We have absolutely nothing going in today. Scratch that, Lizze has an early morning appointment but that's it. Our main goal for the day is to make some final preparations for Santa. We want to make sure Santa has a pleasant, safe experience when visiting our house on Christmas Eve. This is the one time of year the boys are super motivated to help me straighten up the house. Call me whatever, but I take full advantage of it. ☺ Hopefully, I'll be feeling better as well. I need some energy and I'd really love the nausea to go away... ☺

Between last night and this morning, my stress level reached a point where I ended up sick. After I took the boys to school this morning, I started not feeling well. I thought that maybe I was just hungry or something but after eating breakfast (the same yogurt medley I have almost every morning) I felt worse. As life has become more challenging and stressful, I've started dealing with acid reflux. It doesn't always happen often but it tends to show up when I'm really upset or stressed out. It's fair to say that I have a lot on my plate and there are times when it just becomes too much. Between the worries about now needing a new car, dealing with the mortgage company, not sleeping last night, worrying…

No one's life is perfect and I'm certainly claiming mine is worse than yours. I'm simply sharing what is causing me a great deal of stress. Being an Autism parent is stressful enough on the best of days and unfortunately, there aren't too many the best of days. Between lack of sleep and the demands of three special needs children, life can feel unfairly challenging. Ironically though, what tends to stress me out the most are the things that could be considered everyday problems. Things like dealing with my mortgage company selling the mortgage to another mortgage company how is a nightmare to work with. I've been trying to make a payment for two months now and they keep screwing it up. I've authorized payment 4 different times in November…

We had a morning full of preteen drama and little brother button pushing. This isn't uncommon when it comes to brothers. Brothers were created to get on each other's nerves. That's where the normalcy stops and the Autism/anxiety/emotional delays complicate things. While these guys pick on each other like typical brothers, their reactions to being picked on are rather extreme. The boys are brilliant kids and for the most part, not very socially awkward. At the same time however, they are some significant emotional delays that make dealing with stressful or emotionally charged situations, very difficult for them. They tend to take things very personally and don't get sarcasm, even though they can be sarcastic themselves. Emmett might be trying to pay Elliott a compliment but Elliott takes it wrong…

The boys will be spending the day with their Grandparents. We really appreciate the break as Lizze and I are both exhausted. The boys, especially Elliott, have been very challenging as of late. Smaller breaks like this do everyone some good. If you're reading this and you have a special needs family in your life, one of the best ways you can help is by giving them a break. It's not always possible but if it is, you could make a big difference in their lives while gaining valuable insights at the same time.. Think about it... ☺