The boys definitely were having a rougher day yesterday. Elliott and Emmett can be best friends or worst enemies. I suppose that's part for the course when it comes to brothers.  There is a degree of normalcy here but it's buried beneath a shitload of triggers, and made worse because of inabilities to cope.  I'm thinking we need to keep them as occupied as possible this summer. They tend to get along better when they're occupied.  Another issue we're running into is space. The boys each need their own space, and that's not easy to come by in our house. Gavin has his own room, but Elliott is getting to the age where he's needing space of his own, and outside of his bed, he doesn't have it.  Neither Elliott…

I'm overwhelmed by the kids today, not that it's breaking news, but I'm pushing through my fitness goals for today anyway.  It's days like this that tend to really sorta break me. The stress alone barrels over my self-control like a run away freight train. This is historically, a major weakness on my part.  Today however, I'm doing okay.  I had my usual yogurt medley for breakfast, and I already completed my first session on the treadmill. I'm obviously getting some writing done, and I've caught up on some emails that I needed to get out.  They boys are at each other's throats because they are each triggering negative behaviors from the other. I don't think it's necessarily intentional, but it's definitely a problem.  I've mentioned before that the boys…

I'm finding myself getting frustrated with the boys behavior. In the case of Elliott, it's a mix of Autism, sensory, Anxiety, ADHD, and being a pre-teen. It's sometimes very difficult to know what's behind the behaviors, mood swings, and other challenging behaviors.  There's at least a portion of behavior that I suspect is very typical for the age group, and yet there is a large portion that does seem to have a driving force behind it, that's outside of his control.  It's not easy to know what is what in situations like this, and that's important for knowing where to draw the accountability line.  I don't want to hold my kids accountable for things outside of their control, but at the same time, I don't want a diagnosis to be…

The good news is that our A/C is back up and running. I was right because it turned out to be a capacitor. The repair was done in under fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, that isn't covered under warranty. I had exactly $312.34 in my main checking and the bill came up to $334.00. I explained that I had been quoted $280.00 over the phone, for the same repair. The tech was really nice, and even has a younger brother with Autism. We talked about that while he was fixing things.  Anyway, he called in and explained what I had been quoted, but they weren't able to honor the original quote for some reason. They did apply a 10% discount and that took me to $309.23. Basic math will tell you that I…

Gavin has been scheduled for a really important eye appointment today for awhile. I scheduled the A/C service around this appointment today, but we've been met with two unplanned hiccups.  The first hiccup is that Gavin appointment has changed. His doctor had a death in the family, and rather than reschedule Gavin for months out, they wanted to move him to a different location, with a different doctor,  Rather than his appointment being this morning, and us being home in time for the A/C service guy at noon-ish, Gavin's appointment has been moved to 1:45 PM. That presents a few problems for us, but we had it figured out.  Then I get a call from the HVAC company, advising me that the tech was running am hour or so late. …

This week has taken its toll on all of us. Everyone in the house is really grumpy, and we're all beginning to take it out on each other. Lizze and I are being short with each other, and the boys are at each other's throats.  While we've survived the week, it's come at a cost.  Remember when I spoke about my seemingly endless amounts of patience? Well today is a perfect example of a day when my reservoir of patience has dried up. I'm flying on fumes today my friends, and that not a good thing.  We're going to have to pull together as a family and make it through the day, without killing each other.. lol