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What Color Is Monday

“What color do you see for Monday?” my son Jack asked as I heaved a chicken into the oven.  “What?” I said distractedly, turning from the oven to slice some potatoes at the counter.  It was late afternoon one day last fall, and I was preparing dinner and managing the demands of homework and tired toddlers.  (One was in a tiara.)

“What color is Monday?” he asked again, his robotic voice rising ever so slightly in irritation.  “I don’t see Monday as a color.  Do you?” I asked, finally tuning in to what he was talking about.

“Yes.  All days are colors.”

All days are colors.  On a seemingly ordinary day, Jack once again granted me the privilege to take a tiny peek inside his fascinating mind.  Without preamble, he rattled off which color he associates with each day.  And then, just as suddenly as the conversation began, he snapped his mind closed and moved on to something else entirely.  I tried to probe further; why was Saturday purple?  Was the entire day purple, or just the morning?   “I told you.  No more.”  he responded in a clipped tone.

Out of our discussion, a book title was born.  Riddle Brook Publishing has asked me to write a book based on our life with an autistic child.  I originally wanted to call the book Thursday is Purple, but a couple of weeks ago Jack off-handedly remarked that Thursday is sometimes green.  (Come on, Jack-a-boo.  I’m trying to write a book about you here.  For real.)

And so, What Color is Monday? it is.

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CARRIE CARIELLO lives in Southern New Hampshire with her husband, Joe, and her five children. This is what she has to say about her family and her interests."My four boys and one daughter range in age from three to nine. And no, my daughter is not the fifth child. She is the fourth. We thought she was our last but sometimes urologists cancel important appointments, so there you have it.My second son, Jack, has autism. A lot of times he makes me laugh, sometimes he makes me cry, but mostly he just makes me watch and wonder.Right now I stay home with my children. Once again there’s lots of laughter and some crying, but mostly it’s great fun. Until it’s not.I’ve just started writing a book called What Color is Monday?, chronicling our colorful life with an autistic child.In my past life, I earned an MBA from Canisius College in the fabulous city of Buffalo, New York and worked in marketing for a company called Lehigh Construction Group, Inc.I cannot live without books, Bikram yoga, or date night."