When we got home, the boys played video games and I collapsed on by bed for a few hours. I don’t like doing this but it was a survival thing by that point.

We had a relatively quiet evening. Gavin freaked out a couple of times over whatever he thought he had done wrong. He and Emmett got into it a little as well. Gavin handled it well. Emmett became very frustrated with him and lashed out verbally. I intervened to prevent it from escalating further. Typically, Gavin is very patient with his brothers, but I helped them work it out, and Emmett apologized.

Truthfully, it was less about Gavin and more about Emmett just being in a rough place. Gavin just happened to be what set him off.

The boys wanted to have a brother’s night in the living room, and I’m going to let them. They need some normalcy, and frankly, if they’re getting along, I want to encourage that. It’s hard for me to back off sometimes because they all have their challenges, and I feel like I need to continually protect them. While there is truth to that, and I know many Autism parents would probably agree, I also need to let them grow up as well. It’s a tough balance but one that I’m working on.

I’m glad to see that they are getting along at this point, even if it’s because they’re playing video games or watching movies all night. It’s Christmas break, and they need to be kids. We have nothing going on tomorrow, and I’m using it as a day of recovery from everything.

I have an podcast episode to edit down and I’m undecided as to whether or not I will have this be the last episode of season 2 or the first episode of season 3. I don’t really feel up to getting it ready by Friday, but I need to pay the bills, and we have a big trip coming up. I need all the help I can get with that, but that’s a discussion for another post.

I hope all of you had a great holiday, regardless of the holiday you’re celebrating. We all deserve to be happy and wish you all nothing but the best.