Navigating fatherhood and autism has been a rollercoaster of challenges and triumphs. Now, with 23 years of experience behind me, I find myself at a pivotal moment, looking toward a future full of possibility. If you're still in the thick of your own struggles, don't lose sight of hope. 'Better' may be closer than you imagine.
Parenting is hard. There are no two ways about it. Parenting kids with unique challenges like autism, ADHD, anxiety, mental illness, or other physical/emotional disability can be even more complicated. I've been a parent for over two decades now, and I'm still learning. My parenting experience is mainly special needs in nature but believe it or not; there is some overlap with more typical parenting. Also, we should acknowledge that some people are terrible parents. That's just the way it is. That being said, the overwhelming majority of parents out there are so much more amazing then they give themselves credit for. As parents, we have the best of intentions, and while none of us are perfect, we strive to give our kids the best lives we possibly can. Sometimes,…
I swear to God it feels like I’m always apologizing for not writing enough. I don’t know why I feel the need to do that but clearly I do. I guess that I feel as though I’m letting people down when I don’t write or share. That’s just a weird thing I put on myself though. If I don’t write for a period of time, I start getting messages from people checking up on me. Sometimes that's how I end up realizing that it’s been awhile. Anyway, because I’m me and feel the need. I’m sorry it’s been so long since we’ve talked. I'm just going to run with this but truthfully, my heads a mess and I'm not sure what direction this is going to take. Usually there’s a…
I want to talk about something that's really important and most parents don't get enough of. If you're a special needs parent, you're probably all too familiar with the word respite. Basically, respite means break. More specifically, it means a temporary break and is usually associated with caregivers. While my focus is more on special needs parenting, this really applies to any parent because we all need to take care of ourselves and we all need a break from time to time. Many of you know that respite is hard to come by for many caregivers, myself included. While my kids are older and can stay home alone for periods of time, that's relatively new and wasn't always like that. They can't stay home overnight by themselves and while that…
I know there are people out there who are new to this blog or maybe just getting to know me, so I thought now might be a great time to share an update that focuses on my journey. I haven't done one of these updates in a little while, so now's as good a time as any. I assume that you know the basics about my life, and if you don't, those are pretty easy to find on the homepage or throughout this entire site. What I want to do is focus on the time since I became a single parent. A lot has changed for me since August of 2019, and I'm okay talking about it because it's part of my journey. I feel like we're all on a…
Tomorrow is never guaranteed. We're only ever guaranteed right now, in this moment. So often these moments get wasted. I'm guilty of doing that myself, far more often than I'd like to admit. I was thinking about this today and it hit me pretty hard. As humans, we tend to assume that we can say or do what needs said or done, tomorrow. The truth is, tomorrow is never guaranteed and there's no such thing as the perfect time. This is an older picture but it was captured while I was experiencing one of these moments. I've found that it's often easier to avoid or put off dealing with things, than it is to face them in the moment. I'm guilty of that myself. For some reason, I've been talking…
I woke up this morning, super early, filled with clarity, and laser focused. The laser focused part might be a bit of an exaggeration but I wish I was laser focused. The clarity part is very true, however. Life is full of twists and turns, detours and delays, setbacks and forward progress, joys and heartaches, successes and failures. I have found that moments of pain can lead to a certain clarity that I wouldn't have gained otherwise. Sure, it's messed up that I can't seem to find that same clarity elsewhere but it's still positive, right? I'm going to keep being me. I'm going to keep bettering myself. I'm going to keep moving my kids forward. I'm going to keep growing my business. I'm going to keep believing in myself.…
Yesterday was honestly one of the hardest days of my life but I survived. My marriage of nearly two decades officially came to an end, oddly enough, with the same words that it began with, I do. Our court hearing took place over the phone, at my attorney's office. It's kinda weird doing something like this over the phone but COVID has changed a great many things on our daily lives. The whole process took only a few minutes and it basically ended with the Lizze and I each being asked if we wanted to the court to adopt our agreement. I hadn't recognized the irony of answering that question with I do until 24 hours later, as I was writing this. The question was asked something like this. Robert,…