What's worse than 1 child with mouth sores?  How about someone else getting them as well.  As you may recall,  Emmett has a fever disorder that goes by the acronym PFAPA.  It's not very common and causes Emmett to run a fever for about 10 days every 3 weeks. Along with the fever, he also gets really horrible mouth sores. We have been told that these sores are contagious and we have been told that they aren't contagious.  So we have just assumed they were contagious and we're very careful during one of his flare ups. These are herpes related at all,  like typical cold sores.  These are somehow tied to these fevers. Up until now, we haven't had any issues as far as these sores spreading to anyone else..…

Today's Victory goes to the famous Gavin.  Gavin has been in charge of trash day for awhile now.  Basically,  he helps me collect up the trash and other recyclables and take them all out to the curb for collection. Gavin has been doing a really good job at this and I have never recognized him for it. That was an oversight on my part and I am correcting that now.  Gavin is being awarded the coveted Today's Victory award for doing such a diligent and efficient job.  I'm very proud of him because he really does try.  Pound for pound,  I don't know anyone that tries harder than Gavin does. Great job Gavin and I totally appreciate your effort.  :-) You can see Gavin hard at work through our dirty…

This is Emmett's,  made from scratch,  all by himself Lego Creation. He didn't name this one and he did,  he didn't share it with me. What I really enjoyed was the picture taking process. See for yourself below :-) He was showing us the many moods of Emmett....  ;-) **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Community Autism Support Forum Posted from WordPress for Android so please forgive any typos as auto-correct and I don't see eye to eye. :-)

As the years have past by me,  I have learned to hate the holidays.  This is coming from someone that loved the holidays until recently. I know hate is a strong word but so is my distain for the holidays anymore. How many of you out there going through the same thing every holiday?  You do everything possible to limit excitement so that your kids don't get overstimulated,  anxious and than meltdown.  Every year my wife and I avoid gatherings like you would have during the times of the plague. We have tried new traditions that don't involve leaving the house,  loud noises,  bright lights or crowds of people. It honestly takes a great deal of time and energy to pull something like this off. For example,  we basically skipped…

My kids are driving me friggin crazy. Lizze has been gone with Gavin at therapy for the past few hours and I have been home with Captain Grumpy and Sergeant Scream.  That would be Elliott and Emmett,  respectively. Their sole mission is to drive Daddy crazy. They are the best in their field because not only have they succeeded in driving me crazy but they have driven me friggin crazy. Now admittedly, that's probably a rather short trip but still,  I wasn't planning on going there today. Anyone know what the cool,  guy version of Calgon take me away is? The reason I ask is that I need a plan Z. Assuming that plans A-Y are going to go down in flames,  I need a fall back. Thanks so much…

As a parent to at least 2 boys with major medical issues I'm always on the look out for health issues. Unfortunately,  that isn't as easy as it sounds.  Because #Autism has affected their communication abilities, it's often very difficult to know what is happening.  With Gavin,  a lot of what he says doesn't make any sense, especially when it comes to how he's feeling. When it comes to Emmett,  he simply lacks the expressive language ability to articulate how he feels. All to often,  I have to rely on my gut feelings to tell me somethings wrong.  Most of the time all I can do is trust that gut feeling and get them to the pediatrician for an evaluation.  There really isn't a better way at this point. Our…

There is nothing quite like being awoken by someone having a meltdown. This morning, I awoke to the sound of Emmett having a meltdown. I don't know what had set him off but we are still dealing with the overstimulation brought on by our dull and boring Easter. Perhaps the meltdown is tied to Emmett's fever cycle.  We know that he has large cold sores in his mouth right now. Maybe it's not any one thing but a combination of many. All I can tell you for sure is that this is not the way to start the day. **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Community Autism Support Forum Posted from WordPress for Android so please forgive any typos as auto-correct and I don't…