One of the things I've really tried to instill in the families that follow our story, is that no matter what you may expect from yourself, at the end of the day you're only human.
It's important to remember this because as Autism parents, we are often pushed to the brink of insanity and our limits are continuously being tested.
As part of this whole *being human* thing, we can often feel emotions that may cause us to feel guilt but here's the thing. We're human and we're going to experience a plethora of emotion when it comes to our kids on the Autism Spectrum.[clickToTweet tweet="At the end of the day we're guilty of being human tasked w/a job requiring superhuman abilities" quote="At the end of the day, we're guilty of being human, tasked with a job requiring superhuman abilities. "]
I don't think a day has gone by where I haven't experienced things like frustration, exhaustion, anger, resentment, heartache, pain and being completely overwhelmed. I feel all the good ones as well but who feels guilty over that?
When it comes to these more unpleasant feelings or emotions, we can feel a tremendous sense of guilt because *our kids have special needs and it's like there's an unwritten law that says we need to be more patient.*
Simply because our kids have special needs, doesn't mean that they are incapable of driving us crazy from time to time, or maybe all the time. My kids drive me crazy almost every single day and I don't feel guilty over that because kids are supposed to drive their parents crazy. It's sorta like a right of passage.
Sometimes people can feel that because their child has special needs, they shouldn't ever get frustrated or angry with them. I call bullshit on that because it's bullshit.
I have three kids with special needs, my oldest actually has very serious medical and emotional issues. They drive me nuts all the time. Does that somehow mean I love them any less or that they're bad kids? Does it make me a bad parent? Of course not.
We're all human.
We all experience emotions.
Most importantly, raising kids with Autism is fucking hard.
Pardon my French but you can't overstate the level of difficulty involved with Autism parenting. You're going to feel a wide range of emotions.
What matters is that we deal with these emotions in an appropriate manner. I embrace these feelings because they're part of the journey and frankly, I'd be worried if I didn't feel these things.
[clickToTweet tweet="We'll never be perfect parents but we are the perfect people to parent our kids. - Rob Gorski" quote="Our kids don't need us to be perfect. If we're striving for perfect, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. We'll never be perfect parents but we are the perfect people to parent our kids."]
It's also important to forgive ourselves for *feeling* in the first place.
At the end of the day, we're guilty of being human, tasked with a job requiring superhuman abilities.
Our kids don't need us to be perfect. If we're striving for perfect, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. We'll never be perfect parents but we are the perfect people to parent our kids.
