Blog - Page 52 of 1611

Why the holidays are tough for us

One of the challenges for me as a Dad going through a divorce, is managing the holidays. I don't mean fighting over who gets to see who because thankfully we don't have that problem. I'm referring to things like simply navigating the day. Before all of this happened, we had our holiday traditions and everyone had a role to play. When people are missing, the role goes unfilled and it sometimes changes everything. We were in a remote location with no other people around. We took out masks off for the picture. This was earlier this in the Fall. Even if the traditional activities are still possible, there can be emotional baggage associated with them, especially for the kids. This is our second Christmas on our own and we're still…

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December 24, 2020

My thoughts

My son baked a double layer cake

I meant to share this the other day and I forgot. I wanted to get this out there because there's so much negative right now, it's even more important to focus on the glimmers or positive moments. I shared the other day that Emmett had baked cutout cookies, all by himself. He did amazing and I'm so proud of him. Elliott checked something off his COVID bucket list as well. He baked a double layer cake, all by himself. He's been wanting to do this for a while now and he accomplished this the other day. I want to also applaud him for letting Emmett color the icing. Elliott wanted to do this all on his own but Emmett wanted to help. Instead of pushing him away, Elliott allowed him…

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December 24, 2020

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

How to be a Great Parent and a Great Nurse at the Same Time

If you’re both a parent and a nurse, congratulations, you probably have two of the toughest jobs on the planet! It takes a special kind of person to be able to handle the responsibilities of being a parent and taking care of patients every day, especially if you’re on your own. However, a lot of it is about knowing how to manage your time and workload. Let’s take a look at a few tips to help you balance your professional life as a nurse and your life at home. Establish Your Priorities The first thing you’ll have to assess right now is what your true priorities are. If you’re a nurse and also raising kids, you’re responsible for both their lives and the lives of your patients. You cannot make…

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December 23, 2020

My thoughts

Going to the dentist in the midst of a pandemic

It was a stressful day yesterday and not just because it was a Monday. I had to take Emmett to the dentist to get his tooth fixed. I was not excited about that because we were well outside of my COVID comfort zone but it was a necessary evil. His dentist is out of town and that was literally the farthest I've driven since returning home from Orlando last February. Emmett did very well and everyone in the office wore masks. Some wore them better than others and by that I mean not everyone kept their nose tucked into their mask. I felt relatively comfortable with the COVID safety protocol but I would have preferred the avoid it all together. I was right about Emmett's tooth. It is a baby…

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December 22, 2020

My thoughts

It was crazy but we ended on a positive note

Yesterday was pretty crazy. I began the process of defusing the Christmas anxiety by allowing the boys to slowly begin opening presents. Their anxiety is through the roof for a number of reasons and Christmas isn't helping. I told them I want a clean house for Christmas and as we make progress, they can pick out one present to open. The house needs caught up, and it gives them a physical outlet doing something productive. By Christmas Eve, we should be done with presents and the kids will be less stressed. I usually do early present opening anyway because of their anxiety and my own self-preservation. This is just a little different but the circumstances are rather extreme and I will do whatever helps us get through all this intact.…

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December 21, 2020

My thoughts

This is breaking my heart

Emmett is absolutely miserable. The sore in his mouth is now about the size of a large pea and it's in a place that is constantly being irritated. He's spent a lot of time crying today and it's heartbreaking. I had orajel, special mouthwash and ice cream delivered at 8am and aside from the ice cream, there was no reprieve for him. The over the counter stuff doesn't seem to numb these sores and we're out of actual lidocaine. I have to call on Monday for a refill. It's so hard to see him in this much pain and be powerless to help. He can't really chew anything and when he's in these flares, he usually lives on ice cream. It's kinda like when someone gets their tonsils out, they…

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December 19, 2020

My thoughts

Please keep Emmett in your thoughts

Emmett's in a bad way. He's hit a fever flare and this one is particularly painful. His first mouth sore popped up two days ago and there are likely more to follow. The poor kid is in a tremendous amount of pain and there's not much I can do to help. We've doubled up on his antivirals and he's swishing with salt water. There are more that will likely pop up over the next few days and he's going to be even more miserable than he already is. I was originally going to close things off here with something about having to order ice cream for him because it helps numb the sores. Unfortunately, as I was writing this Emmett came into my room in a panic. He was holding…

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December 19, 2020

My thoughts

Avoiding conflict by encouraging my kids to communicate with each other

I spent a large part of today breaking up fights between the kids. They seem to be at each other's throats. I was just recording a speech for an upcoming summit yesterday and I mentioned something about this. I was pointing out that not everything I'm dealing with in my house is related to autism, at least not directly. There's a large portion of the daily challenge that's autism related but there's other portions that are simply typical kid behavior. The boys fighting is something that brothers do. That's pretty normal for brothers to fight and I totally get that having 3 brothers of my own. Autism tends to make things a bit more intense because of triggers and a difficulty reading body language. This is especially true when it…

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December 16, 2020