One of the things I like to do is build up my readers.  By build up my readers, I'm referring to helping you all to remember that you don't have to be perfect to be a good parent. I want you all to remember that we all makes mistakes. For that matter, I've got a PhD in mistake making. Honestly, I'm just about as far from perfect as you can get, despite anyone's perception to the contrary. This little exercise is meant to help you remember that you are a good parent, despite how you may feel. Over the years, I've discovered that as parents, we tend to be our own worst critic. We tend to focus on what we do wrong and gloss over what we do right. I'm…

Something that we don't hear people talk about much is the toll that special needs parenting can take. There have been statistics thrown around for years and to be honest, I don't know how accurate they are.  All I want to do is share my personal experience as a special needs parent for over a decade. Maybe you can relate, maybe you can't.  In my experience, special needs parenting can be extremely stressful.  Every day is spent forging through rivers and moving mountains, simply to take a few steps forward. This journey through life is full of tension, frustration and plethora of other feelings that can be challenging to cope with. It's really easy to lash out at those around you, simply because they're there and you're feeling so overwhelmed.…

I wanted to stop by and say hello.  I haven't written much today for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is that my phone is stuck in 2G which is too slow to be of any use.  Since my phone is the only connection I have left to this site, it's difficult to keep it updated until they get this fixed. Today's been a rough one by all accounts. We had some difficulties with Gavin that have sorta tainted the afternoon. He's in a better place now but he was self-injuring again and so he's got the bumps, cuts and bruises to live with. Elliott and Emmett have been having a decent day. There have been a few challenges but nothing major. I was able to get some errands…

Today has been one of those days where I'm really fighting the overwhelming feeling that I should just give up. We've tumbled so far down the ladder at this point, I don't know what I can possibly do to get us righted and back on course.  I've been on the phone with T-Mobile again this morning because we have almost no service at our house anymore.  Today has been especially bad and as you can see in the screenshot below, I can't even send a text message. We can barely make or receive calls either.  This means that we are almost completely cut off.  I'm going to have to walk two blocks just to try and upload this post and make a necessary phone call. I realize that this is…

Something that I feel very strongly about is that it should be okay to feel the way you feel. Wow.. That's a lot of feels. When it comes to being a special needs parent, I feel all sorts of things ranging from basic exhaustion, frustration and anger, all the way up to the big one...resentment. My belief is that it's okay to have these feelings. In fact, I would argue that it's normal. It's what you do with these feelings that really matters. Does that make sense? Recently I have found myself at odds with those beliefs. Let me explain what's going on and then I welcome your thoughts in the comments below. My oldest son Gavin has me feeling rather torn on a great many issues.  For those new…

This is just for fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's response. If you had the choice between $1,000,000 or a fully loaded FedEx or UPS truck, which would you choose and why? Don't over-think this.  The money is pretty straight forward.  The FedEx or UPS truck would be full of packages and you could also keep the truck.  You have to decide whether you would want a truck full of presents or the cash. The truck load of presents could be worth more or less than the cash.  You just have to decide what you would do and than explain why. This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Follow @Lost_and_Tired Visit the My Autism Help Forums…

We had a little mini-crisis this afternoon. This mini-crisis was a result of Gavin's actions this morning and the day long subsequent fallout. While Gavin couldn't have foreseen some of this, he did put the domino's in place and then knocked the first one over. This resulted in Elliott and Emmett being at each others throats for most of the day. They were fighting over a stuffed animal that Elliott had asked Gavin for this morning. Instead of Gavin giving it to Elliott, he turned around and handed it over to Emmett (who had no interest in it until Gavin gave it to him).  Gavin has admitted to doing this on purpose but doesn't know why he did this.  The reality is that Gavin simply thrives on chaos. He puts…

Lizze and I had a talk with Gavin, privately this afternoon about what had been going on. The conversation didn't go very well. One of the reasons that we wanted to talk with him was because his actions had put Elliott and Emmett at odds. Gavin didn't know how to react to us confronting him and so he freaked out.  His story kept evolving to fit the situation and he began tripping up before finally admitting that he had done this stuff on purpose but didn't know why. We weren't steering him in any direction and only asked for the truth. Gavin fessed up to what he was doing or rather what we know he had done. He doesn't like getting caught and held accountable. This site is managed almost…