex and I were disappointed. We knew that Nik would have a great time if we could only get him to go. So I had a heart to heart with Nik. I explained that he needed to start getting out there more. You can't be afraid to live life outside of the house. We talked about Doctor Who traveling in the Tardis, and how he went on adventures. Life is all about living and exploring your world. 

Nik was nervous, but he said he would be willing to try. I assured him that it would be a big group. There would be plenty of familiar faces. And we could even pick out an outfit similar to the 12th Doctor (basically a black vest and pants, white dress shirt, and Dr Martin shoes).

The weekend before the dance was the season premier of Doctor Who. We had one of our theme days at the house, which basically means that I decorated the living room, we had food, hung out, and watched Doctor Who together. Good times! There was opportunity to continue our discussion about going on our own life adventures. We continued to support and encourage Nik as the dance approached. We wanted to acknowledge that Nik was nervous, but we also wanted to give him that not so gentle nudge to get him out of the house and with his peers.

On the day of the dance, he actually seemed pretty happy about it!  He was relaxed as he got dressed. We did have one little bump in the road when he declared that he would only go to the pre-party, and not the actual dance. So we talked a little. I told him to treat this as an adventure, pretend he was going into the Tardis and see where the night would take him. That seemed to do the trick, because he got dressed and was ready to go!

When it was time to leave, Nik wanted to pose in front of our Tardis door. He was so excited!

Unfortunately, I was down with a stomach bug, so Alex had to take over and get Nik to the pre-party. 

Ready to party!

The pre-party was being held at the home of one of the peer tutors. Alex took pictures there, but since there were so many young faces in the shot, I won't post. But it was awesome to see the peer tutors and special ed class all having fun together!

I will share this one picture that my friend texted me. This is Nik having a snack before the dance. 

Happy kid!

After the pre-party, the kids all headed out to the dance. Nik stayed for the entire time! Alex picked him up at the end of the night, and my kid came home with a huge smile on his face. In the end, he said that he was glad that he went! Yes! Victory, how sweet it is!  That's what it's all about. Keep pushing these kids out of the comfort zone, and encourage them all the way. Never give up!

While I'm on a Doctor Who kick, let me share some of the decorations we used for our Doctor Who theme day. I took a blue plastic table cloth, added some white card stock for the windows, recreated the signs from the Tardis, marked off some of door frames using a sharpie, and you get a cheap $3 Tardis!

Noah ready to watch Doctor Who!

Marshmallow Adipose in a pool of blue jelly babies. It's a Doctor Who thing.

Doctor Who cupcakes. Yes, I suck at applying frosting.

Table centerpiece, complete with bow tie napkins.  

The center piece, food tags, and banners (I didn't take photos) were all from an etsy seller named Creative Little Stars. If you ever have the need for printable party decorations, check them out!

The food, picked out by the kids, of course.

Getting ready for the show to start!

So there you have it. We managed to turn Doctor Who in to a life lesson.